Football looks to tame the Lions

The Quakers resume their Ivy League schedule with a game at Columbia. Penn bea tthe Lions 20-0 last year. As sports fans may have noticed, there's a big game happening in New York City this weekend. No, it doesn't involve the Yankees. And no, not the Mets either. When the Penn football team (2-2, 1-0 Ivy League) takes on Columbia (2-2, 0-1 ) tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., it may not get top billing by the major television networks, but the importance of the Quakers' return to Ivy League play cannot be understated. "Obviously, it's a league game, so it becomes very important," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "I'd like to see improvement. Last year about this time we started getting better and better every week, cutting out the inconsistencies." Taking to the road for the first time this fall, Penn looks to pick up its second Ivy League victory against a team shrouded in mystery. How else could one describe the Lions -- a team whose defense was shredded without mercy in a 63-13 loss to Lehigh two weeks ago, yet held Bucknell scoreless for the final 3 1/2 quarters in a 10-7 win last Saturday? "We just played a lot harder against Bucknell," Columbia coach Ray Tellier said. "We just played so poorly against Lehigh. We tackled poorly and we allowed big plays. That wasn't a good experience and I think our players were embarrassed. "So we just hung in there a little bit better and found a way to beat a pretty good Bucknell team." Against the Bison, the Lions found a way to win by adding a new wrinkle into their offense -- a quarterback who can actually throw the ball. Completing 25-of-31 passes for 285 yards in his first start, senior quarterback Mike Glynn -- the Lions' third play-caller this fall -- showed everyone that he really can play. "That's as well as we've had a quarterback throw the ball in a few years here -- he's certainly going to start this week," Tellier said. "I don't know if you can expect that every week.? He was just outstanding. If he can throw the ball well and provide some stability in our offense, it's going to make us a better team. "I'm just trying to leave him alone -- it's like a pitcher throwing a no-hitter in the ninth inning, you don't want to talk to him or touch him or screw him up." So is Penn's defense prepared for this aerial challenge? Well, for what it's worth, the Quakers certainly have history on their side, having pitched a shutout against the hapless Lions offense a year ago at Franklin Field, 20-0. With the return of senior defensive backs Joey Alofaituli and Hasani White, Penn's defense -- which allowed Fordham to complete only 19-of-47 passes in a 35-18 win last week -- hopes that it can tame the resurgent Lions. "We are expecting them to open it up a little," Penn linebacker Jim Hisgen said. "He did throw for 300 yards last game, so we're going to be cautious of his ability. But we also want to take notice of their running game, which looks explosive. We want balance." The real question mark of this game for Penn may not be its defense, but rather how effectively Penn can run the passing portion of its "balanced offense." So far, Quakers sophomore quarterback Gavin Hoffman has completed 56 percent of his passes for 644 yards, but he has also thrown six interceptions and only three touchdowns. Statistics aside, it does not appear the Northwestern transfer has gotten into a working rhythm with his receiving corps, which is a problem the Quakers coaching staff had hoped it could have worked out by this point in the season. "Columbia's an eight-man front and that's hard to run against," Bagnoli said. "It puts pressure on your quarterback and your receivers to try to back them off the line. My hope is that we continue to get better with the young kids so we can back [Columbia] off the ball and get them into a more conventional set." In direct contrast to Penn's passing game, the team's rushing attack under Kris Ryan (588 yards on 86 carries) has been little short of tremendous. In fact, Ryan's success tomorrow can almost be taken for granted. Why? Because the defense of New York's finest has done its best impression of a sieve in stopping the run in '99, allowing 264 yards on the ground to Harvard, 291 to Lehigh and 212 to Bucknell. And Ryan is coming off a 256-yard performance against Fordham -- the third highest single-game total in Penn football history. "That's a concern, obviously," Tellier said of the Quakers rushing attack. "We're a little younger defensively and we need to get better against the run. Ryan is a very impressive back -- he's a big concern." Columbia's defensive leader, senior Jason Bivens, agrees with his coach's assessment. "To be quite honest, Penn has always had a great running football team," the 1998 second-team All-Ivy selection said. "We have a healthy respect for their running game, but also we understand that there are certain things that we need to do -- playing together as a team [and] playing better team defense to help our overall run defense, which hasn't been as good this year." Ryan -- whose 147 yards per game average places him fourth in Division I-AA -- remains cautious in his optimism, however. "I just want to go in and play my hardest," Ryan said. "I do what I can to help the team out. I put it in God's hands and do my best." After three straight non-league games, the trip to Columbia marks the continuation of Penn's quest to defend its Ivy title, and in light of the Quakers' inconsistent play thus far, the Lions must not be taken lightly. With both teams looking to make a statement to the rest of the league in a big way, Tellier knows what his team has to keep in mind. "You can't afford to not be at your best in a game like this," he said. Daily Pennsylvanian sports writer Will Ulrich contributed to this article.

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