Hoffman breaks loose in Football romp

Quarterback Gavin Hoffman broke Penn's single-game passing record as the Quakers stormed past Columbia. NEW YORK -- Now this is what we've been waiting for. After a disappointing first four weeks which put him under a lot of criticism and raised questions about his effectiveness, Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman had a breakout day Saturday, completing 25-of-32 passes for a school-record 399 yards and four touchdowns as the Quakers stomped Columbia, 41-17, at Wien Stadium. With Hoffman's career day, the Quakers (3-2, 2-0 Ivy League) had a balanced offensive attack for the first time this season. In addition to Penn's passing numbers, sophomore tailback Kris Ryan, the leading rusher in the Ivy League, picked up 172 yards on 30 carries. By the end of the day, that balanced attack had tallied 626 yards of total offense -- one short of the school record set in 1973 against Columbia. "We were waiting rather patiently for the quarterback and the receivers to finally get on the same page," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "Today at least, we saw a glimpse of that happening." That glimpse Hoffman and his receivers gave Bagnoli was certainly impressive. Throughout the whole game, Hoffman's passes were tight and on target. He also let loose a bit by throwing several long passes, something that was not a common occurrence in the season's first few weeks. This included a 77-yard touchdown pass to Rob Milanese in the second quarter and a 63-yard touchdown to Brandon Clay in the opening minutes of the third. "I think, in the weeks before, I kind of let myself get frustrated out there and this week I just tried to come in sort of pissed off and prove people wrong because I was getting a lot of criticism," said Hoffman, who broke Mark DeRosa's 1994 record of 360 passing yards. "I just knew things would turn around so I just kept plugging away at it this week." The improvement of the receiving corps, however, also contributed to Hoffman's big numbers. The Columbia secondary was little match for the Penn receivers, who seemed to be open all day long. "We've had the confidence all year. We know we have what it takes," Milanese said. "We know Gavin's talented and we have confidence in ourselves as receivers, so it's a matter of time before we get going." Milanese certainly got going on Saturday. The sophomore was Hoffman's favorite target, finishing the day with eight catches for 184 yards -- the sixth-best receiving day in Penn history. Things, however, did not look so good for Penn at the beginning of the afternoon. Less than two minutes into the game, Columbia running back Johnathan Reese caught a short pass over the middle from quarterback Mike Glynn, dodged several Penn defenders and then burned everyone for a 72-yard score to give the Lions (2-3, 0-2) an early 7-0 advantage. It was then that the Gavin Hoffman show began. After Matt Thomas gave Penn good field position by running for 22 yards on a draw play, Hoffman evened the score by lofting a perfect 35-yard pass to a streaking Brandon Carson in the endzone. Then with two minutes gone in the second quarter, Penn marched 48 yards before Hoffman connected with Ben Zagorski for a three-yard touchdown pass that put Penn up 14-7. But the Lions refused to die in front of their Homecoming crowd. On the Quakers' next series, Ryan fumbled to give Columbia possession on Penn's 39-yard line. This set up the Lions' second touchdown of the half, a five-yard pass from Glynn to Armand Dawkins. After Milanese's sprint down the right sideline for the 77-yard touchdown and a field goal by Columbia kicker Neil Kravitz, Penn entered halftime with a 21-17 lead. The second half, however, turned into a laugher. On the second play of the half, Hoffman hit Clay on a play-action pass. Lions cornerback Justin Logan bit on the fake and Clay raced 63 yards down the field for the touchdown. Penn then continued its offensive showcase in the fourth quarter, as Ryan busted through the line to rumble for a 35-yard touchdown with 12:09 remaining in the game. While Penn was piling up these huge numbers, though, the Quakers defense crushed nearly all of the Lions' weak attempts to advance the ball. In fact, the only creative thing to come from Columbia during this part of the game resulted from its new half-million dollar video scoreboard. Every time the Quakers squashed the Lions' futile hopes of establishing an attack, the scoreboard flashed appropriate messages like "D'oh!" and "Aw Shucks!" The Red and Blue held the Lions to a mere 56 yards of total offense in the second half. Columbia could not establish anything at all resembling a passing game, as the Penn secondary -- led by Anthony DeSalle's two interceptions -- did not let the Lions find any open spots. And in addition to the fine play of the defensive backs, the front line allowed the Lions a net gain of just two rushing yards in the second half. "We played a team that got after the passer real well. We were concerned about their front," Columbia coach Ray Tellier said of the Quakers defense. "Between the rush and defending, they did a nice job." With 626 yards of total offense, a breakout performance from Hoffman and a convincing Ivy win, it's fair to say the Quakers did more than just a "nice job."

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