This Saturday, in addition to dealing with the jitters of its first Ivy League game of the season against Dartmouth, the Penn football team will have to contend with the nation's leading receiver. Dartmouth wideout Damien Roomets leads all Division I-AA receivers, averaging 10 catches per game over the Big Green's first two games of the season. The six-foot, 195-pound junior only had three catches in the first week of the season, but hauled in 17 balls for 201 yards last Saturday in Dartmouth's 42-24 loss to New Hampshire. Last season, Roomets was the Big Green's second-leading receiver, but Penn head coach Al Bagnoli and defensive coordinator Ray Priore attribute a good part of Roomets' impressive numbers to Dartmouth's new offensive scheme. "Any time a guy has 17 catches, it gets our attention," Priore said. "But a lot of it is the things they do [offensive] scheme-wise. They use high-percentage passes, and they have a nice, controlled passing attack. Instead of running the ball for five yards, they'll throw for five instead." "[Dartmouth's offense is] radically different," Bagnoli said. "They have much more of a Brown mentality, where they'll line up on one play with four wide receivers to one side, and then the next play they'll line up with no backs and [five receivers], and the next play they'll line up in I-strong. "[Roomets] had 17 catches last week against New Hampshire, which I know is a Dartmouth record, and I think it's an Ivy League record." While Bagnoli was right that Roomets broke Dartmouth's single-game record -- by six receptions -- he underestimated the Ivy League record by a few catches. Had Yale's Eric Johnson not caught 21 balls last season, Roomets would have the title. But Roomets has to settle for second place in the record books behind Johnson and just in front of Princeton's Kevin Guthrie who, before last season, had held the record since 1983. "I had a good game where I caught a lot of passes," the soft-spoken Roomets said of his huge game against New Hampshire and his current ranking. "I've been able to get open and the quarterback is throwing me the ball." In two games, Roomets is well on his way to exceeding the 31 catches he had last season, his first as a starter. Priore said that his defense has no plans to pay special attention to Roomets. "The point of [Dartmouth's offense] is that [Roomets] is all over the place," Priore said. "We're not really going to scheme toward one guy." Roomets debuted as a Big Green starter against the Quakers at Franklin Field in the first game of the 1999 season. Since it was his first full game, Roomets doesn't remember too much, except that the Penn secondary "was quick." "They broke up on the ball real good," Roomets said. Senior safety Hasani White wasn't impressed by Roomets' numbers, especially after the Quakers secondary effectively shut down Lafayette's leading receiver, Phil Yarberough, last week. "I'm not worried, [No.] 9 [Yarberough] was the leading receiver in I-AA last week, and he had one catch," White said. "[Roomets] had 17 catches last week, who cares? We'll just put him out the game."
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