Football's many weapons doom Crimson

Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman threw for over 300 yards for the 10th time in his Penn career in Saturday's game against Harvard. He completed passes in the clutch and was, as usual, the keystone in Penn's victory. What's unusual is how Hoffman continues to do it. The junior signal-caller has put up ridiculous numbers every week without a clear-cut primary receiver. Rob Milanese is third in the Ivy League with 67 catches, and senior Doug O'Neill is fourth in the Ancient Eight with 48. Tight end Ben Zagorski isn't far behind them with 37. On Saturday, Zagorski hauled in 10 balls; Milanese grabbed eight; and O'Neill received five Hoffman passes. Earlier in the season, big plays seemed to be what Penn needed to score. Now, it's mostly short passes and a steady dosage of Kris Ryan running. That's not to say the Penn offense doesn't still utilize the big play, because the Quakers certainly do just that. The Quakers' final touchdown was set up by a 32-yard connection from Hoffman to Jason Battung. Battung's two earlier catches were also big plays on a scoring drive. On Penn's nine-play, 72-yard drive in the second quarter, the senior caught passes of 18 and 19 yards. "They had to make the plays, and they made them," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. "Gavin Hoffman and others." There's a reason why the Quakers were able to make the plays, and there's a reason that Murphy had to characterize it as "Gavin Hoffman and others." It's because with as many weapons as the Quakers have, they are never out of games, and it's rarely just one receiver who does the damage. Two weeks ago against Brown, Hoffman hit three receivers -- Milanese, O'Neill and Colin Smith -- for 100 or more yards apiece. At Princeton, O'Neill was the star, racking up over 100 yards by halftime, including his 42-yard Hail Mary touchdown catch. But he was gone with bruised ribs after just one catch in the third quarter, and it was the rest of the offense that was really responsible for the 34 unanswered points to help Penn win. On Saturday, Penn's yardage leader happened to be Hoffman's biggest target, Zagorski, who sometimes lined up in the slot and at other times lined up as a true tight end. But it was Battung and Milanese who were the receivers on the final drive. The Quakers have scored 14 touchdowns in the last three weeks, but Zagorski is the only player who has found the end zone twice in the same game for the Red and Blue. This kind of diversity is abnormal in the Ivy League, and might be why Penn has been so successful. At Yale, which seemed for a long time this season to be the frontrunner for the Ivy title, receiver Eric Johnson and running back Rashad Bartholomew have combined to score 52 percent of the Elis' points. Running back Johnathan Reese has scored 45 percent of Columbia's points on his own. Penn's leading scorer? Kicker Jason Feinberg, who has kicked 14 field goals and 32 extra points for a total of 74 points, which is less than a quarter of Penn's 302. The story is similar for Ivy co-leader Cornell, where legman Peter Iverson is the leading scorer with 45 of the Big Red's 249 points. The only other Ivy teams whose kickers lead the way are Dartmouth and Princeton. There are defensive solutions for the other Ivy teams. Want to beat Harvard? Contain dangerous quarterback Neil Rose. Want to beat Brown? Make Stephen Campbell puts up numbers that are more mortal than his average of around 12 receptions, 132 yards and just over a touchdown. If you can't do that, as Penn couldn't -- Campbell caught 17 balls for 186 yards and two TDs at Franklin Field -- keep running back Mike Malan under control. Penn held Malan to 66 yards on 22 carries, and when it came down to crunch time, the Bears had to throw to Campbell, who had nothing left to give under tighter coverage late in the game. There's no answer for the Quakers offense. Stop Milanese, and O'Neill kills you. Stop O'Neill, and Zagorski is deadly. Drop into nickel coverage, and watch Ryan run through your line all afternoon. The only team that has truly proven able to stop the Penn offense this year has been the Quakers themselves, with penalties. They've had too many weapons, and once again had just enough on Saturday to knock off Harvard.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.