Ivy champion Football earns high marks

The grades are in for the Penn football team. The marks -- for nine separate categories on offense, defense and special teams -- were determined by a poll of The Daily Pennsylvanian's football writers and sports editors. As might well be expected on the heels of an Ivy League championship, the Quakers received high marks in every category, with no position grading out worse than a B-. The offensive squads were all ranked highly, while the nature of the new, high-octane offenses in the Ivy League makes it tough to give any of the league's defenses an A. But Quakers defenders kept the offense in enough games to allow for their thrilling fourth-quarter comebacks. Quarterback: A+ If Gavin Hoffman, the Ivy League's Player of the Year and field general of the league champions, can't get the highest possible grade, who can? Hoffman's year was spectacular. The junior hijacked the Penn record books while leading the Ancient Eight in total offense, passing yards per game and passing efficiency. Hoffman averaged 321.4 yards per contest while becoming the first Quakers passer to ever break 3,000 yards in a season. After two years, the transfer from Northwestern's career numbers stand at 5,542 yards, 472 completions and 38 touchdowns, all Penn records. Running Backs: B+/I The running back position gets a split grade because it came in first in the "we'll never know" department. Specifically, we'll never know the frightening numbers the Red and Blue's offensive juggernaut could have put up had 1999's Ivy League leading rusher, Kris Ryan, who was plagued by a pair of injuries, carried the ball more than 129 times. Ryan gave Quakers fans a taste of what might have been in the season finale at Cornell, when he ran for 243 yards and four touchdowns in the Quakers' 45-14 victory. That performance gave Ryan 662 yards for the season, good enough for fifth in the league in total rushing, even though the junior sat out all or part of at least half of the Quakers games this season. Ryan earned a second team All-Ivy spot. Ryan gets the incomplete while his replacements -- senior Mike Verille and sophomore Todd Okolovitch -- get the B+ for their yeoman's job in Ryan's absence. Wide Receivers: A When a quarterback performs as phenomenally as Hoffman did this season, much credit must go to the receiving corps. The Quakers placed their four top wideouts among the Ancient Eight's top 25 receivers. Junior Rob Milanese led the Quakers with 76 catches for 937 yards, placing him third in the league in both categories and securing his spot on the All-Ivy second team. Milanese also set Penn records for receptions and receiving yards in a season, passing former pro Miles Macik's marks. Senior Doug O'Neill returned after sitting out the entire 1999 season and placed fifth and seventh in the league in receptions and yardage, respectively. Junior Colin Smith and senior Jason Battung rounded out the Quakers' leading pass-catchers. Smith finished 19th in the league in yardage despite missing the last two games due to a broken collarbone. Tight Ends: A- Big Ben Zagorski was the Quakers' third-leading receiver, hauling in 40 catches for 484 yards. Those numbers were good enough to place him 12th in the league in receiving. The 6'7" first team All-Ivy selection was also Hoffman's favorite target in the end zone, pulling down seven touchdowns. Offensive Line: A- The guys in the trenches performed splendidly this year, opening enough holes to allow the Red and Blue's running back committee to rush for 1,300 yards. The big men also kept Hoffman on his feet, surrendering just 17 sacks. A solid job for a unit that, entering the season, had more question marks than experience. Sophomore center Matt Dukes earned second team All-Ivy honors, while junior tackle John Zepeda received an honorable mention. Defensive Line: B+ The Quakers pass rush really picked up at the end of the year, thanks in large part to the play of the D-line and its Galan brothers -- senior Ed and junior Jon, who both earned first team all-Ivy honors. Chris Pennington garnered an honorable mention. Linebackers: B+ The linebacking corps -- especially second team All-Ivy sophomore Travis Belden and honorable mention senior Dan Morris -- played well all season, leading the Quakers with 73 and 69 tackles, respectively. Defensive Backs: B- The Quakers gave up 40 more first downs through the air than on the ground, so someone has to take the blame. However, when the Quakers D-backs weren't facing an incredibly productive wideout like Yale's Eric Johnson or Brown's Stephen Campbell, they had to worry about helping out on one of the Ancient Eight's outstanding running backs. Senior Joey Alofaituli earned first team All-Ivy honors, while senior Hasani White netted second team honors. Special Teams: B If all special teams meant was field goals and extra points, the Quakers would've scored an A+. Senior placekicker Jason Feinberg became the all-time leading scorer in both Ivy League and Penn history en route to being picked as an obvious first team All-Ivy selection. Freshman punt returner Joe Phillips deserves mention, if for nothing else than his two returns that set up Quakers scores in the miracle comeback against Brown. Junior punter Ryan Lazzeri, on the other hand, kicked for a less-than-spectacular 32.1-yard net punting average.