Sub Stockman: Not just offense anymore

EASTON, Pa. -- There are no question marks on the Penn football team.

Fans, coaches and players knew this well before Saturday, when the Quakers kicked off the 2001 season with a 37-0 drubbing of Lafayette.

They could have known as early as last November, when the team's co-captains hoisted the Ivy League trophy in Ithaca, N.Y., that the Quakers -- who return 18 of 22 starters from last year's championship run -- were, even then, in the driver's seat for the 2001 Ivy League race.

They knew that Penn would have an offense where scoring 30 points was not just a possibility, but an expectation. They knew that the Quakers would trot out a seasoned defense, which had already experienced a full season of attempting to slow down the high-powered offenses that seem to have become an Ivy League staple.

But did they dare to think that the defense, too, could be as impressive as the offense this season?

Last year, Penn beat Lafayette, 45-28, on a wet, chilly day at Franklin Field. The score was indicative of what the Quakers' conference schedule held in store. Points would be scored. Shootouts with scores like 45-28 would be the norm. Defense would be something of an afterthought.

Saturday, though, the Quakers defense looked like the Steel Curtain and the Purple People Eaters rolled into one. They didn't allow the Leopards a whiff of the end zone, and gave up just 178 yards of total offense. Lafayette got 48 yards on its final two drives of the game, when each team was fielding its second- and third-string guys, so Penn's first-teamers actually gave up only 130 yards.

"We were expecting to shut them down, and we did that," senior linebacker and co-captain Dan Morris said. "[A shutout] was one of our goals, so it was nice to get one under our belts."

"I think our defensive kids really played well," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "They made some big plays, and rose to the occasion after those [Penn] turnovers, which I think is always a good test of a good defense."

Last season's defense was good enough to keep the Quakers in most contests, but it wasn't what anyone would call dominant.

Saturday, the Leopards went three- and-out seven times, almost half of their offensive series. No Lafayette drive lasted for more than 10 plays, and the one that did ended after just 23 yards. On four series, the Leopards lost yardage.

Combine those numbers with the fact that the Quakers pitched a shutout, and "dominant" is a more-than-appropriate term.

But before we crown this defense "Penn's best ever," we should probably look at the competition.

"That's two weeks in a row that we haven't been able to produce any points offensively," Lafayette coach Frank Tavani said. "One of the biggest disappointments, I think, was we'd talked about a `never-give-up, never-give-in' attitude, and I think some of the team --ÿincluding a couple of seniors -- lost a little `fight in the dog' out there."

So the Quakers, if we read Tavani correctly, abused an already-bad team that gave up. Despite that, if Penn's defense is even half as good as it looked Saturday, the Ivy League is in trouble.

The only question on Penn's defense was in the secondary, where the Quakers lost safety Hasani White and cornerback Joey Alofaituli to graduation. The Quakers pass coverage seemed sound, as it allowed just 21 more passing yards than in last year's Lafayette game.

"I know losing Hasani and Joey is a challenge," said Stephen Faulk, Penn's returning starting cornerback. "But I have confidence in anybody that's out there in the secondary."

That's good, because if there's one thing a defense in the pass-happy Ivy League needs, it's a solid secondary.

And, while a shutout of toothless Lafayette may not be the most impressive feat, it's nothing to sneeze at, either.

If holding Lafayette scoreless is the equivalent of, say, holding Brown to 20, Penn's in business.

After all, in a shootout, it helps to have a bulletproof vest.

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