Football to face winless Columbia

In the first week of the season, the Penn football team looked mediocre at times, poor at others, and still managed to wallop Lafayette, 37-0.

After lifeless Lafayette dropped a decision to Harvard the following week, the Leopards rebounded to pound their opponent, 31-14.

That opponent is this week's foe for the Quakers -- Columbia.

As any defending league champion should be, the Red and Blue (3-0, 1-0 Ivy League) are confident heading to New York City but remain cautious in their approach to Saturday's 1:30 p.m. contest.

Penn sees Columbia (0-3, 0-1) as a team that is desperate for a win to remain in contention in the Ivy title race, rather than one just on its way to another terrible year.

"I hope our kids don't read into that," said Penn coach Al Bagnoli of the Lions' latest defeat at Lafayette. "Teams in this league are notoriously better at home. The Bucknell game is a much better indicator."

In that Bucknell contest, Columbia came up short, 23-20, in overtime. It was the Lions' season home opener, and the only game they have played at Baker Field.

Columbia's star offensive force, senior running back John Reese, gained 99 yards on 25 carries against the Buffalos. He has broken most of Columbia's all-time rushing marks.

Reese ran fewer times in the Lions' two subsequent games because Columbia's opponents scored early and often on them, putting the emphasis more on the passing attack.

Bagnoli noted that Penn, too, must be able to score some points so that Reese will not be the difference-maker late in the game.

"He's a great player. He's a kid who can do everything," said Bagnoli, also citing Reese's exploits as an effective kick returner and blocker. "He's the real deal. You would certainly put him in a Kris Ryan category."

But while Reese will be facing the nation's top rushing defense on Saturday, Ryan might be licking his chops with what he has seen of Columbia thus far in 2001.

The Lions have surrendered a total of 491 yards on the ground in three games.

Ryan, Penn's senior running back, has been outstanding this year. In last week's game against Holy Cross, he rushed 27 times for 169 yards.

Despite the temptation of feeding Ryan the ball as often as possible, though, the Quakers are committed to the game plan that last year earned them a championship and has this year seen them go unbeaten entering the season's fourth week.

"I don't know if you can go purely off statistics," said Penn senior quarterback Gavin Hoffman, who didn't want to speculate on Columbia's defense without first seeing it. "I don't think we're going to change anything major in the game plan."

The offensive game plan worked to perfection last week, as an efficient and strikingly accurate Hoffman teamed up with Ryan to carve apart the Crusaders.

"It was good to sort of have everything come together last week against Holy Cross," Hoffman said.

The defense, meanwhile, has been fabulous since the opening kickoff in Easton, Pa. While the offense must score on Saturday to keep the ball out of Reese's hands, the Quakers have a great deal of confidence that no one is going to upend their defensive unit.

"We thought we'd be a good defensive team. We have a lot of experience and maturity with three fifth-year seniors," Bagnoli said. "I've thought the kids have responded very well."

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