Andy Coen must have thought of that one since he left Lehigh.
The former offensive coordinator of the Engineers and current offensive coordinator of Penn called a hook and ladder on the last play of the first half.
The gimmick play was successful as the Quakers' Stephen Faulk ran the final 22 yards after receiving a pitch from Joe Phillips to cap off a three play, 74-yard run executed in merely 24 seconds.
"That was just a great call by coach Coen," Penn head coach Al Bagnoli said. "I wish I could take credit for that one."
Senior wide receiver Rob Milanese laid out a terrific downfield block, springing the play and taking Penn to 17-7 lead at the half over the No. 4 team in the country.
"I usually don't block too well. I guess I was a little hyped up," the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Milanese said. "I saw Steve, and I knew that if he got the corner he was gone. I saw the guy. It's pretty much an easy block when the guy's not looking at you."
Milanese had good reason to feel hyped up, as the play before, he broke Don Clune's 29-year-old receiving yardage record on a 24-yard completion from Mike Mitchell to Lehigh's 36-yardline.
The first play of the series was a relatively inauspicious screen pass to Faulk that went for 16 yards to the Penn 42.
Starting rather deep in Penn territory, Bagnoli had no doubt about attempting a drive, especially against a team with a 26-game regular season winning streak.
"It all comes back to where you think you are in terms of matchups," Bagnoli said. "We thought we'd have to play very aggressively. We did on both sides of the ball and special teams."
"I don't think you can sit back and be successful. They're a good team and well coached and do a nice job, so you need to stay aggressive."
The Engineers had just scored five minutes before to cut the Quaker lead to 10-7. Both teams struggled mightily moving the ball, rendering a 74-yard drive in 24 seconds as unlikely as it was important.
"Obviously that was a huge play going into halftime," Bagnoli said. "Certainly gave us some momentum. It was just kind of a game of momentum ... it just had such an ebb and flow to it emotionally. It was tough."
Seizing back momentum going into the half was critical as Penn scored the third quarter's only touchdown. Lehigh did not regain the initiative until the fourth quarter, and Penn was able to hold off their frantic, and too late, comeback attempt to win, 24-21.
As significant as Milanese's record breaking catch was, in the years to come, most of the fans will remember his block and the sandlot style play that struck paydirt.
"It's something that you don't get a lot of reps on but everyone believes in it when it's time," Faulk said. "Mike [Mitchell] made a great throw. Joe [Phillips] made a great catch. Rob Milanese made a great block. All I did was catch and run. These other guys did all the work."
"When the smoke cleared we made one more play than they did," Bagnoli said.
Few would have suspected going into the game the one more play would be a hook and ladder.
