Kyle Bender: Turning mistakes into points

The Penn football team is all about capitalizing on opponents' mistakes.

Columbia, on the other hand, is a hard luck team that just can't seem to seal the deal on the field.

This dichotomy was displayed perfectly on Saturday by Columbia's punt returner and Penn's backup fullback.

Columbia's Kenny Wood threw a tantrum when he was removed from the kickoff team early in the third quarter on Saturday.

The senior could be observed arguing vehemently with a coach and throwing a Gatorade cup in disgust.

At one point, he sprung up from the bench and tried to tear his shoulder pads off in defiance, but was restrained by teammates.

I'm not sure if he was furious at the coaches or at himself, but I'm sure the rest of the Lions shared his frustration. Wood was benched after his two special team blunders sunk Columbia's chance of competing.

The game was still very much in question after Penn went up 20-10 on their first drive of the second half, but Wood gave Penn the opportunity it needed.

The Red and Blue seized the miscues and shut the door on the Lions.

Kickoff specialist Roman Galas sent a ball to the Columbia goal line, and Wood was obviously confused after making the catch with one foot out of the end zone.

He touched the nose of the ball to the ground after looking at the official, nearly costing his team a safety. Instead, the Lions were pinned against their own goal line.

It took exactly one play for Penn safety Vince Alexander to grab his fourth interception in five games. The Quakers' offense only needed to cover two yards to make it 27-10.

Wood might have been able to make amends on the next kickoff, but Penn sophomore Matt Makovsky popped the ball out and the Red and Blue recovered. After a field goal and another touchdown, Penn led by 20 points and the game was as good as over.

"It seems like we got nothing but bad breaks to start the third quarter. It just wore us out," Columbia safety Philip Murray said.

"You can only fight so much to get back to where you were, before you realize that you're down by [27]."

It isn't the first time this season that the Lions have built up first-half momentum before deflating in the latter half of the game.

This has become Columbia's modus operandi after coughing up fourth quarter leads to Princeton and Lafayette.

The Lions will continue to search for an identity until they can prevent games from slipping through their fingers.

On the other sideline, Penn knows exactly how to slam the door on opponents.

After an unremarkable first half, the Red and Blue came out with guns blazing and proved that last week's rain-soaked loss at Villanova was a minor aberration.

Penn coach Al Bagnoli has trained his team to play a dynamic style of football to give his team an edge when games are close.

"Our team has been built on defense and turnovers and being opportunistic," Bagnoli said.

No one represented Penn's opportunism more than fullback Kevin DeSmedt. The sophomore was only handed the ball twice in the game, but both times he rumbled in for touchdowns.

DeSmedt certainly wasn't busy throwing a tantrum on the sidelines after doing exactly what was asked of him.

Neither was Alexander, who added two sacks with his interception to continue his remarkable defensive season.

That's why the Red and Blue are gathering momentum. They're playing exactly the kind of opportunistic football that they will need to top the other Ivy contenders on their quest to bring home a championship.

The big guns, namely Harvard and Princeton, are still to come for Penn. But if Saturday is any indication, the Quakers will give themselves plenty of chances to come out ahead.

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