On Friday night, the Penn sprint football team was downright offensive.
After only managing six points last weekend at Navy, the Quakers (1-1) exploded out of the gate under the lights at Franklin Field and ended up trouncing Princeton, 44-0.
Senior quarterback James Donapel led the way with two touchdown passes and a dramatic 45-yard touchdown run, before Penn coach Bill Wagner decided to rest him in the third and fourth quarters to give freshman Mike Loguidice some time at the helm.
"I thought that our team was due to explode," Wagner said. "We've got guys that really can put points on the board."
Donapel's run got the scoring started within four minutes of the opening kickoff, and by halftime it was already 23-0.
"I'm going to have to watch [the run] on tape, because I was just kind of out there, seeing guys fly past me and trying to make some cuts," Donapel said. "Before I knew it, I was sprinting down the sideline into the end zone."
Wagner credited the offensive line for doing the bulk of the hard work in the victory.
"I have to get these linemen to block, block, block, block, fullback block, block, block, tight end block, block," he said. "By the end of the third quarter and then even when we had our second kids into the fourth quarter, they got some confidence."
Although the line got Wagner's support, the rest of the spotlight belonged to Donapel.
His 12-yard pass to junior Greg Bagnoli in the third quarter set the Penn all-time passing record.
Tommy Frankel had held the record for 20 years with 1,960 yards. By the time the game was over, Donapel's career passing mark stood a 1,972.
"I was trying not to focus on it too much and more focusing on getting our players to win," Donapel said. "So basically the record was kind of in the back of my mind until we were getting up by two TDs. Then it started to become more important."
Wagner called his quarterback "the Brett Favre of this league. He's got that mental toughness, he's quick, he can run the ball, but he also has a very strong arm."
Both Wagner and Donapel were satisfied with the offense's balance, especially with a crucial game at Army next up on Oct. 17.
"That's one of the things that we wanted to do, make sure that we got the offense clicking," Donapel said.
"Princeton is not Army, but I'm very proud of the way our kids handled themselves," Wagner said. "They didn't get out of hand, they showed a lot of class, and hopefully we'll bring that energy to West Point two weeks from now."
The margin of victory surprised Wagner somewhat.
"I didn't want it to be that big, really," he said. But Wagner added that "if we continue to improve on the offensive line, this team is going to be very good."
