When Mike Mitchell went down Saturday at Dartmouth, Penn football coach Al Bagnoli's heart may have temporarily stopped.
"It's the nature of the beast," Bagnoli said.
A Penn offense without prolific passer Mike Mitchell, who had already thrown for 337 yards when he hobbled off the field in the third quarter with a sprained left ankle, would not appear nearly as formidable to opposing defenses.
But heir apparent Pat McDermott entered the game and displayed poise on the cold and rainy day, completing 4-of-7 passes for 31 yards, including a five-yard touchdown pass to receiver Dan Castles at a key point in the fourth quarter.
"You don't expect your first game to be when your starting quarterback goes down and it's 50 degrees and pouring rain," McDermott said.
Saturday marked only the second time McDermott has seen the field at Penn (3-0, 1-0 Ivy). The first time was in the fourth quarter of a blowout victory against Duquesne -- Penn's first game of this season.
While Mitchell recovers from his ankle sprain, opportunity beckons for McDermott.
The inexperienced sophomore -- who rose from third-string to backup after junior Jack Phillips left the team in the preseason -- might have to direct the Penn offense on Saturday when the Quakers face Bucknell (3-2) at Franklin Field. Mitchell will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
While no one is questioning McDermott's talent, he is inexperienced.
"He has a very strong arm and a very quick release," Bagnoli said. "What you're giving away is 20 games of experience."
In fact, the sophomore's style in the pocket has drawn comparisons to his mentor.
"He has a very, very strong arm," Castles said. "He's very accurate. I think he's going to have no problem. They're both very similar. They're both gunslingers. They both have strong arms."
But despite McDermott's ability to burn holes in the chests of receivers during practice, his experience and lack of familiarity with the offense may force the Penn coaches to devise a new game plan.
According to Bagnoli, whether he changes his game plan is going to depend largely on how much McDermott "can digest" this week.
"As we go through practice, we're gonna feel for it," Bagnoli added. "If we have to make an adjustment, we will."
Bagnoli hopes to use his other offensive weapons to mitigate the lofty challenge McDermott faces. This will likely result in an increased emphasis on the running game.
"We're going to try to take a little bit of the burden off of him and put it on the offensive line, the running backs and wide receivers, or on the defense," Bagnoli said.
McDermott also believes that the Quakers will turn to running backs Sam Mathews and Michael Recchiuti to help offset Mitchell's absence.
"We'll look to run the ball a little bit more," McDermott said. "I'm still going to have to throw the ball and still going to have to execute."
Penn's players and coaches appear confident that, despite lacking game experience, McDermott has the tools to do just that.
"We have a lot of confidence he can throw the ball," Bagnoli said. "He's an athletic kid. He was recruited for a reason. When your time comes, you've got to step up and play. We're very confident he'll step up and do a nice job Saturday."
And Mitchell has been instructing the apprentice all week during practice.
"Any time I have a problem, I go up to Mike," McDermott said. "He tells me what to look for."
As the Quakers prepare for Bucknell on Saturday, they have united behind their quarterback as he prepares for a defining game in his fledgling career.
"I'm starting to get a lot more comfortable with things," McDermott said."I step in and it's almost like Mike never left. You can't replace Mike Mitchell. But once I went in, the guys hopped right behind me and we went on our way."
And McDermott's supportive coach and teammates can only hope that he plays as if Mitchell never left.
