LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Last October against Bucknell, an unknown quarterback from Yonkers, N.Y., made his first collegiate start.
On Saturday, that quarterback, Penn's Pat McDermott, celebrated his one-year journey from obscure backup to Ivy League stardom.
And what better way to celebrate this occasion than by putting up career highs in almost every statistical category. McDermott's 55 attempts, 32 completions and 384 passing yards are all personal bests in his three years at Penn.
His ability to find receivers, nine different Quakers to be exact, showed a definite maturity, not just from last year's game against Bucknell, but also from games played earlier this year against San Diego and Villanova.
But McDermott also proved his worth on the ground.
The junior had two crucial rushing touchdowns.
The first came with just 18 seconds left in the first half, pulling Penn within one score of Bucknell, 14-9, and giving the Quakers needed momentum heading into halftime.
McDermott's second rushing touchdown came in the second overtime period and eventually proved to be the game-winner.
The sheer fact that Penn coach Al Bagnoli let McDermott throw the ball 55 times -- more times than Penn attempted in any one game last season -- demonstrates the amount of confidence Bagnoli has developed in his quarterback in such a short amount of time.
Last year against the Bison, the Penn coach ran the ball 45 times to put as little pressure as possible on his first-time starting quarterback.
McDermott was starting in place of injured quarterback Mike Mitchell. The eventual Ivy League Player of the Year in 2003, Mitchell sat out against Bucknell after spraining his ankle the week before at Dartmouth.
McDermott was able to show glimpses of greatness to come in his limited duties as signal caller.
He led the Quakers on a 75-yard drive late in the second quarter, capping it off with a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sam Mathews.
McDermott finished the day passing 11-for-22, with 136 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The Penn starter's success this Saturday not only represents a marked improvement from last season, but also from Penn's first two games of this season.
In the Quakers' opener at San Diego, a 61-18 win, McDermott completed less than half of his passes -- 13-for-27 -- for two touchdowns.
He struggled to find continued success against a weak Toreros defense. It took until the third quarter for McDermott to complete two consecutive passes on the same drive, something he would do only once all game.
In contrast, it took McDermott less than two minutes Saturday to record two consecutive completions. McDermott would do this six times in total.
Against a much tougher Villanova defense, McDermott would struggle again. He completed less than a third of his passes -- throwing 10-for-31 for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
However, if you subtract his 103 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against Villanova, McDermott's stats were even more abysmal.
Against Bucknell, however, McDermott was hot from the get-go.
He completed seven of his first 12 passes for 74 yards.
And when Penn needed McDermott most Saturday, in the second overtime, he responded, completing two crucial first-down passes before running in the game-winner.
