In a season marked by struggles in the kicking game and the emergence of junior quarterback Pat McDermott, the Penn defense has seemingly stayed on the periphery of events.
And that's a good thing.
Sometimes, a team needs its defense to lead the path to victory. Penn's 14-3 victory over Columbia on Saturday was a reminder that when Pat McDermott and Sam Mathews have off days, the Quakers have a very good defense to fall back on.
Penn held the Lions to just 236 yards of total offense, and limited Columbia's two biggest offensive threats, tight end Wade Fletcher and wide receiver Brandon Bowser, to 86 combined receiving yards.
But the defense's biggest contributions came when the game was on the line.
The Lions were able to move the ball with relative frequency in between the two 20-yard lines. But, in what has become the signature of the 2004 Columbia football team, the Lions failed to punch it in for a score.
Columbia quarterback Jeff Otis had led the Lions on a 75-yard drive down to the Penn 5-yard line. But on third down, Otis threw a fade to Fletcher that was broken up by senior cornerback Duvol Thompson. The Lions missed a field goal on the next play, wasting their best opportunity to score in the first half.
"That's what makes Penn good, right there," Columbia coach Bob Shoop said. "Duvol Thompson's a really good player. He lines up against Wade Fletcher and he knows they're running a fade. Rather than play the blame game, I'd choose to say that Duvol Thompson covered that very, very well S that's why they're good. They make plays when you gotta make plays."
The Quakers' defense knew of Columbia's red-zone struggles. But Ray Priore's unit made sure to concentrate on its own play, rather than the scouting report on its opponent.
"When you go in to play an opponent, you don't want to look at their record," Penn senior defensive end Michael Sangobowale said. "You go full speed. It doesn't matter who you're playing. We're more concerned about ourselves and what we're supposed to do."
Sangobowale typifies the ethos of the Penn defense: tough, intelligent and humble.
Against Columbia on Saturday, Sangobowale had eight total tackles, and while he did not record a sack, he harassed Otis all afternoon. Sangobowale was also credited with three-and-a-half tackles for a loss for 14 yards.
Despite the fact that the defensive unit is very experienced, it is actually improving from week to week. This is a defense that has had to adjust to the loss of one of its leaders in senior linebacker Ric San Doval, who has been out all year with a knee injury.
Quakers coach Al Bagnoli, who admitted after the game that San Doval will probably miss the entire season, praised the play of his replacement, sophomore Kory Gedin. The transfer from North Carolina has started to take on some of San Doval's responsibilities, including splitting the defensive signal-calling with senior linebacker Luke Hadden.
"We put a lot of pressure on Kory Gedin," Bagnoli said. "And he is playing remarkably well. In the short term it's hurting us, but in the long term it may turn out to be a pretty good thing."
Sangobowale believes that his unit has adjusted without San Doval in the lineup.
"It is getting better," he said. "I think Kory and Luke have done a real good job of stepping up, getting the calls out a little faster and showing a little bit more leadership out there as they get more comfortable out there."
On a sloppy day at Franklin Field, it is a good sign for the Quakers that their defense is getting comfortable. As the Red and Blue face the better teams in the Ivy League in the second half of the season, they will need the defense to be playing at a high level. It seems to be gelling at exactly the right time.
