Conventional wisdom says that successful football teams establish their running game and then open it up through the air when opposing defenses have to commit more defenders up front to stop the run. Over the last several seasons, the Penn football team has won almost all of its games by doing exactly the reverse.
By passing early and often, the Quakers ran up big leads during the first two years of their 20-game Ivy League winning streak, with proven leader Mike Mitchell at the helm for every league win in 2002 and 2003. Only then did the Red and Blue turn extensively to the running game. Under this system, Penn averaged 170.8 rushing yards per game last season. Sam Mathews himself averaged 126.6 per contest in his first season in Philadelphia.
This year, however, things have been very different for the Quakers. Their rushing attack has only netted 134.2 yards per game, which is only fourth in the Ancient Eight. Mathews has only gained 710 yards on the ground this year, down from his total of 1,161 through nine games last year, or about 50 yards per game.
A large reason behind Mathews' struggle is Penn's inability to put teams away early with the passing game. Under Mitchell, the Red and Blue forced opponents to drop six or seven players into pass coverage, allowing Mathews to take advantage of the depleted front line.
But with the inexperienced Pat McDermott starting at quarterback for Penn this season, and then the even more inexperienced Bryan Walker taking his place, opponents have forced the quarterbacks to beat them, and dedicated their defenses to stopping Mathews.
"They're seeing a young quarterback and they're saying 'we're not going to let the proven tailback beat us. We're going to put seven or eight guys in the box and force the quarterback to beat us,'" Penn head coach Al Bagnoli said. "As of yet, we can't consistently throw the ball well enough."
Most likely Walker will be out there again trying to beat Cornell on Saturday, as Bagnoli said McDermott was "doubtful" for the game.
As for Mathews, Bagnoli said that there is a combination of factors that have limited his effectiveness this season. He now comes to expect facing seven or eight players in the box.
"One thing that you really try to do is try to run hard, because you know you're going to have to break a couple of tackles as you get to the line of scrimmage," Bagnoli said.
Mathews also said he knows that the passing game is the key to opening up running holes.
But so far this year, McDermott and Walker have not shown the consistency necessary to force defenses to use more players in pass coverage.
JUST AS THE Quakers' running game has declined, opponents have been able to run the ball against them with surprising efficiency.
In 2002, Penn allowed 91.8 rushing yards per game, and last season allowed 122.3. This year, however, the Quakers have allowed 133.1 yards per game. And this statistic does not convey Penn's slide in the last few weeks. In their last four games, the Quakers have allowed an average of 200.5 yards per game on the ground. This has included 167 yards from Yale's Robert Carr, 176 from Brown's Nick Hartigan and 161 from Harvard's Clifton Dawson.
A large part of it has to do with the aforementioned names. There are some very skilled running backs in the Ivy League, and they have taken advantage of all the Ancient Eight's defenses, not just Penn's.
According to Bagnoli, one of the biggest factors behind the running explosion by the Quakers' opponents has been their own lack of offensive success.
"As long as you keep the score close, people are running their conventional offense," he said. "So instead of having 30 rushes out there, now they're having 50-52."
This then contributes to wear and tear on the defensive line, and leads to even more trouble stopping the run in the next game. Each week, the Quakers have allowed numerous yards after the point of first contact, something directly creditable to fatigue.
However, Penn's opponents have not rushed a significantly larger number of times per game this year than in the past. In fact, this year's squad has allowed three fewer rushes (31.6) per game than last year's had.
So in addition to the individual talents and fatigue, there must be another reason Ivy League running backs have been having field days with the Quakers' defense.
The answer could very well be found in opponents' game plans. Opponents saw something that was working for Yale in Penn's 17-7 win four weeks ago in New Haven, Conn. Since that game, they have mirrored the Elis' successful running attack.
"Since that game, teams have been using similar plays that Yale used against us," Penn defensive tackle Michael Sangobowale said.
He specifically mentioned the draw play out of the shotgun formation as one play that has been giving the Quakers fits. Sangobowale also said that at times, these plays have caught the Quakers out of position, leading to big gains. He added that the continued use of the same plays by teams that do not ordinarily use them has really surprised the Red and Blue defense.
"It's not something that we've been used to," he said.
DESPITE THESE struggles, the Quakers can still clinch a share of the Ivy League title with a win on Saturday and a Harvard loss to Yale in "The Game," in which anything could happen.
It would be the first split title in the Ancient Eight since Yale and Brown shared the crown in 1999.
Even if the championship comes by way of a split, the Quakers will view it basically the same way as last year's outright title.
"An Ivy League championship's an Ivy League championship," Sangobowale said.
"You obviously don't want to lose a game, especially in the league, but being part of a championship is still good," Mathews added.
Bagnoli said that considering that many viewed this year as a rebuilding year for Penn, a tie for the Ivy championship would be great.
"Are we going to be disappointed that we tied when we had the player of the year graduate and six offensive linemen graduate and 11 first-team all-league kids graduate?" Bagnoli said. "I won't be."
IF THE QUAKERS beat the Big Red on Saturday, it will mark an even more successful career for this year's senior class than that of last year's.
The class of 2004 went 34-5 overall, 26-2 in the Ivy League. With a career-ending victory, the class of 2005 will also finish 26-2 in conference play, but will be 35-4 overall.
