Derek Zoch -- and the rest of the Penn placekickers last year -- have had their struggles well documented.
Evan Nolan, Peter Stine, Bryan Arguello and Zoch combined to hit only seven of their 20 field goal attempts and missed four of 29 extra points in 2004.
But for at least one afternoon, Zoch made last season a distant memory.
He hit all five extra points and both field goals that he attempted against Duquesne on Saturday, from 36 and 38 yards out.
Zoch's 2004 statistics as a whole were not quite as bad as the rest of the kicking quartet's, going 2-for-5 on field goals and 6-for-7 on extra points.
And as far as he is concerned, last year has no effect on him.
"I've always been pretty confident," Zoch said when asked how the perfect afternoon against the Dukes will help his confidence in the future.
However, he cannot deny the importance of a good start to the season.
"It really helped. It did," Zoch said.
Penn coach Al Bagnoli also credited long snapper Steve Flisler and holder Scotty Williams for making the kicking game as successful as it was.
There were a couple of poor snaps, but Williams handled them very well.
Bagnoli also said that Zoch was aided by the fact that he had a year of experience under the belt and that he is no longer competing for his job.
As for distance, Zoch said that he feels confident that he could make up to a 58-yard field goal. The 38-yarder against the Dukes was his longest in his career.
What about a 45-yarder with the game on the line?
"Absolutely, 100 percent."
Bagnoli was somewhat more conservative in his estimates, saying that he would have no problem putting Zoch out there for a 45-yard kick, minimum.
As for his trust in his kicker, Bagnoli said that he is "pretty confident," with Zoch in a clutch situation.
Passing improvement
By his own admission, quarterback Pat McDermott did not have a good game against Duquesne, despite throwing for three touchdowns. He made some poor throws and seemed to be somewhat anxious.
McDermott says that he needed to "do some practicing at game speed."
He also focused on "going through [his] reads a little better and not rushing things."
Bagnoli also said that McDermott was to hyped up and tried to make every throw at "150 miles per hour," but that the coaching staff is trying to get him to settle down and take his time.
Saturday against Villanova, McDermott says that he and the offense are "definitely going to have to score" for Penn to come out on top.
"It should be a good test this weekend," he added.
Offensive threats
Bagnoli has four running backs that all have the potential to make an impact on the team. However, only two -- Sam Mathews and Joe Sandberg -- got significant playing time against Duquesne.
The other two, Von Bryant and Kyle Ambrogi, played mostly in the fourth quarter.
"It's hard to get equal number of carries for four different guys," Bagnoli said.
However, he is thankful for the depth at the position.
At wide receiver, there were similar questions but for different reasons -- instead of an abundance of experience there were several players without any.
After one week, both McDermott and Bagnoli said it was hard to judge who could replace Dan Castles as a go-to receiver, but that Dan McDonald and Matt Carre stood out some.
McDonald caught the game's opening touchdown, and Carre caught two others.
Bagnoli said that the difference between this year's crop and the year when Castles became the go-to guy is that Castles was already starting for two years before he became the top receiver.
Roster shuffling
Several members of the initial Penn roster have left the team for various reasons.
Freshman tight end Andrew Thurston had shoulder surgery, senior wide receiver Kevin Barr badly pulled a hamstring and freshman defensive back Tony Moses has a neck injury.
Also, three walk-ons left the team -- sophomore defensive lineman Len DeMalto, junior defensive back Matt McConville and junior fullback Sean Goodbody.
Junior tight end Mike Carley also left the team for undisclosed reasons.
