The Daily Pennsylvanian
NEW YORK -- It was with thoughts of fallen teammate Kyle Ambrogi that Penn took the field on Saturday to play with emotion, anger and purpose -- the very specific purpose of earning a win in their teammate's honor.
A clear goal in mind, the Quakers could not and would not let their former teammate down. Penn emerged with a decisive 44-16 victory over Columbia in New York.
"Our kids were on a mission," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "And I just give them a tremendous amount of credit for being able to hang in there under the ultimate distress. I'm not sure we are ever going to replace Kyle and I think the best thing we could do is to come up here and try to get a 'W.'"
At its homecoming, Columbia (2-3, 0-2 Ivy) fell behind early in the game and never recovered. Penn (4-1, 2-0) jumped into the lead early in the first quarter when running back Sam Mathews put the Quakers on the board first. Mathews, who tallied 155 yards in 21 carries, recorded a second touchdown for Penn just five minutes later.
The Quakers opened the second quarter with a 14-0 lead over the Lions. Electrified by an emotional week following Ambrogi's tragedy, an angry and passionate Penn offense continued to pound the struggling Lions.
"That was my hope: that once the game started, hopefully we were going to be an angry team," Bagnoli said. "Angry at ... the lack of rationale at how something like this could happen, and [we would] play angry and play emotional and I think we did that."
Quarterback Pat McDermott led a 92-yard drive that ended when he found tight end Chris Mizell for a touchdown with five minutes remaining in the second quarter; it was the third touchdown in three games for Mizell, who had never scored for the Quakers prior to this season.
Columbia kicker Jon Rocholl finally put his team on the board with a 47-yard field goal to end the first half. But it was too little, too late. At their first opportunity -- in the opening minute of second-half play -- the Quakers responded to the field goal when McDermott threw a pass to receiver Dan McDonald on Penn's third play of the quarter. The Lions' cornerback and safety covering McDonald collided, allowing McDonald to snatch the ball and go the 80 yards to the end zone.
"We can't have our free safety and our corner run into each other when we are double-covering a wide receiver and have him run 80 yards for a touchdown," Columbia head coach Bob Shoop said.
Columbia errors or not, the Quakers were already set upon a victory -- and this time it was about more than just another conference win en route to an Ivy League title. "Everyone tries to play with a purpose," senior linebacker Ric San Doval said. "When something like [Ambrogi's death] occurs -- it is a purpose."
Under the leadership of San Doval and others, the defense had affirmed its position as one of the strongest in the Ivy League last week when it silenced non-conference opponent Bucknell. The defense continued to dominate on Saturday, holding the Lions to an average of less than a yard per carry. Defensive back Doug Middleton scored for Penn late in the fourth quarter when he picked up a Columbia onside kick and ran for a 43-yard touchdown.
But it was the Penn offense that, with the presence and returning health of go-to running backs Joe Sandberg and Mathews, really stepped into the spotlight with a refreshed rushing game.
"We were disappointed in our rushing after last weekend," Bagnoli said. "We've been somewhat hindered by injuries and we don't want to use that as an excuse, but clearly for the first time in a long time we had Joe [Sandberg] and Sam [Mathews] really healthy.
After sitting out last weekend against Bucknell, Sandberg jumped back into play and came up big for the Quakers. He ran 21 yards for a touchdown five minutes into the second half and earned a staggering 11.9 average yards per carry.
