With little over five minutes remaining in the first quarter of the game against Yale, a collective gasp could be heard from the Penn sideline.
As senior quarterback Pat McDermott ran to the sideline, Yale defensive back Andrew Butler hit him on the shoulder and was flagged for a personal foul.
That seemingly insignificant play could loom large for the rest of the season, as McDermott was unable to continue and was replaced by sophomore Bryan Walker.
The second stringer led the Quakers to a resounding 38-21 win and drew praise from head coach Al Bagnoli.
"Bryan came in, our quarterback went down, [and] played very, very solidly," he said.
On an afternoon when the rain was relentless, Walker completed 10 of 20 passes, including two touchdown strikes.
His stat line might have been better if a wet ball had not caused a few errant passes and dropped balls. Walker, however, discounted the effects of the slippery ball.
"I think it was a little bit [of a factor]," he said. "But we kind of try to keep the mindset that rain or shine we're going to run our offense."
Yale head coach Jack Siedlecki said that Walker did just enough to put the Quakers in a position to win.
"Obviously he was efficient," Siedlecki said. "They made a couple of big plays."
Indeed, the Quakers relied on their usual formula of success, mixing a strong running game with several long passes.
With 2:16 remaining in the first quarter, Walker found running back Joe Sandberg in the middle of the field. Sandberg bounced off two Elis defenders to transform the reception into a 48-yard touchdown.
Then, 3:49 before halftime, Walker found wide receiver Matt Carre in stride on a slant pattern. Carre ran unmolested into the end zone for a 29-yard score.
Walker seemed unfazed relieving McDermott and credited his 66 pass attempts against Harvard and Cornell last season as preparation for Saturday.
"[Last year] definitely helped give me an idea of what it's like from high school to college," Walker said. "But at the same time, week to week there's been practice. Coach has always stressed that it is only one play away and he's done a good job of keeping me ready."
Walker may have to be ready again next weekend for the Red and Blue's contest against Brown in Providence, R.I., as Bagnoli was unsure of McDermott's status.
"Right now, from the best we can guess, it's a first degree, slight shoulder sprain," Bagnoli said. "There's no break, no collar bone problems, none of that."
Though Bagnoli confirmed that X-rays on McDermott's shoulder came back negative, he said that the senior was unable to throw during the game and wouldn't guess whether McDermott would be ready for Brown.
If Walker does start against the Bears, he will be able to build on his solid performance against Yale, as well as his experience in last year's de facto Ivy League championship game against Harvard.
Amidst a cloud of uncertainty, how the quarterback situation might affect the 2005 Quakers' title aspirations remains to be seen.
