Facing a Princeton team featuring the league's most dominant defensive back, and themselves led by a quarterback taking his first snaps in two weeks, the Quakers had a lot to worry about in the passing game on Saturday.
The results ranged from good to bad to very ugly.
The good was 229 passing yards and some critical third-down conversions. The bad was Pat McDermott's 45 percent completion percentage.
And the ugly -- four interceptions and a terrible beginning and end -- ultimately made the difference in Princeton's 30-13 win on Saturday.
The theme throughout -- from McDermott's 0-for-3 first quarter to his 1-for-6 fourth -- was Penn's inability to be effective in the deep passing game.
In passes thrown under 18 yards, McDermott was 18-for-28, with one interception and a touchdown pass to Dan McDonald. In passes thrown 18 or more yards downfield, he went 0-for-12 with three interceptions.
Princeton senior defensive back Jay McCareins played an extraordinary game on pass coverage. The Ivy League leader in interceptions recorded his sixth pick of the year, broke up two passes and came close to another interception but was ruled out of bounds.
McCareins attributed his team's effort in the secondary to extensive film sessions after recent breakdowns.
"We made some mistakes in coverage the last couple of games," he said. "We knew they were going to pick on us; they're an aggressive team. We just made the right decisions this week."
While some teams approach a talented cornerback differently, the Quakers did not shy away from No. 16 -- the brother of Jets wide receiver Justin McCareins.
"We went after him early," McDermott said. "And he made some really good plays on the ball."
Part of the reason Penn could not hide from McCareins was the man playing opposite him -- Tim Strickland -- who made the Tigers' first two interceptions of the day, both late in the second quarter.
Other than a quick slant that went off the fingertips of Matt Carre and into the hands of McCareins, all of McDermott's picks came on the deep ball.
The four interceptions give him nine for the season, tying him for the third most in the league, behind Harvard's Liam O'Hagan and Yale's Jeff Mroz.
After the game, coach Al Bagnoli stressed that the turnover battle on both sides of the ball have not been going in his team's favor.
After six games, Penn stood at plus-5 in the turnover margin, but now have forced just one more turnover -- 16 -- than they have coughed up.
