EASTON, Pa. - How Robert Irvin would perform in his collegiate debut was almost as big a question as whether he would be the one lining up under center on Saturday. He answered both questions - not just by winning the starting job (several weeks ago, according to coach Al Bagnoli), but by earning the right to keep it.
A matchup against No. 22 Lafayette was his trial by fire - with Bryan Walker, a junior quarterback with game experience, waiting to step in should Irvin succumb to the pressure. As if that wasn't enough, he would be competing opposite Brad Maurer, a proven winner at the quarterback position for the Leopards.
But while Maurer may have put up the gaudy numbers, it was Irvin who ended up on the winning side. "Robert came out strong and he stepped up," said senior running back Joe Sandberg, who had a big game of his own with 166 yards on the ground.
He was able to step up in such a big way in part because of a strong supporting cast that allowed him to step back and do his job.
The senior-laden offensive line was outstanding, allowing just one sack. Irvin also got several key blocks from Sandberg and sophomore Kelms Amoo-Achampong at the tailback position.
"I really didn't feel much pressure at all when I dropped back," Irvin said. "And then having Joe back there just scaring them - . moving the chains makes it that much easier."
On what proved to be one of the game's key drives, Irvin calmly marched the Quakers down the field as the first half was winding down. Deep in Leopards territory, Irvin got the ball out of bounds on short passes to stop the clock twice, and several plays later, he finished the job himself on a one-yard keeper.
That put the score at 14-3, a deficit that Lafayette could not surmount.
"Robert, for his first game, I thought, really played with a tremendous amount of poise and will do nothing but continue to get better," Bagnoli said, continuing: "I thought some of our young receivers did a really nice job of making some good catches."
Junior wideout Dan Coleman, for one, caught five passes for 85 yards in his first collegiate game - including two huge plays on that second-quarter drive. And classmate Braden Lepisto added 37 yards receiving, more than half of his production last year.
All without a single turnover.
More than anything else, Irvin made the plays when it mattered - the Quakers scored two more touchdowns than their opponents despite losing the battle for time of possession.
Consider the performance of Maurer, Irvin's counterpart. With 286 yards passing and 27 rushing, he clearly had the better statistical game. (Irvin tallied 182 yards in the air and a loss of a yard on the ground.)
After a series of double-digit gains and an illegal formation penalty left the Penn defense reeling, the game looked like it might turn into a shootout.
But Maurer bobbled a snap deep in the red zone, and the sack he unwisely took undid much of the work of his vaunted offense.
Irvin, on the other hand, led Penn right down the field on the first drive of the game and set up a short touchdown run by Sandberg. "After that first drive," Sandberg said, "we knew we could hang with these guys."
And after this, the Quakers' first win since beating Yale last October, they should also know that they have a quarterback who has played opposite one of the best around, and won.
