It's rare that a victory is a wake-up call, but that's exactly what happened to the football team when it narrowly escaped losing to perennial Ivy pushover Dartmouth two weeks ago.
But after closing out its non-conference schedule with a decisive win against Bucknell on Saturday, it was clear that Penn had responded. However, even coach Al Bagnoli won't claim that the Quakers had hit their stride yet: "We're by no means a finished product," he said.
Offensive gaffes
Despite taking a 27-10 lead after three quarters against Bucknell, the Quakers had to hold their breath a few times after some miscues on offense.
Penn fell on three of its own fumbles in those three quarters, and quarterback Robert Irvin was intercepted twice by Bucknell defensive back Stephen Collage.
The 32-yard return following the first pick set up a Bison touchdown, and the second happened in Bucknell's end zone, halting a Penn drive at the end of the second half.
And all of this before the second-stringers entered the game.
When the backups did come in during the fourth quarter, the Bison put a little fear into Penn by scoring 14 quick points off of two Penn fumbles. Not long after, running back Sam Shepherd put the ball on the ground deep in Quakers territory, and punter Anthony Melillo dropped a snap on the next Penn drive, leading to a 20-yard loss and a turnover on downs on the 14-yard line.
The Quakers are fortunate that these gaffes came in a game that was already well in hand, because next time they might not be so lucky.
"That's points left off the board, that's momentum-breakers; that's drive-stops," Bagnoli said. "We have to do a much better job of protecting the football.
Just kickin' it
One reason the Quakers were able to put Melillo's fumble behind them was Melillo himself.
Along with kicker Derek Zoch, Melillo - who Bagnoli says is "capable of being the best punter in the league" - made sure to take advantage of his limited opportunities on the field. He averaged a whopping 38.3 yards per punt, including a long of 44 yards.
Zoch also came through, making all six of his kicks. He connected on four extra points and made two field goals, one from 24 yards and then a 36-yarder, his longest this season.
Both Bagnoli and Zoch think he may be past his early-season troubles.
"Every day is a new day," Zoch said. "When things get hard, you've just got to stay positive."
Back-stoppers
The Penn defense takes pride in its ability to stop the run, but few could have predicted the type of success it had against the Bucknell offense, which lives and dies by its running game.
On Saturday, the Bison died by it - the Quakers held them to 2.2 yards per carry and didn't allow starting running back A.J. Kizekai to ever settle in.
Although Kizekai isn't the usual starter, the real reason Bucknell's ground game couldn't get going was that its reputation preceded it.
"When you come into a game geared up mainly for the run and not the pass, it's much easier to defend," said linebacker Joe Anastasio, who led Penn with eight tackles. "That just makes our job easier."
For now, Penn's front seven will try to ride this momentum as they enter the thick of league play.
"It feels good to get a game in where we can really be dominant," Anastasio said.
"And it feels good going into the rest of the season . that we've got some confidence to go on."
