Football: Sandberg may sit out at 'Nova

Joe Sandberg's hamstring injury in the opener against Lafayette could have been a costly one for Penn, depending on the evaluation.

And while the result wasn't all rosy for the Quakers, the team can breathe a deep sigh of relief.

"He didn't pull anything -- he just hasn't practiced much and his leg got fatigued," coach Al Bagnoli said yesterday. "He got bent back on one play and he kind of lost some flexibility. It got stiff and he lost a bit of strength in it."

While he may be physically able to run by this Saturday, don't expect to see Sandberg suit up against the Wildcats.

"We're obviously going to be very cautious with him," Bagnoli said. "If he's not 100 percent ready, we'll probably hold him out against Villanova."

Sandberg was in northern New Jersey with a massage therapist trying to loosen up his hammy yesterday. He will be reevaluated upon his return to practice this afternoon.

Bagnoli doesn't think this will be a long-term problem, but recently it has been for the first-team, All-Ivy selection.

"He hurt it over the summer, and then he came back, and then he re-tweaked it, and then he came back, and then he kind of tweaked it again and then he came back," Bagnoli said. "I think he's trying to rush it, so we're going to err on the side of caution."

Before his left hamstring injury, Sandberg had raked in 85 yards and a touchdown on only 17 carries.

Wynn some, lose some. For a guy who's only been a full-time cornerback for two years now, Chris Wynn looked like he was born to be in the secondary.

For the sophomore, who took over the starting job for senior Greg Ambrogi opposite Tyson Maugle, his opener was an eventful one.

"I was waiting for this day for a long time," Wynn said. With "the pregame emotions in the locker room, by the time for kickoff I was ready to go."

Wynn made two acrobatic interceptions - plus four tackles and a pass defended - against the then-No. 25 Leopards.

The first was made while diving over a fallen receiver to pick it off in at the end of the first half. The Penn offense had just turned it over, but Wynn's interception at the 23 maintained the tight lead. Early in the fourth quarter, he juggled one in a crowd of players before wrapping it up.

"He has played terrific, really from the latter part of his freshman year all the way through camp, all the way through that opening game, so hopefully that continues," Bagnoli said.

The sophomore played almost exclusively wide receiver in high school, and received little to no interest for his defensive skills.

"This was the only school that was recruiting me for DB," Wynn said. "It was a toss-up - the receivers' coach wanted me to be a receiver, and the d-backs coach wanted me as a d-back. And when the receivers coach left, [defensive coordinator Ray] Priore snagged me."

Wynn knows he needs to continue learning the defense and his position, but it's certainly working out well so far.

Phish Food or vanilla? A lot has been made of new coordinator Bill Schmitz's revamped offense, but 224 total yards wasn't exactly what Bagnoli had in mind.

Quarterback Robert Irvin barely had an opportunity to show off the speed he gained in the offseason. Backup running back Kelms Amoo-Achampong hardly had an opportunity to go anywhere other than straight into the pile. And there were no trick plays to be seen.

Bagnoli sees this as something the offense can change going into Week Two.

"We have to do a lot more camouflage, motion, shifting, trading --- we kind of went too generic," Bagnoli said. "It was the first game with a new system, a new coordinator, a quarterback who hasn't really had extensive experience within this system. A lot of those things led us to a more conservative approach than we'd ideally like."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.