VILLANOVA, Pa. - How did four Villanova defenders record their first career interceptions on Saturday?
Easy - they were in the zone.
Operating predominantly in a Cover 2 zone scheme, the Wildcats picked off seven passes that led to 27 of their points. Along with freshmen Anthony Johnson and John Dempsey, junior cornerback Salim Koroma and senior linebacker Darrel Young tallied their first career interceptions.
Although it only had four picks all of last year and hasn't had seven in a game since 1946, Villanova was able to confuse Penn's quarterbacks with its Cover 2 despite having used it sparingly in its previous three games this season.
While Penn coach Al Bagnoli said the Wildcats had "played everybody else Cover 3" and had been in Cover 3 early on during Saturday's game, the Wildcats would eventually switch exclusively to a Cover 2 look that often dropped eight men into coverage.
"They faked coming up, and they bailed and they were in Cover 2," Bagnoli said. "We kind of knew every snap."
Even though Bagnoli and his coaching staff adjusted their play-calling, quarterback Robert Irvin couldn't break down the different coverage scheme, which led to the turnover explosion.
The Cover 2, perhaps a more traditional formation than the Cover 3, keeps cornerbacks underneath along with the linebackers, and relies on the safeties to defend against the deep ball.
By contrast, the Cover 3 keeps just one safety back, while allowing the other to stay underneath, and allows the cornerbacks to drop back deeper than a Cover 2.
Irvin's interceptions seemed to occur underneath more frequently than anywhere else on the field.
Dempsey, whose two interceptions earned him a nod for Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week, will attest to that.
"[Villanova defensive coordinator Mark Reardon] kept preaching all game every time to get to our drops and good things will happen," he said. "I dropped out to the flat and the quarterback just laid it in there."
The Cover 2 has been called an extension of a "bend but don't break" defensive philosophy, but Penn couldn't even make Villanova budge.
Wildcats coach Andy Talley was planning on it being this difficult for the Quakers to crack the zone.
"When we drop eight, there aren't a lot of holes," he said, "and you really have to count on sticking the ball in there pretty good."
Neither Irvin nor platoon-mate Bryan Walker could do that this weekend. And Bagnoli isn't giving his squad the benefit of the doubt like Talley did.
The Penn coach knows that his team should have exploited the defense's soft spots and had plenty of opportunities to do it.
"It's not like people aren't open. The ball's not going to the right place and that's what's frustrating," Bagnoli said. "The progression's taking [the quarterback] to the wrong place, and I don't know why it's taking him to the wrong place. As sure as I'm sitting here, we had quite a few people open."
The Quakers offense will certainly be retooling this week in practice, and Irvin will be reviewing plenty of tape to see what went wrong.
Because if Penn opponents were paying any attention on Saturday, the Quakers will have to do something to prevent the Cover 2 from becoming their kryptonite.
