NEW YORK--When Joe Sandberg received his 22nd and final handoff, he finished off one of the best performances of his career. It was fourth down and he needed only one yard, but he got 13, enough for his fourth score of the game.
The tailback ended the day with 197 yards, an average of just under nine per carry. Columbia, meanwhile, had eight rushing yards-total-for the entire game.
Penn was able to ride its offensive and defense lines, along with Sandberg's carries, to an easy 59-28 victory over Columbia.
It was the most points they have ever scored against the Lions, whom they have been playing since the first Gilded Age. And it matched Penn's highest offensive output against any League team during Al Bagnoli's sixteen-year tenure.
"Overall, we've gotten better, and that's what I wanted to do," Bagnoli said. "We're playing a little closer to where I think we should be, and I think we've taken another step."
One week after putting up 35 points in the first half against a struggling Georgetown squad, Penn came out of the gate even stronger, putting together a 45-7 lead at half.
But there was still a time when the outcome was up in the air. Late in the first quarter, the Lions lined up for a 45-yard field goal attempt down just 10-7.
But Jon Rocholl's thigh-high kick never made it passed the line of scrimmage. Safety Jordan Manning picked up the loose ball and returned it 62-yards into the endzone, and the rest of the game was a decidedly one-sided affair.
"It was a big play in the game," Lions coach Norries Wilson said. "You would hope that we could tackle the ball, and not watch right there. Or dive on the football. But that didn't happen."
Not much did go his way during that first half. Penn successfully integrated its passing and rushing attacks en route to scoring on almost every offensive possession. Bagnoli was hungry for points, though.
Already up by 31 with a minute left before halftime, he opted to march downfield. Quarterback Bryan Walker hit wideout Dan Coleman three times before hooking up with Braden Lepisto on the leftside of the endzone as time expired.
Walker was comfortable in his second start, assuming the duties after Robert Irvin's season-ending shoulder injury. Walker completing 14 of 19 first half attempts for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
"Now that we're more settled at quarterback, we can do different things that are more to Bryan's strength," Bagnoli said. "As a result we're a little bit more cohesive. We're certainly a lot more efficient than we were in the first couple of weeks."
And the Lions could not get anything going offensively, save for the single biggest play of the game. Facing a third and 21 from his own 9 yard line, Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann saw the pocket collapse around him. But he stepped up, and although he was hit from behind just after he threw, he still got off a bomb downfield to wideout Austin Knowlinn. The ball traveled about 50 yards through the air, and after Knowlin caught it a step ahead of the last defender, be brought it down to the Penn 1 for a 90-yard play. Columbia pounded the ball in on the ensuing first down for their lone first-have score.
But their other first-half drives went as follows: 3-and-out, blocked field goal, punt, interception, interception, and a turnover on downs.
Wilson was not happy with his playcaller's performance.
"You have to play confident all the time at quarterback," Wilson said. "You saw some of that confidence in the second half when we were down 45-7 and it looked like we could move the ball down the field like we were actually coached. I didn't see that confidence when it was 7-7."
Bagnoli also credited his linebackers, who were able to consistently get to Hormann, sacking him three times, forcing three fumbles, and making him uncomfortable.
"I think [Hormann] is the best in this league at stepping up. He buys time, and he buys time, and he buys time," Bagnoli said. "We tried to make sure that we collapsed the pocked, so when he stood up we at least had some pressure, so he couldn't drill the ball."
Not even New England Patriots owner (and Columbia alumnus) Robert Kraft-for whom the Lions' playing field was renamed on Saturday following his $5 million donation-could generate enough magic for the Lions to overcome the giant first-half hole they dug themselves.
Wilson said he told his team in the lockerroom at halftime that it was still his intent to win the game-"and that wasn't just lipservice." But while Columbia played better against a relaxed Penn defense, scoring touchdowns on their first three drives, it was much too little too late. Sandberg added that final touchdown, and Tyler Fisher's 96-yard kickoff return put the icing on the cake.
The Quakers will storm into their contest against preseason favorite Yale with tremendous momentum, albeit from weaker opponents. But Bagnoli didn't want to think about next week's matchup.
"How about if we enjoy this win before you ask us about defending [Mike McLeod]?" Bagnoli asked, rhetorically. "We had enough trouble defending Columbia's guy, let's worry about Yale's guy later on."
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