Football Notebook | Who wants the rock?

The Joe Sandberg Era is officially over in the Penn backfield. But the mourning period is long over, and the first touch is less than three weeks away for the former all-Ivy running back's heir apparent.

Or, perhaps more accurately, his heir apparents.

Prior to preseason practices, sophomore Mike DiMaggio seemed like the sure successor - he performed more than admirably in Sandberg's place at the end of last season, taking home Ivy Rookie of the Week honors twice.

But the race now seems to be a dead heat between DiMaggio and his classmate Bradford Blackmon.

In the end, a tandem scheme is the most likely option.

"They're two distinctly different types of backs," said coach Al Bagnoli, who insisted there was no frontrunner in the competition. "I think we've got a really nice one-two that hopefully are gonna cause people some problems."

The bulkier DiMaggio, who seems to be a Sandberg clone right down to his New Jersey roots, may be the more prototypical Penn back.

But the athletic Blackmon - who has "great vision and cut-back ability," according to Bagnoli - could be a sleeper pick to carry the Quakers' running game. And if that's the case, he'll certainly be prepared.

"I worked pretty hard over the summer," Blackmon said. "I think I'd be ready to step it up."

Big shoes to fill. Last year's experienced offensive line was a cornerstone of the squad, but with nearly a half ton's worth of starting linemen graduated, Bagnoli had to deal with three huge holes.

Tackle Will Milne, guard Jesse Rigler and center Brian Brazinski have all departed, but senior guard Chris Kovalcik and junior tackle Matt Schaefer remain. Beyond that, a grab bag of linemen will be thrown into the mix.

"We lost some experience; you like to think you have some talented kids behind them," Bagnoli said. "We've had a whole different combination of things [on the offensive line]."

According to Bagnoli, Guillermo Ruffolo and Joseph D'Orazio have taken snaps at center; Drew Luongo, Jared Mollenbeck and Hughes Tipton are working at the tackle position, with Tyler Anthony seeing reps as well.

"They're a little bit young and not as cohesive as they will be, but they've done a pretty nice job, and we're cautiously optimistic," Bagnoli said.

Injury bugs. Among those who were held out of practice yesterday were DiMaggio (ankle), cornerback Tyson Maugle (heel) and quarterback Robert Irvin (sore arm), who were all nursing minor ailments.

Irvin and DiMaggio are being held out merely as precautions, but Maugle has been out of practice for a few days.

More serious was the neck injury to sophomore offensive lineman Brandon Kim.

"We're still waiting to figure out what the hell that is," Bagnoli said.

On a stranger note, there is the condition of defensive lineman Josh Neubert, who has suffered a mysterious food allergy.

The Boston College transfer was expected to be a contributor on the Penn defensive line this year, but he's been out of commission.

Neubert is "getting a biopsy today to change his diet around," Bagnoli said. "We've had a couple weird scenarios that we're trying to work through."

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