Football Notebook | Wide is the new Blackmon

When crafting his offense this preseason, Penn coach Al Bagnoli conceived of a backfield that utilized the shifty Bradford Blackmon in tandem with the powerful Mike DiMaggio.

"I think we've got a really nice one-two that hopefully are gonna cause people some problems," Bagnoli said in early September.

Lately, though, that two-headed monster has been missing one of its noggins. Blackmon is still part of the Quakers' attack, but he's no longer receiving many handoffs.

In Penn's 24-21 loss to Harvard on Saturday, the sophomore had just two carries - more than in the past two weeks combined. Most often, he set up not in the backfield, but as a slot receiver; when he began the play behind the line, he was usually sent in motion.

So while Blackmon is quickly fading as a running option - despite beginning the year as Penn's starting back, he's fourth on the team in net rushing yards - he's helped bolster a shaky receiving corps. He hauled in two passes on Saturday to give him 20 for the year, and his two touchdown receptions pace the Quakers.

Big play from the big man. Harvard's Matt Luft is the Ancient Eight's tallest receiver. Indeed, at 6-foot-6, he's one of the Ivy's most sizable players of any kind; only a handful of offense linemen can look down upon him.

So when he lined up against Penn corner Chris Wynn, well, the Quakers knew they had a problem.

As athletic as he is, Wynn stands just 5-foot-9, a full head below Luft.

The Crimson didn't exploit the matchup often - Luft caught just three balls - but when they did, they made it count. Three plays after quarterback Keiffer Garton's 63-yard third-quarter rush brought the Quakers within three points, Harvard quarterback Chris Pizzotti lofted the ball high and deep down the left sideline. Forty-two yards later, Luft came down with it.

"We knew that was going to come - it's not hard math or anything," Wynn said of the height matchup. "He just made a better play on the ball than I did."

Luft added: "Chris put it up in the air, and whenever he does that, the thought process from him is just go up and make a play: 'Here's the ball, it's your turn.'"

Asked if it helped to be 6-foot-6, he said, "Probably a little bit," with a laugh.

Head-scratching hardware. For the second straight week, Garton took home conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.

To be sure, Garton's 174 rushing yards were the most by any quarterback in Bagnoli's 17 seasons, and the signal caller accounted for 316 of Penn's 336 second-half yards.

But he also threw three interceptions, a Penn season high. Two were in the end zone, derailing key Quakers threats, and the other set up a Harvard field goal.

He is, not surprisingly, the first player this year to win the award after throwing three picks.

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