The reaction was the same everywhere. From the bleachers, the Brown sideline and the press box, everyone in attendance at Penn's 34-27 loss to Brown on Saturday had just one question.
Who's playing quarterback?
The answer was No. 13, Keiffer Garton, a sophomore from Castle Rock, Co., who has been a distant third on the depth chart from Week 1 and had never taken a snap at quarterback in college.
Even before Kyle Olson - who had usurped the starting job from senior Robert Irvin -- came out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the second quarter, Garton walked onto the field and was received mostly with quizzical looks and scans through the game program.
But the mobile Garton, who has appeared on special teams this year, had been receiving reps in practice all week long and knew he was going to get some playing time this weekend. And when Olson went down for good, Garton was thrown into the heat of the action by necessity.
"We were trying to run some different kinds of things," coach Al Bagnoli said. "Once we lost Olson, we were pretty much down to trying to have Robert throw a little bit and have Keiffer throw it and run it a little bit. It kind of took a little out of our game plan, because we didn't really practice much with Keiffer throwing the ball."
Indeed, Garton is a signal caller who relies on his legs more than his arm. On Saturday he led the team in rushing attempts (16), but completed just 4-of-9 passes for 63 yards.
While Garton's 49 yards on the ground might not jump off the stat sheet, the running attack he led produced a pair of field goals and helped keep the Quakers afloat.
"It was exciting," Garton. "I knew coming into the week that I was gonna get out there a little bit, for at least a couple plays in a special package. The way everything came about through the course of the game, it was just fun to be out there and be playing."
It wasn't just that he was chewing up time - the former third-stringer had Penn's Ivy title hopes on his shoulders with the game on the line. Facing a fourth-and-two on the Quakers' 28 with under five minutes to play, Garton's number was called. But the Bears knew what was coming, stuffing him before the first down.
While there was a dearth of game tape featuring Garton, the change of pace wasn't too vexing to Brown coach Phil Estes, who said the Bears often practice with wide receiver Bobby Sewall at quarterback.
Garton "threw a little bit of a monkey wrench, but it's not something [we] haven't seen," Brown coach Phil Estes said.
With Olson now out for the season and Irvin's surgically-repaired shoulder not at 100 percent, Garton figures to play a role in the Penn offense for the last few weeks of the season.
Going from novelty runner to productive quarterback will be a tall task for the newcomer. But for now, he's still adjusting from going from the bench to the spotlight.
"Everything," Garton said, "was just a blur."
