Derham Steps Up

 

Among the many great things the Quakers can take away from Saturday's 14-7 overtime victory over Brown, the performance of senior wide receiver Kyle Derham may be among the most crucial.

It's no secret that the Penn passing game had been nearly non-existent this season, ranking in at 107th out of the 118 teams in the Football Championship Subdivision going into Saturday's contest. Of course, a lot of that had to do with injuries to nearly every quarterback on the roster and the focus on the impressive running game, but it hasn't been helped by the inability of any wide receiver to step up. That changed Saturday, as Derham caught 8 passes for 95 yards (both season highs for the Quakers). Two of those came in overtime, including the game-winning score, his first since last year's opener against Villanova.

Going into the game, junior wideout Matt Tuten led the team with 16 receptions for 195 yards. Derham - the team's No. 1 receiver and a tri-captain - had only 14 catches for 110 yards. Part of the reason for his lack of production may be that he's been called on to perform so many roles this season. He's been the primary non-quarterback in the Wildcat-type formation the Quakers have used, throwing 5 passes and carrying the ball 5 times over the team's first 6 games. Saturday, he never lined up behind center.

That may not seem like a huge reason to factor in his lack of production at receiver, until you consider that a percentage of his practice time was spent learning that role every week. I overheard him at practice last Tuesday talking about how happy he was to be able to focus completely on wide receiver, and it certainly showed in his production.

More than anything, the emergence of Derham as a reliable target for quarterback Kyle Olson (or whoever happens to be lining up behind center) is huge for the Quakers. It adds a dimension to their offense that had been completely absent until this week. That will be crucial to prevent teams from creeping up to defend against the potent Penn rushing attack, especially with Harvard and the League's second-ranked rushing defense (behind the Quakers) looming in 2 weeks in what is shaping up to be a showdown for the Ivy League title.

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