Mano-A-Mano Volume V

 

Mano-A-Mano's been on a summer-long hiatus after getting off to a rousing start last semester. But we're no one-year wonder. The start of classes also brings the fifth installment of the DP's most heated debate. This time, we go mano-a-mano on the two-time Ivy League champion Penn football team, which is attempting to channel Tom Emanski and go back-to-back-to-back. As our sandwich-loving leader pointed out, however, sequels often fail to live up to their originals -- and three-quels can be even worse (have you seen "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift?"). So we argue whether this year's squad can "Watch the Throne" with as much swag as last year's.

Question: Will the 2011 Penn football team be better than the 2010 team?

Kevin Esteves: Ultimately, I believe the 2011 edition of the Quakers will be outstanding, but I cannot say they will be better than last year’s squad. Looking at the stats, it’s kind of scary how good those guys were. Penn beat Ivy opponents by an almost comical 18.8 points a game in 2010, and had a rock-solid offensive line that allowed the Red and Blue’s running game to thrive — “the Quakes” rushed for 580 more yards than any other Ivy team. The boys in the trenches also allowed just six sacks — 3rd fewest in the country! That would be hard to duplicate this year with the same squad, let alone a team that returns just one of those O-lineman, captain Greg Van Roten. Transitioning the new guys will understandably take time, and likely result in a slightly less gaudy offensive attack for Penn.

Brian Kotloff: You’re right, those numbers are unbelievably impressive, making regression seem likely. But don’t forget that last year’s team came out of the gates slow with a sloppy 19-14 win over Lafayette, a 22-10 loss to Villanova and an upset-avoiding overtime victory over eventual fifth-place finisher Dartmouth. The probable reason behind that? Inexperience. We think of Billy Ragone as a star quarterback at this point, but he had attempted four collegiate passes before last season and didn’t become the full-time signal caller until midway through the Ivy slate. With Ragone fixed into the position from the start this time around, Al Bagnoli should have a full arsenal at his disposal. Did I mention that the Brandon Colavita-led backfield will regain bruising tailback Lyle Marsh, who led the team in rushing as a freshman? A fleet-footed QB and a couple bulldozers at running back will make the O-line’s job much easier.

KE: That may prove true, but while the team gained experience in a few positions, they’ve also lost it in some key ones. We can’t overlook the graduation of kicker Andrew Samson, who just so happens to be the program’s all-time leader in points. Samson and his powerful locks legs won’t be walking through the tunnel come gametime, so the Red and Blue will instead have to rely on senior Dan Lipschutz — who, thanks to Samson’s historic career, has not seen a single snap in-game for three seasons.

Bottom line: Even if Lipschutz or one of his freshman backups excels, I don’t think we’re going to see Samson-like numbers, which could prove costly in any tight-game scenarios (a la Lafayette last year). So if you factor in diminished production from the O-line and kicker, but add in the potential of an improved rushing attack and a more seasoned Ragone, you could conceivably see a Penn team that regresses a little bit overall, but still dominates the League. To be honest, I actually do expect these guys to three-peat, just not with the same type of unreal stats.

BK: We can agree on that last statement, even though they were inexplicably picked to finish third in the FCS season preview. Still, I just don’t see this kicker situation being as much of a storyline as we or Bagnoli are making it out to be. Do you know how many Penn games were decided by three points or less last season? How about ZERO? And that Lafayette opener you mentioned was the only game where the final margin was less than a touchdown. I just don’t see Samson’s replacement having to kick too many pressure-packed field goals. Plus, Lipschutz is no slouch. This kid led all Philadelphia-area kickers in scoring as a junior in high school. I’m sure he’ll love a gig where he gets to kick chippies and extra points after long drives by the high-powered offense.

KE: I think he'll have to make more than just chippies in what should be a more competitive league this year (each team returns a starting QB), but this stuff is all very much unknown — just like the number of people who understood your Tom Emanski reference.

BK: "If you don't know, now you know"

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