Yes, a Columbia football player to be afraid of

In the recent past, the words "Columbia" and "football" make about as much sense next to each other as "Cincinnati Bengals" and "law-abiding citizens." But this year, there's one Lion that has been striking fear into his opponents' hearts.

Wide receiver Austin Knowlin, as the Lions athletic department is quick to point out, is on pace to break the team's all-time receiving record. And he's only a sophomore.

You might think this has to be fuzzy math, or that this record can't be more than a few yards, but this guy is for real. The Ivy League Rookie of the Year caught 44 balls for 553 yards last year, and has a chance to break that mark midway through this season.

In Columbia's loss to Princeton in their Ivy opener, he had six catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns. In their lone win, a blowout of Marist, he was the only player to grab more than one ball, and he had six for 59. Last week, Columbia lost 29-0 to Lafayette, and yet the 5-10 wideout brought in eight catches for 99 yards, as the next closest man had two for 23.

In all, he has 29 catches for 434 yards and three touchdowns in four games, 14 catches and 286 yards ahead of from the nearest teammate.

Al Bagnoli's job is easy: double him. The entire game. It's better to play 10-on-9 without Knowlin than 11-on-11 with him burning you.

Getting pressure on Craig Hormann will help the Quakers' defensive backs in this one, though. Hormann's thrown six interceptions already this year.

I'm the first one to admit passing numbers in a loss can be a wash (as with rushing attempts in a win), but the Quakers really have to give running back Joe Sandberg the ball.

Quarterback Bryan Walker, now the starter in for Robert Irvin, threw a Penn record 60 passes against Dartmouth just a week after he attempted a mere 15 against Villanova, and had two of those picked off. This guy certainly is no Colt Brennan.

But Sandberg only touched the ball on 20 plays against the Big Green, and those certainly don't include the missed fourth-down conversions of two, three and four yards. He did get a deep bruise in the back at some point that game, but from my understanding was still in on some plays even late-on.

While the injury troubles are well-documented at the all-important quarterback and running back positions, the rest of the team has stayed impressively healthy. Other than Joe Anastasio missing the start against Villanova, none of the other 20 starters has missed a game due to injury.

Previewing this weekend

Ben-Eze to Harvard

As confirmed on Scout.com's database, Harvard has snagged Frank Ben-Eze.

The slant on Ben-Eze is that the 6-11 center should fit in instantly in the Crimson frontcourt and be a legitimate contender for top rookie honors.

Penn will likely have another recruit announced sometime, but this is probably the biggest 2012er yet for any Ivy team outside of Zack Rosen. He will be a player to watch going into next year for sure.

Superstar marketing

If you're looking to get people to come to a sporting event, they better know who it is they're paying to see.

As reported in today's Daily Pennsylvanian, an administrative snafu meant that there were no introductions to the Penn basketball teams at this year's Line.

Someone should have been there. If it's not the entire team, then at least two or three names that fans might recognize.

Drawing comparisons across sports is risky business, but look at the NHL. It's got a cult following, just like mid-major basketball does. But marginal fans will never develop a real knowledge of the sport, in large part because of the anonymity of the players. Five guys on the ice is five guys on the ice. Barely anyone can pick Jean-Sebastien Giguere out of a lineup.

And unless Penn basketball fans can see for themselves exactly who Harrison Gaines is -- and The Line was the perfect opportunity -- they won't know who it is they're cheering for the first time he swishes a three-pointer. That's a shame.

Major headache

It was no Gus Frerotte headbutt celebration, but Joe Anastasio almost suffered an unlikely head injury while outside the lines.

Captain and senior linebacker had no trouble shutting Georgetown out in the first half and holding it to 97 yards rushing on 41 attempts, but the Franklin field ironwork was too much for him.

"Joe almost knocked himself coming here [to the press conference]," coach Al Bagnoli said. "He was standing up on the gator when we went through the gate, he didn't duck and he hit his head on the gate, so I had to send him back in. Good thing his head is hard."

The Red and Blue didn't need to pass the ball very often, but when it did, Bryan Walker consistently found Dan Coleman for the first time in over a year.

Coleman had, what many thought would be a breakout game in last year's opening win over No. 22 Lafayette in which he had 85 yards in the air. But partly due to injuries, the starting wideout hadn't done much since. Last weekend he posted five receptions for 50 yards, (believe it or not a game high for either team), after bringing in only 73 yards receiving in the season-and-a-third in between his two successful games.

The Penn secondary has provided some key, acrobatic interceptions, but at the same time it has allowed a good amount of touchdown passes.

The six picks are nice, but out of the Quakers' nine touchdowns allowed, eight of them came through the air.

On the flip side, the rush defense has been fantastic, and not just in the red zone -- the Quakers are allowing a mere 2.7 yards per carry in 2007.

FINAL: Penn 42, Georgetown 13

FINAL: Penn 42, Georgetown 13

Box score

And it's official, the Red and Blue have a win on the board, moving to 1-3. The whole team looked good, particularly the running game (which had averaged 3.1 yards per carry) and the run defense.

1:15 4th Q: Penn 42, Georgetown 13

Penn pulls a Georgetown and runs out of a four-wide receiver set.

The punt goes through the arms of the returner and out of bounds at the one. The few fans remaining, aka the ones doing The Line, chant for a safety. Georgetown doesn't get it though.

5:23 4th Q: Penn 42, Georgetown 13

Lawrence has now taken over the punt return duties for Ambrogi, who fumbled twice in two games. He's got some nice returns so far, but goes nowhere off of that nice boot.

The new quarterback is Philadelphia-area native Brendan McNally. Bagnoli originally told me he was recruited as a wide receiver, but the Penn Charter man is apparently the third string signal caller now. He's mostly running though, and taking a few nice licks in the process.

9:13 4th Q: Penn 42, Georgetown 13

Georgetown goes down the field and scores yet again, and Bassuener once again hits Van Fleet for a touchdown.

Huh, apparently Amoo-Achampong is the fourth running back now, as he finally gets into the game.

14:05 4th Q: Penn 42, Georgetown 6

Blackmon punches it in on third and goal, and it's 42-6. Andrew Samson puts the PAT through. I'd be careful, with all of the injuries to kickers this year I'd be careful of his "leg fatigue".

15:00 4th Q: Penn 35, Georgetown 6

Tyler Fisher almost takes the kickoff to the house, but gets tripped up as he crosses midfield.

After a fourth down conversion, the Quakers are driving, and down inside the five, but yet another (at least four so far) false start penalty pushes them back to the seven.

Bradford Blackmon is in the game at running back, Kelms Amoo-Achampong must be injured, even DiMaggio is out now.

4:11 3rd Q: Penn 35, Georgetown 6

Brit Ertman nicely bats down a pass on a blitz to bring up fourth down, but Bassuener runs around the corner for the first at the Penn 30.

Wow, a beautiful pass from Bassuener to Van Fleet on a post in the end zone puts GTown on the board. Real nice play, well-executed drive.

Just when the Hoyas thought they'd saved some face, Naheem Harris gets a paw on the PAT, and it stays 35-6.

6:21 3rd Q: Penn 35, Georgetown 0

There's not much to get too excited about now. Both teams gain a few yards and then have to punt. A pass interference call on CB Greg Ambrogi gets Georgetown into Penn territory, though, following a fourth-and-one conversion.

HALFTIME: Penn 35, Georgetown 0

It's gotten pretty ugly. I'd like to see Bagnoli yank Sandberg so he can be healthy for that must-win next week against Columbia.

Here are some stats for you from the first half:

The Line continued

Unlike Sebastien, I haven't decided where I stand on the merit of this year's Line location. But his point about passer-bys having an advantage with the Bookstore locale seems convincing.

Consider the hallowed No. 1 wristband. I wouldn't necessarily expect the spot to land with a die-hard fan, since the odds of being in the right place at the right time are low. I wouldn't expect that the Holy Grail of The Line ended up with a 50-plus-year-old lawyer, either, but that's exactly what happened.

The gentleman, who is enrolled in an individualized CGS master's program, saw his first Penn game in 1966 and has a family full of Quakers alumni. But he never knew what The Line was before stumbling on it on his way to the office the other night. After a bit of questioning, the Athletic Department assured him that, because he was an enrolled student, he was welcome to participate. (He asked that his name not be used because his employer is unaware of his academic projects.)

He won't be participating in The Line's overnight stay at the Palestra -- he's been excused because he has a full-time job -- but he says he will still probably get a ticket package. I suggested chairbacks.

Put Greg Echenique on your list of players to watch for Penn's Class of 2013, according to this report. The forward attends the same high school as point guard Zack Rosen, who has been the big get so far for this year's recruiting class.

Can we put it on the board?

This week, Penn gets a gift from above in playing 0-5 Georgetown. Ideally, this will be a week to rest Robert Irvin's arm, let the swelling go down in running back Joe Sandberg's back and get back on the winning track at the same time.

The start of this game will be a key - if the Quakers get off to a big lead by halftime, they can let some of their key banged-up players sit, while still getting the young guys -- like corners Chris Wynn and Joey Brown, wideouts Marcus Lawrence, Tyler Fisher and Kyle Derham and defensive end Josh Neubert -- some experience and gain some confidence as well.

We always pick Penn to win in the Swa... I mean PrognostiQuakers, but here are a few reasons why this should, finally, be an easy win for Penn.

Georgetown, once again, is terrible. And is getting worse. After nearly beating Stony Brook in the opener, they lost by 21 to Lafayette, and dropped a 28-14 contest to Yale. Those seem like bad results, but the Hoyas followed it all up with a 55-0 loss to Holy Cross two weeks ago, and a 45-7 drubbing at the hands of Cornell.

In that game, Georgetown had no turnovers, and yet couldn't get on the board until it was down 31-0 in the third quarter. This may have been because the Hoyas went a Penn-like 0 for 3 on fourth down conversions, to go along with a measly 288 yards of total offense, 115 on the ground on 39 carries. They also couldn't stop running back Luke Siwula, who tore up the Washington, DC school for 119 total yards and three touchdowns on only 20 touches.

Here are a few quick hits about Georgetown, and why students in The Line this weekend will get to see Al Bagnoli's first win of the 2007 season.

Get lifted

When a squad loses the way the Penn football team did against Dartmouth, keeping morale up is a tough task.

After the four Ivy losses by eight points last year, the painful start to the 2007 season -- an 8-7 loss, a seven-interception game and a contest that saw six failed fourth down conversions -- isn't such a new thing for Al Bagnoli and the Penn coaching staff.

"It's always tough when you lose, it's always tough when you lose a close game and it's always tough when you lose a league game," Bagnoli said.

It's especially hard when you lose against Dartmouth, which hadn't beaten Penn since Kurt Warner was playing in the Arena Football League.

"Our spirits aren't where they should be, but I think we learned a valuable lesson," Bagnoli said. "To a limited extent, some of our kids kind of looked past them, and kind of take things for granted and obviously you can't do that. We're just not that level team where we can look past anybody."

As a result, Bagnoli's hoping that later in the week he'll see a much more inspired club. Once a team loses badly, that next week can make or break the next few -- it can mean they get fired up for revenge, or dwell on the loss too much, and crumble.

Tuesday was more of a mental walkthrough, but practices later in the week should be a better barometer for the mood his team is at.

"It's a fairly somber group, and you have to be careful," Bagnoli said. "You have no control over what happened last week, the one thing you have to look at is what's coming up. We practiced okay [Tuesday], so it's not a disaster -- but it's a concern"

Irvin shouldn't have lost starting job yet

When it comes to deciding which quarterback to start for Penn, there can definitely be arguments made for each guy, both senior Bryan Walker and junior Robert Irvin.

While Ilario made his argument for Walker on Monday, here my abridged one for Irvin.

A good place to compare the two is in the Dartmouth games. Last year against the Big Green, Irvin completed 15 of 25 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Last weekend Walker went 30 for 60, 266 yards, one touchdown and no picks. These stats are fairly close, but I'd take the sophomore's efficiency as the major plus.

Walker's yards per attempt were embarrassingly low, at 4.43. That's less than half Irvin's total a year prior against Dartmouth (9.08), and much less than what Irvin had as a sophomore starter (6.82), when he earned honorable mention All-Ivy honors.

Also, with a defense a bend-but-not-break mentality is often thought of as a positive, they make something out of nothing. But last week Walker's offense made nothing out of something -- they started six drives in Dartmouth territory, an average starting field position of their own 44 yard line, and scored all of 13 points.

Irvin has played two bad games, and yes they were very bad, but that's no reason to permanently bench him, especially because he will be starting next year.

Here are a few interesting stats from Saturday's game:

Fourth time was no charm

For the first time in a over a year, football coach Al Bagnoli had a real kicker. But he didn't use him.

Down by 15 points in the fourth quarter, the Quakers had turnovers on downs four times, all inside the Dartmouth 30-yard line.

Obviously hindsight is 20/20, but had kicker Andrew Samson made two of those three possible field goal attempts (he had hit from 23 and 45 already that game), he would have earned himself an opportunity to win the game from short distance. But the Quakers went 2-for-8 on fourth down, and paid for it in the 21-13 loss.

With just over 11 minutes left in the game, down by 15 points, instead of opting for another 45-yard field goal, Bagnoli opted to go for it. The yard line was the 28. The down was fourth. The distance? Fifteen. Fourth and fifteen. Quarterback Bryan Walker duly threw an incomplete pass and Dartmouth took over.

A possession later (8:00 left) Penn had a 4th-and-3 from the Dartmouth 9, and the pass to Koontz fell incomplete. Then (3:00 left) a pass to Kyle Derham hit the turf on 4th-and-2 from the Big Green 13.

Then came essentially the final play of the game, 4th-and-4 from the Dartmouth 6, when Walker just barely couldn't find Dan Coleman in the back of the end zone.

While I slightly disagreed with the fact that the Quakers went for the first few conversions, it was both the non-concrete result and the way that they approached the fourth downs that got to me.

Ignoring the 4th-and-15, Penn had conversions of three, two and four. How many times did they run the ball? Zero.

Even if Sandberg wasn't 100 percent, Mike DiMaggio or even Walker himself would have had a great chance converting the short fourth downs by running the ball. The Quakers ran twice on fourth down and passed six times. (The Red and Blue converted a couple first downs on penalties drew on pass plays, but those don't count as conversions.) Guess which two plays were the ones that turned into first down conversions? Both times that Walker ran for it.

In all, the Quakers had their "running" quarterback in the game, and passed the ball 60 times. That's enough to make Peyton Manning jealous.

When you look at the stats, going for fourth down really isn't a bad idea if it's a reasonable conversion. But this isn't chess. Football is an emotional sport, and once again the C-word is plaguing Penn.

No, certainly not "Choke", "Coaching" or "Courage" or anything like that, I'm talking about Confidence. When the team drives down the field only to take away absolutely nothing from that possession, it's a downer. But if, with 11 minutes to go Samson hit another field goal, or with eight minutes to go he chipped one in another, the offense gains some confidence of putting a few points on the board.

It is all hindsight, but you have to look back and question things any time that Penn loses to Dartmouth.

FINAL: Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

HANOVER, N.H. -- It's a beautiful day for football here in New Hampshire, as the Quakers look to avoid their first 0-3 start in the Al Bagnoli era. Stay tuned for updates throughout the game.

Final: Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

Box score

What an absolutely crazy game. So much to talk about and clarify. Check out Monday's DP for complete coverage.

0:22 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

On 4th down, Penn threw into the end zone, and it looked like Coleman reeled it in. However, it was called incomplete. Bagnoli is screaming at the officials right now and just drew a flag, but that doesn't matter at this point. With no timeouts left for Penn, the game is over. Penn's nine-game winning streak against the Big Green is over.

0:52 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

Walker keeps it and runs for the first down up to Dartmouth's 12. Penn spikes the ball and has a 2nd and 10.

1:02 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

Penn takes its last timeout of the half and is faced with another 4th down situation. It's 4th and 2, to be exact, from Dartmouth's 24, and Penn is moving the ball well. Now that I have a second, it's worth noting that the last pass interference call was questionable. But anyway, here it is. 4th and 2.

1:16 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

Penn has the ball at the Dartmouth 32 after a first down run by Walker. You could cut the tension with a knife.

1:33 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

On 4th and 2 for the Quakers from Dartmouth's 43, Walker an incomplete pass, but the referee calls a pass interference. Automatic first down.

2:15 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

PENN RECOVERS THE ONSIDE KICK! Samson booted hit hard off the ground into the chest of a Dartmouth special teamer who couldn't hang on, and Penn recovered. This is a nail-biter.

2:17 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

A nine yard pass to Lepisto for the touchdown, and the PAT from Samson, makes it a 21-13 game. It's not over yet. Get ready for a Penn onside kick.

2:22 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

After a good throw to Derham, Penn has it at Dartmouth's 9.

2:37 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

After a high snap, Dartmouth's punt was blocked, and Penn will take over at Dartmouth's 26.

3:01 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Three costly drops by Penn receivers on this possession have probably ended the Quakers' chances of winning. Kyle Derham couldn't reel in an pass on 4th and 2. Dartmouth now has it at its own 14.

4:24 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

A bad punt into the wind gives Penn good field position -- it will take over at the 42.

4:34 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Dartmouth didn't do much after the pass interference, but it did run the clock down. The Big Green will now punt from its own 21, leaving Penn with under five minutes to score 15 points. Penn hasn't scored 15 points in a single game all season.

7:02 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Jordan Manning just dropped what would have been a guaranteed pick-six. Why is Buddy Teevens going to the pass on 2nd down with a 21-6 lead in the 4th quarter? On third down, Bennewitz couldn't find Evans, but a pass interference on Joey Brown gives Dartmouth an automatic first down.

7:54 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

No luck for the Quakers. A Dartmouth linebacker batted Walker's pass down at the line of scrimmage, and Dartmouth takes over at Penn's 9.

7:57 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Here we go. A huge 4th and 3 now for the Quakers on Dartmouth's 9. Walker just rolled right on 3rd down and couldn't find Fisher on the run.

9:07 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Penn looked as though they were going to turn the ball over on downs again, but a pass interference on Dartmouth kept the drive alive -- Penn has the ball at the Dartmouth 26. The bad news is that Joe Sandberg just got hit very hard in the back after diving forward to pick up extra yardage on a screen pass, and he is out of the game. He did walk off on his own power, but this is not a good sign for Penn. Michael DiMaggio is in for the Quakers.

10:14 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

There is hope for Penn. Joey Brown just intercepted a bad throw from Bennewitz, and Penn takes over at Dartmouth's 47.

11:12 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

Walker looked great in the first half, but the wheels are starting to come off. He's not getting much help either. After Lepisto dropped an easy pass on 1st down, Walker was sacked. He then threw two straight incomplete passes on 3rd and 15 and 4th and 15, and Dartmouth took over at Penn's 28. Look for Dartmouth to burn time off the clock now. Penn is in trouble.

13:04 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

The Quakers defense didn't let Dartmouth do anything, forcing the Big Green to punt from its own end zone into the wind. Penn will take over with great field position at the Dartmouth 36.

14:27 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

That was quick. Walker just threw three straight incomplete passes, with the second one nearly getting picked. The good news is that the drive only took 22 seconds off the clock, and Melillo pinned Dartmouth back at its own 3 on the punt, with an excellent tackle by Joey Brown.

14:53 to go in the 4th Quarter, Dartmouth 21, Penn 6

On another play-action fake, Bennewitz rolled right and found Paul wide open, as defensive back Britton Ertman slipped. The secondary was very weak on that drive. Penn really needs to turn things around in a hurry.

End of 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 14, Penn 6

It looked as though Dartmouth was going to give the Quakers great field position, as penalties forced the Big Green back to its own 3, setting up a 1st and 27. Since then, however, Dartmouth has picked apart Penn's secondary and has the ball on Penn's 28. Bennewitz has been stellar on this drive.

2:59 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 14, Penn 6

Again, Penn put together a nice drive, and again, Penn couldn't do anything in the red zone. After Walker hit Lepisto on a great sideline pattern for the first down, the Quakers ran out of gas, and Samson was forced to attempt a 34-yard field goal into the wind, which he pushed wide right. Penn really needs a stop on defense.

8:42 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 14, Penn 6

Dartmouth moved the ball up the field well and capped off a 7 play, 66-yard drive with an outstanding 35-yard pass from Bennewitz to Brian Evans. Bennewitz did a good job of getting rid of the ball, as he was knocked to the turf on the throw. Penn's secondary gave Dartmouth's receivers too big of a cushion on that last drive.

12:15 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 6

So much for the momentum. Penn failed to capitalize on the interception and was forced to punt. Dartmouth now takes over at its 33.

14:50 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 6

After a false start penalty, Bennewitz tried to air it out on 1st and 15, but Chris Wynn came down with a diving catch for a remarkable interception. It was the first turnover of the game for both teams, and Wynn's 3rd pick of the season. The Quakers are fired up on the sidelines right now.

Halftime, Dartmouth 7, Penn 6

All in all, an interesting first half for the Quakers. You can't really identify one area in which either team has struggled too severely. The Quakers running game has been relatively successful, and Bryan Walker -- who has taken all of the snaps so far -- managed a few nice passes down the field. On the other side of the ball, Penn's defense looked sharp on every drive except for Dartmouth's scoring one. Amazingly, the only truly stable component for Penn today has been the kicking game. After struggling against Lafayette, Samson has bounced back admirably, converting the longest field goal for Penn since 2004.

Give credit to Bryan Walker, who has been very poised in the pocket. Though he has certainly scrambled his fair share of times, he has spread the ball around nicely, completing 11 of 19 for 82 yards. Lepisto has yet to catch a pass, but Sandberg, Fisher, Coleman, and Lawrence have all had catches. More importantly, unlike last week at Villanova, Penn has no turnovers so far.

Penn has been strong on the ground. Sandberg has 16 carries for 76 yards, while Walker has rushed 4 times for 34 yards.

For Dartmouth, Bennewitz has played a solid game as well, completing 9 of 12 for 112 yards. Penn has not forced any turnovers.

The only real problem for the Quakers is an obvious one -- they haven't found the end zone. Stay tuned to find out if their luck will change.

0:13 to go in the 2nd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 6

You are not going to believe this. Andrew Samson just made a 45-yard field goal, and Penn's kicking game is 2-2 on the day. After a good completion and scramble by Walker, Penn had a 2nd and 2, but a 5 yard loss on a screen pass to Sandberg and a false start backed them up to 3rd and 12. Samson's field goal split the uprights and had room for at least 50. Seriously.

2:50 to go in the 2nd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 3

The Quakers had another strong 3rd down conversion, as Bryan Walker hit Marcus Lawrence up the middle for 17 yards. They couldn't convert their next third down, though, and were forced to punt. Melillo booted it to the Dartmouth 3, where it was downed by longsnapper Teddy Rosenbaum. After bearing down on defense, Penn forced to Dartmouth go 3 and out, and the Big Green is now punting from its own end zone, with Lawrence back to receive. Penn has one timeout remaining.

9:22 to go in the 2nd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 3

A great play by free safety Pat Kimener on 3rd down, as he broke up a good pass from Bennewitz to force the punt. For the Quakers, Marcus Lawrence is returning the punts today after Chris Wynn and Greg Ambrogi struggled in the first two games. Now, after two false starts, the Quakers are on the move. A good run from Sandberg and a pass to Kyle Derham set up a 3rd and 6, and Sandberg caught the short pass and muscled his way forward to move the chains.

11:53 to go in the 2nd Quarter, Dartmouth 7, Penn 3

Penn put together a decent drive, working the ball all the way down to the Dartmouth 6. Bryan Walker and Joe Sandberg ran the ball well against the Big Green defense, but the passing game has been almost non-existent, as Walker threw the ball away on 3rd and goal. Andrew Samson converted the 23-yard field goal -- the Quakers first field goal of the season -- to put Penn on the board. The drive was 11 plays, 66 yards.

End of the 1st, Dartmouth 7, Penn 0

Penn's defense looked absolutely miserable on that last drive, as Dartmouth marched all the way down the field from its own 9 for the score. A key pass on 3rd down from Dartmouth's Tom Bennewitz to Eric Paul put Dartmouth into the red zone, and another 19 yard completion and 1 yard run capped off the 12-play, 90 yard drive. Now, Walker remains in the game for Penn, and Sandberg is looking sharp. Penn has the ball on Dartmouth's 31.

6:56 to go in the 1st Quarter, Penn 0, Dartmouth 0

The Quakers have run the ball quite a bit early, with Walker having only completed one pass so far. The Quakers failed to convert a short pass play to tight end Josh Koontz on a 3rd and 4 from the Dartmouth 33, however, and coach Al Bagnoli elected to punt. Melillo's punt pinned Dartmouth back to its own 9.

9:37 to go in the 1st Quarter, Penn 0, Dartmouth 0

Two big passing plays brought Dartmouth down to Penn's 22, but strong run defense from Penn forced Dartmouth to kick a field goal. With a good push at the line, Penn blocked the field goal and Tony Moses pounced on it at the 33. Bryan Walker remains in the game for the Quakers.

12:54 to go in the 1st Quarter, Penn 0, Dartmouth 0

Tyler Fisher returned the opening kickoff all the way to Dartmouth's 36, but the Quakers couldn't take advantage of the good field position, turning the ball over on downs. Bryan Walker started in place of Robert Irvin at quarterback, and couldn't hit Braden Lepisto on 4th and 3. Sandberg carried the ball on the first three downs.

Some hoops, some pigskin

Scout.com reported today that 6-foot-5 Washington D.C. native Max Kenyi, who had been a Penn recruiting target, will head to Harvard.

"He believes in himself and his staff and their ability and they want to be a winner. They don't want to be the team that's known for not winning the Ivy League. They've got an opportunity and that's why they're getting kids you wouldn't expect to be on their campus. I think coach has approached it like they're a high-major program and they're going to recruit it that way," Kenyi's high-school coach told Scout.

With so many swingmen on Penn's roster, I wouldn't get too broken up about this, although I can't say how highly he was regarded by the coaching staff.

On to football, where on Tuesday I wrote about how backup quarterback Bryan Walker's predicament illustrates just how tough it is to be a Division I football player.

Here's his chance to make it all irrelevant.

Walker got a healthy number of snaps in Weeks 1 and 2, and they were mostly a function of Robert Irvin's struggles. But I think that if the same thing happens tomorrow Irvin might get the hook quicker than expected, or at least see fewer snaps overall. This is Dartmouth, not Villanova.

Injuries have hit both Yale and Brown this week. The Bears learned that they'll be without running back Dereck Knight, who had come up big this year, and Yale will have to carry on without All-Ivy defensive end Larry Abare, who tore a knee ligament in last week's game. Both would be eligible to take a medical year off and come back next year -- Abare for two more because he is a junior -- if they have season-ending surgery.

Check back with The Buzz for live coverage of tomorrow's game from our crew up in Hanover.

Taking his chances

Although his "Games Played" is still only in the single digits for his college career, Penn goalkeeper Drew Healy is quick becoming known for his aggressive play.

Lucky for him and the rest of the Quakers, it seems to have paid off.

His latest display of quick-thinking came against Penn State last night. A counterattack led to a breakaway against the Quakers and Healy came out of the box to haul an attacker down, saving an almost sure goal (as a free kick given outside the box was blocked) but earning himself a red card and one-match ban in the process. It's something that almost any keeper would have done, and Healy showed that despite his relative inexperience in actual play, he still has the instincts of a seasoned veteran.

Against La Salle two weeks ago, he also almost saved (or lost) the game with some aggressive play. With Penn up 1-0 midway through the second half, La Salle earned themselves a one-on-one on the counterattack. An Explorers forward was rushing downfield with the ball, chased by the Quakers' defense. Healy ran out of his crease to meet the forward and cut off the angles, and dove on the ground toward the ball to stop the La Salle player from even getting a shot off. He got there cleanly, but the ball squirted over him and bounced slowly to the empty net -- slow enough that a Penn defender was able to get back and clear it off the line.

According to coach Rudy Fuller, in both cases "Healy did what he had to to save the team"

Confidence killer

There is one thing that some coaches do all of the time that I can't stand, that anyone else who played competitive sports can probably relate to.

If you are in a game, you'll likely get subbed out either for fatigue, strategy, or you're just sucking. Most coaches sub for a mix of these, but some take subbing for the latter reason to an extreme.

Penn football coach Al Bagnoli, I believe, goes too far with this. It's one thing to take a guy out for a bit, but if you sub out a player every time he makes a mistake, that's all he thinks about on the sideline. The kid's confidence may be shot, and he's then playing nervous every time he's in from then on. I allude to this in my column following the Penn-Villanova game this week.

When Kelms Amoo-Achampong rushed 15 times for 24 yards against Lafayette (mostly in the second half in relief of the injured Joe Sandberg), he essentially lost his backup job right then and there. After his first carry (three yards) against Villanova, Mike DiMaggio filled in with the next few, as Amoo-Achampong finished with five carries for -2 yards.

When cornerback Greg Ambrogi fumbled his second punt of the year late in the game against Villanova, Bagnoli immediately pulled him for Chris Wynn, who has never fielded punts in a game. Wynn (in a very J.R. Reed-in-relief-of-Greg-Lewis thing like the Eagles went through) rushed up amongst the returners to make a sliding fair catch (though he actually held on). This move has secured the fact that Ambrogi will never return a punt again for Penn, because if he does he'll likely take that second eye off of the ball and onto his coach.

Another example this week is with cornerback Tyson Maugle benched in favor of sprinter-slash-corner Joey Brown. Speed is certainly an asset at corner -- Brown, for example, came streaking back to chase down Villanova running back Michael Ball at around the 5-yard line on a play that would have been a 90-yard run had there not been a holding penalty -- but Maugle should not get sat down for one bad game. He struggled against Wildcats wideout Phil Atkinson, but had a nice year last season, and had 10 tackles along with a forced fumble and two nice pass breakups in the opener.

One could argue that Bagnoli's motivational tactics will work in the long run, but then again it failed miserably with a guy like kicker Derek Zoch last year.

And the area where this matters most is quarterback. Some positions may play well while angry or with vengeance in their minds, but quarterback is certainly not one of them (RB maybe, but certainly not CB or PR either).

Robert Irvin's confidence must be so low right now. But if Bagnoli lets him play most of the game against Dartmouth (all but a couple of drives, like normal), it'll show the junior that his coach still has faith in him.

Leave Irvin in for as long as possible, and then plug in Walker after Irvin throws a touchdown pass or leads a successful drive (after all, they are playing against Dartmouth). Then, the junior can think about what he did well while on the bench, now wallow in sadness.

Sadly for Irvin, I doubt this will be the case.

Penn - 'Nova notes, without mentioning the word s***n

A lot went on in the Penn-Villanova game, so I'll try to write a few notes without talking about that one notable statistic.

The Penn football team sacked quarterback Antwon Young four times, but it really should have been a lot more than that. On what I could count as around four or five occasions, a Quakers defender had a hand or two on Young but could never quite get him down.

Young was just a bit too slippery for guys like Tom Stone or Britt Ertman, who beat their respective blockers, but found step two in the sack process to be unusually hard. The redshirt sophomore quarterback displayed a strength and slipperiness that Penn just wasn't used to.

"I guess I'd basically like to thank our strength and conditioning coach," Young said. "He's helped me to get stronger and be able to break little tackles and keep things alive with my feet, so I think that's a positive thing."

Still, Young is no running quarterback -- he threw for 241 yards four touchdowns and only one interception. In his fourth career start, he looked like the quarterback with the year or two of experience (sorry that slipped).

Wide receiver Dan Coleman, who seemed cemented as the starter may have been replaced by sophomore Marcus Lawrence.

Coleman got some snaps, but Lawrence garnered a lot more attention. While Coleman was held without a catch, Lawrence was second on the team in receiving, grabbing four balls for 55 yards. Before that game, he had only one career reception, a 13-yard pass in the opener.

This was the second-straight week that one receiver tore up the Quakers, while the others didn't really do anything.

In Week 1, Shaun Adair had 10 catches for 102 yards, while the second-highest receiver had 23 yards. Then last week, Phil Atkinson destroyed the Penn secondary, catching five balls for 112 yards and three touchdowns, as the rest of the team had 129 yards and one score.

The good and the bad:

Penn football in wrong top-10 list

Thanks to its first 0-2 start since 1997 and the ridiculous seven-interception game, the Penn football team makes its debut in the Los Angeles Times' Bottom Ten, compiled by Steve Harvey. (Apparently the Kings of Comedy don't go on tour in the fall.)

The No. 5 Quakers still trail No. 3 Temple, but a loss to No. 19 Dartmouth, and that scary possibility could become a reality.

Villanova 34, Penn 14

FINAL: Villanova 34, Penn 14

Box score

Irvin throws pick number five. The seventh total Penn interception of the night is also in the Wildcats' end zone. I'm speechless, it's beyond pun level.

1:22 4th Q: Penn 14, Villanova 34

Not much happening now, Villanova drive is stopped, but Penn does nothing either. It's just about over.

Just as I say this the Wildcats muff a punt of their own, but Ambrogi muffs the recovery as well, and Villanova keeps the ball.

6:55 4th Q: Penn 14, Villanova 34

Irvin throws another pick his fourth, team's sixth. It sounds like I'm talking about Mark Zoller's fouls. This one is even more costly, throwing the pick in the back of the Villanova end zone.

11:15 4th Q: Penn 14, Villanova 34

Irvin, who knows he's only up one on Walker in the INTs category, throws one into the hands of a DB, but he drops it.

11:15 4th Q: Penn 14, Villanova 34

Goniprow makes a nice stop on a Ball run, but just like that, Atkinson takes a screen pass for a 47-yard touchdown.

11:31 4th Q: Penn 14, Villanova 20

Tom Stone makes up for a previous personal foul call by sacking Young on third down.

Chris Wynn is now in as the punt returner. As an Eagles fan I felt some Deja Vu as Wynn rushed up to field a punt while falling forward, but unlike J.R. Reed, he actually caught the ball.

Still, Bryan Walker felt like he had to help out, throwing a ball that gets cut off for his second and the team's fifth interception. This is getting ugly.

13:15 4th Q: Penn 14, Villanova 27

A game that looked slightly in Penn's favor has turned into what is heading in the direction of a blowout. The Wildcats slowly drive down the field and Young hits tight end Matthew Sherry. Manning gets beat on the play, but his coverage wasn't bad.

With Irvin back in at quarterback, the Quakers hold onto the ball, but gain two yards in three plays.

2:10 3rd Q: Penn 14, Villanova 20

The Quakers' defense, for once not backed up in their own territory, stops the Wildcats at their own 23. Still, turnovers find a way to ruin a nice defensive effort.

Ambrogi feels the footsteps and muffs his second punt of the year. He's done this for two seasons now (three if you count kick returns) but you have to think Bagnoli is considering replacing him after his 2007 showing thus far.

Young goes deep to Anton Ridley for what seemed like an easy touchdown, but he flat out drops it, and the Antwon-to-Anton combo is foiled.

4:30 3rd Q: Penn 14, Villanova 20

Bagnoli is a smart guy, he knows you can't throw an interception if you just run the ball. And since Joe Sandberg isn't playing, and the backups are struggling, they might as well give the ball to Walker. He scrambles for a couple first downs, but a fumbled snap uses up one down, and the other two can't quite get there. The drive was a good one for the team's confidence, though, and pins the Wildcats back deep in their own territory.

7:05 3rd Q: Penn 14, Villanova 20

Irvin's day just went from alright to not-so-good to terrible. He throws his second interception of the half, in fact, on consecutive throws.

This time he's looking for Lepisto, but the zone looks kills him once again.

On the plus side for Penn, the defense is looking fantastic. Overlooking the two plays on the last two drives, it has really stood strong, especially near the goal line. Allowing 20 points looks bad early in the third quarter, but not when your offense allows four turnovers.

9:58 3rd Q: Penn 14, Villanova 17

The Wildcats' offense immediately has woken up. After a pass down the left sideline, backup running back Aaron Ball breaks a few tackles up the middle for 33 yards down to the Penn 9.

Young throws one way behind the wide-open Atkinson, but he makes a fantastic catch, and Villanova takes the lead.

12:33 3rd Q: Penn 14, Villanova 10

A couple of useless runs from Villanova and an errant pass and the Quakers get the ball back already. Punter Zach Ugarte keeps giving Ambrogi line drives, and finally the senior gets a solid run back.

Irvin gets good help from his line as well as Lepisto, who easily goes for 31 yards thanks to a nice block from Lawrence.

He gives it all away, though, with a terrible pass over the head of Cisler into the hands of a diving Salim Koroma.

HALFTIME

Penn has certainly looked the better team this half, and with a little better grip on quarterback Antwon Young, the lead would be a bit bigger. But this half didn't matter at all, it'll come down to the final play at the end like it always does.

Here are a few key stats so far:

Three things Penn must do to top Villanova

The last two years the Penn-Villanova game has come down to the final play. This season, however, the Quakers will have to work extra hard to make sure it stays that way.

With All-Ivy running back Joe Sandberg likely out with a hamstring injury, and an opponent in Villanova which hasn't yet lost to an FCS (I-AA) team yet (beating Lehigh and Maine after putting up a fight against Maryland) a win will be far from easy. So here are three keys to the game, things Penn must do well to keep the game close and ultimately have an opportunity to win.

1. Perhaps the biggest key is for Penn to maintain a respectable running game without Sandberg. Whether the line was getting no push or backup running back Kelms Amoo-Achampong was just not finding the holes, the running game for the second half last week without Sandberg was borderline disastrous. Amoo-Achampong ran up the gut each time, and got stuffed as many times as he had carries. While Sandberg took 17 for 85 yards and a touchdown, Amoo-Achampong took 15 for 24 and, needless to say, didn't reach paydirt in the 8-7 defeat.
The playcalls were fairly conservative last week, but Amoo-Achampong is a north-south runner, and besides some off-tackle runs he likely won't be attempting anything too crazy. Above all Penn needs this running game in order to take some pressure off of junior quarterback Robert Irvin, who threw two picks, no touchdowns and went for less then 100 yards in Week 1.

2. In 2005 Adam Francks returned 29 punts for 161 yards, fair-catching only a couple all season. Greg Ambrogi, the 2007 returner might want to go for more of a Reno-Mahe mentality. Ambrogi's muff against Lafayette was one of four turnovers in a game that, due to some inept offenses, was one of field position. With the basic offense Penn ran last week who knows what will happen when coordinator Bill Schmitz truly implements his wide-open style. Lafayette is a top-25 team and 'Nova isn't, but three weeks into the season you can't take too much stock into that -- the Wildcats will jump at any opportunity to take advantage of a few mistakes.

3. For a team that plays a 5-2 defense, one sack wasn't too impressive in the opening game. The Quakers got some pressure on the quarterback, but it wasn't anything special,and it needs to greatly improve. This defensive line and linebacking core is a very good one, but it looked like the secondary was the strength last week. Sophomore corner Chris Wynn made two picks last week -- and not easy ones at that for the wide receiver turned defensive back -- Tyson Maugle had the team's lone sack, two pass breakups and two tackles for loss, while safety Pat Kimener looked more than solid, grabbing nine tackles. When the only sack comes from a cornerback, and four out of the top-seven leading tacklers in Week 1 were in the secondary, your defense is in a bit of trouble.

Under the Lights

If you tried to show up at the men's soccer team's practice yesterday afternoon, you would've been sorely disappointed.

Coach Rudy Fuller changed the time from the usual 3:30 to 7:30 so that the team could practice under the lights at Rhodes Field.

"It's something we've tried to do this season when it works with players' schedules," the coach said.

Because their next match is at Rhodes at night, Fuller feels that practicing at night will better prepare the team for night games.

"Playing at night is a lot different than a day game," he said. "I'm just trying to give the players a feel for it"