We hadn't seen him in either of the preseason scrimmages so far, and now we know why: The Philly Daily News is reporting that highly-touted freshman forward Greg Louis recently underwent hip surgery and "will be out for at least several months."
Louis was expected to be an early contributor in a Penn frontcourt still looking to replace big men Jack Eggleston and Conor Turley, who both graduated last year. Louis played for the Florida state champion Dwyer high school team last year, and was ranked one of the top players in the state last spring.
When the DP spoke to Louis about his commitment last year, he was quietly confident about making an impact on the program: "“I’m not really big on talking," he said. "I’ll show you next year.”
But due to some unforeseen circumstances, it looks like we'll now have to wait a bit longer.
Our growing collection of Penn basketball moments has been filled with net-cuttings and NCAA tournament games, Princeton rivalries Big 5 double headers. But today Dave Zeitlin, a former DP Sports editor and current Penn Gazette Sports writer (among other things) brings us a memory of a less momentous weekend, but a fun one nonetheless.
Since I was fortunate enough to be in the same class as Ugonna Onyekwe, Koko Archibong and Andy Toole, and follow the team (as either a fan or a DP reporter) to the 2000, 2002 and 2003 NCAA tournaments, I have tons of terrific Penn hoops memories. Perhaps my favorite, though, isn't an NCAA tourney game or a championship-clinching performance - but instead a Palestra weekend of dominance back in 2002.
Penn's 2001-02 season was unexpectedly awesome. The year before, the Quakers had a rare down year and then graduated two of their top players from that team. But freshman Tim Begley, sophomore Jeff Schiffner and transfer Toole were plugged into Fran Dunphy's revamped starting lineup, joining forces with Koko and Ugonna to form one of Penn's best starting fives in recent memory. That season, the Quakers swept through the Big Five and enjoyed some truly dominant Ivy League performances (despite a surprising 2-3 start in league play) on their way to the first of two consecutive conference titles.
Two of those dominant performances came on back-to-back February nights at the Palestra against Harvard and Dartmouth. (Yes, current students, Penn used to beat up on Harvard regularly.) In the Friday win over Harvard - a 78-51 walloping - Ugonna had one of the best dunks I've ever seen at the Palestra (maybe behind only this one). And then the following night, in Penn’s 100-62 rout of Dartmouth, everyone’s favorite benchwarmer – senior Dan Solomito – drilled the 3-pointer to give Penn fans free cheesesteaks. (My favorite part of that play is Duane King pausing under the basket before setting up his buddy Solomito for the “dramatic” shot.) I even wrote a DP column about Solomito’s “heroics” and the rest of the fun weekend (with some poor grammar in the lede.)
In the end, there were certainly more meaningful Penn basketball moments during my time at school and in the years after I graduated (as my passion for the team never fizzled). But that particular weekend definitely sticks out for one reason: it was fun. And for me, that’s what Penn basketball at the Palestra has always been about.
So the Watch the Throne squad wasn't fazed by the end of their streak. Nothing like the Princeton JV varsity football team when you need a bounce-back, confidence-boosting win. But that blowout only set the stage for this Saturday's much-awaited showdown in Cambridge. For the third straight year, Penn and Harvard will meet for all (or most) of the marbles. Quakers' fans could easily find our analysis in the newspaper -- everybody reads "The Edge" and Swamis, right? -- but since we're new-age journalists, let's bring this segment online.
Question: Who will win Saturday's Penn-Harvard football game and why?
Kevin Esteves: Speaking objectively, I think this one goes to Harvard. The Crimson have been doing this year what Penn did in its previous two championship seasons: dominating on both sides of the ball. Harvard averages 11.1 more points per game than anybody else in the league (11.1 points!) and has the Ancient Eight's No. 1 run defense (3rd best defense overall in the league). Sure, Penn does pretty well in those categories as well, but Harvard's main weakness is its pass defense, which is not something the Quakers can just easily exploit (Penn's pass offense ranks just 5th). Princeton, which owns the Ivies' 2nd best run 'D' held Penn to just 76 yards last week. The Crimson rush defense is even stingier than the Tigers, so I expect more of the same. That means the Quakers may have to again rely on a strong passing game, but this time against a strong opponent — this just isn't the greatest matchup for Penn, or anyone in the league for that matter.
Brian Kotloff: No debate here. I'll take it a step further and say Harvard could be this Penn team's worst nightmare. Where the Quakers have a weakness, the Crimson have a strength. The main difference lies in the passing matchups. From what I've seen, Penn has struggled this season when forced into sure passing situations (save for Homecoming against the lowly Tigers), when the threat of the ground-and-pound game or creatively designed Billy Ragone runs is gone. Ragone may face many of those situations this week because of the strength of Harvard's run defense. On the other side of the ball, the Quakers' secondary faces the Ivies' hottest quarterback in Collier Winters. QBs have had their way with the Quakers this season, especially when opponents can establish a running threat first. In my mind, Harvard's offense is too balanced and too prolific to be stopped right now.
We can't sign off for the week without going out on a limb, so let's give our sure-to-be-wrong score predictions. I'll say Harvard 27, Penn 21.
We're lucky at Penn to have many notable alumni who are always willing to help out. I guess we're even more lucky that '62 alum Maury Povich had dreams of being a sports broadcaster and spent much of his time at the Palestra as an undergrad. I spoke with him on the phone to gather some of his favorite Penn basketball and Palestra memories.
Well I was at Penn from '57 to '62 and ... I also broadcast the games on WXPN. I was a sports director at WXPN. So these were the days when the Palestra had double-headers 3 times a week and all 5 area teams played there, it was their home court- for La Salle, Villanova, St Joe’s, Penn and Temple. When I was there — when I first got there — we had Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas played, and they did that because Kansas gave Wilt a favor to go back to his hometown so they played at the Paletsra. Oscar Robertson, who was at Cincinatti, played at the Palestra, and we saw and covered all those games. And we had the great players there- Lenny Wilkens from Providence, great eastern schools all played at the Palestra. And at the same time you had the 5 area schools were really good basketball schools at the time and Penn probably- this was a time where penn had not grown to its basketball height yet- that came a little later. So it was kind of like embryonic in its basketball history. But they were fairly good teams, but they didn’t contend for Ivy League titles, and it was only a few years later when John Wideman came to the team that Penn really became good. But I can remember, I used to go down 3 days a week and broadcast both the double header, three times a week, and I lugged this big 50-pound tape recorder because I wanted to hear my tapes of the game because I wanted to be a sportscaster- I actually started out as a sportscaster afterwards. But I went back to the Palestra a couple years ago for the first time in 40 or 50 years, and it almost looked the same. There were a few seats with backs on them, but otherwise they looked the same.
Actually Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson- those two guys, they were the greatest basketball – two greatest college basketball players there were- and to have them in the Palestra, in your home, since it’s on the Penn campus, it was electric. The other memory is just the great support that all 5 schools had. I remember It used to be like a 10,000 seat arena, but because there were at least 2 schools playing a night, and maybe 3 if they were playing each other, it was packed. And we couldn’t pack Franklin Field- I guarantee you there were more people that time at the Palestra than there would be at Franklin Field. Also the coaches were great. The penn coach at the time was a man named Jack McCloskey, who went on to become a pro coach in the NBA for many many years- in fact he’s still broadcasting on the radio many games. Harry Litwack, the Temple coach, Jack Ramsay, who is still broadcasting radio games for the NBA, he was the St. Joe’s coach, Jack Kraft was the Villanova coach, and the All-American Tom Gola who went to La Salle, was the La Salle coach. So the coaches were almost as popular as the players. And also in terms of Penn basketball, I used to talk to Chuck Daly a lot about it. Chuck was the Penn coach for a long time before he went into the pros. Digger Phelps and I still had – we see each other once a year and we STILL talk about the Palestra- because he was an assistant coach at Penn. The greatest part about it is it has a campus feeling. It’s not like a new arena, it’s not like set apart from the campus, it’s just part of the campus, I don’t think Penn.. Penn would not be Penn without the Palestra.
In the days leading up to Friday's Penn basketball 2011-12 season opener at UMBC, the (newly redesigned) Buzz will break down how the Quakers are shaping up at each position. After taking a look at the floor general position yesterday, we predict what to expect out of the 2-guards.
THE PLAYERS:
Sophomore Miles Cartwright is easily the most dynamic player in Penn's backcourt. He is extremely crafty and his ability to penetrate the lane and finish at the cup makes him a uniquely talented player on this roster. His ball-handling ability as a combo-guard also allows point guard Zack Rosen to play more off the ball, making life a little bit easier for the senior captain.
Sophomore Dau Jok: The 6-4 two-man came in last year with the label of three-point shooter, but he did not see much action (35 minutes total over 12 games played). We've been told he's put a lot of work in the gym to bulk up his lithe frame, but it remains to be seen where he'll figure into the rotation.
Freshman Simeon Esprit: The London native has great size for an Ivy League shooting guard at a lanky 6'6. His height and length could prove to be a major advantage on the defensive end. From the little we've seen of him, he appears to have a smooth game on the offensive end with the ability to shoot the ball from the outside and penetrate.
Freshman Cam Crocker: The 6'3 combo-guard was previewed in our point guard piece, but as Brian said, the scoring lefty will likely play off the ball at the 2 as someone who, like Cartwright, can handle the ball when needed.
THE MINUTES:
Cartwright, having started the team's last 19 games a year ago (33.8 minutes per game on the season) will get the lion's share of minutes at the 2. A guy like Esprit could see some time if Coach Jerome Allen wants to throw a bigger lineup out there (Then again, a small forward like Tyler Bernardini or Rob Belcore could also slide to the 2). The competition between all three not named Cartwright will come down to who can most effectively provide that inside-outside threat to complement Rosen.
OUTLOOK:
This will be one of the more dynamic positions Penn has, just because of the depth in the backcourt. The combination of Rosen-Cartwright will obviously be the most potent, but with the ability of guys like Crocker and Lucas-Perry to handle the rock, each of these four guys could conceivably shuffle between the 1 and 2 (although given Lucas-Perry's size, he's going to fit more as a point). Cartwright provides the Quakers with a penetrator who can draw contact and get to the FT line when Penn needs to stop the bleeding (his 100 FT attempts ranked 2nd on the team last year). His speed and quickness also makes him a threat to get in the passing lanes defensively.
Editor's note: Last week our man in Germany was a bit down after suffering two tough losses. This week, Jack Eggleston is in higher spirits after two home wins, but he's a little confused about what happened afterward. And we're confused about why he's going to Slayer concerts.
Recently I've seen a couple stories in the news about inappropriate behavior. Whether it is unrestricted access to the Penn State football locker rooms or excessive public use of private planes, people seem to be taking unfair advantage of their situations. I must admit that I, too, am guilty. My platform here in the sacred space that is the Buzz became a vehicle for my selfish pursuits. I employed a reverse jinx. I'm not proud of writing a piece about losing in the hopes that it would make us win, but what's done is done. After the first winning streak of my pro career, I can't say I feel too bad about it though.
Finally winning a couple home games did give me a chance to see the alternative to people silently filing out of the gym. Honestly, it was a little strange. I have been trying in vain to figure out a proper comparison in American sports to what took place. I know Notre Dame sings to their fans after home games and Penn women's soccer serenades fans after home ivy wins, but this didn't involve any singing.
We completed our usual post game lap around the court giving out high fives, when my teammates called me over to sit down near the foul line. Still happy from our convincing win, I followed without questioning. Our point guard proceeded to stand up and grab a bullhorn. A fan stood next to him and whispered in his ear. The message was relayed over the speaker and all the players and remaining fans would repeat it. I have no idea whether we were yelling support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the euro debt crisis or lamenting the low scoring affair between LSU and Alabama on Saturday night.
Just when I thought it was over, the fans applauded as my teammates stood up and began to mosh like they were at a Slayer concert. I guess one way to maintain competitive balance in a league is to have the winning team try to injure themselves after the game. It's the only possible reason I can come up with for what transpired. After seeing what happens over here, I would like to reaffirm my support for throwing streamers to celebrate home wins. Throwing paper just seems to make so much more sense than yelling and fighting.
Growing up, I went to every Penn basketball game (It's one of the reasons that made me want to come here). I went to Penn Basketball camp for a few summers, and every time I returned, Fran Dunphy would walk up to me, shake my hand, and say "Welcome back Allison." The Penn community and the Palestra always felt like home.
Regarding the team itself, I will never forget the three-way Ivy tie back in 2002. I remember driving out with my family to Lafayette on a cold March night to see the Quakers beat Yale in an engaging match-up. Another memory I have is of the final game of the Ivy season back in 2003, when David Klatsky accidentally made a half-court shot on a pass. I can still see that moment very clearly in my head. I'll also never forget the NCAA game in Boston against Oklahoma State back in 2003. In that game, I believe Ugonna scored over 30 points, and at halftime, it looked like Penn was going to win. Though that didn't end up happening, it was still a great game.
The best moment was the look on my eighth grade teachers' faces when I handed them my absent slip that read "I will not be in school on Thursday or Friday due to the fact that I have to go to the NCAA tournament in Lexington, KY."
Penn Club Sailing had a big win this weekend in City Island, N.Y., beating out 17 other teams to win the MAISA club championships and securing a spot in the Atlantic Coast Championships at MIT.
Penn led after four races on Saturday before the wind died out and the tournament was suspended. On Sunday, the Red and Blue picked up right where they left off, closing out a four-point win over Virginia.
Penn freshman Jack Swikart led the Quakers to a first-place finish in the B division and junior Mike Russom placed second in the A division. They sailed nine races in each division over the weekend event, which included teams from Cornell, Columbia and Princeton.
Though Penn's is a club team, it will face some of the top Varsity teams in the nation next weekend in Boston.
Is there any more exciting way to end the Ivy season than a winner-take-all one-game playoff? Today we look back at the last time Penn had to play a 15th game to get to the dance.
My favorite Penn basketball memory is the 1-game playoff against Yale in 2002 to win the Ivy League title and get into the NCAA Tournament. The game was at Lafayette, and the crowd was literally divided across the arena - one side was Penn, the other side was Yale.
Yale played dirty during the game - one of their guys was a noted thug who cheap shotted Penn players all year, and then did so again during the game. So he got booed pretty heavily all night long. It was a very close game right up until the last 5 minutes, when the Quakers pulled away and won by almost 20.
The lasting memory for me was storming the court and watching the Quakers cut down the nets. Dan Solomito was the last one up, and he cut off the final piece, put the net around his neck and sat on the top of the rim with his hands in the air as we chanted his name. An incredible night for Penn basketball, and I'm thrilled I got to go.
In the days leading up to Friday's Penn basketball 2011-12 season opener at UMBC, the (newly redesigned) Buzz will break down how the Quakers are shaping up at each position. Today, we start with the team's strongest spot: point guard.
THE PLAYERS:
Senior Zack Rosen, the only three-year captain in Penn basketball history, is the Quakers' engine. And when your coach is a former star point guard, you are going to be asked to do a lot. The 6'1 Rosen has shined individually the last two years, earning first-team All-Ivy honors in both after averaging a combined 16 points and 4.9 assists. He enters this season fourth among Penn's all-time assists leaders with 415. The challenge for the New Jersey native this year -- and for any point guard, for that matter -- will be to balance his explosive scoring ability with the need to set the table and distribute to his teammates. It's not just about the assist numbers, but about being a leader, being the smartest player on the court, and making sure all five players are in the right spot. Plus, we all know that the only stat that matters to Rosen and Allen is wins.
Sophomore Miles Cartwright has the potential to be even better than Rosen. As a freshman, "Meezo" made a huge splash (11.7 points, 3.0 assists per game) and became a mainstay in the Quakers' lineup, starting the last 19 games. While he qualifies as a combo guard, the 6'3 Cartwright's size is attractive at the point guard position. He will be asked to run the show when Rosen needs a rare rest and when Allen wants to give a different look, with Rosen off the ball. The jury is still out on whether Cartwright has the ability to handle point guard duties on offense, but he certainly has the potential to shut down opposing point guards on the defensive end.
Freshman Patrick Lucas-Perry appears to be a natural-born point guard based on scouting reports and the little we've seen of him at scrimmages so far. His high basketball IQ should allow him to learn the offense faster than most. The biggest challenge for the 5'11 speedster out of Michigan will be to use his quickness to his advantage without playing out of control.
Freshman Camryn Crocker could be the lefty version of Cartwright. But like Cartwright, he will likely be asked to play off the ball during his freshman season.
THE MINUTES:
Rosen has ridiculous endurance, and Cartwright isn't too far behind. Though the Quakers have the benefit of tremendous depth this season, don't expect too much of a change from the near-complete games the two played during the Ivy League schedule in 2010-11. Our best guess for the freshmen is that Crocker will play almost exclusively off the ball, and Lucas-Perry will serve as a change-of-pace spark off the bench for somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes per game.
THE OUTLOOK:
With four potential lead guards, this backcourt is so talented that the key will be mixing and matching to find what combinations work. Rosen and Cartwright proved they can play together -- Rosen's knock-down shooting blends well with Cartwright's slashing game -- so it will be up to Lucas-Perry and Crocker to adapt their games accordingly. Playing three of these guys at once could provide Allen with an intriguing lineup when he wants to press on defense and speed up the game. But from a point guard perspective, not much creativity is needed when the Quakers have the best one in the league in Rosen, who Allen called "probably" the best on-and-off-the-court leader in the country.
If you're reading this post, you've probably noticed that we redecorated. It'd been a few years, so we decided to spruce things up a bit. We hope you like it!
We'll still have the same great DP Sports coverage, just in a new and more intuitive layout. We also hope to roll out some great new features over the coming days and weeks. We're also very thankful for our new sponsors at The Blarney Stone for partnering with us for this exciting redesign.
If you have any ideas or encounter any bugs please let us know by sending us an email at dpsports (at) thedp.com.
Penn took on three Princeton teams this homecoming Saturday and the Quakers came away 3-0 after wins in Football and men's and women's soccer. Not a bad show for the alumni crowds.
Rundown
The football game drew 17,000 fans, the most for a football game since the 2005 season — and they got to see a Penn win. The Quakers overcame the most sluggish of starts to trounce the Tigers 37-9. Jen Scuteri recaps the game, which saw Penn burn the opposition with its air attack. Columnist Eli Cohen says the defense came up big at all the right times to hold Princeton to just three field goals on the day.
Senior Ursula Lopez-Palm scored twice as Penn women's soccer beat Princeton 3-1. Harvard clinched the Ivy title with a win over Columbia, but Penn's win doesn't hurt as the Quakers are looking for an at-large bid into the NCAA tourney. Kenny Kasper captures the joyous mood from Senior Night.
In an open exhibition, Penn men's basketball got its final tune-up in before the regular season starts, beating Carleton (of Ontario), 74-72. The Quakers battled back in the second half and senior captain Zack Rosen sunk two free throws with 0.3 seconds left on the clock to get the win. And he got the Carleton player who fouled him to own up to it.
Volleyball split the weekend with Yale and Brown. After falling to the hot Bulldogs, the Quakers regrouped to get a win in Providence, R.I., on the Bears' senior night. Freshman Emma White came up big with 18 kills in the victory.
Sprint football closed out its season with a 38-6 win over Princeton, finishing with the best record in the Ivy League. The team placed third overall in the Collegiate Sprint Football League, behind Army and Navy.
Field Hockey finished its season with a 3-0 loss to first-place Princeton, but held the Tigers scoreless for much of the game.
Weekend win: The award for the weekend goes to the Penn Band and Cheer teams, which served double duty at the football and basketball games on Saturday. Much appreciated.
Multimedia: Courtesy of Penn Athletics, we have a video of of Matt "Hamsquad" Hamscher, talking about the football win. Hamscher had a pick-six, the first of his career, Saturday. But mostly, I like this video because of the sweet placard in the background.
Extra Extra: Have you read our growing collection of Penn basketball memories? Click that link to read them all. More to come as the men's basketball tip-off approaches Friday.
After the opening quarter, it looked like it would be a long day at the Frank, but Penn quickly found its groove and cruised to a 37-9 victory at homecoming.
The Good: Red zone defense. The 'D' always talks about their bend-don't-break mentality and it was in prime display against Princeton. Two early blocked punts gave the Tigers great field position, but the defense denied them from getting anything more than a field goal. And that would be the case all day, as Penn only allowed nine points, all from Princeton's kicker. Any time the defense doesn't allow a touchdown, Penn's in good shape — barring a freak October snow storm.
The Bad: Princeton's tough run defense put a cap on the Penn rush, which was held to a season low 76 rushing yards — in fact, the Quakers have rushed for 100+ yards every weekend since Nov. 19, 2009. Penn's Brandon Colavita 21 net yards, averaging 2.1 per carry, well below his career average of 5.1. It just goes to show that a good rush defense can stop the bread and butter of Penn's offense.
The Ugly: Blocked punts happen. But one should be enough of a wake-up call to shore-up protection for the rest of the game. So when Scott Lopano had a second punt blocked to in the first quarter, it was downright ugly.
After Penn dominated Princeton in three sports yesterday, it's fitting thatwe turn back to the rivalry with a couple of memories from Penn's 2005 comeback win over the Tigers.
By far, my favorite moment was Penn's amazing comeback against Princeton at the Palestra in 2005. To this day, it is probably the most exciting and enjoyable sporting event I have ever been to.
The indelible image from that game will always be this picture of Ryan Pettinella with his fist pumped high in the air in the sea of Penn students rushing the court.
-David Burrick, College '06
Penn 70, Princeton 62 (OT) (2005). As I recall, Penn never led in regulation and was down huge for most of the game. I was sitting behind Penn's basket in the second half and witnessed the comeback to end all comebacks. I can still picture Eric Osmundson's 4-point play and Tim Begley's banked-in 3-pointer in overtime. I attended a number of games where Penn fans stormed the court, but this was by far the sweetest.
During the halftime show at the homecoming football game the Penn Band spelled out ALUMS in red and blue sparkles on their tubas. Only A, U and S were able to make it to the men's basketball scrimmage after, but seeing as Penn took on a Canadian team, they made the best of the situation.
Lots of activity on campus today for homecoming — here's what has shaken out so far:
Football got its must-win over Princeton in convincing fashion, 37-9 at Franklin Field. It didn't start too well, but Penn scored 25 second-half points and gave up none after the break.
Brown beat Yale today to remain on pace with the Quakers in second, Harvard beat Columbia to remain at the top, setting up another must-win Saturday for Penn in Cambridge next weekend.
The Quaker mascot had a stuffed Tiger that he swung around on a string for much of the football game. At some point, its head became disembodied and was thrown into the crowd, which threw it back to the Quaker, who proceeded to stomp on the bodiless tiger head.
Penn women's soccer had a convincing 3-1 win over Princeton to close out the regular season. League-leading Harvard plays Columbia tonight. A Crimson loss would put Penn in a tie for first place with Harvard. Regardless, the Quakers win today will help their shot at an at-large bid into the NCAA tourney.
UPDATE: Harvard beat Columbia 1-0, clinching the outright title.
Volleyball beat Brown 3-1 in Providence, R.I., after falling to Yale last night.
The Mac 'n' cheese at the homecoming lunch event on College Green was quite tasty.
Men's basketball scrimmaged Canadian Carleton University at the Palestra. The Quakers pulled out a 74-72 win, as Zack Rosen sunk two free throws with 0.3 seconds left to seal the game. Tyler Bernardini was deadly from three, scoring 21 points (7-for-8). Rosen and sophomore Fran Dougherty were also in double digits.
Of the freshmen, Cam Crocker and Simeon Esprit both made some nice plays on offense. The team's defense, however, needs much work. Carleton frequently worked the ball inside and kicked it back out to open guards who basically had free rein from the outside. And they took advantage.
Eight players did not make it into the game. Seniors Rob Belcore, Larry Loughery and Mike Howlett all sat out, and 5th-year senior Zack Gordon was absent. Sophomore Miles Cartwright did not play, nor did Steve Rennard. Freshmen Greg Louis and Henry Brooks both sat as well.
The Palestra video board looks great. Except it spelled Zack Rosen's name "Zach," which is wrong.
We've got a double-header here on The Buzz today. Penn men's basketball is taking on Carleton out of Ontario, Canada in an open scrimmage. Follow along as we bring you the action from the Palestra:
It's homecoming weekend and Penn hosts rival Princeton at Franklin Field this weekend. Princeton has one win in the Ivy League this season, over Columbia, while Penn looks to bounce back from its first Ivy loss in over two years after falling to Brown last weekend.
Today's game at Franklin Field is a few important things: it's Homecoming, it's a must-win game given Penn's title hopes, and perhaps above all ... it's Princeton.
That amounts to a whole lot of motivation for the Quakers, who are just coming off a 6-0 loss to Brown. That said, does Penn have anything to worry about in the Tigers?
Calder Silcox:I think not. Princeton appears to be improving under coach Bob Surace, but in terms of talent the Tigers are still far behind much of the league. There are three big factors working in Penn's favor today: homecoming, needing a win to say on pace with Brown and Harvard, and the desire to bounce back from last weekend. Add it all up and it looks like an easy win for Penn.
Brian Kotloff: Let's not get carried away here. The Quakers may be struggling compared to the past two champions, but Princeton is still out of Penn's league. I will always remember that 52-10 game at Princeton last season because of how truly dominating it was. Even if Penn had played its backups, the result would have been the same -- and Penn took its foot off the gas in the second half, too. So this is the perfect situation for the Quakers to have a punching bag to take out all their anger. If there is one challenge in this game, it will be stopping the Tigers' new-look running game led by freshman Chuck Dibilio (2nd in the Ivies in rushing). I'm sure Bob Surace and staff are rebuilding their program with guys like Dibilio, but they're nowhere close to being scary yet.
Kevin Esteves:Yeah, the stats don't lie. Princeton is in the bottom half of the league in just about every statistical category. Dibilio may get his yards, but at the end of the day, Penn will just have too much firepower on both sides of the ball. Also, as Cal mentioned, there's just so much motivation for the Quakers to draw from. I would think they'd be pumped even if there weren't any title implications (and even if this wasn't Princeton they were facing). The bitter taste of a 6-0 loss last week and the win-or-go-home mindset they need to have will only make them hungrier.
Megan Soisson:I think losing is a pretty big worry here. Penn has been living on the edge all season and all games this season could have gone either way. You know my worry is on third and long, and if I can decipher that defensive issue then I think Princeton can too. Every game is a worry, of course. In the end, though, if the Quakers stick to their gameplan they shouldn't have a problem fending off the Tigers.
Harvard alum Jeremy Lin, a 6'3 guard who graduated in 2010 and has gone on to the NBA's Golden State Warriors, shows how he's keeping himself busy during the league's lockout. The two-time All-Ivy player definitely has a sense of humor in this clip. Even though it's pretty cheesy, great to see this side of players that we can't always witness on the court.
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