Coming off an exciting win at Dartmouth last week, Penn returns to Franklin Field tonight for some Fall Break action against Fordham (1-3). The Quakers (1-2, 1-0 Ivy) get a break from defending the 16-game Ivy win streak. Penn is winless at the Frank so far this season and Fordham is winless on the road, so something's gotta give tonight. Bringing you the action from the north side of Franklin Field are Aaron Campbell and Mike Wisniewski:
The Quakers are back at Franklin Field for a final non-conference tune-up before the six-game Ivy stretch to close out the year. Without worries of an Ivy League winning streak in the back of their mind, the players and coaches can use this game to rest, to go hard, to solidify things or to make necessary tweaks. So I asked my panel of experts, which this week includes the talented Mr. Bradford Blackmon: If you are Al Bagnoli, how do you use this last non-conference tune up before the Ivy stretch?
Megan Soisson: Coach Bagnoli saw a lot from his team last week against Dartmouth — a defense that made some big plays and an offense that ran a successful two-minute drill — so as far as tune-ups, he's in decent position this week. I would think Bagnoli could use this week to gain some confidence for Ragone and his receivers. This non-conference game coming off an improved showing last week can be a great opportunity to establish a rhythm in the passing game. If it doesn't take off, Bagnoli can go back to the run without consequence, but if it works, Penn can feel good entering Ivies with another threat.
Kevin Esteves: Yeah, I don't think it's one particular facet of the game — Penn just needs to dominate. Say Penn beats Fordham, yet it's close throughout. Then the Quakers are getting back into the Ivy season with a narrow win over Dartmouth and what would be an underwhelming win over Fordham on their resumes. Not the biggest confidence builders. The Red and Blue, if they do have that championship moxie, understand they have to take care of business to stay on the right trajectory, so that will be the priority.
Brian Kotloff: I'd use the first half to assert my team's dominance over Fordham. Pound the rock nonstop and play physical defense, and hopefully the Rams will cave. I'd use the second half more for experimentation. Loosen the reins on Ragone and test the limits of what he's capable of. What I have in mind is the Princeton game last year — obviously, Fordham is a much tougher team than Princeton, but Bagnoli employed Aaron Bailey on some creative plays for the first time and took a lot of shots downfield. If the team can handle some more complex plays, it will be that much better heading into Ivy season.
Calder Silcox: First, let me say that I am permanently banning the word "moxie" from this blog forever. In general, I'm with Kotloff here. Work with what will be the gameplan for the rest of the season and tighten any loose screws. This Fordham team prefers to move the ball through the air, so it will be a great chance for Penn's defensive backs to get better reads on a passing offense and close the gaps for big plays that have plagued them. I'd like to see more time for some of the second stringers just so they have some live snaps. There will be injuries as the season wears on, so it will be good for guys in every area who might not have had much playing time so far.
Bradford Blackmon: If I'm Al Bagnoli I'm taking this as a chance to get the teams' confidence at a high level. Try to dominate the game in all facets: offense, defense, and special teams. Don't hold anything back. Let the team know that you can not take this game lightly especially after coming off an emotional last second win like last week. It'd be easy to come out flat with no energy and let the game slip away. It's imperative to take care of teams you are supposed to beat, the way you are supposed to beat them, and that is convincingly.
If you're not on campus this fall break, be sure to follow our liveblog right here on The Buzz, starting just before kickoff at 6 p.m.
Last weekend Penn baseball had its annual Dinner on the Diamond event with alumni, but added in a new wrinkle: a throwback game with alums wearing retro uniforms. Check out this video from Penn Sports Network today recapping the event. Also note a dapper Penn baseball media maven Chas Dorman, who also got into the festivities.
A year after Wagner romped Cornell, 41-7, the Big Red returned the favor with a 31-7 blowout last Saturday. And if you think that Cornell needed 10 more points to truly return the favor, think again. Because the following happened, and the following is far more embarrassing than running up the score -- it even earned Wagner a spot on the SportsCenter "Not Top 10" this morning (though "earn" might not be the right word). Take a look:
That's about the only way a Cornell-Wagner game will ever make SportsCenter.
Fran Dunphy's mustache is no more, but before we really acknowledge that fact, I thought I'd share a photo sent to me by Director of Penn Athletics Communications Mike Mahoney. It's of Dunphy and his 1991-92 Penn team. You'll notice in the back left a young man by the name of Jerome Allen.
Dunphy, who's coached Temple for four years now, shaved his trademark 'stache today in the basement of the Liacouras Center in honor of his former player Dionte Christmas' graduation.
"I know that everybody's here because I'm shaving my mustache," said Dunphy, with Christmas seated beside him. "But the bigger story is that this young man has graduated from Temple University."
"My family has never seen me without it. My wife never has. And, uh, I don't know...she wasn't all that fired up," Dunphy laughed.
Here's a video from Philly.com and a picture from the 700 level below
Last week's debate ended on a TKO for Team Philly, which hopped aboard the Ryan Becker Bandwagon. Well, after Billy Ragone's clutch performance against Dartmouth, that bandwagon is now sidelined with four broken axles. It appears Al Bagnoli will live and die with Ragone behind center, so let's forget that QB controversy ever happened and move on. The Quakers eked out a win over the Big Green in a hostile, prime-time environment. But does the fact that the game came down to the wire make you more or less confident in Penn's chances to three-peat? Or, put another way:
Question: Did Saturday's nail-biter reveal Penn's championship moxie or vulnerability?
Kevin Esteves: Despite the team's continued struggles, their performance against Dartmouth showed me that Penn football still has that championship moxie. The Quakers blew a 13-3 lead and for all intents and purposes, looked like toast in Hanover (see what I did there?). However, they got it done when they needed to get it done. Down by four with just under four minutes left, they had absolutely no momentum on their side (Big Green were on a 17-3 run), yet they still marched 89 yards down the field to score what would be the game-winning touchdown. Of course, you can't ignore all the mistakes that were made, but in order to be as successful as Penn has been recently, you need to be lucky. Were they fortunate to make it out of Hanover with a win? Absolutely. But they got by not on a fluke, hail-mary but instead a methodical march down the field. That shows confidence, moxie, whatever you want to call it — even when they had little reason to be confident at that point.
Brian Kotloff: The Quakers have inexplicably had major problems with the Big Green over the past few years -- including an overtime win in 2010 -- so I'm walking on shaky ground here. But I just feel like this game exposed the 2011 team's problems that will resurface throughout the league schedule. They shored up their pass defense issues, yet still allowed 171 rushing yards. Last year's team almost always held the opposing run game in check. Last year's team also led Dartmouth 28-14 at one point and ran into issues more related to being too good (overconfidence) than not being good enough. This year, to need a near length-of-the-field, last-minute drive to beat DARTMOUTH? A better team would have taken advantage of the opportunity the Quakers handed the Big Green. And if Penn's problems persist (bonus points for alliteration, right?), a better team will take advantage.
KE: Maybe I'm just taking the optimist route, but a championship team doesn't peak until its last game, right? The Quakers have an inexperienced O-line, and inexperienced kicker, and a quarterback in Billy Ragone who's just beginning to find his rhythm back. As a Penn fan, you'd obviously love to see the Quakers handing it to Dartmouth, but they're still an unfinished product at this point. The key is they have that championship leadership and moxie to keep them competitive until their play on the field catches up.
BK: Well their play better catch up to their "moxie" quick, because the stretch run is looming. Remember, this year Penn travels to Brown and Harvard, perhaps the two biggest challengers. The Quakers can't be sloppy, but they've been sloppy in each of their first three games. I don't see how their glaring issues will magically be cured by whatever intangible qualities they possess (plus, Ragone is no Ben Francisco when it comes to clutchness).
KE: Fair point, so let's toss it to our Buzz readers out there. What's your take? Let us know in the comments.
Last night as I searched the DP's archives for a useable photo of Fran Dunphy to highlight his impending run in with the razor, there were just too many good ones to choose from. So we put together a small compendium of photos: Fran Dunphy's mustache through the years. And by years I mean the years we have digital photos of the 'stache. Enjoy:
A friend who covers Big 5 basketball forwarded along this media release from Temple Athletics. It speaks for itself.
Date: Thursday, October 6, 2011
Time: 11:15 a.m – Noon
Place: Al Shrier Media Room- the Liacouras Center
Event: Temple University Men’s Basketball Head coach Fran Dunphy will shave his mustache in honor of former player Dionte Christmas’ graduation. It will mark the first time in 40 years (1971) that the Owls’ coach will have a clean upper lip. Dionte Christmas will also be present for the historic shaving.
Update: Check out the full story that appeared in Wednesday's issue of the DP.
I got a chance to speak with both Julian Harrell and his AAU coach Gary Franklin about the 6-foot-5 swingman's decision to commit to Penn. Harrell joins Jamal Lewis, Tony Hicks and Darien Nelson-Henry as the latest additions to the recruiting class of 2012.
Here are some nuggets that didn't make the article in full.
Harrell on his decision to come to Penn (joining his longtime friend Miles Cartwright) and forego offers to Stanford, Duquesne, and St. Mary's, his other top schools:
Number one, I have a really good relationship with coach Allen. [Also] Miles Cartwright … is like a big brother to me, I've known him since I was five years old.
And I really like the city ... and I like the players on the team. I thought it was the overall best fit.
According to Coach Franklin, Harrell's strengths include his competitiveness, winning mentality, and ability to create off dribble penetration. Harrell's weakness, according to some, is his outside shooting. Coach Franklin said he saw improvement in that aspect of Harrell's game this summer and provided some good insight:
I think the big thing honestly first is just confidence.
There were some times where Julian would have maybe opportunities to step up and take the shot, and instead he would look to create and get to the basket where maybe that was the best shot available in terms of maybe forcing the drive.
And it sounds like Harrell is not only looking to improve his outside stroke, but he's looking to become a marksman.
I want it to become a dead-eye three-point shot. That’ll just make me even that more versatile.
Finally, I asked Harrell about the Battle for I-95 that was held at the Palestra and what that made him think about the program.
It tells me that the Palestra is a great place, a great venue. To hold basically an NBA all-star type game at the Palestra is really big ... I can’t wait to play in the Palestra, there’s so much history in that gym.
So tangible or not, looks like that Team Philly-Team Melo game will only help the program.
Princeton was the only Ivy to finish higher (4th), and Duke, Stanford and Notre Dame rounded out the top three. Penn moved up two spots this year, as three other Ivies, Harvard, Yale and Cornell, all dropped behind the Quakers.
The rankings use an average of the Learfield Sports Director's Cup rankings, the school's student-athlete graduation rate and the U.S. News and World Report academic rankings to rate the schools.
Ivy League Director Robin Harris tweeted a note of congratulations to the eight member schools, noting they all placed within the top 21. Those top 21 with the rankings breakdown are listed below:
Also, just for fun, here's an interview he did with Penn sophomore Miles Cartwright's younger brother Parker. Harrell is a senior at the high school where Miles played and where Parker is a sophomore.
If Penn women's soccer could play all of their games at home, they would. Aside from the downsides of long bus rides, the Quakers are undefeated in six games at home, and jumped to 8-2 on the season with two more home-cooked wins this weekend.
It wasn't all good news at Rhodes this weekend, as the men suffered a heartbreaker against Cornell. The Big Red took home a win on an 88th minute goal, which was eerily similar to last year's result, except that Penn had the 'W' in 2010.
Weekend win: This weekend's win goes to the Penn men's basketball coaching staff, which snagged another recruit for 2012, the third in the last week. If the commit, Julian Harrell, is anything like his former high-school teammate Miles Cartwright, Penn has a bright future in stock.
Multimedia: People have been asking about Penn's sweet ride home from Hanover. Most years, the Quakers are subject to the worst road-trip in the league, an eight hour bus ride. But since the Big Green decided to install this new-fangled invention called "lights" and play a night game, they also agreed to foot the bill for a chartered plane on the ride home. Here's a look inside the swagged-out cabin (via @Pennfb):
Extra Extra: In case you missed it yesterday, the Buzz is extremely excited to add Penn football alum Bradford Blackmon to our list of contributors. He'll be blogging about the Penn football season for the remainder, all the way from his new home at Ole' Miss, where he's attending Law School. You can read his first post right here.
Editor's note: Sometimes, the Saturday Roundtable isn't enough. So to add a little more to your weekend, The Buzz would like to formally introduce Mr. Bradford Blackmon, Penn football 2011 alumni, as a contributing writer to our blog. Bradford will offer his analysis of Quakers' football games, with the occasional dabble in our Saturday roundtable. He fittingly joins us with his take on the first Ivy game of the season in the Red and Blue's quest for a three-peat. From our two-time All-Ivy Honorable Mention, all the way from law school at Ole Miss:
After two less-than-Penn-like performances, the Quakers looked to right the ship with the Ivy-opener at Dartmouth. Speaking with several players over the week, the consensus was that the team wasn't playing with enough energy and was just going through the motions.
They came out in the first quarter more fired up than the last two games combined. The defense looked like your typical Penn defense and was flying around making plays and, more importantly, letting everyone know they were making plays. There's nothing more demoralizing to a team than getting stopped and seeing how much fun your opponent is having while doing it.
With the early success the defense was having, the offense came out with just as much energy. They were continuously moving the ball but had to settle for field goals. Perhaps the weather played a role, but it was still encouraging to see the team come out with the energy they had been lacking in their first two outings.
As always with Dartmouth, both teams were fighting for every inch and the game came down to the wire. Penn showed what type of team they are capable of being by driving down the field with less than 2 minutes left and getting the go-ahead touchdown. They seemed to have recaptured the energy that has been missing and have overcome the sense of entitlement they had from being members of the two-time defending Ivy champs.
Two important observations I made from watching the game were about the aggression of the defense and the predictability of the offense. The defense has seemed to regain its form and was flying around in the controlled chaos that is a Penn defense — blitzing from all angles and making the offense go where the defense wants them to, the bend but never break mentality. The Penn offense, on the other hand, seems to be a bit predictable. Dartmouth loaded the box because they knew Penn would run the ball 70% of the time. The times Dartmouth had trouble with the Penn offense was on the 2-min. drill at the end of the first half and the end of the game when Penn drove down for the winning score. Opening up the offense makes Penn's running game — its bread and butter — that much more of a threat. Billy has proved he can throw the ball when necessary, now they just have to give him free reign to make plays.
Hopefully they can ride this momentum into next week's game and continue to return to make strides toward another championship run.
The Good: Billy Ragone and the the whole offensive unit was unbreakable under pressure this week. As mentioned, Ragone deftly led the Quakers 90 yards on their final possesion to the winning touchdown. Not only that — he threw two TD passes, as the first one to Ryan Mitchell was called back on a questionable holding call. Then receiver Joe Holder came up with a clutch 18-yard catch putting Penn at the 3-yard line with 22 seconds remaining, and Ryan Calvert caught the winning TD.
Ragone led a similar drive at the end of the first half. With the clock ticking down, Penn somehow got the special teams unit on the field and hiked the ball (all within 10 seconds), and Connor Loftus got off a 35-yard field goal. Which leads me to...
The Bad: Penn's place kicking was not in championship mode tonight. Perhaps some of it can be chalked up to the lousy conditions in New Hampshire tonight, but Loftus missed two FGs (one is listed as blocked on the stat-sheet), and his final PAT was blocked as well. Some of the blame rests on the shoulders of the linemen blocking for Loftus, but he needs to get a little more loft in his kicks.
The Ugly: The commercials on Fox College Sports tonight. From the repetitive Bosley hair restoration spots to the Miracle Slipper (you can drop an egg on it!), this was bad marketing at its worst. The sideline interview with Dartmouth's medical school dean was equally entertaining. Fortunately, the bad ads were counterbalanced by a sweet Ivy League football ad narrated by Brown alum Chris Berman, and an awesome Penn ad voiced by John Legend.
The road to a third-consecutive Ivy title begins tonight in Hanover, N.H., where the Quakers take on Dartmouth's Big Green (1-1). It's the first ever night game at Memorial Field and the 0-2 Red and Blue are looking not only for their first win, but to maintain an unbeaten conference streak of 15 games. DP football beat writer Ethan Alter is in chilly New England and will bring the action under the lights:
The recruiting news keeps rolling in for the Quakers. Men's basketball picked up its third recruit in the last week with the verbal commitment of Julian Harrell, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Loyola High School in Los Angeles.
If that school sounds familiar, that's because Penn sophomore standout Miles Cartwright is an alum. The two played together during Cartwright's junior and senior years.
Scout.com's Josh Gershon broke the news this afternoon on twitter.
"It was tough to choose the ivy league over the PAC-12, ACC, A-10, MWC, And WCC but I picked what me and my family thought would be best for my future," Harrell told C2Crecruiting.com. "I have a great relationship with the coaches, I loved Philly, I really liked the team, and I think that I can contribute immediately.”
Harrell is ranked an 86 by ESPN, which describes him as having "a nice frame with long arms, but he isn't a high level athlete." The site's appraisal points to his high basketball IQ and excellent decision making on the floor.
Harrell is an adept scorer who knows how to finish at the rim. Harrell loves taking his man off the dribble with the ball and thanks to his long arms and smooth touch is tough to stop at the basket. He can score at the basket with both hands and has an array of baby hooks and floaters that he uses pretty effectively.
Geographically the coaching staff is assembling a very diverse roster, with representatives from Washington, DC., Chicago, LA, and Washington state. And though it is only October 1, Penn has already put together what looks to be a formidable class.
The Ivy football season is finally upon us and it's kicking off with a bang for Penn. Not only are the Quakers on the road, but they are playing in the first night game at Dartmouth's Memorial Field. On top of that, the game will be televised on Fox College Sports. Oh yeah, the Red and Blue also have a 15-game conference streak at steak. With all that piling up, I asked my colleagues just how these factors might help or hurt the Quakers.
Kevin Esteves: I think these factors help the Quakers because they will jolt the team into action. Dartmouth may not be an elite contender but the fact that this will be its first night game ever means lots of fans and a pumped up Big Green team. Once you add the TV element — and the fact that Penn has dropped two games in a row — then I think you can expect to see the "Quakes" approaching this game like its "Primetime" and going to work. They need a bounce-back game here and with all the excitement that will surround this game, it shouldn't be difficult to summon that extra effort.
Megan Soisson:Honestly I'm not sure how much Dartmouth's first night game and the national TV stage will play a factor. To this team, it's the first Ivy game and the first big test of the season; if they fail this test they'll have a long road to a third-straight title. The Quakers needed those losses against Lafayette and Villanova to put them in their place and humble them a bit. The defending champs have yet to win a game, so they'll be hungry — very hungry. Ultimately, Penn will take every factor playing into this game and turn it into a positive, whether that be a 15-game Ivy win streak or a quarterback that has struggled the first two weeks. .
Brian Kotloff: I think the pressure and hype surrounding this game can serve as a rallying cry of sorts for the Quakers. Their shortcomings in the first two games can be instantly forgotten by starting off the Ivy League season the same way they finished last year. Going into an environment like Saturday's where the spotlight is on, the Penn players can view this as a test of whether they're still a championship-caliber team. Often, great teams rise to the occasion for games like this. I get the feeling this group will feed off the energy of the hostile crowd and the big stage — captain Greg Van Roten even told the Inquirer that the Quakers feel "disrespected" by the fact that Dartmouth believes this is its year to beat Penn.
Calder Silcox: : First, let's discount the national television factor. Maybe it's because I never grew up with cable TV and have never heard of this channel before, but Fox College Sports? Not big time... It's cool to play under the lights, I get that there's a nice build-up to the game all day, both for fans and players, but I don't see that being a big factor either. Though coach Al Bagnoli said Penn hasn't been talking about their streak this week, that has to be in the forefront of the players' minds. The Quakers want to win tonight because they want to carry on something that two years of graduated seniors started and they don't want to be the ones to end it.
If you don't happen to get Fox College Sports, be sure to follow our liveblog right here on The Buzz, starting just before kickoff at 6 p.m.
"That’s getting blown out of proportion," says Eric Singletary, Lewis' coach at Sidwell Friends high school in Washington.
Here's the real deal:
Singletary says he received a call from Connecticut's Director of Basketball Administration, Karl Hobbs, offering congratulations on choosing Penn, not inquiring about recruiting. According to Singletary, Hobbs recruited Lewis when he was the head coach at George Washington. (He was fired in April 2011.)
Hobbs told Singletary that Lewis "was a player that UConn would take a look at," Singletary said, adding that it was meant more as a compliment to Lewis' game. "It wasn’t 'come on, come to UConn.'"
But is Lewis really a Big East caliber steal for Penn? Singletary has seen him play since age nine.
"It would be a stretch," he said. "I think the world of him, he’s going to do big things at Penn. He has a lot to prove up there."
Singletary affirmed that Lewis and his family are set on the Quakers. He said he believed the senior applied to Penn early decision.
"Once he made the commitment, that’s where he wanted he be. It’s a done deal on their part for the Lewis family"
A crazy recruiting week just got a little bit crazier. Earlier this week Penn 2012 commit Jamal Lewis, a point guard out of Sidwell Friends in Washington, D.C. tweeted that UConn — yes, national champion UConn — called Lewis' coach to see if he would reopen his recruiting.
lol is right. Looks like the Huskies are looking for a replacement for star Kemba Walker. Did Penn really scoop up a guard worthy of the Big East champions? It appears so.
Right now you're probably in panic mode. There goes the heir to Zack Rosen. Well, not so fast. A follower of Lewis' asked if he would in fact reopen with the interest from the big dogs. His response? Nah.
Those have to be the three greatest words Penn coach Jerome Allen has heard this week. And that includes the verbal commitments of Tony Hicks and Darien Nelson-Henry.
The Penn men's basketball recruiting class of 2012 received its third commitment Thursday — and second this week — in Darien Nelson-Henry, a 6-foot-10, 265-pound center out of Kirkland, Wash.
Scout's Dave Telep tweeted the news today, noting that Washington State and Boise State were both "in the mix." Nelson-Henry is rated an 88 by ESPN, which rates him as one of top post players in the state of Washington.
While a very different build than Penn target Mike Hall (who committed to Harvard earlier this week), Nelson-Henry will add much-needed size to Penn's frontcourt.
Here's some video of the big-man in action, from Hoopscout, which describes him as having soft hands and running the floor well for a player of his size:
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