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(01/14/98 10:00am)
The search committee has made it clear that winning on the field is just one part of coaching. The committee searching for a new head men's soccer coach is looking not only for someone who can improve the team's on-field performance, but also its off-the-field fundraising performance. Committee members and players alike are making it clear that the win-loss record is not the only basis for judging both current and prospective Penn coaches. The ability to recruit new players and retain alumni interest is also important. "[Fundraising] is a big part of the job now for all of us," search committee member and veteran baseball coach Bob Seddon said. "There are a lot of alums who can be very supportive. There is major support in the budget, but the budget alone isn't going to do it. Some have had more experience [fundraising] than others. That is something we think about." Seddon, however, pointed out that the new men's coach will have an advantage in fundraising due to the shared facilities of the men's and women's teams. In large part, all donated money jointly funds both the men and women. Rules governing gender equity in collegiate athletics, including the Title IX act of 1972, prevent some Quakers teams from using all of their donations. "I wish I had that [equality]," Seddon said. "I raise money and I can't use it because softball doesn't have the same." Even the players are aware of and interested in the economic capabilities of prospective coaches. Reggie Brown, who along with Mike O'Connor represents the players on the committee, said that the coaches who can fundraise tend to be, "honest and personable", two characteristics he said he would like to see in a new head coach. In addition to alumni fundraising, the players are also interested in a coach's ability to get a corporate sponsor for their equipment. "We've had shoes and some stuff in the past," Brown said. "This year was better, but its not what some people get at other colleges. We are not going to get a full-blown sponsor, but we would like to get more along the lines of what other colleges get." In addition to fundraising, recruiting is also a major issue the search committee is examining. Seddon said that the committee considers the candidate's experience in recruiting the same academic caliber of student that Penn demands. When selected, the new coach will likely struggle during his first year because of a lack of time to learn about the Penn program and find the necessary players. Of course, the ability to win games still remains a major issue in the selection process. Brown and O'Connor have told the coaches that winning is definitely possible in the very near future. "We've been highlighting that we have a good corps of players and that we will win," Brown said. "[The candidates] like to know our work ethic, why our record turned out the way it did, and what needs to be done by a coach to change things. "Our guys want to know what preseason and training are going to be like." Prospective coaches, meanwhile, are looking to make sure that they have support from the Athletic Department to turn around a program that had a terrible 5-11-1 season after an encouraging 1996 campaign. "[Prospective coaches] want to know if the resources are here to get better," Seddon said. "There is only one way to go -- up. The women's program is suddenly winning, which is only going to help the men's program." Other enticements for prospective coaches are the new coach's offices scheduled to be built this summer and the prospect of creating a new stadium with lights at Rhodes Field. A fundraising campaign is currently underway to complete that project, but final details still haven't been announced. The selection process, which is expected to be completed in the next few weeks, is monitored by other Penn coaches who are no doubt curious how both this slot and the women's volleyball coaching vacancy will be filled. Women's basketball coach Julie Soriero, for one, said that the coaches are generally aware of what is going on in the department and that the coaching staff is a close group. The message sent to current coaches is that winning is not close to being the whole story when it comes time to find, or retain, a coaching job at Penn.
(01/14/98 10:00am)
The Athletic Department's search for a new head men's soccer coach has been reduced to a handful of candidates. Despite its original hope to find a new men's soccer coach by the end of 1997, Penn's search committee is still narrowing its list of candidates two weeks into the new year. The committee is searching for a replacement for former men's soccer coach George O'Neill, whose contract was not renewed following a disappointing 1997 season in which the Quakers finished 5-11-1, including a meager 1-6 showing in the Ivy League. As the national soccer coaches convention gets under way in Cincinnati today, there is no one to represent the men's team. But Carolyn Schlie Femovich, senior associate director of athletics and the committee chairperson, expects to finish the selection process in the next few weeks. "I think any candidate would want to get started as soon as possible," Femovich said. "I think we are progressing nicely. It is an extensive national search, and there is a great deal of interest in the position." Other committee members roughly estimated that almost 100 coaches submitted applications in response to Penn's announcement of the vacancy. According to Patrick Baker, Penn's women's soccer coach and a committee member, there are currently four or five candidates still being considered from the original pool. A second round of interviews is currently under way, during which each candidate will meet with the search committee consisting of Femovich, Baker, current Penn baseball and former men's soccer coach Bob Seddon and Tony Vecchione, the associate director for operations at the Athletic Department. Prospective coaches are also meeting with representatives of the current Quakers squad. "[The players' participation] gives us input from an athlete's perspective," Femovich said. "A couple of [the players] were even willing to come back during the holidays to meet with candidates." As December rolled into January, both the players and the committee members have become increasingly concerned with the stalled recruiting that has arisen from the head coaching void. Until his contract ran out December 31, O'Neill continued to talk to prospective Penn players who he had been courting before his termination, but he was unable to tell recruits who will be leading the program. "George has a very strong character, and tried to do everything he could while he was here," Baker said. "He would tell the kids he's not the coach but encourage them to consider Penn anyway. Bob Seddon also offered to make calls to pick up the slack." Recruiting will be the most immediate concern for the incoming coach, who will have no alternative but to rely mainly on players O'Neill brought into the system to fill his roster. This is a period of heavy player recruitment around the country, so the combination of a coaching change and a lost month of recruiting will make it very difficult to enroll a strong freshman class. "Right now, hypothetically, say a person is hired by Friday," Baker said. "By the time they get going it is the end of January. He has to rely on what's already in the applicant pool, so he is at the mercy of what is done before him." Femovich said, however, that it might be possible for a new coach to bring potential recruits from his former school with him to Penn even if they had not applied to Penn by the official January 1 application deadline. That decision, she said, would be made by Lee Stetson, the dean of the Office of Admissions. "For a strong student I hope [admittance to Penn] would be considered," Femovich said. Beyond the need to resume recruiting, the current roster is also without someone to set the team's off-season training schedule. Reggie Brown, one of the two player representatives chiefly responsible for presenting the players' interests to the committee, is happy with the progress of the committee but hopes the coaching announcement will be made within a couple of weeks. "I think [every candidate remaining] could do the job," Brown said. "We want a coach as soon as possible because things are a little disorganized right now. We need to set a weight program." When the committee finishes interviewing candidates, their work will be turned over to Director of Athletics Steve Bilsky, who is responsible for making a final decision. Seddon remarked that no candidate has asked about salary, but Baker noted that potential coaches are interested in receiving a contract that is long enough to give them time to bring in their own recruits and turn the program around.
(12/08/97 10:00am)
Penn women's basketball coach Julie Soriero didn't get her 200th victory Friday night against Navy, but her team is showing signs that the wait for one more win will not be too much longer. Playing with only three non freshmen on its roster, the Quakers were expected to get off to a slow start this season. Losses in their opening three games were evidence that their struggles were going to be long-term, but the exemplary play of the team's two seniors has put Penn tantalizingly close to the .500 mark. A win over East Tennessee State over the Thanksgiving break and a commanding victory over Lehigh on Tuesday brought the team to a surprising 2-3 mark. Another win last Friday would have marked the first time since the 1982-83 season that the Quakers had won three games before Christmas. Freshman forward Diana Caramanico has put up a tremendous number of points, but it is clear that the team relies on the floor leadership of co-captains Colleen Kelly and Michelle Maldonado. Kelly had only two points Friday night, but she led the team with eight assists. Her leadership is not lost on Soriero, who played Kelly the entire game until she was injured with 47 seconds remaining. The Quakers were within two when Kelly left the game. But without their most reliable three-point shooter on the floor, their offense looked lost in the closing seconds of the game. The result was a 70-66 loss. The open looks Kelly gets on the outside come in large part because opposing defenses collapse on senior forward Maldonado. Battling injury, Maldonado was not expected to play, but when Penn went down early Soriero wasted no time throwing her frontcourt leader into the fray. Maldonado put in 16 points and grabbed nine boards on Friday. Her most important contribution, though, is how she attracts hosts of defenders, leaving Kelly open on the perimeter and Caramanico free down low. "We expect [Caramanico] to be able to get some points mainly because everybody has to key on Michelle," Soriero said. "Other kids need to step up to give a little bit of relief to Michelle." Friday's result was almost a second straight home win for Penn, but even being competitive in such games is more success than many expected from this young group. If the value of their two senior leaders isn't already clear by their on-court performance, having to do without Kelly for the near future will prove as a painful reminder.
(12/04/97 10:00am)
The Penn men's basketball team blew a 15-point lead in the second half, but still pulled out its third win. BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- It is tough to blame Penn's performance on jetlag four days after returning from Puerto Rico, but the Quakers were running out of gas in the closing minutes of last night game against Lehigh. After leading by as many as 15 points in the second half, the Engineers (3-2) fought back to take a brief lead in the late stages of the second half. Penn, however, recovered and squeaked out a 75-73 victory at Stabler Arena. Frank Brown's two free throws with six seconds left iced the game for the Quakers (3-2). Brown finished the game with a double-double, 14 points and 11 rebounds. Jed Ryan made the game closer than it might otherwise have been by picking up a technical foul with 9:38 left to play. The technical followed Ryan's fourth foul, an offensive pushoff away form the ball. College rules count technicals as personal fouls, making the technical Ryan's fifth and sending him to the bench for the rest of the game. "He should keep his mouth shut and he knows that," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "The officials do the best they can. You shut up and you go play the game." "It's [Ryan's] fifth personal foul. He's one of our key ingredients to stem the tide and he's not there." Lehigh capitalized on the technical by making both free throws and a layup on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to 61-53. The lead could have been one less, but Lehigh guard Steve Aylsworth failed to convert his free throw after getting fouled on his made layup. From there, the Engineers continued to chip away at Penn's lead. Steve Aylsworth's two free throws with 4:30 to play erased Penn's lead and tied the game at 66. "I think they were on the retreat," Aylsworth said. "They were playing not to lose and we were playing our hearts out and trying to win." The Quakers clearly missed Jordan in closing minutes of the game, looking unsure of whom to turn to when their lead started to fade away. Matt Langel stepped up for the Quakers to make a layup after his own offensive rebounds to put the Quakers ahead 73-70 with 55 seconds left in the game. Langel had four offensive rebounds in the game. Penn piled up 14 for the contest to Lehigh's eight. The key statistic in the game, however, will not show up on the stat sheet. Lehigh's shooting percentage was a poor 35.7 percent, but the frustrating part for the Engineers was that many of the missed shots were layup attempts. Forward Fido Willybiro was the worst culprit, missing a layup with 1:42 to play that would have put his team ahead 72-71. Willybiro went 1-for-9 from the floor in the game. The drama of the final minutes came in stark contrast to the sloppy and mistake-filled opening minutes of the game. Until Kreitz's burst to open the second half, Penn had been playing as smoothly as a Philly cab driver. Individual efforts on each play were keeping the Quakers ahead, as Penn showed that without a floor leader to unify it, five players in the same uniform doesn't necessarily constitute a team. "I just think Kreitz is great," said Lehigh coach Sal Mentesana, citing the Penn guard's hustle. It was the Engineers who were expected to be a one-man team, but star guard Brett Eppehimer was frustrated both by the Quakers' defense and by his team's inability to get him open shots. The junior was averaging 27.5 points entering the game, but failed to score until 11:36 had passed in the game. After his slow start, Eppehimer recovered to get 10 points in the half His most important contribution in the half, however, was a bullet pass thrown right at the front of the rim which was slammed home by Damien McGill. The alley-oop gave the crowd, which up to that point had spent the game heckling Kreitz for his height, a chance to cheer their own team for a change. When Eppehimer and company finally got into the game, Penn could barely get it back out of its end of the court after each Lehigh basket. Lehigh's press traumatized the Quakers into myriad turnovers. The scene repeated itself often enough to allow Lehigh to cut the lead down to 37-31 with 50 seconds left in the first half. Fortunately for Penn, Lehigh seemed to give up when the Quakers moved the ball across half-court. The Quakers dominated the offensive boards, garnering nine offensive rebounds in the first half including three by guard Matt Langel. Six different Quakers had at least three rebounds in the first half as Penn carried a 24-15 advantage in the rebound column into the locker room at the half.
(11/19/97 10:00am)
Even though Saturday is the final game for the Penn football team's seniors, coach Al Bognoli says winning comes first. With the Quakers out of Ivy League title contention, much of the focus of Saturday's game versus Cornell shifts to the senior class. Taking the field for the final time, however, will apparently not look any different from the seniors' previous games, as Quakers coach Al Bagnoli says that a win is his primary concern. "Read in the paper today about what happened to [Temple football coach] Ron Dickerson," Bagnoli said. "They fire people in this profession. You make decisions to try and win the game." "We don't give kids those options. Kids don't come up to me and say, 'I want to do 15 different things because it's my last game'." Quakers quarterback Tom MacLeod and other senior reserves will therefore not be given the start in their final appearance on Franklin Field. "Hopefully [MacLeod] will get in," Bagnoli said. "I'd like nothing more than to get everyone involved, but first and foremost, you have to try to win the game." Following Saturday's game, the defense will turn over the majority of its starters. Based on recent starting lineups, seven of the 11 who open the game for the defense will be seniors. · It's hard to congratulate any of the Quakers' players after Saturday's 33-0 shellacking, but defensive end Roger Beckwith certainly made a big effort for the defensive front seven. With Harvard up 7-0 and driving for more at the start of the second quarter, Beckwith came up with the Quakers only interception of the game by picking off Crimson quarterback Rich Linden's 10-yard pass over the middle. It was the second turnover in the half by Harvard, and should have provided the offense a motivational lift. The offense, however, capitalized on Beckwith's play by running three plays and having Jeff Salvino fall to the ground during his punt attempt. In addition to the interception, Beckwith also deflected two passes and made a couple of tackles. The senior from Philadelphia has come a long way. After a junior season in which he recorded only nine tackles, and left the team in mid-season, an unimpressive performance during spring practices, the coaching staff was guarded in its expectations of Beckwith's ability to contribute to the defense. He wasn't one of the team members profiled in the media guide and he wasn't listed on the two-deep lineup in the season opener against Dartmouth. But after steadily improving over the course of the season, he will likely be one of the starting 11 on Saturday. "This year he has really focussed and done a nice job," Bagnoli said. "He's really proved to be a very solid defensive end." · The 1997 season did not play out the way Mitch Marrow thought it would. Instead of showing off for the NFL scouts and leading his team to an Ivy League title, Marrow was forced to sit on the sidelines with a virus the first half of the season. Although he played in the majority of the Ivy contests, it was clear that Marrow had not had the time to regain his playing form or even his playing weight. Whether or not the season will hurt Marrow in this spring's NFL draft remains to be seen, but Marrow says that the season has not been a waste. "Maybe in the long run this will make me a better player," Marrow said. "I'll definitely look back on my career here fondly. Maybe it builds character. Regardless of Marrow's play against Cornell, Saturday will not be his last football game. Marrow is already been invited to play in the Blue-Grey All-Star Game and the Senior Bowl. Both games showcase the best NFL prospects in competition against one another. · Jim Finn has the chance to end the season near the top of the Ivy League in a number of statistical categories. Finn is currently second in yards per rush and is third in scoring behind Harvard's Chris Menick and Brown's Sean Morey. There is also a possibility for Finn to crack the top 10 in Quakers history in a couple of offensive categories. Finn needs seven points to finish with the 10th-highest single-season point total of all time, and needs 170 rushing yards to finish 10nth in Quakers history for single -season rushing yards. The opportunity for these honors, however, isn't going to sway Bagnoli's play selection on Saturday. Then again, Bagnoli intends to call plenty of running plays, anyway. "We had better be able to run the ball better this week than last week," Bagnoli said. "Our No. 1 goal is to get back to running the ball the way we did the previous three or four weeks before Harvard. "Hopefully [Finn] will get his yards and put us in some good situations to score some points."
(11/14/97 10:00am)
Penn must win its final two games to be Ivy League champions. But Harvard is 5-0 in the league this year. When Penn and Harvard knock helmets at Harvard Stadium, there will be a tendency to link the game to past tradition. Tomorrow's game at 12:30 p.m., however, is not a link to the past as much as the beginning of a new tradition. Comparing the upcoming contest to the series of championship games they engaged in during most of the 1980s fails to capture the youthful look of the two schools. The uniform colors will be the same as they once were, but the men inside the uniforms and the coaches on the sidelines will be trying to establish new traditions. Al Bagnoli is no stranger to winning. Since his arrival at Penn in 1992, the Quakers (5-4, 4-1 Ivy League) have been near the top of the Ivy League every season. But for the most part, his own recruits have never won a championship and his current players have little experience in big games. Some of the current starters stood on the sidelines during Bagnoli's second championship season in 1994, but none have been the key players on Judgment Day. A win at Harvard, followed by another victory against Cornell, cements the image of Penn as the dominating Ivy League football program of the decade. Harvard coach Tim Murphy is no stranger to winning either, but most of his victories came for other employers and not with the Crimson. His current players were in pee-wee leagues the last time Harvard (7-1, 5-0) was in contention for an Ivy League title. None of his players have even been in the top half of the Ivy League standings before, let alone in a championship game, in November. Murphy has accumulated as many Ivy victories this season, five, as he had in his first three years combined at the helm of the Crimson. A win proves Murphy was correct to start youth in previous seasons at the expense of victories in the attempt to win a championship this year. Despite his squad's undefeated mark in the league, Murphy still sees his squad as the underdog. "We expected we would have to be undefeated at this point in the season to challenge Penn," Murphy said. "We've played well every week, but they have to be the favorite because of their experience and because they were the consensus pick to win the league." Jerry Seinfeld might agree with Murphy that Penn is the favorite because its laundry is more experienced in championship games, but the Penn players inside the numbers share Harvard's inexperience. Matt Rader, Penn's quarterback, was competing for the bottom of the ACC last year with Duke, while the rest of the Quakers were fighting to prove their mediocrity. Even five weeks ago, the Quakers' offense was trying to prove that it could get along in harmony without someone moving in an illegal shift on every third play. The special teams were proving that catching skills were not a prerequisite for the position, and the defense tried to hold itself together without Mitch Marrow. The Harvard team the Quakers face is expecting the team that has been the complete opposite of its earlier self. Four consecutive wins later, the special teams play looks heroic, Marrow looks ready to have another four-sack game like he did last year against Harvard, and Rader can't find a receiver he doesn't like. Some guy named Finn turned out to be a decent running back, too. "We've been moving the ball and scoring points and keeping our defense off the field," said Penn's Jim Finn, who has run for 600 yards, almost all in the last four weeks since he moved to running back from defense. "That keeps them rested so that they can shut [the other team] down like they have." Harvard has found players as well, which tempers the enthusiasm over the Quakers' metamorphosis. In addition, the Crimson have had the more consistent performances. Running back Chris Menick is the league's best runner, and the Crimson sport the league's highest scoring offense, while the defense, which returned all 11 of its 1996 starters, is holding teams to less than 15 points per game. Harvard stacks up well in every facet of the game, meaning Bagnoli thinks his squad is the real underdog. "None of our kids have lost to Harvard," he said. "We've done OK with them. Our kids feel confident, like they should feel confident, that they can win the game, but they know they have to play well. If you don't play well, you don't deserve to be an Ivy League champion." The two teams' presumed ability to counter the other's weapons means that small differences will turn out to result in the big difference -- winning or losing. Youth is the biggest variable on Saturday. The offensive skill positions are not only filled by a lot of underclassmen, but even the older players come in without experience in defining games. Butterflies should be plentiful. "[Harvard] really has done a nice job of getting young kids," Bagnoli said. "Their offensive kids are mainly sophomores, and they are in a position where they can be difference makers. It is a game of a lot of sophomores being put in situations, but I think it will be fine." "This is probably the biggest game I've played in college," Rader said. "We're just trying to get our game plan ready and get ready to go. Turnovers will be a big difference." It's only fair that the coaches play a roll tomorrow because as much as this is a single football game, it is also the culmination of recruiting and program-building processes. For the players, however, tomorrow may be a single shot at glory. For them past tradition and future tradition are worthless. Tomorrow is all that counts.
(11/13/97 10:00am)
The Crimson running back has already rushed for 1,000 yards this year. Chris Menick only stands 5'10'' tall, but there is no doubt that he will be the easiest player to spot on the field at Harvard Stadium on Saturday. That's because he'll always be the one holding the ball. The sophomore Harvard running back has been the workhorse of both his team and the Ivy League this year. His 207 carries are 57 more than the second-most frequent ball carrier, Dylan Karczewski of Dartmouth. His workload is more impressive, considering Menick began the year as the co-starter with Troy Jones. "I would have been very concerned that he would tire as the season went on, but he is stronger in the fourth quarter of games than in the first," Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. "I have been surprised how durable he is. When he has 35 or 40 carries, he gets better." All that running has not been for naught. Menick has piled up 1,023 yards and 11 touchdowns, both tops in the league for a running back. But the most important numbers for Menick's team are five and zero, its number of Ivy wins and losses, respectively. Despite all of his success this season, Menick will have to prove his merit to the Quakers when the Crimson take the field this weekend. The Quakers defense is ranked third in the country in rush defense -- giving up a paltry 75.9 yards per game, including just six to Princeton last week -- and has yet to encounter an Ivy League running back who can control a game. Even faced with the task of confronting Penn's stingy defense, confidence shouldn't be an issue for Menick, as he is coming off another outstanding performance. Last week against Brown, Menick ran for 201 yards and three touchdowns in Harvard's 27-10 victory. As a testament to his durability, 169 of Menick's yards and all three of his touchdown runs came in the second half. Murphy has enough faith in Menick to not alter his game plan, even though Penn's defense has shown itself to be more susceptible to the pass than the run. While Murphy says that he is committed to a balanced mix of pass and run on offense Saturday, the weather may dictate otherwise. There are nothing but ugly weather reports coming out of Cambridge, Mass. And if it gets so bad that Quakers players wish they were back in Superblock, look for Menick to get the call every play. "Statistically, he is far and away the best [in the league]," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "He's a 1,000-yard rusher and I don't think anyone is close to him. Per game, I think Jim [Finn] is probably in line with him." There's more than a game's worth of pressure on Menick entering Saturday's game, but to add to it, he will have the pleasure of standing on the same field with the only comparably skilled back in the Ivy League. Finn is not shy to say that he wouldn't mind showing Menick who the best back in the league is. "It's always interesting to see what the other guy has been doing," Finn said. "Hopefully I'll be on the positive side at the end of the game. I want to show that maybe I'm better than him. You always want to think that you're the best out there, and that's how you want to play. I think our defense will do a good job in shutting him down." In many ways, Saturday's title showdown will be similar to the World's Strongest Man events ESPN2 is so fond of showing. While both teams swear to the importance of a balanced offensive attack, the reality is that Menick and Finn will be given the task of dragging their teams to victory. The last one standing will have won the day and the season. And the young runners will be back next year to bask in the admiration that will follow.
(11/03/97 10:00am)
It was no coincidence that the better team committed fewer amount of turnovers, as the past has shown. NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- In the early portion of the season, seemingly nothing went right for the Quakers. Now Penn wins by watching other teams stumble. Saturday, for the second time in as many weeks, Penn turned the game by capitalizing on its opponents' misfortune. The rain and wind made Saturday's game closer than it might otherwise have been, but the moral was the same -- the team that played better also appeared to be the lucky one. Bad play breeds bad luck -- it has become the common theme for Penn football this season. Yale's fumbled snap on the one-yard line with a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter broke the Elis. The disastrous turnover, which could be blamed on the treacherous field conditions, rescued Penn from the grips of a second-half disaster on the magnitude of the Connecticut weather. During their early season struggles it was the Quakers who were finding themselves on the other end of costly turnovers that Quakers coach Al Bagnoli called "flukes." Dartmouth kicker Dave Regula's return for a touchdown, two missed short field goals by Jeremiah Greathouse against Bucknell, tipped Matt Rader passes that more times ended as interceptions than not -- there were as many bits of misfortune in the Quakers losses as there were inexcusable penalties. Yale and Brown both had first-and-goal near the one-yard line with the opportunity to erase their deficits, and on both occasions, the teams managed to fumble the ball right into Penn's arms. If either team had plunged in for a score, the Quakers might not be within shouting distance of an Ivy League title. Instead, the Quakers dominated the rest of each game while watching the opposition crumble. "Our defense made some plays," Bagnoli said. "That goal line stand after the penalty was a huge play." The planets must have realigned themselves to cause this cosmic shift in the Quakers' fortunes which has transformed the "weird" offensive turnovers of yore into Penn's big stands on defense. Or maybe by playing better football, the Quakers are putting themselves in position to be recipients of others' misfortunes. "We were running our blast play at the goal line, and we didn't get the snap," Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. "We're [down] 14-7 with first and goal at the one-yard line, you have got to find a way to win. You have got to believe you are going to." Siedlecki attributed the result to Penn's belief that they are going to win when they step on the field, something that Yale doesn't have. Psychology is as good as any other explanation for why the Quakers held onto the leather while a variety of Elis players, including the center, quarterback, running back and punter, treated the ball like a greased pig. The game and the poor field conditions should have been the same for both sides, but neither team played like it. The Quakers played with confidence in their footing while Yale tacklers suffered from their own trepidation of the mud pit that was the Yale Bowl. Just as with their abilities to hold onto the ball, the Penn players looked luckier to stay on their feet only because they were attacking with more ferocity than their slippery-footed opponents. "We had an opportunity to tie that game, and their kid (RB Jim Finn) stepped up and made a 90-yard run," Siedlecki said. "They weren't doing anything more than we were doing in that second half, but they made that big play." Jim Finn's heroics and Rader's one ugly interception aside, Saturday's game was a study in predestination. The better team, Penn, played like it, and the weak opponent, Yale, played like a team that is now deservedly 0-5 at home. The turnovers, like the perceived "luck," reflected the team's respective skills.
(10/27/97 10:00am)
Nine Quakers receivers caught passes, as Penn kept fresh legs in the game to beat tired Brown defenders. Entering Saturday's football game, much of the attention surrounded Brown wide receiver Sean Morey, who led the country in receiving yardage. Penn double- and even triple-teamed Morey in keeping the standout junior to just six receptions. In a complete contrast of styles, Penn was able to confuse the Brown defense by distributing the ball to a variety of receivers. By keeping fresh players rotating through the game, the Penn coaches gave quarterback Matt Rader more open targets than the Brown defense could cover. The result was that Rader played his most controlled and efficient game of the season. Rader's 19-for-30 passing effort was especially promising because it came without an interception. While most of his eight previous interceptions had been the result of tips and misfortune, the recurring nature of these occurrences were making it more difficult to dismiss the interceptions as flukes. The offensive line deserves a portion of the credit for helping Rader to his best performance to date. Especially in the second half, Rader could afford to look at different downfield options without the fear of being pummeled into the ground. The line gave up only one sack and, better yet, created a semblance of a running game which kept the slow-to-react Bears defense out of sync and on the field most of the second half. "We couldn't get to them with our blitz," Brown coach Mark Whipple said. "Their play action helped quite a bit. They were efficient as they had been all year." "I think missing [Brown safety Rocky Parson] early in the first quarter hurt their secondary, but I think the credit has to go to the offensive line for the good protection," Rader said. The players Rader ought to be taking out to dinner, however, are his wide receivers. Chefs everywhere should turn on the ovens now, because Rader's ability to distribute the ball means that he'll need a table for 10. The nine different pairs of hands on the receiving end turned a bunch of off-target passes into catches, and a bunch of short passes into long gains. Rader's one touchdown pass was on a ball deep towards the front corner of the end zone that was woefully underthrown. Sophomore Doug O'Neil had his man beaten by two steps, but was able to stop and curl back upfield to grab the ball and get into the end zone for a 32-yard scoring play to make the score 20-6 near the end of the third quarter. "I have a lot more confidence than I did at the beginning of the year," O'Neil said. "After you catch a couple balls, you get used to it." O'Neil, who one day might be to Penn what Morey is to Brown, on Saturday was just one of four freshmen to catch a pass. Including sophomore Brandon Carson's three catches, underclassmen accounted for 12 of the Quakers' 20 pass receptions. O'Neil's stellar play is no longer a surprise, and David Rogers continues to hold onto more balls, but when little used tight end Ben Zagorsky caught a pass and rumbled down the sideline for 38 yards, Brown's defense could only sit and wonder when Penn coach Al Bagnoli himself might line up as a flanker. "Today, I think you saw the young kids make some plays and show the athleticism that they've had," Bagnoli said. "We just hadn't been able to put all the pieces together. The kids have been inconsistent, as one would expect when you have that many new kids at one time." Another addition to the passing game has been the increased attention paid to tight ends. Steve Gross doubled his season reception total, catching two balls for 20 yards. "We've done a real good job all year of spreading the ball around," Bagnoli said. "That puts a lot of pressure on people as far as who you defend." When John James got hurt and had to sit out the Towson game, Bagnoli shook up his receiving corps and started throwing a variety of younger players on the field. Over the past three weeks they have struggled along with Rader to find a rhythm and, even more elementary, to hold onto the ball. The learning time during the non-league games seems to be paying dividends now, as the lack of a clear go-to receiver means defenses will not be able to shut down the Quakers' passing game as easily as Penn was able to ruin Brown by triple-teaming Morey.
(10/22/97 9:00am)
We here at Ivy Roundup are sick of midterms. But hey, who cares if we failed 'em all -- ignorance is bliss, right? Well, at least that what it seems like at other so called "centers for higher learning" around the country. It seems no one has an answer for anything or has the faintest idea of what the hell is going on anymore. And no, we here at Roundup can't calculate the mean, variance or standard distribution of that for you. But we can bring you a chance to strip away the plague of ignorance with another bigger-than-dining-hall portion of Ivy Roundup. POLITICAL UNKNOWN OF THE WEEK. Last Saturday, Brown faced the Rams of Rhode Island for the "prestigious" Governor's Cup. Curious to know more about this fabled trophy, a Roundup associate contacted the vanquished URI staff to discern how distraught they were to lose the Cup to Brown, 23-15. Needless to say, the staff was a wealth of knowledge. After leaving us here at Roundup on hold for a solid 10 minutes, URI's sports info staff had all the answers we needed. On the importance of the loss, "I don't know." On how many year's the Governor's Cup has been contested, "I don't know." On the name of the current governor of Rhode Island, "I don't know. Let me check." That's okay. We didn't care. APATHY OF THE WEEK AWARD Dartmouth is quickly closing in on the record for consecutive unbeaten games by a Division I-AA football team. But it seems no one in Hanover, N.H., is paying much attention. Now, we at Roundup are well aware of the cultural vibrancy of Hanover, but it seems like at least someone should know how many games Dartmouth has gone unbeaten, or who currently holds the record which they so desperately covet. But alas, our in depth survey could find no one. Big Green student Matt thought that "Penn or Montana" had won 34 straight. Nick, on the other hand, had "no idea" on either question. Finally, 15-year old Julia, visiting her brother at Dartmouth and apparently pining for early admission to Brown, thought the Bears once won 26 games in a row. Miraculously, Roundup's survey staff happened upon Ben C. Wallace-Wells, the former sports editor of The Dartmouth Review. "The Oracle of Knowledge," as he is known in Hanover, knew Dartmouth has gone 22 games without a loss, but was stumped on the other one. It's Penn. The Quakers went 24 games without a loss between 1992 and 1995. "There's no question in my mind we'll break it," Ben said. Don't count on it. WAKE ME UP I'M DREAMING OF THE WEEK Could it be that Princeton is really 4-1? Yes, the Tigers pulled another stunner last week by bagging Patriot leader Colgate, 31-28. But to hear Ann Bready, athletic communications director at Princeton's rival College of New Jersey tell it, Princeton is a sham. "They won, but it was ugly," Ann said of the Tigers 9-7 win over Fordham which was played at C.N.J. "There were a lot of people there, but it really wasn't much to watch." We here at Roundup couldn't agree more, except for the notion that an attendance of 3,700 constitutes "a lot of people." Ann expressed shock that the Tigers could be winning games after losing to Rowan, 20-9, in a scrimmage this fall. "Rowan had been practicing a week and Princeton hadn't, but even still, Rowan is Division III," Ann said. Roundup uncovered the reason behind Princeton's miraculous play. Before the players started the season, they signed a deal with the university stating that if they had a winning record after playing all 10 games on the road, each player would be instantly graduated and freed from their dreary homes in New Jersey. Inspired by the chance to earn their freedom -- they know the degrees are worthless -- the Tigers have bought off their opponents in an effort to rack up wins. KNOW YOUR ABC'S OF THE WEEK Roundup has uncovered a source which could help turn either Columbia's or Yale's season around. Since both the Lions and the Elis are clearly befuddled by basic football principles, we think that they might have more success if they work on their physics instead. It seems that Penn's own Howard Brody has never been contacted by either team's staff to work on their skills. That's stunning ignorance given that Brody is one of the country's leaders on the topic of physics in sports. After earning his degree from athletic powerhouses M.I.T. and Cal Tech, Brody has arrived at Penn where he specializes in tennis. The snub, however, has not prevented Brody from exploring the world of football. NFL Films hired Brody to produce a video about the physics of football. The video would surely be a boon to Yale and Columbia's football teams, who would hopefully understand the concepts of gravity and torque better than they do blocking and tackling. But then again, ignorance is bliss, and, thanks to college football's overtime rule, one of them has to win this weekend when they square off.
(10/20/97 9:00am)
In its home opener, the ABL's Phila. Rage crushed visiting Atlanta. Women's professional basketball came to Philadelphia last night courtesy of Dawn Staley, the all-world guard born and raised in Philadelphia. Staley's return to her roots and her fantastic play brought the appreciative Palestra crowd to its feet throughout the Philadelphia Rage's 107-80 victory over the Atlanta Glory. A deafening, roof-shaking ovation from the crowd of 5,312 greeted Staley as she stepped onto her home court for the first time during player introductions. The queen of Philadelphia basketball did not disappoint, ruling her court with little mercy for the opposition. As if there were any doubt that this was to be Staley's night, she scored the first two points for the Rage off a steal, and added eight more, along with five assists, by the end of the first as the Rage opened a 30-13 first quarter lead. "I wasn't nervous. I was among family," Staley said. "I hope that this gets more people to come and support us because we are well on our way to being one of the top teams in the [American Basketball League]." The enthusiastic crowd, which waved balloons and signs throughout, watched Philadelphia shoot 62 percent from the floor and 60 percent from behind the three point arc during a first quarter from which the Glory could never recover. "This place kind of shakes," Rage coach Lisa Boyer said. "It didn't shake in Richmond. When you can bring some local talent back home I think there is even more excitement because there is more of a sense of ownership [by the fans]." Teresa Edwards, a four-time Olympian and Atlanta's player-coach, did a nice coaching job in the first quarter by calling a much-needed timeout 4 1/2 minutes into the game with her team down 14-5. As a player, however, she could only muster a single rebound and an assist as part of a zero-for-four shooting, three turnover, opening 10 minutes. She finished the game with 34 points on 10-for-26 shooting, but she forced wild shots due to a lack of any offensive support from her teammates. "[Philadelphia] had major adrenaline, they couldn't miss a shot in the first quarter," Edwards said. "We didn't come out focused enough, and we paid the price for it." After what Rage coach Lisa Boyer called a "dragging" second quarter, Philadelphia reasserted its dominance with a blitz of fast breaks to open the second half. By the time the TV timeout arrived halfway through the third quarter, the Rage had gone on a 17-4 rampage featuring fast breaks controlled by Staley and punishing post play from Taj McWiliams. The resulting 67-40 lead had the crowd and the Rage bench up on its feet clamoring for more. "It was a great game to show Philly for the first time out what an ABL game was like," Boyer said. "I think you can see that there are a lot of great athletes on this team. " It was a night to be savored by Staley and co-"homegirl" -- as the Rage's media guide calls them -- Michelle Marciniak. Raised in the city of Allentown, Pa., Marciniak drained 11 points in the first half and finished with 16 on near-perfect shooting. "To play in Philadelphia is a dream come true," Marciniak said. "I got to see my parents tonight. I'm glad we worked things out so that I could be here." The Glory's night was plagued with consistently poor shooting, best highlighted by Edwards' three points airballs which both closed the first half and opened the second. Atlanta made the stat sheet look respectable with a better second half of shooting, but those numbers were meaningless window dressing after 36 percent shooting from the field, and a one-for eight implosion from behind the three point arc in the first half. The second half was a continuation of Staley's coronation, and she cooly controlled the tempo of the game and distributed the ball to Philadelphia's dominating inside duo of Taj McWilliams who grabbed 13 rebounds and Adrienne Goodson, who led the Rage with 24 points. Staley had only played inside the Palestra once before, but already seems comfortable in making it her palace. Her spins in the lane and her perimeter shooting gave her team a win, but it gave the city a new hero. Her eight-story image has graced the side of a building at Eighth and Chestnut streets since she was named to the 1996 Olympic team, but now that Staley is here in the flesh, the city may be ready to promote her to title of best player in the city. While the other Philadelphia point guard -- Allen Iverson -- is playing for a week 76ers squad, Staley is signing autographs for the hundreds of fans who stayed after.
(10/10/97 9:00am)
The Penn football team wants the Engineers to pay for last year's victory. It's ironic that a team called the Engineers is having a season that most resembles a runaway train, but that is what Penn (1-2) hopes to climb aboard on Saturday when it squares off against Lehigh (1-3) at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pa. Coming off their first win of the season, the Quakers will need to heed the previous three weeks' lesson -- scoring first results in victory. In each of their two losses, the Quakers fell behind 20-0 before scoring. Bxut against Towson, Penn went ahead 24-0 and loafed home for a 26-14 win. A few early scores could demoralize an Engineers team that has spent the majority of its season on the wrong side of the tracks. In each of its three losses this year, Lehigh has given up more than 30 points, including a season-high 61 points allowed last week to Colgate in a 61-28 debacle. "I hope it's high-scoring on one side," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "I think the key to the game is us coming out and getting up early. To play from in front would be a real advantage for us. They haven't proven that they can come back." Getting ahead early on Lehigh's porous defense will force the Engineers to move away from their strength, the run. Despite all the attention thrown towards Lehigh's outstanding wide receiver, Deron Braswell, the truth is Lehigh wishes it didn't have to throw to him so often. His 28 catches lead the Patriot League, but they come at the expense of carries for running back Rabih Abdullah, who had 1,536 yards in 1995, but missed last season due to injury. But he has only 257 ground yards after four games this fall. Unfortunately for Abdullah, unless Casey Jones steps out on the field for Lehigh's defense, things won't change much this week. "We are at a point where we are just trying to get a win," Lehigh coach Kevin Higgins said. It should be the Quakers who present the balanced attack this weekend. After showing an increased level of comfort in guiding the offense last Saturday against Towson, Penn quarterback Matt Rader will again be looking to distribute the ball to a variety of receivers. The seven receivers who caught passes last week will again see time against Lehigh, but their reception totals may drop due to the return of the team's leading receiver, John James. Before a cut in his mouth forced the senior to sit out last week's game, James was frequently on the receiving end of Rader's mid-distance passes. "I've been fitted with a special chin strap and mouthpiece, so I don't worry about [my injury]," James said. "We're going in with a solid game plan. The points come if they come." When it comes time for Rader to hand off, tailback Jason McGee will try to improve on his first outing of the year, which came only last week due to an injured hamstring. McGee ran effectively, carrying the ball 23 times for 76 yards, but failed to break a run for longer than 10 yards. This week, he finds a defense that seems ready, willing and able to give up the big play. Colgate running back Daymon Smith scored four touchdowns and had six runs of more than 11 yards last week against Lehigh. All signs point to the Quakers rolling to offensive numbers more bloated than Amtrak's federal subsidy. But the opportunity for a blowout could be derailed if Penn returns to its fumbling ways or if Lehigh finds a way to strike first. The Quakers' defense will again be without star defensive tackle Mitch Marrow, who will be playing the role of scout rather than prospect for the fourth-straight week due to a "mono-like virus." Nevertheless, the defense has played well without him all season, so there is no reason to think his teammates will start evoking his name as an excuse during post-game interviews this week either. "They have a balanced attack," Penn linebacker Darren MacDonald said. "Sometimes, when you get up by a lot, you lose your focus and concentration. But with a team like Lehigh you can't do that because they can score a lot of points quickly." Lehigh's head engineer, Higgins, said that he didn't see any Quakers weaknesses on either side of the ball. Maybe that's because he hasn't watched enough of Penn's game tape, but more likely it's because he knows his team is playing like a damsel in distress tied to the tracks. And he knows that Penn isn't likely to put on the brakes.
(10/06/97 9:00am)
Matt Rader found seven different receivers and amassed 307 passing yeards as the Quakers beat Townson. If Penn finally wins a football game, but nobody is there to see it, does it still count? Apparently yes. If front of a sparse Franklin Field crowd surprisingly reported at 6,806 strong, the Quakers (1-2) got their first win of the season by defeating Towson, 26-14, during a rare Saturday night game. What a difference scoring first makes. Penn scored five minutes into the opening quarter with a 38-yard Jeremiah Greathouse field goal on their way to building a 17-point halftime lead. It was the opponent playing the catch-up game for a change, and it didn't work for them either as Towson never got within one score. The game breaker was Brian Bonanno's 64-yard scamper down the sideline for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter. After receiving a short pass near the Towson sideline from Quakers quarterback Matt Rader, Bonanno broke free from Dwane Exeter's tackle with a nifty spin move and was then free to run the rest of the way untouched. "In the first half we did some real good things, and we finally got a big play," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "It was nice to see that we finally got a home run. [Rader] made a nice play. They put a blitz on, and he was able to stand firm in the pocket and throw the ball downfield. You love those one-play drives." Bonanno was about the only recognizable receiver in the game for the Quakers on Saturday. With leading receiver John James out with an injury, the Quakers' coaching staff chose to roll out a trio of new receivers rather than elevate the number of plays run to Penn's other regular wide-outs, Brandon Carson and Alex Dafferner. "They stepped up, that's all you can ask for," Rader said. "Bonanno had a great first half -- that's what we need to do. [Dropped passes] are still a little bit frustrating, but it's not as many as have been in the past couple of games." Especially impressive was the play of sophomore Doug O'Neil, who grabbed three balls for 49 yards, including a 31-yard pass on third-and-nine from the Penn which was the key play in Penn's second touchdown drive. That drive, capped off by two-way demon James Finn's 11 yard touchdown run, put the Quakers ahead 17-0 with seven minutes, 11 seconds to play in the first half. "We tried to get some other kids involved to make some plays," Bagnoli said. "I thought the young kids played pretty well. Give our kids some credit. They broke some tackles and made people miss." While Bonanno and company were making Franklin Field look like a game reserve by running in endless empty space, Rader was consistently pummeled by the Towson pass rush. Some of the hits were delivered on plays that were quarterback runs by design, but many of the hits occurred because the offensive line could not consistently pick up the Tigers' blitzes. The line also suffered when tight ends were running receiving routes and did not stay in to block. Penn's five down linemen were too often overmatched by a four man Towson rush, leaving Rader to scramble for his life. "Both quarterbacks, I thought, took a lot of hits tonight," Bagnoli said. "And it's probably going to happen with everyone releasing four and five receivers and with both teams blitzing." Apparently still reeling from the "strip" show performed by the Towson Band Flag Girls at halftime, the Penn defense came out in the third quarter and let Tigers quarterback Kevin Smith lead his team 58 yards to the Quakers 22. Smith thought he had put six points on the board with a nicely placed pass to the front corner of the end zone, but his receiver Jason Corle dropped the ball. Disgusted with his team's inability to hold on to the pigskin, Smith found more success by throwing his next pass in the direction of Penn defensive back Larrin Robertson, who after batting it up in the air with his arm cast pulled it in for a backbreaking interception. "That takes the wind right out of your sails when you are trying to get back in the ball game," Towson coach Gordy Combs said. "The ball down there in the corner to Jason was a tough catch, but it was a great throw by Kevin." Down 24-0, Towson put together two scoring drives in the fourth quarter against a lax Quakers defense littered with second stringers. Towson fans held out hope until Smith was sacked on a two-point conversion attempt which would have cut the lead to 24-16 with 1:44 left in the game. As he was being driven into the ground by Larry Rascoe, Smith fumbled the ball. In the ensuing melee, Joseph Piela picked up the ball and ran 83 yards the other direction for a Quakers conversion, making the score 26-14. "I made the fake, and I was looking, and Adam [Overbey] was just about to come open, and I didn't see what happened from there," Smith said. "I sort of went black. The turf has more impact on your head compared to grass." One new Quaker on the field is one who didn't think it would be week three before he saw playing time. Jason McGee, injured in preseason workouts, regained the starting tailback roll from Melvin Alexander, who was hobbled by an injury of his own. McGee ran 23 times for 76 yards.
(09/30/97 9:00am)
By Josh Callahan Oji Perkins doesn't remember much of his Saturday afternoon, but I remember too well. Perkins and I both remember him catching the kickoff and running up the field. I remember the tackle. He only remembers the ambulance. That was 15 minutes after the crushing helmet-to-helmet blow he took from a Penn coverage player just looking to make a routine play. The play was more than routine, it caused a fumble which gave the Quakers great field position and a chance to cut even further into Bucknell's dwindling lead. The Quakers' coverage team left the field to a chorus of cheers from their teammates, a couple hundred fans and to my celebration muffled by the press pass hanging around my neck. The Bison coverage team left the field one man short. Oji Perkins lay motionless near his sideline, his face buried in the natural grass field at Christy Mathewson stadium. He looked like a rag doll, balled up and orphaned on the grass. Perkins didn't move for two minutes. When he finally began to regain partial consciousness, it took a dozen trainers and staff members 15 minutes before they were comfortable immobilizing his head and torso and loading him into the ambulance. Doctors at the Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, Pa., ruled it a third-degree concussion because Perkins had remained unconscious for more than one minute. The senior from Orlando, Fla., is out from football for at least six weeks, and that's only if he stops showing signs of amnesia. More likely he is done playing for good. Injuries of this severity have a funny way of disappearing from a game. Everyone who witnessed the spectacular impact sped off to a parallel world as soon as they saw Perkins down, and everyone snapped back into their stadium chairs as soon as the ambulance pulled away. Ten thousand people could not have made less noise while Perkins writhed on the ground in a shocked and frightened state after he regained partial consciousness. I probably made more noise than anyone by opening the door to the press box and walking outside into the top row of the stands. Everyone was fixated on the scene below them, afraid to look at the person sitting next to them. The 15 minutes Perkins spent down on the ground became its own independent scene, totally detached from the action before and after the play. Once he left the field to the traditional polite applause, the teams and the fans carried on with the game as if what had occurred was nothing more than a fumble. No one mentioned Perkins in post-game interviews, and his injury didn't appear in the game statistics differently than any of the other half dozen kickoff returns. And there's nothing wrong with that. People get hurt. Not just in football, but everywhere. Except for the requisite period of stunned disbelief, most would prefer to relegate the scene to a vague and unidentifiable memory. That's why nobody made a sound. Dialogue places a person at the scene, makes him a witness, forces the memory to become permanent. Not talking means that you are watching a movie. By removing him from the field, the ambulance provided the crowd the opportunity to engage in the habit of out of sight, out of mind. Oji Perkins' 6'1'', 159-pound body was not ready to be sent crashing into Dreamland. Our two-inch eyes were not ready to watch what we saw. So we can pretend that we didn't by erasing it from records. It didn't happen. No. 3 got up and ran to the sidelines after fumbling. Or at least that's what it said in the box score. Because no one wants to know that the same sort of thing could happen to them. Because a 250- pound football player running at full speed isn't that much different than a car barreling down the road. So we sent Oji Perkins to deal with his headache, and we went back to watching football.
(09/29/97 9:00am)
Bison coach Tom Gadd wins a squeaker LEWISBURG, Pa. -- It's only week two of the fall season, but the Penn football team is already showing reruns. And, worse yet, there don't seem to be plans for any new episodes in the weeks to come. Penn (0-2) had been flirting with losing to Bucknell for years, but it finally made a commitment Saturday, losing 20-16 before 10,172 Bison worshippers at Christy Mathewson Field. The opponent and location differed from last week, but the basic plot was the same -- give the other team a 20-point lead and try to make up the difference by dominating the second half. The director, lead actor and cast all seem to be out of fresh dialogue and ideas of where to take the story line from here. "We are just making a ton of mental mistakes from kids who shouldn't be making mental mistakes," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "Right now I am just so frustrated. We really have to evaluate what the hell we are doing. Right now nobody knows." It is understandable that Bagnoli is confused because there is no one place to point the blame for the Quakers' 0-2 start. Whereas the defense was nearly faultless in last week's loss, everyone played a part in the tragic ensemble against the Bison (3-0). Penn's special teams contributed by failing to convert on two second-half field goals inside 33 yards. The second was the backbreaker, as Jeremiah Greathouse sent one flying to the pit of despair that is wide right from just 22 yards away. The miss ended what had been the best drive of the season for the Quakers, covering 17 plays and 74 yards in seven minutes, 21 seconds. After the game, Greathouse offered only a "no comment" as an explanation for what appeared to be well-executed snaps and holds. "We've got a great field-goal kicker; he's got to hit those things," Bagnoli said. If the Quakers special teams can be described as comic, then the offense most definitely definitely has a knack for being dramatic. Quarterback Matt Rader guided the Penn offense to one net yard in the first quarter and just 16 total yards before a 20-yard drive in the final 35 seconds of the half, which cut Bucknell's lead to 20-3. Before the quick strike, Rader had zero completions in five attempts. Maybe the offensive players watched too many MacGyver episodes when they were kids. Whatever the reason for their second-straight slow start, the Quakers' impressive third-quarter comebacks are not strong encouragement for them to give up their modus operandi. Penn scored on the first three possessions of the second half to cut the Bison lead to 20-16 with 9:56 to play in the third. "That's the million-dollar question. Why does it take us one half of football to wake up?" Bagnoli said. "We wanted [to blow out Penn], and we thought we could do it," Bucknell coach Tom Gadd said. "But then, all of a sudden, the field position changed on us, and the second half was on." The Quakers offense, led by mediocre performances from everyone, failed to score on three red-zone possessions. Lacking a clear-cut go-to player, Penn seemed baffled as to where to direct its offensive attack. "On those [Bucknell] turnovers, we should have scored three touchdowns," Rader said. "I just don't have the answer as to why we couldn't put anything in the end zone. We had a lot of good plays called back due to stupid penalties. It gets to the point where you look around the field after a good play and wait to see if there's a penalty." The only major change this week was that the defense decided to contribute to the lackluster effort. Bucknell moved the ball with fluidity, thanks to the scrambling abilities of quarterback Jim John. Penn's defensive line clearly suffered again without defensive end Mitch Marrow, who left the game after three series, complaining of a lack of equilibrium. Marrow was apparently not feeling well in the day leading up to the game. "We came out defensively and thought they were going to roll over," Bagnoli said. "We played with no emotion. We couldn't tackle at all in the first half." Bucknell also suffered a serious injury when receiver Oji Perkins was knocked unconscious on a third-quarter kickoff return. After fumbling the ball, Perkins remained motionless on the ground for at least a minute. Shuttled off the field in an ambulance, Perkins was reported to have been responsive, but the severity of his injury is yet to be determined. Penn returns to campus this week worse than 0-2. They return without any definite idea of how to turn their season around. If the Quakers don't start working harder in rehearsals, as suggested by Bagnoli during the week, it may become time to make some cast changes. Otherwise their ratings are going to continue to plummet. And there is no cushy time slot to hide behind.
(09/24/97 9:00am)
Forgive us, we here at Ivy Roundup are still recovering from last weekend's debacle. No, our suffering stems not from Penn's loss, nor from wasting a night at Sig Ep's cheap beer, $5-charging, lip-syncing band, reggae party. It comes not even from our sad realization that Chelsea has left the nest. Our disaster finds its home in the Franklin Field press box, in which we became nauseated from the case of Mountain Dew that Athletic Communications forced down our throats and deaf from the ranting and wall-pounding of Penn's assistant coaches who never ceased arguing about animals they had just seen at the zoo. Nevertheless, we vainly fight on to bring you, the paying public, one more taste of victorious Roundup. BIG MOUTH OF THE WEEK The highlight for most of the crowd at Saturday's football game was the brief glimpse they got at a sign hanging from the second deck -- "Hey Penn, stick a big dick in Dart's Mouth." The jerks from Event Staff soon put an end to the show of enthusiasm, but we applaud the courage of these renegades to let it all hang out. So we want names and proof -- there's a fitting reward in it for you. BAD ACTOR OF THE WEEK Speaking of sucking, was that really Peter Sellers lining up at quarterback for Dartmouth? Didn't he die in 1980? Could it be that the star of the Pink Panther movies and Dr. Strangelove, who got his big break by creating a show called The Goon Show, really has returned to guide a new set of goons? We sent our intrepid Roundup expert on the subject for clarification. Darla, a 33-year old sensuous brunette from Ohio, set up a World Wide Web page to answer all our questions about Sellers. Darla's extensive collection of Sellers info was a valuable resource, and we will be sure to return to her page if we ever have questions about her other favorite subjects, Battlestar Galactica and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Check out Darla's glamour shots at http://members.aol.com/dam-sel16/darla1. PERFORMANCE OF THE CENTURY It's a wonder that legendary coach Carm Cozza didn't fling himself to his death from the Yale Bowl stands after watching new Elis head man Jack Siedlecki get pummeled by Brown, 52-14. The ugly statistics are endless. The Bears gained 629 yards, a school record. They were up 35-0 at half. They scored their first touchdown on a reverse to backup quarterback Anthony Ames, who threw it 36 yards for a score. Yale started its first freshman quarterback since 1905 on Saturday after preseason injuries sidelined its first and second stringers. The honored Mike McClellan proceeded to throw more interceptions (4) than completions (3) before being yanked at halftime. It was Yale's worst loss ever to Brown in 102 meetings, and it was the worst season-opening loss ever for the Elis. And things may get worse. Ali, head sports nut at The Yale Daily News told us here at the Pink Palace that "there is no way in hell that we will win a game all year. We lost to Division III Union in a scrimmage. We will not be close in an Ivy game. Not with our quarterback and not with our offensive line." Sounds right to us. ONE-HIT WONDERS OF THE WEEK Could it be that Columbia won't be able to repeat last year's miraculous second-place finish in the Ivy League? Yes. Columbia got drubbed, 45-7, by Harvard as the Crimson rolled up 303 yards on the ground. Columbia's return to the wonderful world of futility had us here at Roundup wondering if Columbia might fare better against the University of British Columbia. Sadly, no game could be arranged. After vanquishing the Calgary Dinosaurs, 34-18, last week (sorry, no rouges to report), the Thunderbirds of UBC are busy preparing for Shrum Bowl XX against the SFU C(K)lansmen.
(09/22/97 9:00am)
Football gives a win to Dartmouth with six turnovers Football gives a win to Dartmouth with six turnoversKistakes by the Quakers offense and special teams led to 20 points. It was only the first game of the year, but Penn may have handed Dartmouth the Ivy League title on a platter Saturday during its 23-15 loss to the Big Green. More accurately, the Quakers fumbled it to them, committing six turnovers leading to 20 of Dartmouth's 23 points. "We just can't overcome six turnovers against a good defensive team because they are not going to make mistakes," Quakers coach Al Bagnoli said. "We just dug ourselves too big of a hole." The Quakers spirited defensive play -- Dartmouth only had five first downs the entire game -- was not enough to make up for the thrashing given to the rest of the team courtesy of Big Green kicker Dave Regula. Outscoring the Quakers 14-0 by himself during the first half, Regula broke the game open by picking up Brandon Carson's fumble during a kickoff return and running it 32 yards into the end zone. Adding in the 23-yard field goal Regula had made just prior to kicking off, and the extra point after his scamper into the end zone, Regula put 10 points on the board within 15 seconds. Regula added another field goal before the half and one midway through the third quarter, giving the senior kicker 17 points for the game. "I was ready to stick my head in and make the tackle, and then all of a sudden the ball bounced right to me," Regula said. "That probably won't happen much more. I just wanted to get to the corner [of the end zone]. No way [had I scored a touchdown before]. Nah. I just kick." "I felt that going into the season we had the best combination of kicker, punter and return people that we've ever had here," Dartmouth coach John Lyons said. "And I thought we used that to our full advantage today." Anyone who favors preseason football for college teams would have used Saturday's game as exhibit A. The crowd was treated to a punting war which might have continued for the entire game had Quakers kick returner Brian Bonanno not spiced things up by dropping a punt on his own 13-yard line. The drop was especially disheartening because Bonanno is the only Quakers returner who has experience. Senior leaders set examples for their teammates to follow, and Bonanno was no exception. Sophomore Brandon Carson -- one of many sophomores thrown onto the field for their first significant game-playing experience -- followed Bonanno's lead and dropped a kick of his own. Melvin Alexander, starting at running back in the place of injured Jason McGee, added to the sophomore slump by contributing his own fumble, which led to a Dartmouth field goal. "We had some fears and concerns that we were starting so many sophomores in a big game against a very good defense, and I knew there were going to be some bumps along the way, but you don't ever count on having five turnovers in a half," Bagnoli said. "It was just sloppy play with the ball." The rest of Dartmouth's offense was dominated by a Penn defense which played three quarters of the game without standout lineman Mitch Marrow, who left with a mild concussion. But with the Quakers special teams handing them two touchdowns and the Quakers offensive backfield gifting them a couple of field goals, the Big Green hardly needed to move to score points. "Defensively, we played great in every category except creating turnovers," Bagnoli said. "We dropped two interceptions. The only time we got a turnover, we scored." "I thought we didn't give up, but we didn't do enough," Quakers captain and free safety John Bishop said. "We didn't strip the ball. It was up to us to win that game, and we came up a little short." How bad was the first half? Some of the loudest cheers from the crowd of 11,123 came when James Finn kneeled for a touchback on the kickoff following Carson's fumble. And who could blame them, as Penn's offense managed four punts and five turnovers during the opening 30 minutes of the season. Not only did many of Penn's young offensive players look jittery, but even Penn quarterback Matt Rader who started much of last year at Duke, appeared tight in the first half, overthrowing his receivers on deep routes and constantly fighting to snap the ball before the play clock ran out. "I wasn't happy with the interceptions, and some of it was my fault, but our whole offense has to play better as a unit," Rader said. Those who remained in the stands past halftime might have thought the teams traded jerseys at halftime. It was Dartmouth who committed the turnover, an interception by Quakers cornerback Larrin Robertson. Two plays later, Rader connected with Bonanno for a 10-yard score, cutting the score to 23-15. The hope for a dramatic rally kept the fans -- usually quick to depart after throwing their toast -- glued to their seats. The Quakers couldn't piece together another scoring drive, however, with their final effort resulting in Rader's third interception of the game with just under two minutes to play. Dartmouth gained one first down and ran out the clock and maybe Penn's league-title hopes.
(09/10/97 9:00am)
The placekicker and punter return for their third starting seasons. What do the 1997 Penn football team and Quakers basketball guard Garett Kreitz have in common? Both are going to be hitting a lot of three-pointers this year. Start practicing counting by threes because if the inexperienced offensive backfield is slow to find its rhythm, a lot of pressure will be placed on the Quakers kicking game to put points on the scoreboard. Fortunately for them, Penn's special teams, led by senior placekicker Jeremiah Greathouse, is one of the more talented and experienced pieces of the 1997 squad. Greathouse, an honorable mention All-Ivy player a year ago and a two-year starter, will return to add to his school-record 120 points scored by a kicker. Greathouse has made a near-perfect 95 percent of his point after attempts and has hit field goals from 48 and 50 yards. In practice this fall he has reportedly been firing balls through the uprights from 60 yards. "We are going to have to be the part that tips the game in our favor," Greathouse said. "Especially early on in the season when our offense is going to have early glitches before they get into a groove." Greathouse's leg combined with a potentially sluggish offense may cause fans to groan if Penn coach Al Bagnoli doesn't let Greathouse fire up some long-range attempts, but Bagnoli laughed off the prospect of letting Greathouse launch away at will. "We'll be ready to take some of those chances, but if you don't make them, you give the other team decent field position," Bagnoli said. "You never listen to players because I've never had a player who didn't say, 'Coach, I can do it.' That is what I get paid for -- to manage the game. I know what he is capable of doing." Greathouse agreed that long field goals are risky and said that Bagnoli will have a good idea of his range on any given day and that he'll respect his coach's decisions on going for long field goal attempts. Long attempts are something that Penn hopes senior punter Jeff Salvino, already a two-year starter, sends up every time he runs on the field. Salvino leads a Penn punting squad which got plenty of exercise a year ago. Salvino booted 69 punts in '96 -- an astounding seven punts per game -- averaging a solid, albeit unspectacular, 35.3 yards per kick. Penn is confident in its defensive unit, but opponents will be tough to stop if Salvino can't pin the opposition deep in its own territory. The return game is the uncertain area of Penn's special teams. Last year's returner, Mark Fabish, has graduated, leaving only limited experience behind. Wide receiver Brian Bonanno will be the first one to get a chance to earn the starting role, but various defensive backs will probably also line up underneath the ball from time to time. Bagnoli hedged on how much patience he will have with his starting returners. "We are overall cautiously optimistic from a kicking perspective, but from a return perspective we lost Fabish. But there will still be kids who have done it in the past. Hopefully, they are going to perform well and we are not going to need to make changes, but we'll always have [other] kids ready." Penn didn't lose a game by more than six points a year ago on their way to a perfectly mediocre 5-5 season. Turning some of those close losses around will rest squarely on the legs of the most experienced players on the team--if Bagnoli is willing to take a few extra risks.
(09/05/97 9:00am)
Two years ago, Scott Gaskell and Steve Gross were on the Penn football team - as linebackers. Both the coaches and the players just hope the tight ends can hold onto the ball. That is not a typical expectation for a football team that has two seniors atop its depth chart. But for the 1997 edition of the Penn football team, there isn't enough experience at the position to expect much else. The top two tight ends, Steve Gross and Scott Gaskell, have a combined total of three starts and two catches for their Penn careers. Most of their game experience came on the other side of the ball, where they accumulated 16 combined tackles as linebackers. Gaskell only made the switch to tight end after last season, while Gross recorded seven tackles and a fumble recovery as a sophomore before switching to the other side of the ball. "It's a little different, but you have to do what you can to get better," Gaskell said. "When it comes pass time, we're going to go catch the ball." Throw in new tight ends coach John Reagan and new quarterback Matt Rader, and it becomes obvious why the desire of offensive coordinator Chuck Priore is nothing more specific than a general "consistency" in his tight ends' blocking and catching skills, especially early in the season. "We've been working all summer catching the rock," Gross said. "It's the same offense, just a different quarterback, so it doesn't really matter. Offense is easier because you know your job, and you know the snap count." "As far as confidence, I think we are both confident, we know what we have to do," said Gross. "I'm just doing my job. If they throw me the ball, I'm more than happy to catch it." The rest of the team will be more than happy if they catch it, too. There are, however, a number of factors which favor Gross and Gaskell in their on-the-job offensive training. For one, Priore called them "the two strongest guys on the team," pointing out that both can bench press nearly 400 pounds and squat nearly 600, so they should have no trouble holding up to the physical stress of playing on the offensive line. Additionally, their defensive experience should help them to pick up rushes and read the opposing teams formations. The two also spent the entire summer on campus working on their skills. This extra effort has impressed Reagan, who sees little difference between his new pupils and those at his former employer, Big 12 member Oklahoma State. "[Being at an Ivy League school] is a whole different realm," Reagan said. "Here at Penn, these guys are committed and dedicated. They have the persistence to work harder." Injuries at any position will clearly hurt the Quakers, but the problem might be more acute if either Gross of Gaskell goes down because of senior Travis Arbogast's decision to leave the team. Arbogast's departure leaves only sophomore Brandon Clay on the sidelines, and Priore has already said that if a third tight end is needed it will be up to sophomore I-back Brian Cosmello to fill the roll. "It's [Arbogast's] decision," Gross said. "It cuts down our numbers, but if he didn't want to play, that's it. Just move on." Penn plays a scrimmage tomorrow against Millersville in a match that will provide a much-needed look at a physically capable but inexperienced group of tight ends.
(04/30/97 9:00am)
John Muir High School and Oklahoma University left with different attitudes following their races. Only a few straggling fans remained in Franklin Field as the sun set on the Penn Relays Saturday afternoon, but Obea Moore was still sitting on the infield, signing autographs two hours after he had crossed the finish line in record-breaking time on national television. Already well-known in the Los Angeles area, Moore, a senior at John Muir High School (Pasadena, Calif.) had become a bi-coastal celebrity in the 45.08 seconds of his anchor leg. Meanwhile, anchor Roxbert Martin and the Oklahoma Sooners were trying to cope with a bizarre weekend of dropped batons and poor times. Their victory was shadowed by failure, as the Sooners struggled to find what disrupted the crescendo of their attack on the collegiate 4x400-meter relay record. These two men, separated by just .02 seconds -- Martin's anchor leg was clocked in 45.06 -- left the Penn Relays traveling at incomparable velocities. Martin was silently allowed to leave the track after conducting trivial interviews conducted by race officials and answering a few other questions from the remaining media. Moore, in contrast, had needed security guards to escort him off the track and into the official media room where a good number of reporters huddled around his every word. Autograph seekers in the hundreds had asked for him and his teammates' autographs, and more than a couple of girls had handed scraps of paper with names and phone numbers over to Moore, desperately hoping to figure out where the Muir team was staying (the Days Inn) and the room number (325). Both the high school boys' and college men's 4x400 relay events were heavily anticipated, but one almost didn't occur. In Friday's qualifying, Oklahoma's leadoff runner, Edward Clarke and his teammate Danny McFarlane dropped the baton during the pass. It was the first time that the team had ever dropped a pass. The crowd of over 22,000 gasped, and the Sooners were left behind by the pack. But there is a reason that Oklahoma had come to Philadelphia expecting to run under three minutes and break the collegiate record of 2:59.91 set in 1988 by a UCLA team that included Olympians Danny Everett and Steve Lewis. When Roxbert Martin grabbed the baton, Oklahoma was in contention, and if Martin is in contention, he is going to win. The finishing time of 3:07.94 was good enough to put them into the finals as the sixth qualifier. "I saw the third leg we got back a little, so I thought we are still in reach," a breathless and stunned Martin said after his run. "I thought it was over for us. We were at about 200 meters and I was watching, and they started to tire, so I knew I could catch them at that point. We just wanted to qualify. We are hoping for the record. If it comes, we will be very much happy." Obea Moore's morning qualifier Saturday was much smoother. Moore, hobbled by a sore right hamstring the past two weeks, ran the opening leg to take the pressure off, and his team cruised into the final as the second seed with a time 3:14.95. Southern California rivals Long Beach Poly had run 3:11.95 to finish first. "I was healthy last weekend," Moore said. "But I took off just to make sure, because the Penn Relays is the biggest meet I ever ran in. So I didn't want to take my chances." The Sooners had a full day to rest and think about their error. John Muir High School had just four hours to catch its breath. About 400 schools competed in qualifying heats over three hours, but the majority of the 46,216 fans probably only remember one four-man squad. CBS's cameras were rolling, Mary Slaney had just demolished the field in the women's mile and it was time for event No. 231 -- the Championship of America 4x400 High School Boys' Relay. In a few minutes Moore would run faster than even the most overused of cliches could describe. Moore had been pictured in Sports Illustrated's "Week in TV" section, and it was his moment to shine. Handed the baton with a slight lead, Moore ran the fastest split ever recorded for a high school runner in a 400 relay, and Muir's time of 3:08.72 set a new Relays record and nearly equaled the national high school record of 3:07.40 set by Hawthorne, Calif., in 1985. "We had a messed up baton pass," Moore said. "So after I got the baton it was just basically staying relaxed and bringing it home." Martin and the Sooners undoubtedly missed Moore's performance, because they were out warming up for their race, which they expected to run an hour before the official starting time. The apparent mix-up was used as one reason the time was off, but the crowd and the country wasn't interested. Southern University, the No. 1 qualifier, made the race a dash to the very end, but the crowd wasn't interested. There had been plenty of close finishes over the course of the weekend. The 25,000 or so who had stayed for the final race wanted a dominating performance, and they didn't get it. Oklahoma's winning time of 3:03.15 was an eternity away from 2:59. "We knew we would have a race, but the thing that surprised me was that it was not any faster than it was," Oklahoma coach J.D. Martin said. "We wanted to run three minutes or under. I just thought the guys looked flat. Maybe a little too much nerves. We are just glad to win. I'm sure the crowd might be a little disappointed, but it is a thrill to win the Penn Relays." Roxbert Martin was abandoned by the crowds heading for the exits, and escorted off the track by crews trying to dismantle all signs that the Penn Relays had been held on Franklin Field. Moore was still signing away.
