Penn Football went 4-6 last year. It graduated a sort-of starting quarterback, its running back, fullback and two best wide receivers, plus three starting linemen. (This is just the offense.) And yet, somewhere between New Hampshire and New Jersey, someone out there knows how Penn can win the Ivy League.

If Penn's volleyball team wants to improve upon last season's second-place Ivy League finish, it needs to fill the hole in the middle of its defense. On Friday, Bowling Green exposed it as ball after ball dropped - as if in slow motion - between two or three players who stood by idly watching.

There are some things you see in life that you can be absolutely certain you will never witness again. Watching a 10-foot-tall papier mache woman give birth would qualify. So would seeing the King of Pop hurdle and flip at 40 miles per hour or hearing someone say, "No, I think the other cheesesteak mobile was faster."

With Hurricane Hanna wreaking havoc on the Northeast as the Penn field hockey team readied for its contest against Rutgers, the Quakers had a decision to make. Instead of canceling the game - and likely never facing the Scarlet Knights this year - they opted to play through torrential rain on Saturday.

Facing match point against Bowling Green on Friday, junior Anne Magnuson rose high above the right side of the net and slammed a cross-court kill to keep the Penn volleyball team alive. The Quakers had already turned a 22-17 first-set deficit against Fairfeld into a straight-set win earlier that day.

In 15 matches last season, Penn midfielder Natalie Capuano tallied only three goals on 16 shots. But with juniors Jessica Fuccello and Jess Rothenheber - the team's leading scorers last season - absent due to injury, senior captain Capuano stepped up with two goals on Sunday and led the Quakers to a 3-0 win over Robert Morris.

Just 23 minutes into the Penn men's soccer season opener on Friday night, Quakers sophomore Loukas Tasigianis set off a scuffle when he took down Marquette's Matt Stummer . Penn captain John Elicker and Marquette forward Anthony Colaizzi ran in to break it up.

What a difference an extra week of preseason makes. With the Ivy League loosening its restrictions on preseason men's soccer practice from seven days to 14 this year, the Quakers appeared confident and ready to embark on their road trip against Marquette and DePaul.

Megan Tryon will make her presence known at the Palestra today, when the Penn volleyball team opens its season. But her prowess stems from other playing surfaces: Over her long athletic career, the sophomore setter has also demonstrated her skills in the sand and on the pitcher's mound.

No wonder Penn volleyball captain Kathryn Turner is talking about a steep learning curve. Not only does the Ivy League have an abbreviated preseason schedule - a disadvantage against non-conference opponents who have already played matches by now - but the Quakers haven't won a season opener since 2004.

Tri-captain Eileen Larkin said that this season, the women's soccer team is focused on improvement. She and her teammates seem to have forgotten that they're the Ivy League champs. It also must have slipped the Quakers' minds that they did not lose a single player from last year's squad, whose 13 wins were the second most in in program history.

Athletic Department officials are overhauling the season-ticket policy for the men's basketball program in an effort to transform the student section into a more formidable sixth man. Starting this year, participants in the annual tradition of The Line - the surprise nighttime announcement and overnight Palestra bash where students trade sleep for tickets - will now get a general-admissions pass to the stud ent section of the Palestra, rather than a reserved seat for every game.

When the Penn field hockey team last faced Rutgers, Meghan Rose took matters into her own hands. On a breakaway 20 seconds into overtime, her roller found the back of the net to give the Quakers their third-straight win over the Scarlet Knights. But that was two years ago, and in May, Rose - and most of the Quakers' firepower - graduated.

Unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. SoccerBuzz.com National Elite Team Player of the Week. Two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week. The leader of four varsity championship teams - in three different sports - in high school. Needless to say, women's soccer senior Natalie Capuano hasn't had problems with impressing people, whether they're coaches, teammates or opponents.

Before practice on Tuesday, Sophomore Tobi Olopade took a knee to lace up his soccer cleats. Just last spring, he was tying up his track spikes, which are now collecting dust. The Chicago native elected to leave the confines of Franklin Field for the plush Bermuda grass of Rhodes Field.

Decision time. You need to set your fantasy football roster today. Do you go with Tim Tebow or Robert Irvin? For the time being, the Heisman trophy winner from Florida is the only option. The newly established College Fantasy Football game from CBSSports.

Like any NFL coach worth his weight in clipboards, James Urban knew his stuff. The playbook was scripture, the game tape exquisite cinema and a quarterback's audible part of the poetic second language he'd picked up over the years. A true pupil of the pigskin, Urban had done all he could to prepare for this moment.