Sky high: WRs to see more balls

With more confidence in their quarterback, the Quakers will balance the attack. Fans in the lower stands won't be getting neck cramps watching the Quakers offense in 1997, but they will surely be looking to the clouds more often than last year. That's because the Penn football offense will have a much more balanced attack from 1996, when the ground game accounted for 70 percent of the offense. The receiving corps returns three wide receivers who all saw significant downs last season. And the man throwing to them, Duke transfer Matt Rader, has boosted the confidence of everyone involved with Penn's offense. "Hopefully, you'll see some big plays this year," third-year receiver John James said. "We'll be throwing the ball a little bit more. [Offensive coordinator Chuck] Priore is letting us go deep a little bit more -- hopefully, we'll put up some points." So, James, Alec Dafferner, Brian Bonanno and the rest of the receivers will be appearing in the box score a little more often than in 1996. "We come back with three guys? who had some production, but that was based on not being able to throw the ball that well last year," Penn wide receivers coach Rick Ulrich said. "But everyone's been challenged because we have a new quarterback, and we should get more production from everyone." Bonanno will be used more over the middle of the field, much like Mark Fabish was used last year. According to Ulrich, Bonanno will be "playing a little different position from the other guys." The last man on the two-deep chart is Brandon Carson, who until this point was merely the odd-man out from last year's quarterback shuffle. In an effort to utilize their skilled players -- something the Quakers did not do well in 1996 -- the coaches and Carson made the joint decision to have him catch balls instead of throw them. "He's probably athletically possibly one of the most gifted guys on the team," Ulrich said. "And we figured that this kid has got to play somewhere for us." Deeper on the charts are Lacey Walker and freshman Chris May. With freshmen rarely seeing significant varsity time, Ulrich pointed out that Penn specifically recruited talented receivers for the Class of 2001, who may challenge some of the veterans down the road. But who actually plays is not really a problem; finding a guy who can make big plays is. "We need guys who can come up consistently with balls thrown to them," Ulrich said. "Guys that aren't going to catch the ball and go right out of bounds, or guys that aren't going to catch the ball and fall down. Those were problems we had last year. That's probably what we lacked most last year -- guys who could get positive yardage after the catch." Ulrich says James has the best set of hands on the team. But a hand injury has hindered his efforts. To make matters worse, Bonanno and Dafferner are both coming off leg strains. At 6'1" and 240 pounds, James has above-average size for the Ivies and could become the receiving playmaker. James pulled in 15 receptions last year, averaging over 17 yards each. "I think I have good speed for my size," James said. "I'm not going to say I can run a 4.3, 4.4 (40-yard dash), but I worked a lot on my speed and my conditioning. I'm not going to say I'll fly by everyone, but I think I can run pretty well." Bonanno was more productive in 1996, catching 24 passes for 292 yards. Dafferner caught 17 for an 11.4-yard average. The three receivers combined for just three touchdowns. But the wide-outs won't be the only players catching the ball, as Ulrich says he hopes to spread the aerial action around a bit. He expects the tight ends to play a major role in the passing game and expects to involve the U-backs as well.

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