Rejuventated offense 'whips' Brown

Football now 2-1 in Ivy games Entering Saturday's game at Franklin Field, Penn quarterback Matt Rader and Brown quarterback James Perry had experienced different results in their first seasons as starters. Perry accounted for over 270 of Brown's 468 average yards of offense per game, while the Quakers' offense had not woken up from its season-long dormancy. Yet by the end of the game, Rader had led Penn to a 31-10 victory while the 12,207 fans at Franklin Field witnessed the worst performance of Perry's career. Penn's defense stuffed the high-powered Brown offense, forcing Perry out of the game after the third quarter due to ineffectiveness. The Quakers displayed an intensity not seen most of the year, as they atoned for last year's loss in Providence, R.I. While Brown (4-2, 1-2 Ivy League) entered the game with title aspirations, it was Penn (3-3, 2-1) that was back in the race at the end of the day. "Our new guys have to understand that we are not the Brown of old," Bears coach Mark Whipple said. "People will not take us lightly." The action started slowly as the two teams traded punts until Penn cornerback Joe Piela fumbled Tom Routt's punt at the Quakers 19. At this critical juncture of the first half, Penn's defense allowed Brown's dangerous wide-out Sean Morey to catch a pass for no gain. Solid defense then resulted in two straight incompletions to Morey. Routt ended the not-so-typical four play, zero-yard scoring drive with a 37-yard field goal, but the Quakers' defense had sent a clear message to the Bears. "They have a great offense, the best offense we'll see this year," Penn safety John Bishop said. "We set the tone early. The team made great plays after they had great field position." The Quakers' offense thanked the defense by going on a seven-play, 71-yard touchdown drive after the kickoff. Rader hit freshman wide receiver Doug O'Neil on a diving 29-yard catch that placed the ball at the Brown 14. The next play, Penn running back Jim Finn was initially stopped at the line of scrimmage. But by the end of the play, Finn was in the end zone and Brown's top defender, safety Roderic "Rocky" Parsons, was on the ground with an injured knee that would force him out of the game. "It was a counter play," Finn said. "The hole just clogged, but I kept bouncing until I saw the goal line." Penn held on to the 7-3 lead until 6:15 remained in the second quarter, when Perry found Morey over the middle for a 34-yard pass to the Penn one-yard line. Yet on the following play, Brown fullback Mike Wall was met by Penn linebacker Darren MacDonald as he tried to go over the top to the end zone. The ball popped loose into the end zone, and Piela made up for his earlier fumble by picking up the ball. "That was a huge play," Bishop said. "It's not the first time MacDonald has made that play. It tells a lot about the defense -- the situation was similar to after the [Piela] fumble. It gives you confidence that no matter what they do, you have an answer." The half ended with Penn up 7-3, but the Quakers easily could have gone to the locker room down by a touchdown. Penn realized the need to put Brown away at the start of the second half, but a 13-play, 60-yard drive to start the half came up empty when Jeremiah Greathouse's 37-yard field goal sailed wide left. On Penn's next possession, Rader found freshman tight end Benjamin Zagorski alone on the left sideline on an 11-yard pass. Zagorski took the first catch of his career an additional 27 yards down to the Brown 13-yard line. Finn finished off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to put Penn up, 14-3. After Brown went three and out, the Penn offense went back to work on the Brown secondary. Whipple admitted the injury to Parsons, who entered the game leading the nation in interceptions, took a lot out of the Bears' defense. Rader had little trouble finding his young receivers throughout the day, and O'Neil was his favorite target with four catches for 93 yards. With 3:17 left in the quarter, O'Neil beat the coverage, then adjusted to Rader's underthrown pass for a 32-yard touchdown catch. "They like to blitz, especially on first down," Rader said. "We thought we could take it downtown." With the game fast becoming a blowout, the Brown offense could muster nothing more than three plays before punting back to Penn. Another drive capped by a 34-yard Greathouse field goal convinced Whipple he had to make a switch before his team was down more than 24-3. Perry, who finished the day with nine completions in 23 attempts for 62 yards, was replaced by Anthony Ames on Brown's next drive. "We're down 24-3 and we haven't made the plays," Whipple said. "We've got to get something going, we needed a change in tempo." Although Ames passed for 182 yards against Penn's reserves in the fourth quarter, he couldn't put points on the board. After Ames' initial drive ended on a fourth down incompletion, Penn capped its scoring on another Finn touchdown after receiver John James rumbled to the Brown five-yard line on a 50-yard catch and run. Penn's 31-3 lead was cut to 21 when Brown scored a consolation touchdown with a minute left in the game. The Quakers had the best game of the season on both sides of the ball to overcome 15 penalties. Their defense limited Brown to 362 yards, 229 yards coming in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided. Morey was expertly covered by Bishop and Piela throughout the game and was prevented from winning the game for Brown. Whipple said he decided to have a more conservative approach on offense, and Penn countered with a simple plan to stop the Bears. "It was just a combination of the kids playing well in the secondary, and getting a good pass rush," Bagnoli said. Penn's offense used a variety of rollouts to buy time for Rader, and the junior responded with his best day as a Quaker, throwing for 334 yards on 19 completions in 30 attempts. Finn continued to see extensive time at running back, picking up 94 yards and three touchdowns on the day. In all, Penn racked up 501 yards of offense and controlled the ball for over 37 minutes. Those numbers were a long time in coming for a highly regarded Penn team with a modest record. But the Quakers team that showed up to Franklin Field on Saturday was the one expected from the beginning of the season.

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