GAME ANALYSIS: Football grinds out win

The Penn football team defeated the Bison at the line of scrimmage. Football is like war. It consists of many smaller battles that, when taken together, usually determine the outcome of the contest. On Saturday, the Penn football team beat the Bucknell Bison by winning all of the battles in the trenches. By dominating the line of scrimmage, the Quakers were able to emerge victorious. Both offensively and defensively, the Penn linemen were faster and stronger, and were able to push the Bucknell linemen around like rag dolls. In doing so, the Quakers were able to execute their offensive game plan and prevent Bucknell from implementing theirs. "They physically won the battles," Bucknell coach Tom Gadd said. "This is a physical game played by physical people. How well you can dominate the line of scrimmage will determine who wins the game. They won because they dominated the line of scrimmage." Coming into every game so far this season it had been the intention of Penn coach Al Bagnoli to run the ball down the opponents' throats. At Dartmouth, where senior running back Jim Finn amassed 151 yards, it worked. Against Richmond, it did not, as he was held to 33 yards. In both games, his success, or lack thereof, was directly related to his blockers. The Bison defensive line never knew what hit them. Of 71 total offensive plays, the Quakers rushed 46 times. Finn specifically carried the ball 39 times, compiling a game-high 136 yards. Why? Because his blockers forced the line of scrimmage forward by what appeared to be an average of three yards per rush. At the snap of the ball, the Quakers were so quick to push Bison defenders backwards that by the time Finn would hit the line, he was able to move it another couple of yards. With the exception of one 20 yard gain, not one of Finn's runs was that long. He had to fight for every yard he gained, frequently riding a guard or tackle instead of breaking for a hole. "In the first half I was stumbling over myself," Finn said. "Five-yard runs should have been 15 or 20-yard runs, but we needed to put points up and move the ball, so I guess we were successful." The Quakers offensive line also kept the heat off of senior quarterback Matt Rader when he did step back to pass. He was only sacked once, for a loss of two yards. Additionally, running successfully behind Finn allowed the Quakers to control the clock. Penn's possession time was double that of Bucknell, keeping the defense fresh and rested. On the defensive side, the Quakers line turned in one of the most dominant performances in recent memory. Bucknell was only able to rush for 21 yards on 26 carries. Freshman running back Jabu Powell, last week's Patriot League Rookie of the Week, was held to 8 yards. Four players that ran finished with negative net yardage. And the Quakers defensive front compiled nine tackles for losses totalling more than 40 yards. "One of the things we would like to have done coming into the game was run the ball more, and we didn't," Gadd said. "We ended up having to throw the ball a lot more, number one because we were down in the first half, and number two because they were physically winning the line of scrimmage." Able to focus more squarely on the pass, both safety Joe Piela and junior cornerback Hasani White had key interceptions for the Quakers. White also made one of the defensive plays of the game on the first Bison play of the second half, pouncing on Bison running back Dan Palko and bringing him down five yards behind the line of scrimmage. "When the defensive line can stop the run, then their offense really has nothing to do but pass," Piela said. "They got a lot of pressure on the opposing quarterback. That just makes it so much easier for the cover guys because the quarterback has no chance to throw the ball." Penn had just as much success containing the Bucknell quarterbacks. The Quakers got to the Bucknell quarterback tandem of Jim John and Don McDowell four times. Sophomore tackle Mike Germino registered two sacks to go along with his three from the past two weeks. Germino also registered a game-high four tackles for losses. "They have a good secondary," Bucknell quarterback Jim John said. "It was really tough to gauge because we were dropping back and being flushed out so quickly. They had the rush coming and it made their defensive backs better. They were coming hard. They had a game plan, and they were bringing it."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.