Bullying the Elis

The Penn football team scored three touchdowns but needed only one in its 21-3 victory over Yale on Saturday.

With the win, the Quakers (5-0, 3-0 Ivy League) continued their march toward a second-straight Ivy title, while the Elis (3-2, 1-2) will have to get some breaks if they want back in the Ancient Eight race.

The game's stars were the members of the Quakers defense, who, after allowing a field goal on the Elis' game-opening, 70-yard drive, smothered Yale's offense by sacking quarterback Peter Lee 10 times and allowing an astounding -19 yards rushing.

"Not to take anything away from [Yale's] offensive line, but Coach [Ray] Priore called a great game," defensive lineman John Galan said. "We blitzed a lot and we just ran the blitz to perfection. The D-backs had good coverage, you look down the field and you don't have anyone to throw to and then bam, you get sacked. We just played a heck of a game today."

In addition to the 10 sacks, the Quakers defense scored a touchdown when safety Kunle Williams picked up Lee's fumble and returned it 41 yards for the second Quakers touchdown.

"[Penn's] a very good defensive football team," Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. "We had plenty of opportunities with field position and everything else... but they put tremendous pressure on our quarterback and we didn't make plays when we had to. [If] a team scores two touchdowns on us, we should win."

Indeed, Penn scored only two offensive touchdowns, on drives of 73 and 91 yards, and neither team was able to move the ball in the second half.

"The first and second defensive teams in the league statistically were playing against each other, so we didn't think it was going to be a shootout," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "I think we're disappointed that we didn't score more points, but [Yale has] good coaches and they've got some good defensive kids. They made some good adjustments and brought some extra guys down in the box late."

Those extra defenders were part of the reason that Kris Ryan, 1999's Ivy League leading rusher, gained just 79 yards on 29 carries -- the first game this year in which Ryan has failed to reach the 100-yard mark, though he did score the game's two offensive touchdowns.

The Yale defense played nearly as well as the Penn squad. While Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman threw for 235 yards on 18-of-26 passing, he was also sacked seven times for losses totaling 61 yards.

"We had a tough time getting our ground game established and they brought some good pressure," Hoffman said. "But I thought I passed pretty well today. We're missing two starters on the offensive line, so we've got some new guys in there."

The Quakers entered the day already missing starting center Matt Dukes, who is out for the year with an injury, and they lost senior guard Sam Gottesman to an injury during the first half, which could account for some of the offensive troubles Penn experienced.

The Quakers offense started off well enough, answering Yale's scoring drive with the game's first touchdown, but put together only one other successful scoring drive -- the 91-yarder just before the end of the first half.

"We had a fumble, we got sacked, we missed a field goal, so we had some opportunities," Bagnoli said. "But it has been a little shocking on offense, especially in the red zone, which I think has frustrated us to a certain extent. We're just going to have to continue to work at it and start capitalizing on [the opportunities] we have."

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