Dave Zeitlin: Penn defense has no mercy on Yale QB

What does a man look like after he's been hit, smacked, pounded, hammered pummeled and beatem into oblivion?

Take a look at Yale quarterback Peter Lee following Penn's 21-3 drubbing of the Elis on Saturday and you'll find out.

Lee took a severe beating from a monstrous Penn pass rush, and it showed.

He trudged into the post-game press conference room slowly, still fully padded. He sat in his seat tenderly, his arms covered with giant red bruises, his face contorted with pain.

When he spoke, his words were solemn and barely audible. He said very little, probably because he wanted to push what had just happened to the back of his mind.

For Peter Lee, Saturday's game was a nightmare.

The stat sheets show that Penn sacked the quarterback 10 times, an incredible statistic in itself.

What the stat sheets do not show, however, is how many times Lee was knocked to the ground, surely a number that could reach as high as 50.

It got to the point late in the game that you would almost expect a Penn defender to break through the line of scrimmage and put Lee flat on his back.

"They definitely applied a lot of pressure. I think that was their idea going into the game," Lee said. "But by bringing pressure, we should look at that as an opportunity to make big plays. We just couldn't make the big plays against the pressure."

There was one big play when the Yale offense took the field, but it wasn't exactly the kind Lee was talking about.

In Yale's first drive of the second quarter, Lee was chased out of the pocket by a swarm of Quakers. As the Yale quarterback was hit by John Galan and Steve Lhotak, the ball popped out of his hands and into the waiting arms of Penn safety Kunle Williams, who scampered down the sideline and into the end zone for a Quakers touchdown.

"I think our motto for the year has been to play with one heartbeat," Williams said. "When you have the [defensive] line, the guys at the second level and the [defensive backs] playing together, things are going to happen."

The only time the Elis were able to muster any points against the stalwart Penn defense was a field goal on the first drive.

The Penn defense was on its heels on Yale's opening possession, but buckled down in the red zone. On a first-and-goal from the five, the Quakers held their ground and even pushed Yale back a few yards to force a field goal.

Yale wouldn't score another point the rest of the day.

The three points allowed by the Quakers, however, probably wasn't even the most telling statistic of the afternoon.

The most remarkable numbers were 10 and -19.

With an attacking, blitz-heavy defensive scheme, the Quakers tallied 10 sacks and held the Elis to -19 yards on the ground, numbers that border on the ridiculous.

Defensive tackle John Galan led the way with 3.5 sacks, and Vince Alexander, a backup safety, was close behind with 2.5.

"It looked like a sackfest out there," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "It felt like every other play was a sack."

But the Penn defenders are quick to point out that it wasn't just the guys who recorded the sack that deserve the credit.

"It was a combination of everything -- great play calling, our D-backs had awesome coverage," John Galan said. "We just played a heck of a game today."

Every game the Quakers have played this year, the defense has played a heck of a game.

In all but one of Penn's five games, the defense, which has been one of the best in Division I-AA this season, has held the opposition to a touchdown or less.

While the Red and Blue offense has struggled at times, the defense has been consistent and rock-solid all year.

"Whether our offense scores 60 points or 21, we're trying to shut them out," Galan said. "All we need is a field goal to win. In our minds, we're going to shut them out every time."

So far, they've come pretty darn close.

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