Elis' strong `D' shuts down Football's running game

Penn rolled to its fifth victory of the season on Saturday against Yale, but the game was an overwhelmingly defensive battle on both sides.

Negative yardage on rushes, sacks and penalties kept the Penn offense from operating at full force.

Penn senior Kris Ryan tallied 79 yards, as Yale became the first team this season to hold the Quakers star under the century mark.

Ryan was stopped through no fault of his own, but rather by the effort of Yale's defense.

The Penn tailback looked dominant on his pair of one-yard touchdown runs and on several long gainers, but his 2.7 yards per carry average was well below his previous season average of 5.6.

Multiple defenders often were able to hit him behind the line of scrimmage, keeping the bruising runner in check for long stretches.

Ryan and the Penn ground game were affected by two elements -- personnel changes and the Yale defensive scheme.

Penn sophomore center Mike Powers continued to fill in for injured starter Matt Dukes, and starting guard Sam Gottesman went down with a leg injury.

Also absent was starting fullback Adam Keslosky, who missed the game with injuries.

Most of Penn's troubles seemed to be caused by Yale's defensive plans, though.

"It's not all our guys. They have good coaches and they are schematically causing problems," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said.

For most of the game, Yale loaded the line of scrimmage with eight players in an attempt to stack up against the run and neutralize Ryan.

This strategy left Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman with plenty of options in the passing attack, and he responded by completing 18-of-26 passes for 235 yards.

The defensive pressure had a residual effect on Hoffman, however, as he was sacked seven times for a loss of 61 yards.

"We had a tough time getting our ground game established and they brought some good pressure on the quarterback," Hoffman said.

Yale prevented the Quakers from scoring in the second half. The only Penn drives that reached the Yale side of the field resulted in a missed 50-yard field goal and a lost fumble.

"We had some opportunities and I think we're disappointed that we didn't score more points," Bagnoli said.

Also frustrating for Penn was the barrage of yellow flags that it received in the course of the game.

In total, the Quakers were penalized 11 times for 106 yards.

"I think it makes the game uneven whether they're good calls or bad calls," Bagnoli said. "That's one of the reasons that I think neither team could get any rhythm."

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