Football looks to avenge Crusaders

The Penn football team has the chance to avenge its worst loss of last year's championship campaign when Holy Cross visits Franklin Field tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.

The Quakers were riding high at 2-1 last year as they headed up to Worcester, Mass., for their game against the Crusaders. Over the previous two weeks, they had dispatched Lafayette and Dartmouth by scores of 45-28 and 48-14, respectively.

Furthermore, Penn's only loss had come in its season opener in Bethlehem, Pa., when it was beaten 17-10 by a very talented Lehigh squad.

But the Quakers walked into an ambush on Holy Cross' Fitton Field that afternoon last October. The Crusaders, apparently juiced for their Homecoming, walloped the Quakers, 34-17.

"It was never a contest," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said after last year's game. "We were just dominated. I don't know if we just weren't ready to play, or if we underestimated them. I [was] as surprised as everybody else."

The Crusaders scored their first touchdown just over a minute into the game and proceeded to run the tally to 34-3 in the third quarter before Penn got two late, meaningless touchdowns.

Quakers quarterback Gavin Hoffman, the 2000 Ivy League Player of the Year, looked anything but, as he threw for only 174 yards and three interceptions before being pulled in the third quarter. Also, a hobbled Kris Ryan ran for just 69 yards on 18 carries before leaving the game with an injury.

So, after all that, the Crusaders must be supremely confident as they head into tomorrow's contest, right? Not so.

"We probably played the best game of the year last year, and they played their worst," Holy Cross coach Dan Allen said. "This year, we're walking into a hornet's nest. We've got to play better than we've played all season."

Holy Cross is 2-1 on the year, boasting wins over Georgetown and Towson. The Crusaders only loss this season came in a 23-22 nailbiter last week versus Yale.

The Crusaders probably have to replicate last year's performance on defense if they want to stay with the Quakers this time around, especially now that Kris Ryan is healthy.

"Penn's a really good football team," Holy Cross linebacker David Dugan said. "They've got a Division I-A quarterback, and a hell of a running back. We truly have our work cut out for us."

Gavin Hoffman will look to get back on track after a bit of an un-Hoffman-like performance last week at Dartmouth, when he threw for 155 yards and an interception. And Allen talks as if the Crusaders might be ripe for the picking.

"Our defense is playing pretty well," Allen said. "Not so well against the pass... but we're playing with a lot of heart."

Plus, the Crusaders have to contend with that little revenge factor.

"We handed it to 'em last year," Dugan said. "So they're going to be gunning for us. We can't play an average game."

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