Football faces Big Green test

To call Dartmouth senior Brian Mann anything but a complete quarterback would be a misnomer.

He’s got the arm of a cannon — and a tireless one at that, having attempted 90 passes in his first two games — and the aim of a sharpshooter (61.1 percent completion percentage). He has also shown a deft ability to run, totaling 92 yards this season.

Combine his passing and rushing totals and Mann ranks second in the nation in all-purpose yards.

But Mann is not just a defensive nightmare ability-wise. He is also playing with an axe to grind, having missed all of last season with an arm injury.

Think the Quakers’ defense is up for a challenge when the Big Green come to Franklin Field tomorrow for the Ivy opener? Penn coach Al Bagnoli certainly does.

“Brian Mann’s one of those quarterbacks who uses both his arm and his feet to beat you,” Bagnoli said. “He’s got real good statistical numbers throwing the ball, but that’s not all he can do. He also runs quarterback draws and powers — these are designed plays, not scrambles — and they’ve done an effective job of running him out.”

Bagnoli has admired the Dartmouth passer for a while, ever since his days quarterbacking Xaverian High School in Canton, Mass. It was during the latter stages of Mann’s high school career that the Penn coach made a feverish pitch to Mann, only to be spurned for the Big Green.

“We tried to actively recruit him when he was in high school,” Bagnoli said. “I’ve always thought he was a real good player, and he is really doing a very good job.”

Helping Mann to rack up monstrous statistical numbers this season — including passing totals which have propelled him to third on Dartmouth’s all-time career passing yards list —have been a pair of able pass-catchers, wide receiver Jay Bernard and tight end Casey Cramer.

Cramer and Bernard have hauled in 60 percent of Dartmouth’s team receptions (33 out of 55) and have combined for 416 yards and two touchdowns. And while it is no mystery to the Quakers that Mann will be making significant use of his top two receivers, the real difficulty comes in defending a pair of players who have been all but unstoppable this season.

“It’s going to cause some problems, because we can’t double team either of them,” Bagnoli said. “Bernard is having a great year, and that tight end is a real difference-maker.”

Part of Cramer’s success can be attributed to his versatility. Dartmouth (0-2) has shown offensive looks, in which Cramer lines up both as a receiving tight end on the line and on the outside flank.

“He’s a terrific tight end and easily the best receiving tight end in the league,” Bagnoli said. “They have no problems playing him in a traditional spot or putting him outside as a wideout.”

To slow such an attack, the Quakers (2-0) are going to be expecting a big game from their young defensive line. While statistically speaking, Penn’s revamped front four is leading last year’s team in sacks through two games — 5 to 4 — there has been a relative drop off in the quality of line play due to inexperience. Though the more veteran units — linebackers and secondary — were able to hold their own against Lehigh, against a quarterback like Mann, the Quakers are going to need to put continuous pressure on the passer.

“Relative to how old [the linemen] are, they’re playing as well as we could expect them to,” Bagnoli said. “We’re still a work in progress here; as our kids get more and more acclimated, they’re starting to do what they expect them to do.”

Works in progress have also abounded on the Quakers’ offensive side of the ball, particularly in the skill positions, where running back Stephen Faulk and quarterback Mike Mitchell have been adjusting to their new starting roles.

While Faulk has been plagued by inconsistency in the first two games — largely due to Lehigh’s stymieing rushing defense, he is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry, 40 rushes for 157 yards — Mitchell seems to have taken to the starting role with a gritty flourish, firing for an average of nearly 258 yards per game.

Just as impressive as the stats is the poise that Mitchell has shown in delivering the football under pressure, and even sometimes after getting hit.

“Both Mike and Stephen have done a real nice job for us,” Bagnoli said. “Mike never lacks confidence, and he’s shown tremendous toughness in the pocket, after taking some big-time hits against Lehigh.”

To put tomorrow’s game into context, this is the opening Ivy game for a pair of teams that appears to be headed in opposite directions. With a 2-0 start the Quakers now find themselves ranked No. 23 in both Division I-AA top- 25 polls, and on the verge of commencing yet another run at the Ivy title. Dartmouth, on the other hand, has dropped a pair of games by a combined seven points and is still looking for its first win.

Still Bagnoli knows from past Penn-Dartmouth games — including last year’s 21-20 Penn victory on a blocked extra point with under two minutes left —that all of the records are just statistical fodder once the two teams take the field.

“We have to focus on the Penn-Dartmouth game and give it the respect that it has earned,” Bagnoli said. “It has always been a fiercely contested football game, aside from two years ago [Penn defeated Dartmouth, 48-14, on Sept. 30, 2000], and usually goes down to the end.

“Though they’ve had two tough losses, they’ve got a young football team and we know they’ll come out ready to play,” he said. “Everybody is 0-0 in the Ivy League and we both want to win this one.”

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