Late second quarter call helps Penn

It was a key coaching decision that made the difference in Penn's 49-14 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday.

Late in the second quarter, Penn's Joe Phillips fumbled an Alex Ware punt at his own 29-yard line, but Adam Francks recovered for the Quakers at the 23.

With only 2:21 remaining on the clock, the Quakers could have called a few running plays to let the time run out and head into halftime with a 14-0 lead.

But Penn coach Al Bagnoli decided to run the two-minute drill, and the Quakers drove down the field in a nine-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a Rob Milanese five-yard touchdown catch from Mike Mitchell. The drive took just 1:59.

"We always stay aggressive and play up-tempo," Bagnoli said. "It was a hot day, and we thought we had an edge in depth. We were just trying to run plays."

The statistics on the drive were even more impressive, as Mitchell was 5 for 7, and the Quakers only had to use one timeout.

"When your offensive line is blocking good, and your receivers are running good routes and getting open, it makes my job easier," Mitchell said.

The score put the Quakers up, 21-0, only 22 seconds before halftime, and the Big Green never posed any real threat thereafter.

After the dominating victory over Dartmouth, the Quakers' second blowout win of the year, Penn has moved to the top of a number of statistical categories in Division I-AA.

With 41.67 points per game, Penn is ranked third in scoring offense behind Southern Illinois (48.5 ppg) and Yale (42.33 ppg). The Quakers are fourth in passing offense at 336.7 yards per game and sixth in total offense with 446 yards per game.

Penn's rushing defense, which led the nation last year, is strong yet again, as the Quakers are fifth in that category, allowing only 67 yards per game.

The Quakers only real breakdown on the ground this year was against Lehigh, where the Engineers, led by speedy freshman running back Jermaine Pugh, rushed for 118 yards. With the exception of that game, against one of the top teams in the nation, Penn is allowing 41.5 yards per game on the ground.

The only place where Penn is ranked low is in attendance, as in percent of stadium capacity filled -- but this rating reflects more on the behemoth of Franklin Field than of the number of people attending the games.

For their two home games, the Quakers have filled only 25.05 percent of the stadium, ranking them 115th in Division I-AA. In terms of average attendance, Penn ranks a robust 18th, with 13,279 fans per game.

In the latest polls, the Quakers held steady at No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today Division I-AA Poll, but they dropped one place in The Sports Network poll to No. 24. Harvard, who was ranked 25th in both polls last week, was unranked after losing to Lehigh, 36-35, on Saturday.

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