Football picked to repeat despite losses at QB, line

For the second season in a row, the Penn football team will begin the season as the highest ranked Ivy League squad.

Several preseason polls have picked the Quakers to win their third straight Ancient Eight title.

The Ivy League preseason media poll has the Quakers ranked No. 1, slightly edging out No. 2 Harvard and No. 3 Yale.

Penn was also ranked 19th overall in Division I-AA by the Sports Network's preseason rankings and 26th overall in the ESPN/USA Today preseason coaches poll.

With significant losses to the Penn offense at quarterback and offensive line, Penn coach Al Bagnoli feels that these rankings reflect "more of a respect to the program and what it's done over the last 10 years and not necessarily this year."

Bagnoli said he felt that Harvard and Yale should be considered the favorites this season because of their proven starting quarterbacks.

Elis quarterback Alvin Cowan and Crimson quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick have been anounced as early favorites for the Walter Payton Award, which goes to the top player in Division I-AA football.

"When you look at the other teams in this league, from my perspective, it always starts off with having a proven quarterback," Bagnoli said. "You look at Harvard, you look at Yale, they both have kids who have all kinds of snaps under center. They also have quite a few skill kids around them."

"I think if you look at the [college football preview] magazines it's probably more realistic," Bagnoli added. "They've got us around the [No. 3] range."

Last year, the Red and Blue posted a 10-0 record, and finished the season ranked 12th in I-AA.

The highest ranking in the history of the Penn football program occurred in the middle of last season, when the Sports Network's November 10 poll listed the Quakers as eighth overall.

"We like to think we run a pretty good program and the ranking lets us know that our fellow Division I-AA programs recognize the success in recent history," Bagnoli said in a press release.

Bagnoli and the Quakers will look to make history this season, as the squad will look to earn the program's fourth Ivy League crown in five years.

The Quakers, however, will face both preseason No. 4 Villanova and No. 25 Harvard, according to the Sports Network's rankings.

The Sports Network rates Yale as No. 32 in the nation and Princeton as No. 77.

The ESPN/USA Today poll has Harvard ranked No. 34 and Yale ranked No. 43. This poll ranks Villanova No. 10.

With a relatively young offense that lost its leader standout senior quarterback Mike Mitchell the Red and Blue will look to their defense to secure yet another title.

Leading the defense will be shut-down cornerback Duvol Thompson, who earned second-team preseason All-American honors, announced by the Sports Network earlier this summer.

The All-Ivy defensive force led a youthful, yet dominant 2003 unit which allowed an Ivy-low 16.4 points per game while surrendering an Ivy-best 326.1 yards per game.

Thompson was one of only three Ivy preseason All-Americans. The other two Ancient Eight Ivy All-Americans were Yale teammates Rory Hennessey and Cowan, who earned first and second-team All-American offensive honors, respectively.

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