Rookie QB not enough to save Penn

In many ways, Penn's Ivy League title hopes vanished before the opening kickoff Saturday.

Junior quarterback Pat McDermott was unable to start against Harvard because of a collarbone that had popped out near his left (non-throwing) shoulder.

Freshman Bryan Walker replaced him in the lineup. The Agoura Hills, Calif., native had never taken a snap in a college game before Saturday. It was only three weeks ago that he was promoted to second string over sophomore Joey Boaen.

While Walker showed poise and courage in running the team, he was simply too inexperienced to give the Quakers a shot to beat a determined opponent.

Penn coach Al Bagnoli had given Walker the majority of the snaps all week in practice after McDermott injured his collarbone on the Quakers' last offensive play against Princeton last weekend. After McDermott was injured, Penn freshman Derek Zoch came on to kick the game-winning field goal.

Despite rumors all week that McDermott would miss the game, the team was hushed about his status, saying only that Walker would be the starter if McDermott was unavailable.

But after the game, Bagnoli admitted that he did not even consider starting McDermott until the day before the game.

"There really was no decision to be made until Friday," Bagnoli said. "All of sudden on Friday, he actually looked OK. We weren't even thinking that he could take a snap.

"When he threw the ball Thursday, it was very poor, it was clicking in his collarbone as he raised his arms, a lot of things. We didn't really know until just before kickoff that he was going to be cleared."

The junior from Yonkers, N.Y., was cleared. But Bagnoli decided to start Walker anyway, because McDermott had not practiced all week.

Walker looked comfortable on the first drive, when he completed four of six passes and led the Quakers to a field goal.

But none of Walker's throws went more than 10 yards in the air, and when Harvard adjusted to Penn's short passing game, the Red and Blue were unable to adjust back. The Quakers offense was neutralized until Walker's touchdown pass to Dan Castles late in the fourth quarter.

While the first-time starter was disappointed that he could not lead his team to a win, he gave the coaching staff credit for preparing him to the best of its ability.

"I felt as good as I possibly could have," Walker said. "With the reps in practice, the coaches did a great job of making a pretty simple game plan."

Although Walker's numbers were respectable -- 18 for 30, 178 yards, one touchdown, one interception -- the Penn offense failed to consistently move the ball, leaving the defense on the field for most of the game.

Harvard, with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and running back Clifton Dawson, finally wore the Penn defense down on the final possession of the first half. Dawson's 1-yard touchdown run with under a minute to play in the second quarter gave the Crimson a 14-3 halftime cushion.

With the Quakers down by 11 and deflated after Dawson's late touchdown, Bagnoli made the decision to let McDermott start the second half.

"We wanted to give him an opportunity to warm up," Bagnoli said. "It was hard to go in between series. It's one of those injuries that if you shut it down, it starts throbbing again. So we tried to get him out at halftime and get him really loosened up before the kickoff.

"He showed a tremendous amount of courage. He probably lied to us and said he felt fine. He probably wasn't, but that's to be expected."

McDermott did not seem ready to play, mentally or physically, in his three series in the third quarter. On more than one occasion, McDermott and Castles were not on the same page, and the ball was thrown 15 yards beyond the receiver.

It would be tough to expect any more from a quarterback that did not get any reps in practice, but by that point in the game, it was worth a shot to try and jumpstart a demoralized team.

Bagnoli was unsure if McDermott would be able to play in Penn's final game of the season, this Saturday at Cornell. A win would give the Quakers a shot for a share of the Ivy League championship, providing that Harvard falls to Yale.

But for now, it appears that Penn left its hopes for a third straight Ivy title on the grass at Princeton Stadium. Saturday's action at Franklin Field was merely an anticlimax.

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