Out for revenge

The last time the Villanova football team was on Franklin Field, the Wildcats had just sacked Quakers' quarterback Pat McDermott inside the 5 at the buzzer to put the finishing touches on a 28-24 comeback victory.

When the Wildcats (0-3) return to Franklin Field tomorrow night, Penn (1-0) will be looking to avenge last season's loss - a game it led by 17 points in the second half.

"Last year was a big let down," said sophomore quarterback Robert Irvin, who was named the starter just before last week's opener. "We had a big lead. The environment was intense. You've got to come through and do it for the home crowd."

Although Irvin was not on the field for that game, he will be under center for tomorrow's rematch. The sophomore put last week's quarterback controversy quickly to rest by completing his first 11 passes in his college debut against Lafayette.

"Would you change?" Penn head coach Al Bagnoli asked when questioned if Irvin would remain the starter.

Still, the coach suggested that junior Bryan Walker may get his shot if Irvin cools off.

"We have a lot of confidence in Bryan," Bagnoli said. "We had plans to play him last week, but [Irvin] got off to such a hot start, the situation never presented itself."

This will be the third straight year Villanova plays at Franklin Field, and Penn lost the first two by less than a touchdown.

However, unlike two years ago, when the Wildcats came in ranked 11th in the country, the road team finds itself winless coming into its contest with Penn.

But Bagnoli is not taking any chances, especially given the Wildcats' tough early schedule which included No. 9 Massachusetts and Division I-A Central Florida.

"Don't let the win-loss record deceive you," Bagnoli said. "We're going to have to play well, so hopefully we developed some momentum coming out of Saturday."

Villanova needs a win to get on track for the season, yet head coach Andy Talley gave high praise this week to a team it has beaten in five straight tries.

"We know that we have another tough game in what has been a front-loaded schedule - and now we have to play the best team in the Ivy League," he said.

It has yet to be seen how good Penn will be this year, but the opener made it clear that the key to the Quakers' offense is senior running back Joe Sandberg.

The senior got off to a hot start last week, running for a career-high 166 yards against Lafayette, and earning co-Ivy League offensive player of the week honors.

That bodes well for the Quakers, especially given Sandberg's performance in last year's game against Villanova. Last September, Sandberg made his first start for the Quakers taking over for an injured Sam Matthews, and put together his best game of the season with 99 receiving yards to go with 100-plus on the ground.

Sandberg "has got to be an integral part of what we do," Bagnoli said.

Sophomore running back Sam Shepherd will also see some touches tomorrow after sitting out last week with an illness.

Coming off a win against a ranked team in No. 22 Lafayette, the Quakers have a good chance to reverse their fortunes against Villanova.

"They're certainly beatable," Bagnoli said. "We had opportunities the last two years, so I think we go in with a little bit of confidence. . We just hope this isn't the week they put everything together."

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