Penn wideouts bail Irvin out with career days

Receiver Matt Carre was in sync with sophomore quarterback Robert Irvin on Saturday.

So was Braden Lepisto.

And Chris Mizell.

One week after throwing for under 100 yards and two interceptions, Irvin was hitting all of his targets on Saturday.

Three Penn receivers set career highs in the win over Dartmouth. Carre, a senior, led the way with 87 yards on seven catches.

Following a game in which no Penn receiver reached 50 yards, the Quakers had three reach that mark Saturday.

Lepisto, a junior, connected for 78 yards, and big senior tight end Mizell pitched in 64 - vaulting each past their previous career highs of 49 and 38 yards, respectively.

"We're all pretty confident that, when our number's called, we'll be able to step up and make the play," Carre said.

The last time Penn got that level of production from its receivers was in 2005's heartbreaker against Villanova, a game in which Pat McDermott threw for 334 yards.

With 86 receiving yards, Carre was also a key player in that contest. Joe Sandberg led with 99 yards through the air, and Dan McDonald added 61 yards in that loss.

Junior Dan Coleman, who led the Quakers (and the entire Ivy League) in Week One with 85 yards in the air at Lafayette, missed Saturday's game with what head coach Al Bagnoli called a "moderate ankle sprain," but the passing game thrived without him.

Irvin was able to spread the field against Dartmouth, connecting at least four times apiece with the three different receivers.

"It's good to have options because then the defense can't key in on one guy and stop our pass offense," Irvin said.

And, the Quakers' options should only get more plentiful from here - Coleman is expected to return for next week's matchup against Bucknell.

Even though Dartmouth gave up 445 yards in its first two games this season, Bagnoli said Penn expected to face a tough rush defense.

Dartmouth held the Red and Blue to 59 rushing yards in last season's contest and kept Penn to 136 yards on Saturday - just four away from the season low.

"I thought we would have to throw the ball to win," Bagnoli said. "They've historically been a very difficult team to run the football against."

Coming into the game, only Sandberg, a running back, had thrown for a touchdown this season.

But that changed Saturday when both Lepisto and senior wideout Billy May scored on passes from Irvin.

In a game in which the Quakers were not able to rely on their ground game, Penn's receivers stepped up and ensured the team made it nine straight wins against the Big Green.

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