Football Notebook: Not-so-brittle Britton is redeemed

After Saturday's game against Princeton, junior Britton Ertman found himself in an unfamiliar place - the limelight.

Against the Tigers, the defensive back had perhaps the best game of his career. Ertman forced the game's only turnover when he intercepted Greg Mroz's pass on 3rd-and-goal from the four-yard line, wiping out the scoring threat and keeping the Quakers' eventual shutout intact.

For his efforts, the junior was recognized as the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week.

"His honor was well-deserved," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said yesterday. "I thought he played very, very well and was involved in a lot of plays in the kicking game as well as defense."

The breakout performance, however, is not the first time this season that Ertman has had his name mentioned.

Only last time, it wasn't such a good thing.

In Penn's loss at Dartmouth on Sept. 29, the cornerback tripped and fell on a crucial play. His mark, receiver Eric Paul, waltzed uncovered into the end zone and caught a touchdown pass.

But that play, according to Ertman, has not lingered in his memory and had no bearing after the fact.

Quakers defensive coordinator Ray Priore "always teaches us that after a big play is had on you, just to get up and brush it off your shoulders," Ertman said. "He's not going to want to put you back in the game if you're sitting, hanging your head."

It's in the rulebook. Early in the game against Princeton, senior punter Anthony Melillo got off a beautiful punt that sailed inside the Tigers' 5.

With senior Greg Ambrogi already down the field and waiting for the ball in the end zone, it looked like Penn's special teams unit would execute close to the perfect play. All Ambrogi had to do was jump out of the end zone and down the ball.

But Ambrogi inexplicably hesitated and let the ball bounce over the goal line for a touchback.

The play baffled Penn's coaches and fans, but afterwards, the reasons behind the blunder became clear. Ambrogi was unaware that in college, unlike in the NFL, a player is allowed to enter the end zone and then come back into the field of play to down the ball.

"Greg was watching too much TV on Sunday," Bagnoli said. "He was waiting for Joey [Brown] to come and he couldn't get there fast enough. We were all standing there, like, 'why is he waiting?'"

For Melillo, who admitted that he lives for the short finesse punts, the unfortunate miscue was disappointing, but not overly so.

"It's obviously frustrating," he said. "It's like a quarterback who throws a beautiful pass and it's dropped. But there are so many times when I shank one and they'll make it look great by stopping it on the 2. It's a give and take."

Shifting gears. With the variety of offensive schemes run by different programs in the Ivy League, the nature of preparation on the defensive side naturally changes from week to week.

"Every week, there's very little carryover, that's the problem," Bagnoli said. "The things we practiced last week are shelved because they have no practical application this week."

Princeton ran a spread offense with less tight-end play and more quick wide receivers.

To compensate, the Quakers spent the week preparing their nickel package, and speedsters like Ertman saw much more playing time than usual.

Now, Harvard presents an entirely new challenge, with big tight ends playing a more central role. The Crimson's scheme is not unlike Yale's, according to Bagnoli, although Harvard coach Tim Murphy throws the ball a good deal more.

Take your pick. Against Harvard this weekend, Penn has the opportunity to play spoiler. The Crimson sit tied with Yale atop the league with a perfect 6-0 mark.

But with his team now dropped from the league title picture, Bagnoli said that he's not concerned with the final outcome, and neither is his team.

"If it's not us, I [couldn't] care less," he said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.