A special day for Lopano

NEW YORK ­— Throughout their first four games, Penn’s special teams players didn’t look so special.

Numerous missed field goals, a rookie punter and injuries to punt and kick returners helped contribute to bad field position for the Quakers and good position for opponents.

But that all changed Saturday, when special teams played an integral role in the Red and Blue’s 27-13 win over Columbia.

“[Columbia had] no long returns, either on punt or kickoff,” coach Al Bagnoli said.

The Quakers tried punting away from ace Lions receiver and returner Austin Knowlin, and were able to hold him to just 12.8 yards per return.

The improved field position helped Penn’s defense immensely, allowing them to play loose and increase the pressure on Columbia quarterback M.A. Olawale.

That pressure helped the defense cause seven turnovers and hold the Lions to negative 20 yards rushing and zero points in the second half.

But where did all of that good field position come from?

A good deal of the credit should be given to the Quakers’ punt and kickoff coverage teams, which did a terrific job swarming to the ball and preventing big gaps for returns.

For all that team effort, the biggest game changer was just one player, who wore No. 23 no less: punter Scott Lopano.

Bagnoli pointed to Lopano’s prowess as a key to stopping the Columbia offense.

“[Our defensive dominance] really happened in the third quarter,” Bagnoli said. “It [started] with the punt down to the one-yard line.”

Lopano’s ability to pin the Lions inches from their end zone — as well as boot the ball 73 yards in the second quarter thanks to a fortuitous bounce — made it infinitely harder for Olawale and Knowlin to get on a roll.

By extension, Columbia was often forced to punt from deep in its own territory, giving Penn’s offense better field position.

So Lopano was able to help not just the defense, but also the offense — which sustained an early injury to all-purpose threat Bradford Blackmon, one of Penn’s main contributors.

There is nothing better for a banged up attack than having a short distance to move the ball.

Indeed, the Quakers made short work of their short fields, scoring two touchdowns after recovering the ball inside the red zone.

But still, field position starts and ends with the punter and placekicker.

And Lopano knows this.

“Field position is absolutely vital,” Lopano said. “I feel proud that I can do something about that. That’s my job.”

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