Beware the Brown blitzkrieg

When Penn travels to Providence, R.I., tomorrow, the game against Brown will be its 1300th in program history, an NCAA record for all divisions.

“It’s a constant theme of the tradition that is here, the standard of excellence that is here, and it’s something we’ve tried to drum into our kids,” coach Al Bagnoli said. “It’s an unbelievable milestone, but I hope people get the scope and depth of this tradition. It’s quite the accomplishment.”

The Quakers participated in the third Rose Bowl, have beaten top-10 teams, played in front of 70,000 fans at Franklin Field, been picked to win by Lee Corso on College Gameday and won Ivy championships on last-second field goals.

And while tomorrow’s game won’t top all of the other 1299, it’s arguably the most important Penn contest since the Quakers faced Harvard when both were 5-0 in the Ivy League back in 2004. A win would make Penn 4-0 in the Ivy League for the first time since that year, and would keep the Quakers (4-2, 3-0 Ivy) in the driver’s seat of the Ivy race.

“Every game’s critical to control your own destiny,” Bagnoli said.

Recently Brown (4-2, 2-1) has been controlling Penn’s destiny, beating the Red and Blue in each of the last four years. So even if first place wasn’t on the line for the Quakers, the team would have all the motivation it needs for the road victory.

“I was thinking about that before the season,” senior cornerback Jonathan Moore said about never beating the Bears. “We’re just going to play as hard as we can, and hopefully come out with our [first] win.”

With the forecast calling for rain — again — and Brown Stadium’s notorious surface conditions, the game could be a sloppy dirty one.

“It’s a place called Brown, which doesn’t sound too happy,” Moore said.

It won’t be easy for the Quakers to escape Providence happy themselves. The Bears pose the most explosive attack in the Ivy League, leading the conference in scoring and total offense. Quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero averages 290 passing yards per game, which is over 100 more than the next quarterback in the League. He’s been helped by the senior tandem of receivers Buddy Farnham and Bobby Sewall who are first and second, respectively, in the conference in receptions per game.

“If you can stop the big plays and make them earn it, you’ve got a chance,” Bagnoli said.

He added that the game will center on “little people” rather than “big people.” In other words, the smaller defensive backs and receivers will be the focus, rather than the big linebackers and bruising running backs.

“It’s going to take all of us [on defense],” Moore said. “It’s going to be about execution and not really being afraid of all the things they’re going to throw at us.

“It’s always fun to go against a good offense,” he continued. “You have a chance to put a stamp on their season.”

Fortunately for Penn, it boasts one of the best defenses in the nation (10th in pass defense and fourth in scoring defense). And in fact the Quakers haven’t allowed a 300-yard passing day in 21 games.

But with an offense that scores the 90th-most points per game in the Football Championship Subdivision, both Bagnoli and sophomore running back Matt Hamscher admitted there’s pressure on the offense to score more this week.

“We’ve been moving the ball well on offense, but we haven’t been really putting points on the board,” Hamscher said. “The offense has come into this week with a little different attitude, a little more sense of urgency to make plays.”

At the same time, “I don’t think we’ll have to score 40,” Bagnoli said.

With the injury bug decimating the quarterbacking corps (and to a lesser extent the run game), the Quakers have lacked a consistent flow on offense. This week senior Kyle Olson will get another start under center, as first string junior Keiffer Garton is “questionable” with his sprained knee, according to Bagnoli. Junior running back Mike DiMaggio is also doubtful after re-aggravating his ankle injury.

Regardless of the injuries, the Quakers know that if the offense can step up, it can only lead to better things down the road.

“We’ve had quite the history here at Penn,” Hamscher said referring to the 1300 games. “A lot of the kids on the team really want us to be back on the map for sure in the Ivy title race.”

—Sports Editor Noah Rosenstein contributed reporting to this article.

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