D’Orazio digs in at center for Quakers

It’s pretty ironic that the centerpiece of the Penn football team’s offense often goes unnoticed.

Even the name of the position is central to understanding how the pigskin is put in play.

Despite all this, the center is often the offensive line’s forgotten man, lost behind the left tackle — who The Blind Side helped turn into a sexy, glamorous superstar. Figuratively speaking, of course.

But don’t let any of this neglect fool you; senior center Joe D’Orazio is the most important player when the Quakers take the field on offense.

Aside from being the only player to touch the ball on every single play, D’Orazio has many computational responsibilities.

As soon as the big boys dig into the dirt, D’Orazio is responsible for reading the defense — especially the defensive line — and determining how the offensive needs to adjust in reaction.

And he has to do all of this in the couple of seconds between the moment that the Red and Blue lines up and when he snaps the ball.

Talk about being pressed for time.

D’Orazio’s role will prove especially important this Saturday when Penn (5-1, 3-0 Ivy) hosts Brown (4-2, 3-0) for Homecoming Weekend and a chance to take the outright Ivy League lead.

“This game is huge for a lot of reasons,” coach Al Bagnoli said. “But really, the biggest reason is it allows the winner to control their own destiny.”

The Bears are currently ranked first in the Ancient Eight in total defense and rushing defense, and they boast senior defensive end Jeremy Raducha, who leads the league with 8.0 tackles for loss, including 3.0 sacks.

Defensive lineman Clayton McGrath — whose father Neil is Brown’s defensive line coach — is also high up in the defensive stats with 2.5 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss in Ivy play.

“The thing that Brown will do is get into different fronts and throw different types of blitzes and pressures at you,” D’Orazio said.

Raducha — or, as D’Orazio calls him, ‘No. 59’ — has been the subject of intensive film review on D’Orazio’s part, which is just one aspect of why the native of Bryn Mawr, Pa., was a two-time preseason All-American.

Indeed, with so many calculations whirring away inside D’Orazio’s helmet, it is important for him to do his homework and watch tape.

Often football analysts argue that offensive linemen are the most intelligent players on the field because of their need to make quick decisions that hold major ramifications for the rest of the offense.

“I don’t know if it’s book smarts [that makes a good center],” D’Orazio said. “But it’s definitely football-wise.”

D’Orazio is hardly wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a pocket protector. Once the ball is snapped, his hands, arms and legs matter more than his gray matter.

Because the Quakers love to play smashmouth football, D’Orazio is often the lead blocker in Penn’s attempt to run between the tackles. In their last two games — victories over Columbia and Yale— the Quakers have a combined 102 rushing attempts.

While the Red and Blue passing game reared its head somewhat in the victory over the Bulldogs, there is no doubt that Bagnoli appreciates the stability and consistency that keeping it on the ground affords.

But Brown’s terrific run stopping will present the most formidable challenge — aside from then-No. 1 Villanova, which handed the Quakers their lone loss — that D’Orazio and the line has had to face this season.

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