Soisson | Worried about the hurry up

Though Al Bagnoli’s offense has generated enough points to keep the Penn football team undefeated in Ivy League play, the team still sits in dangerous territory.

Fourteen of the Quakers’ 18 touchdowns have been scored on the ground.

At first glace, this may not seem like a problem — running backs Brandon Colavita and Jeff Jack have combined for seven touchdowns this season, and quarterback Billy Ragone has run for pay dirt five times.

The Quakers have also dominated the game clock, averaging nearly 34 minutes of possession, and have controlled games with the run. In fact, Penn held on to the ball for over 19 minutes of the second half in Saturday’s victory over Yale.

But the Red and Blue’s minus-four turnover margin, which is the second worst in the League, should frighten Bagnoli and his squad.

Because if — or when — the Quakers turn the ball over in a close game and find themselves behind with limited time to catch up, Penn will have to prove that it can effectively run the two-minute drill.

The problem lies in the fact that the Red and Blue have had few opportunities to run the hurry-up offense.

And when the Red and Blue were down against Villanova late in the fourth quarter, Ragone and company failed on two occasions to connect for a quick scoring drive.

In Penn’s contest against Bucknell, quarterback Ryan Becker led the offense down the field for a touchdown when the Quakers were behind 7-3 with just over two minutes remaining — though it was just the first half, and the drive was catalyzed by a 39-yard Bradford Blackmon kick return.

It’s undeniable that the Red and Blue are overwhelmingly capable of putting points on the board — they average 24.8 per game compared to last season’s 21.4. And heir overall offensive and defensive dominance allows Bagnoli to call plays that protect the football and run out the clock.

“I’m looking up and it’s 27-10, and there is five minutes left to win the game, so I’m not going to call any pass plays,” Bagnoli said in reference to Yale’s fourth-quarter surge. “I’m gonna bleed the clock down and try to get it down because the objective is to win the game.”

But maybe Bagnoli should have clarified, because the Quakers’ fourth-quarter objective has generally been to hang onto their lead. Penn has not trailed in the final minutes against any Ivy foe this season.

In the event that the Quakers find themselves in such a position, it is unclear how they will react.

Ragone ranks eighth in the League in total offense per game with 134.8 yards. Though this is a testament to Bagnoli’s style of play-calling, it begs the question of how he would perform with the clock running down.

On the other hand, while Becker sits at second in the Ancient Eight in pass efficiency, his four interceptions have come at key moments and cost the Quakers points.

With the top defense and the second-best offense in the Ivy League , maybe Bagnoli’s squad can ride out the season without facing this challenge.

But with Penn’s main competition, Brown, coming to town this weekend, the defending champs might have to face the music sooner than later.

MEGAN SOISSON is a sophomore Nursing student from Mechanicsburg, Pa., and is Associate Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. Her e-mail address is dpsports@theDP.com.

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