Eli Cohen | Defense steps up just in time

In football, as in life, timing is everything.

At no point was this more evident than in the first quarter of Penn’s 37-9 victory over Princeton Saturday at Franklin Field.

The Quakers began the game as cold as ice, starting with a three-play, zero-yard drive.
Not a good start, but not catastrophic either.

That is, until the Tigers blocked Scott Lopano’s punt and recovered the ball at the Penn 11-yard line.

Immediately, the Red and Blue were put in a compromising position in a game they could not afford to lose.

The Quakers began the game as cold as ice, starting with a three-play, zero-yard drive.
Not a good start, but not catastrophic either.

That is, until the Tigers blocked Scott Lopano’s punt and recovered the ball at the Penn 11-yard line.

Immediately, the Red and Blue were put in a compromising position in a game they could not afford to lose.

Considering how potent Princeton’s run attack had been throughout the season — 187.5 yards per game — it seemed like the Tigers would take command early.

But the Penn defense showed a keen sense of timing on the subsequent Princeton drive, allowing just two yards and a short field goal.

“Defensively, we kind of bend,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. “But we didn’t break.”

The Quakers gave up three points when they could have very easily given up seven.

So, with a stop at just the right time, it appeared as if Penn had narrowly escaped disaster.

Despite the Tigers’ stalwart run defense containing Brandon Colavita and Penn’s running game, the offense was able to ratchet up the pass and make big plays ultimately resulting in a 10-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Billy Ragone to receiver Joe Holder.

The Quakers were up, 7-3, and looked to be gaining control.

Then they got the ball back, and made another very untimely mistake.

Held to a three-and-out after gaining possession with about three minutes left in the opening quarter, again Lopano prepared to punt from deep on his own side of the field.

And again Lopano was blocked, with the ball coming to rest at the Penn 11-yard line.

“You’re not expecting the first [two times] you’re on the field to be at the 20-yard line,” said linebacker Erik Rask, who finished the game with a career-high 16 tackles. “When that happens, the defense has to step up and we just got to do whatever we can to keep them out of the end zone.”

And again, Rask and the defense came up big at a crucial moment, holding Princeton to a field goal.

Penn managed to escape two dangerous situations having given up just six points.

From there, the Red and Blue offense took advantage of big pass plays to gain 210 yards through the air and score another 30 points, aided by a pick-six from jack-of-all-trades Matt Hamscher.

Wide receiver Ryan Calvert had the game of his life, snagging eight balls for 122 yards. Wideout Ryan Mitchell had three catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

But it’s hard to say what would have happened if the Tigers had a 14-6 lead at the end of the first 15 minutes.

It was timely defense that kept the Red and Blue from digging itself into a hole from which it could not escape.

“We had some chances early in the game,” Princeton coach Bob Surace said. “And didn’t turn those into seven points, unfortunately.”

ELI COHEN is a senior philosophy major from Washington, D.C. He can be contacted at dpsports@theDP.com.

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Recap: Penn defeats Princeton at Homecoming, 37-9

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