Penn Quakers
Overall Rank: #20
#1 Ivy League
Penn Team Page
2010 Record: (9-1, 7-0)
2010 Postseason: none
Coach: Al Bagnoli (131-57 at Penn, 217-76 overall)
Returning Leaders:
Rushing: Brandon Colavita, RB, 728 yards
Passing: Billy Ragone, QB, 834 yards
Receiving: Luke Nawrocki, TE, 184
Tackles: Erik Rask, LB, 65
Sacks: Matt Hamscher, S, 4.5
Interceptions: Brandon Copeland, DT, 1; Matt Hamscher, S, 1; Daniel Ritt, CB, 1; Jason Schmucker, S, 1
Penn had a couple close calls early in the 2010 season, and a loss to crosstown rival Villanova, but after that they pretty much dominated every opponent they faced. The Quakers finished off the Ivy League campaign with a perfect record for the third time in their history and will look to repeat that feat in 2011.
Strengths:
With a strong rushing attack led by Brandon Colavita, Jeff Jack and Lyle Marsh, it is certainly a possibility. Marsh was the team’s leading rusher in 2009, but broke his arm in the second game of the season and missed the rest of the 2010 campaign. That paved the way for Colavita, a bruising back, to have a superb sophomore year. He ended up rushing for 728 yards and 12 touchdowns. With Marsh back in the mix and Jack being a more than capable backup, this is a deep and talented group of rushers. The offensive line returns just one starter, but left tackle Greg Van Roten is a veteran and a leader. Penn always seems to have a great line and players like Michael Pinciotti will fill in the void and compete for All-Ivy honors. While the Quakers will run the ball effectively, they will be just as good at stopping others from running. This group gave up a mere 73.60 yards per game on the ground last season. They will not be able to keep that up, but the number should not be much worse. Three starting lineman are gone from Penn’s unique 5-2 defense, but this is a team that will rotate a lot of linemen in and out of the game so there are plenty of experienced options ready to fill the void. Erik Rask and Zach Heller were the linebackers last year. Rask is back after totaling a team high 65 tackles and adding 3.5 sacks, 4.5 tackles-for-loss and four pass breakups. Steve Lias will be asked to replace Heller and his play will go a long way in determining the success of the front seven.
Weaknesses:
The secondary lost some quality players, most notably Josh Powers. The good news is Matt Hamscher made a very successful move from running back to safety last year and should be much better after spending a full season on the defensive side of the ball. However, there are holes to fill and Jason Schmucker and Daniel Ritt, among others, will compete for playing time in the secondary. The Quakers had the worst passing game in the Ivy League last season. Obviously it did not matter too much, but balancing out the offense a little more cannot hurt. Penn will use multiple quarterbacks and they have plenty to use this year. Billy Ragone is the best of the bunch. He is an efficient passer and does a great job running the option. He was second on the team with 548 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Ryan Becker has a little better arm, but is not as mobile. The bigger issue may be at receiver where the top two pass catchers are gone. Luke Nawrocki is a fine tight end, but nobody else returns who caught more than ten passes last season. The Quakers did play a lot of young receivers last season, so the hope is they can step up their game. The most likely option to do that is 6-4 Conner Scott.
The Bottom Line:
Penn could run the table in conference play again this year, but Harvard and Yale will make that unlikely. Although, it may come down to a trip to Cambridge, Massachusetts during the second to last week of the season to put one team or the other in the driver’s seat. Of course Harvard will play Yale the following week so things will start getting very interesting late in the year while Penn looks to take home another conference title.
Projected Postseason: none
2010 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 243.69 (6th in nation, 1st in conference)
Passing Offense: 143.50 (98, 8)
Total Offense: 387.10 (27, 1)
Scoring Offense: 29.00 (32, 1)
Rushing Defense: 73.60 (1, 1)
Pass Defense: 199.30 (54, 3)
Total Defense: 272.90 (4, 1)
Scoring Defense: 14.50 (2, 1)
Turnover Margin: -.30 (79, 6)
Sacks: 3.10 (6, 1)
Sacks Allowed: .60 (4, 1)
