Football: Disappointing loss follows victory

It was Penn’s homecoming game last Saturday, and the Quakers put on a show. Penn alumni, students and fans filled a respectable portion of the expansive stands at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, and they all left happy after the Quakers obliterated the Tigers, 42-7.

“The score is pretty indicative of how the game went,” head coach Roger Hughes said. “We didn’t make the plays we needed to win the game. And the game got away from us in the third quarter.”

The Quakers (6-2 overall, 5-0 Ivy League), who are tied for the league lead with Harvard, raced to a 21-0 lead before Princeton (2-6, 1-4) scored to close the half. Penn then added 21 unanswered points in the second half.

The Quaker defense, which came into the game ranked third in the country, lived up to its billing. Princeton’s passing attack was off-balance all day, and its rushing attack was nonexistent. Penn’s defense punctuated its performance in the fourth quarter when cornerback Chris Wynn intercepted a pass from Tommy Wornham, Princeton’s sophomore quarterback, and scored on the return.

“They’ve got playmakers at every level of their defense,” Hughes said.

Penn’s 5-2 defensive front put pressure on Wornham all day. The sophomore was forced out of the pocket several times and was only able to step into throws comfortably on a few occasions.

“Clearly there was pressure on Tommy, and he felt uncomfortable,” Hughes said. “We felt there were a couple of times he may have flushed unnecessarily. If we could have generated some plays earlier in the game, I think that maybe his confidence wouldn’t have waned so much.”

The Tigers finished with 215 total offensive yards, 190 of which came through the air and only 25 of which came on the ground. The Quakers limited Princeton to 10 first downs and 23 minutes, four seconds of possession.

Penn, on the other hand, ran the ball with ease and saw more production from its passing game than might have been expected. Quaker quarterback Kyle Olson completed 20 of 32 attempts for 238 yards and three touchdowns. His 20 completions went to nine different receivers, including himself — he received one pass that was batted at the line of scrimmage.

Penn’s 215 yards on the ground were split evenly between half a dozen backs. The unit was led by Lyle Marsh, who finished with 12 carries for 99 yards, including a long rush of 40.

“When they needed to control the ball, they did it. They had their rushing attack going very well tonight,” Hughes said.

“I certainly didn’t expect a defensive effort like we had from our defense,” he added.

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The Tigers received the opening kickoff and struggled on their first possession. Princeton went three-and-out, following a pass that was nearly intercepted after being tipped by two Tiger receivers and a Penn defensive back.

Olson appeared to throw an interception on its next possession, but senior safety Dan Kopolovich was unable to wrestle the ball away from Penn wide receiver Kyle Derham. On the next play, a Princeton defender tipped the pass downfield, but it bounced right into the hands of Quaker fullback Luke DeLuca, who sprinted 29 yards and was tackled at the Princeton 1-yard line. The Quakers cashed in on their next play with a DeLuca touchdown run.

The Tigers managed a first down on their next possession, as Wornham hit junior wide receiver Andrew Kerr for 30 yards on a third-and-seven from the Princeton 23. But the drive immediately stalled thereafter, and Princeton was forced to punt again.

Things only got worse from there for the Tigers. Princeton’s next possession lasted only three plays: After Wornham completed an 11-yard pass to Kerr and freshman running back Akil Sharp was pushed back two yards, the quarterback was hit as he threw and was intercepted by cornerback Jonathan Moore. Penn once again capitalized quickly, as Olson found Derham for 27 yards to the Princeton 8. Three rushes got the Quakers to the Princeton 1-yard line, and on fourth down Penn opted to go for it. DeLuca powered his way in behind left guard Luis Ruffolo and pushed the Penn lead to 21-0 with 10:42 left in the second quarter.

The Tigers put together their best drive of the game in response. Wornham found junior fullback Matt Zimmerman for 11 yards on its first play, and he found a wide-open Trey Peacock for a 44-yard gain on the next play, setting up first-and-goal from the 9-yard line. After two short gains, Wornham found junior wide receiver Jeb Heavenrich on a drag route, but Heavenrich was driven out of bounds at the Penn 2. Princeton opted to go for it on fourth down, and Hughes called a timeout to concoct the perfect play: Wornham found Kerr on an out route with a high pass that his defender did not expect. The score was 21-7 with 7:56 remaining in the second half.

Overall, the Quakers out-gained Princeton, 453-215. Wornham finished 18-of-34 for 181 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Kerr led the receivers with eight catches for 77 yards and a score, while Peacock added 52 yards on five catches.

Zimmerman led the way on the ground with two carries for 16 yards. Sharp added 13 yards on eight carries, while junior running back Meko McCray netted one yard on seven carries.

Princeton hosts Yale (4-4, 2-3) at 1 p.m. on Saturday in its last home game of the season.