From Penn's perspective, leaving Franklin Field after a Villanova game always feels the same -- like getting punched in the stomach. It hurts for fans, and even more so for the players. Seniors like Robert Irvin, Jay Colabella and Tyson Maugle turned in terrific performances, but at the end of the day, the result was out of their hands.
In the days to come, Bill Schmitz's playcalling and Al Bagnoli's coaching decisions will be questioned. Why go with a delayed handoff to Bradford Blackmon on 4th and 2? Or a direct snap to Blackmon in overtime when the same play flopped earlier in the game, and when Michael DiMaggio was running downhill with pretty good results all game long? And why run out the clock with over 90 seconds to play and two timeouts remaining? Did Penn have a two-minute offense prepared? Why did it take so long to get the plays in throughout the game?
There are certainly arguments that can be made for and against the coaching decisions. And hindsight is always 20/20. But there are far more important things to take away from a non-conference game -- much less the first game of the season -- that Penn couldn't have expected to win. Most importantly, many of the questions going into today's game about Penn's offensive unit were addressed, and the outlook seems pretty positive.
1. Irvin looked good. Very good, even, with the exception of the one forced pass that got picked. He was poised in the pocket, felt very comfortable distributing the ball to a wide range of receivers, and, the one interception aside, took what the defense gave him and made the most of it, even if it meant throwing the ball away. He demonstrated a lot of maturity today and didn't appear to be nearly rusty as I thought he would be. The fourth quarter pass to David Wurst over the middle was one of the prettier throws I've seen from a Penn quarterback in a long time. There is no quarterback controversy on this team -- Irvin, the senior, is the go-to guy. Olson can certainly contribute on 3rd and 4th downs and give the Quakers more options, but Penn fans should take comfort in Irvin's performance today.
2. It will take some time to figure out exactly how to balance out DiMaggio and Blackmon's workload, but both backs showed promise today, especially DiMaggio. His touchdown run, with the juke and high-flying dive into the endzone, was SportsCenter-worthy. Blackmon needs to make better decisions in the backfield and not try to break out a big play when he's about to get taken down. But that said, he complements DiMaggio nicely, and he will improve with more experience. I would like to see the more powerful DiMaggio get more opportunities in short yardage situations -- I'm not entirely sure why Blackmon got as many carries as he did when Penn needed to pick up only a yard or two. But on the whole, the combination is strong, and as the Penn coaching staff learns how to balance out the backs' workload more effectively, Penn's running game will be reliable (provided that Blackmon can cut down on the fumbles).
3. Even without Marcus Lawrence playing, Penn's wide receivers and tight ends looked sharp across the board. Irvin completed passes to seven different receivers and at least two passes to five different receivers, and he only attempted a total of 24 passes.
4. The offensive line gave Irvin all of the time he needed. Villanova did not record a single sack on the day, and for the most part, DiMaggio and Blackmon had room to run.
It's hard to stomach another heartbreaking loss to Villanova on Penn's home turf, but this was an admirable and gusty performance by the Quakers, no matter how you slice it. They did not roll over in the second half like they did last year, and Irvin provided exactly the leadership that you'd want from your starting quarterback. I certainly didn't expect the Quakers to take the Wildcats to overtime today, but they did. The future for the Quakers is brighter than I thought it was before kickoff.
And one final sidenote ... Say what you will about the coaching today, but I thought Bagnoli's body language on the sidelines was very encouraging. Every time Penn made a big play, Bagnoli was the first person, players included, out on the field high-fiving everyone and pumping up his troops. When he's angry, he shows it, but he certainly was supportive of his players today, and that was good to see.
Tags: Football
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