Gearing Up For Penn

Penn's game notes for Saturday have been posted. Find a PDF of the notes here. ...

The Daily Pennsylvanian reports that Marcus Lawrence, the Quakers' top returning receiver from a year ago, will play for the first time this fall against Dartmouth after sitting out the opening games with an ankle problem. Transfer quarterback Kyle Olson, whose only pass against Lafayette last week was an interception, is expected to see at least a little more time. From the DP story: "This weekend, (Coach Al) Bagnoli plans to stand by his commitment to work Olson into the offense."

The Daily Pennsylvanian has another story about the Quakers' difficulty putting together a full game. For what it's worth, over the first two games this fall Penn has been outscored, 38-14, in the first half before outscoring its opponents in the second half, 17-0. (The Quakers were outscored, 6-0, in their overtime period against Villanova.)

Want to see some clips from the last Dartmouth game at Penn? Click here. That video is part of a neat web site called Let's Go Quakers that has audio and video from Penn football (as well as basketball and a few other sports) dating back to 1925.

If you are heading to Penn, do not miss the Dartmouth tailgate of tailgates being pulled together by the family of senior linebacker Tony Bates of Hammonton, N.J. Slated to begin at 8:17 a.m. sharp, the festivities will feature breakfast and lunch by Johnny “Sign Man” Rodio, music by DJ Ralphy, and "memorable tailgating South Jersey/Philly style!" Look for the green balloons in Parking Lot 1, at 33rd St. between Walnut and Chestnut.

How exactly did Cornell shut down Yale and Mike McLeod? The Yale Daily News offers this analysis from Bulldogs coach Jack Siedlecki: “They changed their defense from a 4-4 last year to a 3-3 stack this year and did a great job disguising pressure and running to the ball.”

Remember Jared Turcotte, that Maine high school running back who was so interested in Dartmouth a couple of years back? (link) As a senior he was the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year and Sports Illustrated's Maine Player of the Year. After running for 1,813 yards in his final year he ended up at UMaine, where he redshirted last year. Now 6-foot-2 and a rock-solid 232 pounds, Turcotte was selected the CAA rookie of the week after running for 82 yards on 11 carries against No. 1 James Madison last Saturday. Find his bio here.

Working up a budget for traveling to Dartmouth's away games this fall, I came up with these startling numbers:

Miles to and from away games last year: 1,490
Miles to and from away games this year: 3,104

Not a good year for gas prices to be up :-(