“Headdy” Lamar leads Yale past Penn, 23-10

Philadelphia – Yale RB Alan (“Headdy”, as dubbed by Guest Game Analyst Brian Donnelly) Lamar rushed for 179 yards and two TDs as the Bulldogs scored early, and their defense held Penn in check throughout the game on a comfortable, Friday night here, 23-10.  GGA Brain Donnelly and I enjoyed the historical aura attending a game again at Franklin Field built in 1895, oldest in college football.  However, it disappointed us to see so few in attendance at this game in the cavernous, historic building which provides over 58,000 seats for a sell-out crowd.

Friday night fandom

Despite Parents Weekend at Penn, a Friday night televised game keeps many of the even most dedicated fans from both schools away.  Friday night travel and the lack of any space for tailgating tends to keep even the most dedicated at home supposedly more comfortable watching their games on television.  As CFF.com always says, “Get off the couch and go to a game!”  Scheduling of games on any other days of the week except for Saturdays and the convenience of flipping among channels on the remote tends to catch the most competitive game make this effort more and more difficult.

It’s disappointing to see school spirit at college games waning because of these modern changes, especially since just about every game played is on television.  To us, the void of an interactive crowd deadens the aura of even watching a game on TV.  In the end though, it’s not all about the money.  It’s ALL about the TV money.

Let the game begin

Lamar took the handoff on the first play from scrimmage and raced 47 yards to Penn’s 28.  QB Kurt Rawlings delivered six points with a four-yard TD run.  He hit TE Quinn Dawson with a pass for a two-point conversion and a very quick 3-0 lead.  With the aid of a beautiful, one-handed catch fall backwards by RB Karekin Brooks to keep Penn’s first drive alive, Jack Soslow converted a 23-yard FG to get the Quakers on the scoreboard trailing, 8-3.  In a tell-tale sign that this could be a romp, Lamar burst around the left side for a 47-yard touchdown.  In our experience, if a team scores TDs the first two times it has possession, it most likely will lead to a blow-out. We waited to see what would happen.

In the second frame, neither team mounted any offense until right before halftime. Starting a drive from the 50, Rawlings handed off to Lamar on the final play of the drive for a two-yard TD with 44 seconds left.  Penn blocked the point after and Yale wasn’t blowing Penn out, but its lead at the half looked comfortable at 21-3.  Penn QB Ryan Oliver looked inefficient since the first scoring drive. The Quaker offense punted the ball four times since the FG without a first down.

The Voice of the (Penn) Fan

Brian and I met one of Penn’s most avid sports fans, Dave from Oreland, PA, as we sat in the first row in the upper deck near the 50-yard line of venerable Franklin Field.  He’s been disappointed in Quaker football (4-2, 1-2) so far this year and misses the days when his alma mater played near the top of the Ivy League standings back in the ‘80s and ‘90’s.  The Penn Quakers won ten of their 17 Ivy League football championships during those decades.  Three times during that stretch, UPenn put together three undefeated seasons overall.

In regards to the lack of attendance, he said most of those who remember those great seasons just can’t make it back any more.  He said on average, about 20,000 people would make it to the games back then.  Now maybe a game will attract about half that many.  We also noted that there are not any great spots to tailgate in the congested area where new construction shows signs of great progress, but no open space for traditional tailgate get-togethers.

More Dave

I asked what he thought about Penn playing their final game of the season against nearby rival Princeton about 40 miles away to start a new tradition this season.  Penn always played Cornell in their finale while Princeton finished traditionally with Dartmouth.  He stated that they way Penn has been playing and with Princeton blowing its opponents away every week so far, he just didn’t think too many Penn fans would show much interest despite the opposition now being a more natural rivalry.  Princeton hosts this year’s “new tradition”.  He stated attendance will most likely depend on how may Tiger fans would decide to show up.

I was looking for a feel for what it meant to end the season with a better rivalry, but Dave focused more on the season at hand.   Too bad, we hope that the new rivalry finishing the ten-game season for both universities would start to stir an even bigger interest in this season finale. It interests us to see if the game will draw more school spirit to heat this rivalry up some more to the level of The Game, Harvard-Yale.

Getting off on the wrong foot

Penn started the second half with another three and out.  Yale drove near the red zone, but Rawlings (11 of 14, 137 yards) left the game on a cart with a leg injury. He never returned into action, but he returned to the sideline with a boot on his lower leg later.  Fellow Soph Jimmy Cheek took over for him.  Yale drove the ball down to the one-yard line where it faced a fourth and one.  HC Tony Reno opted to go for six, and everyone knew who would get the football.  Sure enough, Lamar attempted a leap over the left side of his line.  He got smacked by OLB Zach Evans who popped the ball out resulting in a fumble recovery by Penn on their own one.

Quakers show their Oats

The first play for Penn resulted in a reverse call of a fumble that got ruled incomplete instead.  Glover completed six of seven passes tossing the last one nine yards for a TD to WR Steve Farrell (Pascack Valley HS, NJ) with 3:37 left in the third.  Later in the third with Penn taking a punt at its nine, a bad snap from center, one of several by Penn this evening, rolled around in the end zone until recovered for a safety. Yale led at the end of three, 23-10.

Comeback- not!

Cheek (5 of 8 passing, 59 yards) could not muster much offense for the Bulldogs.  In the fourth, Glover (16 of 31, 274 yards, 1 TD) hit Farrell with a short pass from the one and he rambled 87 yards to the Yale 12 to suddenly threaten to get within six.  However, Penn stalled and turned the ball over on downs again, and Yale proceeded to run out the clock.

Dave had already left to catch his train back home to the suburbs.  We could tell what he was talking about.  Penn’s offense doesn’t look like it can generate a passing game to keep up with high-flying Princeton offense under QB John Lovett when they meet in their grand finale.  Hopefully though, the fans should be there to help stir up this rivalry.

Next!

Yale heads to New York City next to take on Columbia (3-3, 0-3). Penn visits Brown (1-5, 0-3) in Providence, RI next Saturday.  We plan to be in nearby Kingston, RI then also to see William and Mary face Rhode Island in a Colonial Athletic battle for a playoff bid.  But before we do that, we left Philly that evening to head down to Annapolis to see Navy take on No. 23 Houston. We also plan to attend another Friday night game next week as well.