The Buzz

Archive for the ‘Men's Basketball’ Category

Penn-North Carolina: In-Game Updates

Live Game Updates

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.–Welcome to the Dean Dome, it’s David Bernstein here for Penn’s opener against North Carolina. The atmosphere is unreal–the 22,000-capacity stadium is nearly full. Tyler Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard are out for the Tar Heels, and Penn will be without Andreas Schreiber, Aron Cohen and Darren Smith.

Final: UNC 86, Penn 71

First of all, our apologies for the lack of second-half updates, the internet in the Dean Dome and my old PC were not mixing.

But as you can see, UNC maintained the pace it had to end the half, and never really gave Penn a chance. Freshman Tyler Zeller and the UNC frontcourt burned Penn, and when that failed, the Tar Heels simply ran it down the Quakers’ throats. Tyler Bernardini kept the Red and Blue in it, shooting lights-out and racking up 26 points.

Penn cut the lead to 10 with four minutes to go, but the Tar Heels’ defense clamped down its perimeter defense. It was the closest Penn has been in its three-game series with UNC, but there was still a sense of dissatisfaction after the game–if a few more shots had fallen, and if a few passes were just a little bit crisper, it could have been a down-to-the-wire affair.

First Half Stats

Penn: Bernardini–12 points on three 3-pointers; Egee–eight points on two 3-pointers; Eggleston–six rebounds to go with two points and two assists.

UNC: Ellington–10 points and four assists; Thompson–10 points and five rebounds (two offensive); Davis–eight points and eight rebounds in just 11 minutes.

End First Half, UNC 48, Penn 33

Sorry, loyal Buzz readers, but the internet hit a rough patch here in the press section. UNC really clamped down to end the half, pounding it inside in its half-court offense, and scoring in transition the rest of the time. Penn scored the last points of the half after Bernardini fed Gaines in transition. Gaines hit the layup as he was fouled, but missed the free throw.

First-half stats will be posted when they arrive.

3:37 First Half, UNC 37, Penn 29

Penn barely breaks the Tar Heels trap, but it leads to a nice Egee dish to Bernardini inside. He’s hacked, and his free throws are the first of the game for Penn–he hits one of two. Remy Cofield replaces Bernardini.

4:03 First Half, UNC 37, Penn 28

Egee comes out firing, and swishes a three from the corner. The Quakers are absolutely shooting the lights out right now.

UNC responds with an offensive board, and a Thompson bucket inside. Gaines is called for a push-off on Penn’s next possession, a VERY questionable call that inspires Miller to put Votel and Belcore back into the game. But they can’t stop Danny Green, who lays in a pretty finger roll on a drive to the hoop.

5:39 First Half, UNC 33, Penn 25

Mark it down–6:54 to go and Glen Miller’s jacket is off. The coach is incensed after Bernardini is called for a charge. Seemed like a bad call from behind the basket.

The next possession, Ed Davis throws down a put-back jam, firing up the crowd. On the next UNC possession, Ellington hits a three from the right corner over the hands of Gaines, who’s a little late getting there. Miller calls a timeout.

7:12 First Half, UNC 27, Penn 25

Rosen creates a nice opportunity for Bernardini, who nails yet another trifecta. Meanwhile, UNC coach Roy Williams is staying with what’s working–pounding it inside. Deon Thompson is finishing strong, but right now the UNC student section (conveniently located one foot behind us) is a little deflated.

9:10 First Half, UNC 23, Penn 22

Miller is really going deep early, with freshman Mike Howlett coming into the game, and promptly bricking a jumper. Drew hits the front end of a one and one, and Bernardini nails a three from the top of the key after a UNC offensive foul.

10:17 First Half, UNC 22, Penn 19

The Quakers continue to set good screens on offense, setting up good looks. Egee just drained a three to cut the lead to one. But right after, Zeller is hammered by Votel, and he hits them both.

And the subsequent UNC press befuddles Penn, as Belcore steps out of bounds under pressure.

11:25 First Half, UNC 20, Penn 16

Coach Glen Miller deserves some credit for getting his team ready for this one–the Quakers are playing nice transition D and staying in it. Votel has hit a couple of buckets after a sloppy turnover to Ellington, and Gaines just hit a jumper off of a nasty move, spinning away from defender Larry Drew and draining the shot.

The Tar Heels are starting to work it inside more, and they’re seeing some success. Quite simply, their bigs seem like giants in their, dwarfing the likes of Votel and Eggleston. Freshmen Rob Belcore and Larry Loughery stepped onto the court for their Red and Blue debuts, and Penn is really hanging in there right now.

15:05 First Half, UNC 9, Penn 7

Well look who it is. UNC guard Bobby Frasor gets into the game despite rumblings that he was going to miss the contest with his ACL injury. Meanwhile, Penn forward Brennan Votel puts in a bucket on an in-bounds play, and after a UNC bucket, Kevin Egee gets up and lays one in in transition.

15:56 First Half, UNC 7, Penn 3

Penn has worked mostly in a zone to start the game, a sort of trap zone. But the Quakers look slightly overmatched, having committed three fouls within the first three minutes of the game. Penn is fortunate that the Tar Heels’ shots aren’t falling.

After taking a 3-2 lead on a Bernardini jumper, Ellington comes out and drains a trey, and then slams one home in transition.

The Red and Blue are taking some questionable shots, but one early take-away: Rosen is truly running the offense. Talk about a memorable college debut, but let’s see if he can help create some offense here.

Tonight’s Starting Lineups:

Penn

G Tyler Bernardini

G Harrison Gaines

G Zack Rosen

F Jack Eggleston

F Cameron Lewis

UNC:

F Tyler Zeller

G/F Danny Green

F Deon Thompson

G Wayne Ellington

G Ty Lawson

Bracketology and the Schuylkill 16

Zach Klitzman

Although rankings don’t directly impact college basketball in the way they do college football, nothing quite compares to the burgeoning past time of “bracketology.”  Created by former Saint Joesph’s SID Joe Lunardi, the practice of creating mock brackets throughout the season has become quite popular. In fact, Lunardi’s bracketology updates can get 10 million hits in February and March.

So without further ado, here is the first Bracketology of the 2008 season.  From now on, every time one comes out, I’ll post it here and explain how the Ivy and Big 5 teams are doing.

Currently, Cornell is the conference rep, and this probably won’t change until the Ivy League season gets under way.

Meanwhile, two Big Five teams have berths. (Saint Joseph’s is the seventh team “left out.”) Villanova, in one of Lunardi’s more head-scratching decisions, is a six seed facing Kent State.  Yet they’re playing in Dayton, Ohio, which is about 3 hours and 30 minutes from the Golden Flashes’ campus.

But even craizer is Temple, which as an 11 seed is playing Arizona St. in…. PHILADELPHIA! So much for preventing lower-seeded teams from having a distinct home court advantage.

But in addition to bracketology, which obviously has a national focus, there’s a brand-new ranking out that is definitively local in flavor.  DP alum Jonathan Tannenwald, of Soft Pretzel Logic fame, recently started “The Schuykill 16″ which is a poll of the 16 D-I teams that play closest to Philadelphia, more or less.

The poll is comprised of voters of different backgrounds and slants. This includes MSM writers, bloggers and even the president of the DAC Pack.  And no less than three people have connections to The DP, including myself.

Just like with Bracketology, I’ll post the results for this poll each week when they come out, as well as my own ballot. (You can see this week’s after the jump.)

(more…)

Random Ivy Notes (now with the Big 5)

Zach Klitzman

Note: As we move into basketball season, items about the Big 5 will be included in “Random Notes”

1) Philly.com has launched a new college basketball blog dedicated to City Six hoops. Not only will the blog have posts from the Inquirer’s college sports staff of Mike Kern, Bob Cooney and Dick Jerardi, but five of the six City Six coaches will also post their thoughts.

Interestingly, Villanova’s Jay Wright — in classic we’re-too-good-for-the-rest-of-the-city fashion that Villanova demonstrated when it almost left the Big 5 — “was not able to make the commitment because of his busy schedule during the season,” according to the first post. Is his schedule really that much busier than any of the other coaches? The only possible answer is that the Big East does involve more traveling than the other conferences represented in the city, as the Wildcats travel to Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois and Indiana for conference play. (Ironically, their farthest non-conference game is at Madison Square Garden.)

2) Nittanydelphia, a blog dedicated to Penn State and Philadelphia sports, is publishing previews of all Big 5 teams.  Here is Penn’s entry. From there you can find the other schools’ as well.

3) Many preseason publications had the Harvard men’s basketball team finishing as high as third in the conference. One key reason voters saw the Crimson moving up from seventh to third was 6-foot-10 freshman sensation Andrew Van Nast. However, Van Nast has injured his shoulder and will miss the entire year. The Crimson are not completely out of luck, since they do return all five starters from last year.

4) Looking over the Sagarin NCAA football ratings, four Ivy League teams are ranked above at least one FBS team. Harvard is the top Ivy team at no. 135 and is ahead of eight FBS teams, including Washington State of the PAC-10.  No. 156 Brown is ahead of two FBS schools, and both No. 162 Penn and No. 165 Yale are ahead of No. 171 North Texas.

Hansbrough ‘extremely doubtful’ to face Penn

Zach Klitzman

The Penn basketball team might be facing the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation this Saturday, but at least the chances that they’ll face North Carolina’s best player are quite slim.

Senior Tyler Hansbrough, who decided to stay in school for his final season instead of declaring for the NBA draft, has been limited due to a stress reaction in his right shin. In fact, he hasn’t practiced in two weeks. And according to coach Roy Williams, “It’s extremely doubtful that he would play against Pennsylvania, and I emphasize extremely doubtful.”

(Hey, at least he didn’t call us Penn State.)

The reigning National Player of the Year has 48 points and 15 rebounds in two career games against the Quakers.

The Tar Heels also are without guard Marcus Ginyard, one of their best defenders.

Random Ivy notes for 11/13

Zach Klitzman

1) What does Princeton have in common with Indiana, Maryland, Stanford, Texas Tech and Arkansas?  According to the San Francisco Chronicle, they’re all “esteemed basketball programs” that might finish last in their conferences.

2) Basketball players have always been some of the most obvious BMOCs on campus here at Penn.  And even though he’s only a sophomore, Tyler Bernadini has been selected by Comcast SportsNet as Penn’s representative for their “Big Men on Campus” series.

3) ESPN The Magazine has come up with one stat for each Division I team that best represents both last year and future results. (Unfortunately, the link requires a subscription to ESPN Insider).

Here is Penn’s, with the rest of the league after the jump. The team’s are ranked in order of predicted finish.

2 ) Penn

74.5

The Quakers are coming off of their first losing season since 2000-01, but led by Ivy ROY Tyler Bernardini, they’re well-stocked to challenge Cornell … if they D up. Penn gave up 74.5 ppg last season, its worst performance in 20 years.

(more…)

How to watch the UNC game

Zach Klitzman

As fall sports start to wind down, winter sports begin.  And never is that clearer than this weekend.  From Friday Nov. 14 to Sunday Nov. 16, there are 13 Penn sporting events involving 12 teams (volleyball plays twice).

This poses a problem for Quakers fans who want to watch two or more games simultaneously.  Fortunately the three biggest events — the football game vs. Harvard, the M. Hoops season opener at North Carolina and M. Soccer’s win-or-go-home battle with the Crimson for the league title — are all at different times (Saturday at noon, 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively).

However, watching the UNC game still might be tough, as it’s only on NESN and Fox Sports South, two channels that aren’t part of normal Philadelphia cable packages.  While sports bars like Cavanaugh’s on 39th St. will, of course, cover the game, there is another option:  According to The News & Observer, the game will be available online.

Meanwhile, the basketball game — with announcers Jones Angell and Eric Montross at the Smith Center — will be broadcast free and live on tarheelblue.com.

It turns out Tar Heels fans have an even bigger dilemma on their hands than Quakers fans.  While the Quakers are in town for basketball, the football team will be playing Maryland at the exact same time (well, technically it starts at 3:30).  And while the basketball team — which became the first unanimous preseason No. 1. in the history of the USA Today/ESPN poll earlier this month — still dominates the Chapel Hill campus, the football team actually is ranked 17th in the nation and would win the ACC Coastal Division if it wins out and Virginia Tech loses one of its last three games.

(HT to Krista Hutz)

Random Ivy notes for 11/10

Zach Klitzman

1) The Bulletin profiles Penn freshman point guard Zack Rosen, saying “He’s not a showman. He’s a point guard. A throwback floor general who counts wins instead of numbers. Classic Ivy League.”

2) Remember how the NCAA pushed back the three-point line this year for men’s teams?  Well in case you don’t, here’s a summary of the changes and potential impact from The Washington Post. It will be interesting to see how this effects Ivy League teams’ chances of earning a major upset, whether in the regular season or NCAA tournament.

3) Yale Sports Publicity released a season preview of the Bulldogs’ men’s basketball team.

4) As part of Penn Athletics’ marketing push for men’s basketball, fans can now bid on a “Men’s Basketball Player Experience” in which the winner and one guest can sit next to a former Penn great.  First up is last year’s captain Brian Grandieri.

5) As you can see on the schedule, nine men’s basketball games will be aired on television this year, with the highlight being the 10 a.m. Drexel game on ESPN Nov. 18.  The hat tip goes out to The Cornell Basketball Blog for pointing this out.

That site is one of the best sources of Ivy League basketball news, and while it does focus on Cornell, it normally is relatively unbiased. However, this time the blog is extremely opinionated in discussing Penn’s basketball broadcasts.


Talking about a strange decision, the Philadelphia/South Jersey area television network, CN8 opted to broadcast five of Penn’s games, including on the road at Dartmouth and in the Palestra gainst Princeton. Now those are some attractive games. Not! If it is not paintful enough, the gods of television also decided to show Penn at Princeton on ESPNU. We would like to see the tv ratings on that one. Just no love for Cornell– the Ivy League’s defending champions, the Preseason Favorite and the Ivy League school with the largest alumni base.

First off, besides the Princeton and Dartmouth games mentioned above, the games that CN8 will televise are the Villanova, Saint Joseph’s and Temple games (as well as the one against Harvard).  Clearly televising Big 5 games is a good move for a Philadelphia-based television station.

Second, the reason for the Princeton away game being televised on ESPNU (or why last Friday’s football game at Princeton was on ESPNU) is that Princeton has a deal with ESPNU to cover several games throughout the academic year.  In fact, in each of the last three years the Penn at Princeton basketball game has been on ESPNU.

Finally, Cornell will get at least two televised games, against Indiana and Syracuse, as well as potentially more if they go far in the preaseason NIT. (If you click “details” for each game on the schedule you can see the media information.)

All said, does this reaction by The Cornell Basketball Blog remind anyone else of Andy’s Cornell opinions on The Office two weeks ago?

FINAL: Penn 14, Princeton 9

Live Game Updates

PRINCETON, N.J.–Good evening folks, David Bernstein here at Princeton Stadium for the 100th all-time matchup between Penn and Princeton. There’s a sizable Penn crowd tailgating in the parking lot, so hopefully the crowd really gets up for this one.

FINAL: Penn 14, Princeton 9

The Quakers were able to run down the clock and walk away with a victory that keeps them alive in the Ivy title race — if Brown falters.

1:50, Fourth Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 9

Princeton burns its last timeout after a Kieffer keeper (sorry, I couldn’t resist). And on 3rd and 8, Garton makes a HUGE play and gets the first and stays in bounds. Now it’s Princeton vs. The Clock.

2:40, Fourth Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 9

A DiMaggio run gives Penn some breathing room, but and Garton runs for a first down as the clock continues to tick down. On 3rd and 6, Garton executes a nice play fake and rolls right. His pass is a little underthrown, but tight end Josh Koontz comes back to get it. First and ten Penn on its own 40.

6:07, Fourth Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 9

The Tigers can’t capitalize on the fortunate turn of events, and can’t move the ball after three incomplete passes. And yet again, the punter Coyle lofts a great kick, and pins the Quakers at their own three. It’s gotta be tough to operate with this kind of field position time and time again.

6:42, Fourth Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 9

Anderson moves the chains on first down with a pass to Culbreath (who makes a nice catch on a ball thrown behind him) after nearly being taken down near the goal line. On the ensuing play, Culbreath takes it outside for about ten yards, but the real dagger is the flag on the play. A personal foul on Marc Washington moves the Tigers up to their own 44, 1st and 10.

7:24, Fourth Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 9

A three-and-out by the Quakers (stuffed run, batted down pass and completion to FB Jason Miran) leads to another punt by Belasco, a beauty (finally) that goes for 42 yards net. First down Princeton on the 9.

9:11, Fourth Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 9

On 3rd and 11, Ertman makes a nice open-field tackle on Berry, but the refs are extremely generous with the spot, and give Princeton a first down.

And on the very next play, Anderson airs it out to a double-covered Thanheiser, who hauls in a ridiculous catch. Powers and Jonathan Moore got beat, with Powers actually almost committing P.I. on the play. That put the Tigers on the goal line, and Culbreath banged it in for the score. Anderson misfired on a 2-pt. conversion, but this is a ball game now.

11:10, Fourth Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 3

Anderson beautifully sells a reverse handoff and takes a page from Garton’s book, running for 15 yards and a first down. On the next play a reverse to Berry is executed beautifully, but is called back due to holding (as Penn SID Mike Mahoney said, “That’s unfortunate.”)

12:51, Fourth Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 3

A DiMaggio run for two yards is followed by a Penn timeout, and the Quakers can’t get the first. Bagnoli chooses to punt it away on 4th and 1, and punter Scooter Belasco (replacing an injured Kyle Olson) gets off an ugly kick that nets 22 net yards unreturned.

Random observation: the Tigers’ uniforms are horrendous looking (sorry I haven’t mentioned this before, but they’re a blinding electric orange.

End of Third Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 3

After a Penn false start, a block-in-the-back call on a screen to Blackmon pushed the Quakers to their own 12 to deal with a 2nd and 18.

Shortly after, the Red and Blue convert a ridiculous 3rd and 12 on a 28-yard Garton run to the Penn 46. Garton absolutely refused to go down, getting almost 15 yards after contact and really firing up the Penn student section. That had to be energizing.

2:56, Third Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 3

Anderson threw up a lob to Andrew Kerr in the end zone, with Wynn on him like a center boxing out. But in flies Josh Powers, laying a hit on Kerr and breaking up the pass on 3rd and 11. The Tigers are forced to punt it away, and the special teams nearly makes an acrobatic save from the end zone on the punt.

On a side note, cornerback and captain Tyson Maugle will not return with an undisclosed injury. He had broken his nose earlier in the season, but it has not seemed to affect him the past couple of weeks.

3:30, Third Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 3

Will Thanheiser comes up with a 20-yard catch as Anderson scrambles left. Cornerback Chris Wynn was right there, but the pass was underthrown, so he got a little bit turned around. It’s 1st and 15 from the Penn 42 after a false start. The Tigers go to the option once again, for a gain of four.

6:46, Third Quarter Penn 14-Princeton 3

A Penn false start and a Garton rush for no gain put Penn in a 3rd and goal situation, which Garton converts to wideout Matt Appenfelder, a ten-yard score. The first career touchdown pass and catch for those two, and a Samson PAT puts the lead at 11.

8:18, Third Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 3

Garton moves the chains again on a 3rd-and-3 run, and nearly completes a beautiful pass to Lawrence in the end zone, a fade route. But Lawrence was bobbling it as he went out of bounds.

On the next play, the Tigers sniff out an option pitch to DiMaggio, who was slow to get up. The silver lining is a 15-yard face mask on Princeton’s Pete Buchignani, so it’s 1st and 10 from the ten yardline.

10:18, Third Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 3

After a couple of hard-nosed runs by DiMaggio to start the half, Garton reverses field on a designed rush, and barrels into a Princeton defender (didn’t catch who). Really nice athleticism and vision on the ground from the newcomer.

Shortly after, he hits Derham for a first down at the Tigers 29. On first down, Garton runs it again, for 7 yards. This kid really doesn’t like to go down. Gotta love that toughness, you just hope he doesn’t get banged up.

First- Half Stats

Mike DiMaggio: 7 rushes for 41 yards

Keiffer Garton: 8-11 passing for 71 yards, 6 rushes for 19 yards and a TD

Bradford Blackmon: 3 catches for 24 yards

Princeton’s Brian Anderson has gone 8-12 for 92 yards, with Jordan Culbreath as his main target (3 catches for 37 yards)

Halftime Penn 7-Princeton 3

On 3rd and 5, linebacker Jay Colabella sacks Anderson for a loss of five. The Tigers hit the field goal this time, a 32-yarder right down the middle (Bologna’s career-long). That completes a 7-play, 62-yard drive.

Princeton squibs it on the ensuing kickoff, and Garton will take a knee to end the half.

1:45, Second Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

Well, I guess Princeton is trying to keep pace in the defensive-backs-on-offense category. Meko McCray, a career DB, is now in the Tigers backfield, and runs it for four yards down to the Penn 11. Meanwhile, the Quakers burn their final timeout of the half.

2:33, Second Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

The Princeton pass protection holds up nicely, and Anderson has ample time to hit Adam Barry near the left sideline for a big gain down to the Penn 32. On the subsequent first down, Anderson runs it for 17 down to the 15 yardline and another first.

4:13, Second Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

Now for the second “What the?” moment of the night. We see the fourth quarterback of the season as Brendan McNally (who had been converted into a safety during the preseason and logged an interception against Yale) comes out for first and second down (both running plays), before Garton reenters. A holding penalty on second down pushes Penn back, and the Quakers go three-and-out again. Princeton first down at its own 22.

6:26, Second Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

Penn gets the ball and promptly goes three-and-out with Garton back at the helm (good to see Bagnoli is showing at least a modicum of faith in the kid after a bad interception).

Princeton ball, and on the first play fullback Matt Zimmerman limps off the field after a catch for a loss.

And on 3rd down we have our first “What the?” moment of the game, a long Culbreath reception turns into a fumble and Penn recovery. Culbreath looked to be down (and the Penn defense’s body language suggests as much), but Penn DB Tony Moses absolutely crushed him. The replays are inconclusive, but it very well could’ve been ground-caused.

Culbreath actually went down and stayed down, but after some medical attention he got up under his own power.

9:22, Second Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

A couple of Culbreath runs, along with a short reception on an Anderson shovel pass take the Tigers down inside the 15.

Facing a third and nine, the Tigers are stuffed, with a blitzing Britton Ertman getting to Anderson. Call it a coverage sack.

And then, kicker Ben Bologna (barely) misses a 35-yarder, wide left. Quakers ball on the 20.

13:10, Second Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

Jordan Culbreath squeaks through the Penn line for the first down, and on second down Anderson hits Karr cutting toward the right sideline. A third-down Culbreath rush to the right gives the Tigers another first down.

15:00, Second Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

Spoke to soon. The Quakers go play action again, but this time Garton’s pass is WAY underthrown, and Tigers DB Barry Newell comes up with it. Now, an Anderson rush, a short pass to Culbreath and some technical difficulties later, it’s 3rd and 1 at the Princeton 42 for the Tigers.

1:30, First Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

A nice play-action on second and five results in a 13-yard reception to Marcus Lawrence on the right sideline. Lawrence really sold the fly route, but Garton threw a nice ball to him on the hitch.

2:39, First Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

With their backs to the wall, the Quakers respond with a pair of runs (Garton, then DiMaggio), and then a rolling Garton finds Derham once more for a first down. Side note, Blackmon is habitually splitting out wide, something that coach Al Bagnoli has been having him do often this year.

4:31, First Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

A screen pass to wideout Andrew Karr is incomplete after Penn cornerback gets to him a little early. Tigers coach Roger Hughes wasn’t happy, but he was one play later, when punter Ryan Coyle pinned the Quakers at the one on an absolutely beautiful punt.

5:00, First Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

A three-yard rush by Anderson on a fake handoff is followed by an option right to Culbreath. It’s now 3rd and 6.

6:10, First Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

Looks like the Tigers watched some game tape this week. They try a reverse on the kick return, but the Quakers succeed where they failed last week, sniffing it out.

On first down on the 26, Culbreath runs for 5–he’s a pretty shifty back out there, and despite underwhelming size, he looks pretty tough to bring down.

On second down, Will Thanheiser makes a 16-yard catch at midfield to move the chains.

7:15, First Quarter Penn 7-Princeton 0

Princeton linebacker Steven Cody sniffs out an option to the left on first down, but on second down Garton gets into the end zone (the first of his career), this time on an option keeper to the right. He found a seam inside, and got in untouched. Andrew Samson’s extra point is barely good after it’s tipped by a Tiger on the line.

That was 84 yards in 13 plays for the Red and Blue in 7:45.

7:56, First Quarter Penn 0-Princeton 0

A 6-yard DiMaggio run takes the Quakers to the Princeton 3, and the Quakers take a timeout. It’ll be first and goal when we get back underway.

8:10, First Quarter Penn 0-Princeton 0

Derham, sitting in a pocket in the Tigers zone on the left side, is found (a little late) by Garton, but it’s another first down regardless after Derham gets some yardage after the catch. Garton is looking pretty competent right now, evading the rush and making some decent reads.

9:20, First Quarter Penn 0-Princeton 0

Garton’s pass to Derham is thrown behind Kyle Derham on second down, and on third and nine, the sophomore signal-caller scrambles to his right and finds Blackmon sitting right at the first down marker at midfield.

Not long after, DiMaggio rumbles for about 12 yards, moving the chains again.

11:00, First Quarter Penn 0-Princeton 0

Penn calls running back Mike DiMaggio’s number on 1st and 2nd downs, good for a first down at the 28.

Garton–operating out of the shotgun–hands it off to Bradford Blackmon (who runs completely laterally) on first down, and pulls it down for a first down to the Tigers 39 on the next play.

13:04, First Quarter Penn 0-Princeton 0

After a Dave Kuncio kickoff, the Tigers started out at the 30 yardline, and got off to a nice start with a 13-yard run from Jordan Culbreath, the offense’s go-to guy. An incomplete pass by Brian Anderson on first down and a Culbreath run for a loss, Princeton almost converts a 4th-and-11, but the receiver couldn’t get a foot in.

It’s going to be Penn ball at the 16, with Keiffer Garton (!) at quarterback after a RYan Coyle punt.

Schreiber has shoulder injury

Andrew Scurria

For those who went to the Red and Blue scrimmage the other day, one absence (among many) was junior forward Andreas Schreiber.

I haven’t talked to any of the team’s coaches, or Schreiber himself, about this yet, but a source who is very close to the team tells me that he hurt his shoulder in practice diving for a loose ball.

As for the exact nature of the injury, he has heard the terms ‘dislocated’ and ’separated.’ Like my source, I’m not sure there is a difference. As for a return time, who knows, but it is probably a couple of weeks at the least.

Random Ivy Notes

Zach Klitzman

1) The Penn-Brown football game this Saturday will be nationally televised on Versus as the Ivy League Game of the Week. And unlike last week’s fluff game between then-winless Columbia and still-winless Dartmouth, this game will actually be important. Both teams enter the game with 3-0 conference records, so the winner will be in the driver’s seat of the Ivy title race.

Only twice before have Brown and Penn met with undefeated Ancient Eight records. Penn won both in 1984 and 1986 en route to league championships.

2) Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams have their preseason intrasquad scrimmages this weekend, just before the homecoming football game. And in case you need some practice watching morning basketball before the men’s team takes on Drexel at 10 a.m. Nov 18 you’re in luck:  The men’s scrimmage starts at 10:45 a.m.

3) On the heels of a documentary about the 1969 “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29″ game, this Saturday, NESN will air a 90-minute documentary on Ivy League football.