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The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Penn vs. Lafayette

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Good Bad & Ugly

THE GOOD: Penn’s defensive line and linebackers

The Quakers entered their season opener with questions surrounding the team’s front seven. With the graduation of Brandon Copeland to graduation, the pressure was on Penn's defensive line to fill the void.

Tonight, a group of younger, fairly inexperienced players performed to a level that would make Copeland proud. Sophomore defensive tackle Austin Taps and junior nose guard Jimmy Wagner were forces to be reckoned with this evening, causing all kinds of chaos in the Lafayette backfield. Senior linebacker David Park set the tone early for Penn, leveling Leopards’ quarterback Zach Zweizig for a sack that caused a fumble. Taps fell on the ball, putting the Red and Blue in prime position for their first touchdown of the season. Later, Taps would record the first sack of his career, one of six on the night for Penn. Wagner, Park and senior linebacker Dan Davis, along with Taps, dominated the Leopards for three quarters.

THE BAD:The fourth quarter

Lafayette backup quarterback Andrew Dzurik picked apart the Penn secondary throughout the final stanza, and the Leopards’ two touchdowns trimmed their deficit to 27-21. Sloppy penalties, poor tackling and horrific punting gave Lafayette the opportunity to steal one on the road. In fact, Dzurik had the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game and two minutes remaining. While Penn's 'D' was finally able to get back to pressuring the opposing QB on Lafayette’s final drive, coach Al Bagnoli admitted after the game that he noticed the defensive line push gradually disappear as the game progressed, hinting that since it was Penn's first game, fatigue was still a factor.

THE UGLY: Special teams 

The end of the 2012 season marked the final time that fans would see impact players like Steve Lias, Brandon Copeland and C.J. Mooney in a Penn uniform. However, overlooked was the graduation of one of the greatest punters in the history of Quakers football, Scott Lopano. On Saturday, sophomore Max Kurucar took over punting duties for the defending Ivy champs.

Fortunately, the Red and Blue weren’t forced to punt until near the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately, when it was time for Kurucar to pin the Leopards back into their own territory, it was indeed ugly. Kurucar’s first punt only traveled around 15 yards through the air, but a lucky bounce pushed the ball another 18 yards down the field. The second-year player’s second kick was blocked, and his third punt of the night was hampered by a high snap. Junior kicker Connor Loftus also missed two field goals in the first half.

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