Fred asks:
Is Bagnoli on the hot seat?The body of work is there over the 14 years.
But they have not won the league since 1993.
And the past two seasons, the team finished at 5-5, with losing league records.
What is the problem down there?
Well, it's 2003, but it's still a fair question. If this year's team doesn't win the league the graduating seniors would be the first in Al Bagnoli's tenure to not leave with a title.
Is Bagnoli on the hot seat per se? No. At least, not yet. The body of work is indeed there, and I think that has given Bagnoli the right to leave when he sees fit unless something goes really wrong.
I think there are three main reasons why Penn didn't win last night, and yes, I was at the game. First, and most importantly, a lot of people I talked to yesterday had no idea that Lafayette is ranked third in I-AA in both scoring defense and total defense. There's quite a few very good teams nationwide at I-AA, so to be that highly ranked is no small feat.
The Leopards have also tied for the league title each of the last three years, which is a pretty impressive streak for a team that was really bad not all that long ago.
Second, Joe Sandberg's first-half thigh injury was crucial. He's Penn's biggest offensive threat, able to get good yards on the ground and also execute screen pass plays very well. Penn called a lot of screens last night and it just isn't the same without him getting the ball.
But just look at Sandberg's rushing stats last night: 17 carries for an average of five yards each, while Kelms Amoo-Achampong carried 15 times for 1.6 yards apiece.
That does not, however, excuse what I thought was some questionable play calls by Bagnoli at times -- runs on third and long, passes on first down, and such. Not that you always go the other way, but in the context.
And I didn't agree at all with the intentional safety, even though Bagnoli's argument that the defense was doing well enough to not get run over on the last drive has some merit.
The third thing is the kicking game, and this is the thing I'm least worried about. Yes, Andrew Samson missed two kicks, though the first one was one of those where if they gave points for striking the upright he'd get the most possible. But he's a freshman and last night was his first ever college game. So I'm willing to cut him some slack.
Above all, I don't think Bagnoli has too much to worry about right now. I do think Villanova will beat Penn next weekend far more comfortably than they have the last few times, but that's a totally different level anyway.
