The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page D11

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER www.philly.com Dll Air-minded Penn routs Dartmouth Quarterback Mike Mitchell passed for 428 yards and four TDs to lead the Quakers to a 49-14 victory. Sunday, October 6, 2002 "lmi Penn 49, Dartmouth 14 By Kevin Tatum INQUIRER STAFF WRITER On a day when the passer with the most completions per game in Division I-AA went out to test himself against the Penn defense, it was Quakers quarterback Mike Mitchell who distinguished himself before 8,674 fans at Franklin Field. Mitchell, a 6-foot, 180-pound senior who was starting for just the third time, established career highs in every key passing category as the Quakers remained undefeated by rolling to a 49-14 rout of winless Dartmouth in the Ivy League opener for both teams. Penn held a three-touchdown lead at intermission, and took a 35-14 advantage into the fourth quarter after scoring on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to tailback Todd Okolo-vitch and 1-yard TD run by fullback Michael Kapusta. Penn, which last week snapped Lehigh's 26-game regular-season winning streak, improved to 3-0.

Dartmouth, which lost its first two outings to Colgate and New Hampshire by an average of 3.5 points, fell to 0-3. It was the Quakers' 15th win in their last 16 outings, dating to the 2000 season. Last season, when Penn visited Dartmouth, the Quakers escaped with a 21-20 victory after defensive tackle Kyle Chaffin blocked a Big Green extra-point attempt with 1 minute, 38 seconds left to play. "History will say that this game wasn't typical of the Penn-Dart-mouth series, and I was happy with the number of plays we made," said Penn coach Al Bagno-li, whose team will play at Villano-va on Thursday night. Mitchell, who teamed with wide receiver Rob Milanese for an 82-yard fourth-quarter score that opened Perm's lead to 42-14, completed 31 of 43 pass attempts for 428 yards and four touchdowns.

Five Penn players had four or more catches, and senior wide receiver Erik Bolinder collected Dartmouth Penn 0 0 14 0 0 21 14 14 Second quarter Perm-Alexander 42 interception return (Veldman kick), 11:44. Penn-Castles 6 pass from Mitchell (Veldman kick), 3:53. Penn-Milanese 3 pass from Mitchell (Veldman kick), :22. Third quarter Dar-Skeffington 4 blocked punt return (Lavin kick), 13:16. Penn-Okolovitch 9 pass from Mitchell (Veldman kick), 6:16.

Penn-Kapusta 1 run (Veldman kick), 3:51 Dar-Cramer 10 pass from Mann (Lavin kick), :55. Fourth quarter Penn-Milanese 82 passfrom Mitchell (Veldman kick), 12:45. Penn-DeSmedt 47 run (Galas kick), 2:00. 8,674. Dar First downs 1 6 Rushes-yards 24-23 Passing 302 Comp-Att-Int 26-48-1 Return Yards 32 Punts-Avg.

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 Penalties-Yards 2-16 Time of Possession 26:46 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Dartmouth, Little 5-25, Wille 3-7, Wedum 1-1, Giles 7-1, Mann 8-(minus11). Penn, Faulk 16-65, DeSmedt 2-51, Perskie 4-21, Okolovitch 8-19. Recchiuti 4-1 6, Mitchell 2-6, Kapusta 3-5, Jack Phillips 3-(minus 24). Passing: Dartmouth, Mann 25-46-1 297, Wille 1 -2-0 5. Penn, Mitchell 31 -43-3 428, Jack Phillips 1-1-01 4.

Receiving: Dartmouth, Cramer 9-117, Barnard 7-64, Wedum 5-41 Giles 3-30, Houser 1 -36, A. Hall 1 -1 4. Penn, Bolinder 9-102, Milanese 6-140, Castles 5-56, Faulk 5-45, Joe Phillips 4-63, Okolovitch 2-22, Weber 1-14. a career-high nine receptions to lead the way. "When your offensive line is blocking good, and your receivers are running good routes and getting open, it makes my job easier," said Mitchell, whose three interceptions also were more than he had thrown before.

Mitchell's counterpart, Brian Mann, who entered the game averaging 27 completions, had totaled 672 yards through the air in the Big Green's first two outings. Yesterday, the 6-2, 205-pound senior was harried all day by the Penn defenders, and wound up 25 of 46 for 297 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Penn sacked Mann four times. "They pretty much owned us up front," Dartmouth guard Kevin Noone said. Before any points were scored CHARLES FOX Inquirer Staff Photographer Penn fullback Michael Kapusta dives over a pile of players for the Quakers' fifth touchdown against Dartmouth at Franklin Field.

The 1 -yard run in the third quarter gave the Quakers a 35-7 lead. Penn cruised to victory in the Ivy League opener for both teams yesterday. The Quakers took nine plays to add a third score with 22 seconds left in the half for a 21-0 lead. "We always stay aggressive and play up-tempo," Bagnoli said. "It was a hot day, and we thought we had an edge in depth.

We were just trying to run plays." Dartmouth didn't get on the scoreboard until the first possession of the third period, when the Big Green's Brian Skeffington broke through the Penn line and blocked a punt by the Quakers' Josh Appell. Skeffington picked up the loose ball and ran 4 yards into the end zone to cut his team's deficit to 21-7. Contact Kevin Tatum at 21 5-854-2583 or ktatumphillynews.com. Penn safety Vince Alexander (center) is mobbed by teammates after Alexander intercepted a Dartmouth pass and ran it back 42 yards down the sideline for a touchdown in the second quarter. Villanova makes a meal out of Hofstra, 35-7 Villanova 35, Hofstra 7 With their bite -and-chew offense, the Wildcats and their QB Brett Gordon wore down the Pride.

yesterday, Mitchell had thrown two end-zone interceptions to Dartmouth's Clayton Smith. Both teams came out throwing the ball almost exclusively, but neither reached the end zone during the first period. It was almost fitting that the first score of the day came on an interception by Penn safety Vince Alexander. Alexander stepped in front of a Mann pass on the left side of the field, and went 42 yards down the sideline for a 7-0 Penn lead with 11:44 left in the half. "The quarterback thought he had the flat open, and I fell into his passing lane," Alexander said.

It was 14-0 after the Quakers mounted a 13-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by a Mitchell's 6-yard TD pass to Daniel Castles with 3:53 remaining in the half. Wildcats linebacker Brian Hulea (42) of the game, led to Brett Gordon's with 283 yards per game, was held to only 122 on 14-of-28 passing. The Cats did get a break on Hofstra's first possession. The Pride appeared to have scored on a 25-yard pass from Cosentino to Jamaal Perry, but the play was called back on an illegal-block penalty. They never got inside the 24 until garbage time.

"We knew we needed to get a good pass rush, and that was our main focus," linebacker Jamison Young said. "After that first series, we pretty much locked down on them." By Joe Juliano INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Amid all the aptly named offenses in college football the West Coast, run-and-shoot, chuck-and-duck, or whatever Villanova would now like to introduce its offense. Call it the bite-and-chew. The Wildcats used their offense yesterday to nibble off yards, run the clock, move the chains and, yes, score. Behind four touchdown passes from Brett Gordon, the Cats rolled to a 35-7 victory over Hofstra in an Atlantic Ten Football Conference game at Villanova Stadium.

It was a tidy and efficient showing for Villanova (5-1 overall, 3-1 conference), ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division I-AA. The Wildcats did not turn the ball over. Their 26 first downs gave them 90 in the last three games. They converted 12 of 17 third-down situations, including 11 in a row.

They had the ball 12 minutes more than Hofstra. Gordon, who completed 10 consecutive passes in the first half, connected on 26 of 35 for 234 yards, and threw for four touchdowns for the second straight week. He hit 10 different receivers on the day, and his longest completion was for a mere 16 yards. "We're not a downfield, north-south offense," Villanova coach Andy Talley said. "We try to throw efficient passes.

Our running game is fairly simple. Sometimes a big play comes, but it's mostly bite-and-chew. That gives us the potential for 10- to 12-play drives." With no Brian Westbrook around anymore to break short passes and runs into monster plays, Gordon and the Wildcats accept this approach. "This is what our offense is," said Gordon, who has completed 67.7 percent of his passes this season. "A lot depends on who you're playing." Villanova' defense limited the Pride (2-4, 2-3), who lost their third straight, to 259 total yards and kept them off the board until 1 minute, 14 seconds remained.

Quarterback Ryan Cosentino, who entered yesterday as the A-10's No. 2 passer Hofstra Villanova 0 0 0 7 7 21 7 0 7 35 First quarter Vil-White 16 pass from Gordon (James kick), :45. Second quarter Vil-Brown 1 3 pass from Gordon (James kick), 1 2:1 1 Vil-DiGiacomo 3 pass from Gordon (James kick), 3:49. Vil Wright 6 pass from Gordon (James kick), :38. Third quarter Vil-Cross 12 run (James kick), 8:06.

Fourth quarter Hof Ellis 33 passfrom English (Onoratokick), 1:14. 7,507. Hof First Downs 1 8 Rushes-Yards 24-94 Passing 1 65 Comp-Att-Int. 16-33-1 Return Yards 5 Punts-Avg. Fumbles-Lost 1 -0 Penalties-Yards 4-33 Time of Possession 23:58 Vil 26 40-163 234 26-36-0 7 1-0 6-54 36:02 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Hofstra, Dimmie 9-42, Bukula 8-34, Irby 2-15, Perry 1-9, English 2-4, Cosentino 2-(minus 10).

Villanova, T. Butler 17-91, Cross 5-49, Ridley 5-12, Outlaw 2-9, Gibson 4-6, DiGiacomo 2-0, Casamento 1 (minus 1), Gordon 4-(minus3). Passing: Hofstra, Cosentino 14-28-1 122, English 2- 5-0 43. Villanova, Gordon 26-35-0 234, White 0-1 -0 0. Receiving: Hofstra, Irby 4-36, Bryant 4-28, Perry 3-20, Ellis 2-43, Colston 2-23, Dimmie 1-15.

Villanova, Cross 6-51, Brown 4-41, White 4-36, Dieser 3-33, Champen 2-23, Chila 2-19, DiGiacomo 2-11, Ridley 1-14, Wright 1-6, T. Butler 1-0. "I think you've got to give credit to their quarterback," Hofstra coach Joe Gardi said of Gordon. "He's just outstanding. He's not fast, he's not big, he's not a scrambler, but he's smart and he doesn't hurt his team.

Villanova doesn't beat themselves." Giving credit to Gordon and offensive coordinator Sam Venuto, Talley certainly was pleased. In the bite-and-chew game, it helps to have someone like Gordon handling the knife and fork. "Brett is incredibly accurate, probably the most accurate passer we've ever had," Talley said. "He's nearly a 70 percent passer, and there's not many guys around like this. When you have a guy that throws so close on the mark, catching the ball really isn't all that hard." Contact Joe Juliano at 21 5-854-4494 or jjulianophillynews.com.

LAURENCE KESTERSON Inquirer Suburban Staff grabs an interception at the Hofstra 15. The turnover, the lone one first touchdown pass, a 1 6-yard strike to Brian White in the first half. but methodically marched 97 yards in 13 plays. Gordon hit John Dieser for 12 yards and Henry Ridley for 14 on third-down calls. Cameron Cross, who gained 100 yards rushing and receiving, wrapped up the drive with a 12-yard scoring run.

That made the score 35-0 midway through the third quarter, allowing many in the crowd of 7,507 to get an early start on homecoming parties, and the coaches to think about a short week of practice preparing for Thursday's game against Big Five rival Penn. The only turnover of the game, an interception by 'Nova linebacker Brian Hulea at the Hofstra 15, led to Gordon's first touchdown pass, a 16-yard strike on a post pattern to Brian White in the opening period. The Wildcats scored three touchdowns in the second quarter, on passes from Gordon of 13 yards to Shaz Brown, 3 yards to Phil DiGiacomo and 6 yards to Tony Wright. They did not need to go very far; two of their drives measured 53 and 33 yards. Villanova had to go back to its own 3 to start its second half, Ej.

Hofstra's Trevor Dimmie is tackled by Villanova's Gary Johnson (25) and Terence Taylor (44). 'Nova limited the Pride to 259 total yards..