McDermott's Collarbone Just Not Quite Healed

PHILADELPHIA—The Penn football team played arguably its worst 60 minutes of football in three years on Saturday, but it didn’t help the Quakers that they were forced to take on Harvard minus their starting quarterback, Pat McDermott.

McDermott suffered a “popped” collarbone in the final play of Penn’s 16-15 victory over Princeton on Nov. 6. After not practicing for much of the week, the Penn signal caller attempted to throw on Thursday but did not appear to be healing fast enough to be ready in time for the game. On Friday, however, McDermott was much improved and gave the Quakers hope that he could be used, even if only sparingly.

“We wanted to give him an opportunity,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. “We tried to do it coming out at halftime, let him get really loosened up before kickoff and then go out there, give him some throws, see if he can make some plays. I give him a tremendous amount of credit because he probably lied to us and said he felt fine, but he probably wasn’t.”

McDermott, who had thrown all but four passes for the Quakers before Saturday, played the first three series of the third quarter but was clearly hampered by the injury. He completed only three of six passes for 17 yards in his limited action and was not accurate with many of his attempts.

Meanwhile, freshman Bryan Walker who took McDermott’s place in the starting lineup, looked composed despite having never thrown a collegiate pass heading into the game. Walker finished with 178 yards passing and a touchdown, but it still wasn’t enough to keep Penn in the game.

KING OF THE CASTLES

Penn wide receiver Dan Castles passed Miles Macik for the Quakers’ all-time lead in touchdown receptions. With his five-yard reception late in the fourth quarter, the senior recorded his 27th career score and became the most prolific touchdown scorer through the air in Penn history.

“In a go-to situation he becomes a primary guy,” Bagnoli said. “I’m happy that was one of the few bright spots. We ended up getting a kid a well-deserved record. He’s had a fabulous career.”

While Castles managed to break the record, he fell short of his season average of over 93 receiving yards per game. With safeties Doug Hewlett and Ricky Williamson constantly providing double coverage on Castles, the senior didn’t get much room to operate. He finished with six catches for 62 yards and the one touchdown.

DEPENDABLE DAWSON

Sophomore running back Clifton Dawson has been perhaps the most consistent contributor for Harvard throughout the past two seasons.

Saturday, however, Dawson did something that he hadn’t done in over a year: fumble.

“When he fumbled it just killed me,” said Harvard coach Tim Murphy of Dawson’s second-quarter turnover. “He’s been the best [at hanging on to the ball] probably there’s ever been in NCAA history in terms of a marquee back as much as he carries it.”

Dawson’s fumble was his first since his first career game against Holy Cross on Sept. 20, 2003—a span that saw the sophomore carry the ball 396 times.

With his 160 yards on 33 carries, Dawson legitimized his case as a candidate for the Payton Award, presented annually to the best offensive player in Division 1-AA.

If he puts on another impressive display next week against Yale, Dawson will be considered a strong contender for the award.

FOURTH AND THREE

The 10 points Penn scored were the fewest scored by the Quakers in any game since they lost to Villanova 17-3 on Oct. 10, 2002...With one more field goal this season, freshman place kicker Matt Schindel will break the Harvard record of 13 field goals in a season set in 1912 by Charlie Brickley ’15...If the Crimson defeats Yale next week, it will secure its first 10-win season since 1906, when Harvard finished 10-1.

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.