Oct. 9, 2011
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Philadelphia, Pa. -
Looking to shake things up with the team, Fordham head coach Tom Masella decided to switch starting quarterbacks, inserting junior Ryan Higgins, who won three of his four starts last year, as the signal caller at Penn today. And it almost paid off for the Rams as Higgins completed 21 of 38 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns, all career-highs, but it wasn't enough as the Rams fell to the Quakers, 35-20, on Franklin Field.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-4 on the year while Penn improves to 2-2.
Trailing 28-10 late in the fourth quarter, the Rams scored twice to make it an eight point game. The first score was set up when Thomas Lloyd recovered a fumble on the Fordham 47 which led to a 34-yard Michael Marando field goal. After Higgins connected with Brandon Anderson with a 14-yard pass on first down, Darryl Whiting went to work gaining 21 yards on four three carries. But on third down from the Penn 17, Whiting was tackled for a three-yard loss and Marando came on for the three-pointer.
After holding Penn to three-and-out on the ensuing possession, the Fordham offense took over on its own 29 following a punt. Higgins found Brad Pierre on the first play from scrimmage for an 18-yard gain and, after two Whiting runs picked up nine yards, a Higgins to Blake Wayne pass gained five yards for the first down. Three plays later, Greg Wilson hauled in an 18-yard pass from Higgins to put the ball on the Penn ten and, after a two-yard Whiting rush, Higgins connected with Dan Light with a scoring strike to cut the Fordham deficit to eight, 28-20, with 9:49 left.
The Fordham defense almost forced another three-and-out but on third and one from the Penn 26, Jeff Jack picked up 13 yards, the first of three third down conversions for Penn on the drive. Greg Schuster capped the drive with a six-yard touchdown rush to make it a 35-20 game with 3:36 remaining.
Fordham received the opening kickoff and immediately advanced to midfield on a roughing the passer penalty on the first play of the game. But on third down Higgins was sacked back to the Fordham 45 and the Rams punted the ball away to Penn.
Starting on their own eleven, the Quakers picked up a pair of first downs before being moved backwards by a personal foul penalty that put Penn back on its own 15. Facing a third and 17 from the 29, Penn quarterback Billy Ragone found Jeff Jack with a screen pass that Jack turned into a 26-yard gain for a first down. Six plays later, Lyle Marsh ran through a hole from the two to give the Quakers a 7-0 lead with 5:52 left in the first.
Fordham responded by driving from its own 23 to the Penn 19 where Marando booted a 36-yard field goal to pull the Rams to within four, 7-3, with 18 seconds left in the first. The big play of the dive was a fourth-and-one call from the Fordham 45 where Langston Lacroix fought for three yards and a Fordham first down.
The Rams held the Quakers to six plays on the ensuing possession and got the ball back on their own 20 following a punt. After
Griffin Murphy picked up two yards on the first play, Higgins completed three straight passes for 22 yards before fumbling the ball on the next play which resulted in a loss of six yards. After Whiting gained seven on a rush, Higgins found
Carlton Koonce deep down the left side with a 55-yard scoring strike to give Fordham a 10-7 lead with 9:23 left in the half.
But Penn responded with a 13-play, 84-yard drive that culminated with a Marsh 11-yard touchdown run and a 14-10 lead with 3:23 remaining in the second, a lead the Quakers would take into the intermission.
The Penn offense came out and opened the second half with a nine-play, 84-yard drive that ended with a four-yard Marsh touchdown run 4:17 into the half to put the Quakers up 21-10.
The Fordham offense gained a first down on the next possession but faced a third and nine call from its own 34 when Higgins was intercepted by Jason Schmucker at midfield and he returned the pick down to the Fordham seven. On the next play, Ragone took it into the end zone to increase the Penn lead to 18, 28-10, with 8:41 left in the third.
Whiting gained a game-high 86 yards on 20 carries for Fordham while Pierre caught a career-high five passes for 61 yards and Wilson (52 yards) and Wayne (31) each hauled in four passes.
Defensively, Andre Delaire made 12 tackles, nine solo, while Jake Rodriques added eleven, five solo, including one for loss.
The Rams will return to action next Saturday, October 15th, as they host Lehigh University on Jack Coffey Field at 1:00 P.m. as part of 2011 Family Weekend.
Notes
Penn has won all five meetings against Fordham on the gridiron... The Rams have now lost ten straight games in Philadelphia and are 2-10 all-time in the City of Brotherly Love... Higgins' previous career-high were 19 completions on 32 attempts for 185 yards at Lafayette last year... His 55-yard scoring strike to Koonce was also his longest career completion... Koonce has now caught a touchdown pass in each of the past four games... Patrick Murray, who entered the game leading the NCAA FCS in punting average, punted twice tonight for 91 yards (45.5 yards/punt), having one downed on the eleven and the other a touchback... Game captains for the Rams were Michael Martin and Aaron Mays... Jamir Livingston, the 2007-08 Philadelphia Maxwell Award winner at St. Joseph's Prep, had a large cheering section... Former Ram Tommy Stephens, who currently resides in Philadelphia, was at the game.
