Penn's Ragone Finalist for Ivy "Player of the Year"

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Penn Quakers won their second consectutive Ivy League football title this past season, and one of the big reasons why was the play of sophomore quarterback Billy Ragone.   His impact on the squad has now been recognized as he has been named a finalist for the Asa A. Bushnell Cup, awarded annually to the top football player in the Ivy League.

Ragone (number 10 in photo) is quick to spread the wealth as far as credit for his success.

"Being a finalist for this award is something great for me, and I owe a lot of it to my coaches and my teammates -- putting me in this poistion to be up for this award.  They are the backbone of the team and I owe everything to them," he said.

Hear the full interview in this CBS Philly SportsPod...

In nine games under center this season, Ragone completed 57 percent of his passes for 834 yards and six touchdowns, while also rushing for 548 yards and another seven scores.  He was the triggerman for a Quakers attack that led the Ancient 8 in scoring offense, total offense, first downs, red zone offense, and third-down conversions.

Ragone did see action as a freshman before an injury ended his season early.  He talks about where he has really improved since coming to Penn:

"Just being able to manage the game. At the quarterback position, Coach is always saying you have to manage the highs and the lows of the game.  When things are going good you can't get complacent -- you have to keep fighting. And when things are going wrong, you have to get everybody together and rally everyone together and be a leader on the field."

Ragone the only sophomore on the list of finalists.  The others are Dartmouth junior tailback Nick Schwieger, Harvard senior running back Gino Gordon, and Princeton senior wide receiver Trey Peacock.

The winner will be announced on Monday.

Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060.