Penn Visits Yale Saturday Looking For Second Straight Win

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- It's a trip up to Connecticut on Saturday for the Penn Quakers as they visit the Yale Bulldogs in Ivy League action.

Penn finally grabbed that first win of the season last time out as they took care of visiting Columbia at Franklin Field on Saturday, 31-7.

"For the first time (this season) we were really a balanced offense," Penn head coach Al Bagnoli tells KYW Newsradio. "We ran the ball for well over 200 yards, we threw it for over 200 yards. And I think that's the team that we want to be. Then defensively, I thought we did a nice job versus the run, got them in some predictable down and distances and were able to negate the big plays."

Listen to the whole interview with Penn's Al Bagnoli:

The win improved the Quakers to 1-4 this season, and more importantly 1-1 in the Ivy League. Despite a season that has not gone as hoped for Penn, they are still very much alive in the Ivy League race and Saturday's game will be critical. Yale is having a fine season. The Bulldogs are 4-1, including a win over FBS Army, and they have scored at least 31 points in every game this season.

"It starts off on offense for them," Bagnoli says. "They're about as balanced a team as we're going to see. They've got the one-two punch at tailback. Their quarterback (junior Morgan Roberts) is playing really well. He not only can throw it, and they've got some dangerous perimeter kids, but now he's become a little bit more of an efficient runner. So I think they've got you stretched all over the place."

This will not only be a tough match-up with a talented team for the Quakers but it will also be the only game Penn plays this season on a natural grass surface.

"We've been trying to practice this week on grass," Bagnoli says. "Because it's certainly a little bit different in terms of your footing, how you have to be able to transition in space and do those types of things. And the (Yale) Bowl has been used more because of the volume of home games (4 of Yale's 5 games heading into Saturday have been at home), so it's not in as pristine condition as it normally is. So our kids are going to have to get used to a little bit sloppier track then we're accustomed to when we go to New Haven."

Last season, Penn beat the Bulldogs at Franklin Field, 28-17.

Penn and Yale will kickoff at 1:30pm on Saturday.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattkeonkyw.

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