With all the success Penn Football has enjoyed in recent years, it is hard to imagine anything but. There was a time, however, in between the current dynasty and the last, that the Quakers were continually denied the Ivy throne. But thanks to a fiery new coach, Al Bagnoli, and a brilliant, extremely talented roster, the Penn Football reign resumed in 1993 with its first Ancient Eight title in five years.
One of the key players in this turnaround was Nick Morris. He and his classmates led Penn to a 24-game winning streak (dating from Nov. 30, 1992 to Sept. 30, 1995), which still stands as a NCAA Division I-AA record; two straight Ivy titles, a feat which had not been done in eight years; and consecutive undefeated seasons in 1993 and 1994, which had only been done once before at Penn, in 1894 and 1895.
Morris grew up in a football family on Mercer Island, a suburb of Seattle, Wash. His father, Larry Morris, received a scholarship to play football at the University of Washington, but when he didn’t like it there, he transferred to a small nearby college and was coached by Jack Elway, father of John.
Twenty-five years later, when Nick met Elway (senior), he was told that his father was the best running back Elway had ever coached, quite the compliment considering the talent he had witnessed.
Nick made his decision to head East and play for the Quakers when Penn Football legend George Weiss apprehended Nick, and his infectious Penn enthusiasm rubbed off on the latter.
Nick’s younger brother, Dan, also played football and went on to follow in his older brother’s footsteps, taking the field for the Quakers as a linebacker and two-time captain from 1998-2001.
Morris came to Penn as a quarterback in the days when freshmen had to play on their own team and were not permitted to play varsity ball. After leading his team to an undefeated Ivy frosh campaign that year, Morris tore the tendon in his middle knuckle one week prior to camp his sophomore season and had to sit out the entire year. Though he had surgery, his hand never fully recovered ? he returned to the field the following season second on the depth chart at quarterback, but he was unable to grip a football and requested a change of position.
The coaches agreed, but it took a while for Morris to find a home on the field. He still was slated as back-up quarterback and went in for QB sweeps occasionally; he also played U-back/third receiver. Defensively, he went in as a nickel back. Finally, in his third season, Morris settled in at strong safety and stayed there through his final season.
The ?94 team was especially powerful on the defensive side of the ball, setting several Division I-AA records. They led the nation in scoring defense, pass efficiency, and total defense.
“The team was tenacious, relentless,” Morris said. “Our defensive line and linebackers were so good that if a running back ever made it past them, he had worked so hard to get through that it was an easy tackle. Likewise, if a team decided to throw the ball, the front line put so much pressure on the quarterback that we didn’t have to cover the receivers for too long as he’d either be sacked or have to throw the ball away.”
“I would definitely label those teams as resilient,” he continued. “Second-half comebacks were a trademark. It seemed as if we knew we were going to win games, as if we could will things to happen. Someone would always step up and make a big play at the right time. I guess that happens when you win 24 straight games. It was a lot of fun to play with those teams.”
Some of the amazing moments and miraculous comebacks included: Pat Goodwillie (1994 Ivy League Player of the Year) making a goal-line stop with one minute left to preserve a 13-11 win over Dartmouth; shutting down two future NFL players, Jay Fiedler (Dartmouth) and Keith Elias (Princeton); being down 24-7 to Fordham at the half, only to win 34-30; a second-half comeback against Harvard to secure a share of the Ivy title that started the new era in 1993. That season, in the final game against Cornell, the Quakers came back from trailing 14-0 at the half to secure a victory and the crown at 17-14.
Again in 1994, the Red and Blue played the Big Red for the title; QB Mark DeRosa was playing with a soft cast on an injured throwing hand, but went on to throw for career-high yardage and hit a long touchdown pass late in the game to take the lead.
Morris attributes much of the team’s success to Coach Bagnoli and his staff: “Two trademarks of any Al Bagnoli team are that they are well-prepared and disciplined. I have never seen one of his teams out-coached,” he said. “I came to appreciate our great coaching staff my sophomore year when I sat out injured, charting plays. I always stood by Defensive Coordinator Mike Toop. He knew every play the opposing team’s offense was going to run as they came up to the line. He had studied so much film and prepared so well that he was able to put the players in the right positions to stop the plays the vast majority of the time.”
After graduating from Wharton with a concentration in finance, Morris took a job at George Weiss Associates (beside former Penn football players Rich Comizio, Dave Betten, and Travis Belden) and has worked there for the past nine years. He started trading electric utility stocks and then moved on to Real Estate Investment Trusts, where he remains today, currently working with another former Penn student, Ron Loir.
Beside the ones he works with, Morris still keeps in touch with most of the players from his team. They get together for a few Penn games each year and always seem to see each other at weddings, where the groom’s side is typically dominated by former Quakers, proving how close they all remain. Morris’s old roommate and former Quaker quarterback DeRosa now plays professional baseball for the Texas Rangers, and a bunch of the guys all get together to go to the games and cheer him on when he’s in town. Another roommate and former player, Jim Finn, is still playing for the New York Giants, and Morris finds his favorite NFL team is usually the one Finn is playing for.
Morris and his wife, Katie, have set up a scholarship for a student-athlete from the West Coast, preferably a football player, in Nick’s father’s honor, “because he is the biggest Penn Football fan we know, next to George Weiss and Jack LaFort. When I wasn’t playing my sophomore year due to hand surgery, my father flew out from Seattle to watch eight games, despite the fact that I wasn’t playing. He even went to a game that I didn’t travel to because I had sprained my knee the previous week. To this day, he still schedules his East Coast visits around the Princeton, Harvard, and Cornell games so he can cheer them on down the stretch.”
Morris also pointed to the influence George Weiss has had on his life, especially on his decision to give back and help a student-athlete be able to attend a great but expensive university like Penn.
“George has been another father figure for me,” he said. “Not only is he a great role model in business, but in the rest of my life as well. His philanthropic endeavors, especially ?Say Yes to Education’ (www.sayyestoeducation.org), are impressive and inspiring. One of his biggest beliefs is to give back to the community, and he certainly leads by example.”
?Say Yes’ has raised the number of inner-city young adults in its schools that complete post-secondary education to more than six times those of peer schools. George has touched the lives of many like Morris, and Morris hopes to pay the favor forward.
Mr. Morris and his wife currently reside in Fairfield, Conn. They have two sons, Nicholas Morris, Jr. (almost three years old) and their newest arrival, week and a half old Jonathan Patrick Morris ? both future Quakers like their father and uncle!
Written by Maren McCauley
