Relive
Some of the Memorable Moments in Quakers' Football
History.
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CHUCK BEDNARIK INTERCEPTION VS PRINCETON |
REDS
BAGNELL 59-YARD INT RETURN VS COLUMBIA |
"MIRACLE ON 33RD STREET" |
"FIVE INSIDE THE 10": Penn 7,
Princeton 0 (October 17, 1936)
In his book, Fight On, Pennsylvania!, Dan Rottenberg called
this game 'the Stalingrad of Penn football.' Lew Elverson
returned a punt 57 yards for the only touchdown of the game in
the first quarter to give the Quakers the lead. Then, Penn
played defense. Five times, Princeton came across the Penn
10-yard line, and five times, the Quakers turned the enemy
away unsatisfied. The previously unbeaten Tigers got as close
as the 2-yard line but never entered the end zone as the
Quakers bounced back from their only defeat of the season, a
week earlier at Yale. After the very stressful victory, Penn
coach Harvey Harman could only say, "We won on guts." Penn's
defense in 1936 was so good that it allowed more than seven
points on just one occasion -- a 19-12 win over Penn State on
November 14. Click to watch
Penn stop Princeton inside the ten in the second quarter.
Penn
42,
Dartmouth 26 (October 14, 1950)
Reds
Bagnell had his share of incredible days at Franklin Field,
but none eclipsed this one. In a 42-26 whipping of
Dartmouth, Bagnell set two national records with 490 total
yards and 14 consecutive pass completions. Bagnell finished
with 276 passing yards and 214 rushing yards. No matter how
you arrange them, those number are just plain huge. But
Bagnell didn't start out flaming. He had only two rushes and
four completions in the first quarter for a total of 62 yards.
The six-foot, 178-pound back began to heat up, though, in the
second quarter. Bagnell scored two touchdowns in that second
period and started his record-breaking streak of 14 straight
completions with some under-the-coverage passes out of the
tailback spot. Tom Hanlon, a junior end for the Quakers,
caught six of those short Bagnell passes for 75 yards in the
first half alone. Hanlon did end up hurting himself -- he
suffered a season-ending broken ankle late in the second
quarter -- but that wasn't the fault of Bagnell. And the loss
of his star receiver didn't slow down the All-American
tailback. Bagnell completed all seven of his passes in the
third quarter for 60 yards. Still, that was just a precursor
to the Germantown Academy graduate's stellar fourth quarter.
Bagnell completed his first three passes of the final period
-- including his only passing touchdown of the game, a 60-yard
strike to John Moses. Bagnell's next and final pass of the
game fell incomplete, but he still had some running to do. The
pass to Moses was effective, but the real highlights of that
quarter were Bagnell's rushes. He only had two of them, but
those pair of attempts resulted in 108 yards -- 27 more than
Dartmouth totaled on the ground the entire day. And the
second of those rushes was a 64-yard touchdown scamper with 19
seconds remaining, giving Bagnell the record. Click to watch
some of the Reds Bagnell highlights.
"A VALIANT LOSS": Notre Dame
28, Penn 20 (November 7, 1953)
In 1953, Penn stood at a crossroads. The
Quakers were severely restricted by the rules of the newly
formed Ivy League. But with football schedules being made
several years in advance, the Ivy restrictions took effect
three years before the league's round-robin schedule would
begin, and the Red and Blue faced a schedule laden with some
of the nation's top teams. This 'suicide schedule' included
Vanderbilt, Penn State, Ohio State, Navy and Michigan. The
toughest opponent, though, was national No.1 Notre Dame. When
the Irish opened up a 21-7 halftime lead, George Munger's
troops appeared doomed. But Penn stormed back, outscoring the
Irish 13-7 in the third to cut the deficit to eight. Penn, led
by QB Ed Gramigna, stormed down the field early in the fourth
quarter, desperately trying to get back into the game. When
they got down to the goal line, however, Notre Dame's Johnny
Lattner, then one of the best players in the country,
intercepted a Gramigna pass and the Quakers were denied. The
Irish might not have escaped victorious without Lattner. In
addition to his key interception, the All-American rushed 12
times for 60 yards and returned one kickoff 56 yards to the
Penn 26 and another 92 yards for a first-quarter touchdown. Click to watch
highlights of Penn's valiant
comeback effort.
FRANK
RIEPL'S
RECORD
108-YARD
KICKOFF
RETURN:
Notre
Dame
46,
Penn
14
(November 5, 1955)
No. 6 Notre
Dame walked into Franklin Field fully expecting an easy
victory over Penn, who had not won a game all season
and was facing a 16-game losing streak. After the coin
toss, it was determined that Notre Dame would kick off to the
Quakers. Fighting Irish kicker Paul Hornung prepared to start
the game. For the Red and Blue, sophomore Frank Riepl -- who
was appearing in his first game ever for the Quakers --
stood ready to return the kick. The whistle blew, the ball was
kicked and it flew eight yards deep into the Penn end zone.
Riepl stunned everyone as he caught the ball and began moving
up the field. With the biggest crowd of the season (45,226) in
Franklin Field stunned, Riepl ran straight at the oncoming
Fighting Irish. The Quaker ran straight up the middle to the
Penn 35-yard line, with the help of a number of phenomenal
blocks. The sophomore then cut to the right sideline. That cut
opened up the field, and no player was able to catch the young
halfback as he tore down the remaining 65-yards of Franklin
Field straight to the end zone. Riepl had returned the opening
kickoff from deep in Penn's own end zone 108 yards to give the
Quakers a very quick 7-0 lead. The Fighting Irish stood
stunned as the Quakers rejoiced in the end zone. Penn's
surprise start shook up the Fighting Irish so much that they
fumbled four times and threw two interceptions before
regrouping. Nevertheless, the Quaker lead was short-lived, as
Notre Dame replied with a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
The Red and Blue weren't giving up without a fight, however.
The Quakers took advantage of the shaken up Notre Dame team,
recovering a fumble in the second quarter that led to a
scoring drive and a 14-7 lead. After Bob Barber recovered the
fumble on the Notre Dame 13-yard line, Riepl threw a pass to
Barber in the end zone on the first play. Riepl, an all-around
player, kicked the extra point, as he had previously in the
game, to bring the Quaker total to 14. Going into the second
half of the game, Penn held the Fighting Irish to a 14-14
stalemate. But Notre Dame came back in the end with authority,
winning the game, 46-14. Click to watch
Frank Riepl's record 108-yard kickoff return.
"THE COIN TOSS DECISION GAME":
Penn 7, Harvard 2 (November 2, 1963)
Even Harvard is vulnerable to the Sports
Illustrated jinx. Two days after being featured on the
magazine's cover, the Crimson carried the nation's longest
unbeaten streak to Philadelphia along with Ivy title hopes.
Penn won the coin toss before the second half opened -- as was
then the practice -- and elected to kickoff to the Crimson,
hoping to force Harvard into a mistake. That mistake came when
Wally Grant fumbled the kick. The blunder set up the only
touchdown of the game for either team. Harvard's only points
of the game came when Penn tried to run out the clock. Quakers
tailback Bruce Molloy ran back and forth in his own end zone
until he was tackled by the Crimson for a safety. Molloy, who
doubled as a punter, helped the Red and Blue immensely by
pinning Harvard inside its own 10 on multiple occasions. The
win was last-place Penn's only Ivy triumph that season. Click to watch
Wally Grant's fumble on the kickoff return.
JOHN
MARTINOWICH'S 77-YARD BLOCKED FG RETURN:
Penn 38, Lehigh 28 (September 24, 1966)
To say that Penn
stunned the Engineers with its 38-28 comeback victory over
Lehigh would put it mildly. Lehigh broke a 7-7 tie and rolled
to a comfortable 28-7 halftime lead. Penn quarterback Bill
Creeden, sidelined due to an injury, came off the bench late
in the second quarter and Penn began to move. In the third
period two touchdowns, one when John Martinowich blocked a
Lehigh field goal attempt and returned it a school-record 77
yards, made it 28-19 and then a three-touchdown onslaught in
the final period gave Penn the win, 38-28, at Franklin Field. Click to watch some of the highlights
including John Martinowich's blocked field goal attempt and
school-record 77-yard return.
STEVE SOLOW'S 84-YARD
PUNT RETURN: Penn 24, Lehigh 0 (September 26, 1970)
Penn gained a 24-0 win over Lehigh on Franklin Field in the
season's opener to run its winning streak over the Engineers
to 31, dating back to Lehigh's win in 1889. Sophomore Steve Solow ran a punt back 84
yards, the longest in Penn history, for a second period score.
The Quakers followed with two more tallies in the same period,
one by Ron Dawson and another by Pancho Micir for a 21-0
halftime margin. In the second half, Penn closed out the
scoring on an Eliot Berry field goal of 38 yards. Click to watch Steve Solow's
record-setting 84-yard punt return.
DON CLUNE'S 76-YARD TOUCHDOWN CATCH: Harvard 28, Penn 27 (October 30, 1971)
It was a wild game at
Franklin Field, but Harvard held on for a 28-27 win over Penn.
Don Clune scored three touchdowns, had 284 yards receiving on
seven catches, and his first two scores (73 and 32 yards) gave
Penn a quick 14-0 lead. Harvard scored the next four
touchdowns and had a 28-14 lead. Penn then added a
third-quarter score on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Gary
Shue to Glenn Gaetano, and pulled to within a single point,
28-27, on a 76-yard halfback-option pass from Marc Mandel to
Clune. But a dropped pass on Penn's
two-point conversion attempt stopped the rally. Click to watch Don Clune's 76-yard
touchdown reception and the ensuing two-point conversion
attempt.
ED MARINARO SETS NCAA
RUSHING RECORD: Cornell 41, Penn 13 (November
20, 1971)
The Big Red jumped to
a 41-0 lead with Ed Marinaro scoring five of the six
touchdowns, as Cornell cruised to an easy 41-13 win, at
Franklin Field. Penn's John
Sheffield then added two fourth-quarter tallies as Marc Mandel
made his first appearance as a Penn quarterback an impressive
one. Marinaro capped off his fine
career with a then-NCAA record 1,881 yards and 24 touchdowns
during the 1971 season, and 4,715 rushing yards for his
three-year career (another NCAA record at the time) and 52
touchdowns in just 27 games, for an average of 174.6 yards per
game (another NCAA record, which still stands). Click to watch the highlights.
FIRST NIGHT GAME:
Penn 55, Lafayette 12 (September 29, 1972)
Penn played its first
night game in the season opener; and what a start. The Quakers
took a 28-6 lead at halftime and despite close to 80 players
seeing action the score finished at 55-12, including a 55-yard
run for a touchdown by senior Pat Urban on the final play. Bob
Hoffman punched out three touchdowns and had 78 yards rushing
while sophomore Adolph Bellizeare showed what was to come with
two scores and 89 yards on 13 carries. Click to watch Pat Urban's 55-yard
touchdown run.
DON CLUNE'S 76-YARD TOUCHDOWN CATCH (PART
II): Brown 28, Penn
20 (October 7, 1972)
Brown pulled a major
upset that was costly to Penn in the title chase, winning,
28-20, at Providence. The Bruins never trailed and four field
goals by Tyler Chase proved to be the difference. Brown had a
19-7 halftime lead with Chip Regine (16-yard pass from Pete
Beatrace) and Bruce Watson (18-yard run) scoring touchdowns.
Two of Penn's scores were by receiver Don Clune (76 and 53
yards) while Ralph McGee had the final tally on a 1-yard run.
Watson had 124 yards rushing, with Penn quarterbacks Tom Pinto
and Marc Mandel passing for 132 and 126 yards, respectively,
mostly to Clune who caught six for 200 yards. Click to watch Don Clune's 76-yard
touchdown reception.
ADOLPH BELLIZEARE'S 80-YARD RUN: Penn 38, Harvard 27 (November 4, 1972)
It was a wild
free-for-all offensive show at Harvard Stadium and Penn
prevailed, 38-27, over the Crimson, and moved into title
contention. Adolph Bellizeare was the standout with two
touchdowns and 203 yards rushing, including an 80-yard run, on
the second play from scrimmage, to open the scoring, while
Gary Shue completed seven passes for 89 yards and one
touchdown. Harvard had a 14-9 lead at the half, but Penn
scored 15 unanswered points in the third quarter for a 24-14
lead. Harvard scored but Penn came back with two more
touchdowns before Harvard put the last tally on the board in
the final minute. Click to watch Adolph Bellizeare's 80-yard touchdown run.
DON CLUNE'S 69-YARD TOUCHDOWN CATCH: Lafayette 16, Penn 14 (September 29, 1973)
Penn opened its
season at Easton, being upset, 16-14, as the Leopards
dominated the play on the ground. Marty Vaughn moved into the
limelight in this game, tossing two touchdown passes,
including a 69-yarder to Don Clune followed by a two-point
conversion pass to Glenn Gaetano, that gave Penn a 14-13 lead
in the final period. It was not enough as the Leopards beat
the clock down field for a game-winning 20-yard field goal
with less than a minute to play.
Click to watch Marty Vaughn's 69-yard touchdown pass to Don Clune,
followed by the ensuing two-point conversion.
ADOLPH BELLIZEARE'S 67-YARD RUN: Harvard 34, Penn 30 (November 3, 1973)
The two clubs
continued their wild free-for-alls as Harvard rallied for a
last-minute 34-30 win over Penn, at Franklin Field. The game
was tied once and the lead changed hands three times as
Harvard over came a 21-7 Penn lead to win. Click to watch Adolph Bellizeare's 67-yard touchdown run.
ADOLPH BELLIZEARE'S BACK-BREAKING 74-YARD RUN:
Penn 28, Lehigh 18 (September 27, 1974)
Penn used two
third-period touchdowns to break the game open and gain a
28-18 win over Lehigh, at Franklin Field. Adolph Bellizeare
scored three touchdowns, including a back-breaking 74-yard run
18 seconds into the second half to give the Quakers a 21-10
lead. He gained 116 yards rushing and Jack Wixted 141 while
Marty Vaughn was 10 of 15 for 150 yards and one touchdown (to
Bucky Bucola). It was a typically exciting Penn-Lehigh contest. Click to watch Adolph
Bellizeare's back-breaking 74-yard touchdown run.
ADOLPH BELLIZEARE'S 57-YARD PUNT RETURN: Penn 28, Cornell 28 (October
12, 1974)
Penn and Cornell each gained
over 400 yards total offense in their 28-28 battle. Running
back Don Fanelli led the Big Red's attack with 154 yards on 33
carries and two touchdowns. Penn's Adolph "Beep-Beep"
Belizeare took game honors, racking up a total of 174 yards
and two touchdowns. Trailing 21-14 late in the first half, Bellizeare, the
leading punt returner in the nation, fielded a Cornell punt on
the dead run at his own 43-yard line and raced through the Big
Red coverage team for a game-tying 57-yard touchdown. Jack Wixted also ripped through
Cornell's defense for 103 yards and a touchdown. Penn had two
chances to pull it out late in the game. With less than two
minutes to go, Belizeare was stacked up on the Cornell four,
short of a first down after an interception had given the
Quakers the ball. A desperation field goal from 40 yards out
fell short in the final seconds. Click to watch Adolph Bellizeare's lightning
quick 57-yard punt return.
"NOTICE HAS BEEN SERVED": Harvard 39, Penn 0 (November
2, 1974)
Notice has been served in
Cambridge: the Crimson of Harvard want the Ivy League football
championship. The official statement was released, as the
Crimson annihilated the previously undefeated Penn Quakers,
39-0. Harvard's astounding destruction of the Pennsylvanians
was more than just a rout. For the Quakers, it was a brutal
realization that they were not going to win the title they had
dreamed of for many years. Harvard entered the contest with a 3-0 Ivy
record. Penn was 2-0-1. It was early in the season, but
Harvard's game-day program said it all. "This is Penn's final
road game of the season, and a victory today would possibly
put the Quakers in the Ivy driver's seat." The Quakers were
primed for the encounter, undefeated in their last seven
contests. By all accounts, Penn had the most devastating
offense in the league. They were led by Adolph "Beep Beep"
Bellizeare, the leading punt returner in the nation, and
Harvard's worst nightmare. He had returned four kicks for
touchdowns in two years. The Quakers also had the likes of
Marty Vaughn, the best Ivy League quarterback, and a running
back, Jack Wixted, who had an astounding three games (over 100
yards per contest) before the Harvard game. But the afternoon
went the way of the Crimson. See you later, Ivy League title
hopes. The Quakers found themselves in the passenger seat,
ending the year 4-2-1, as Harvard clinched the championship. The play of the game was a
30-yard strike from Harvard quarterback Milt Holt to
All-American end Pat McInally for a score. Click to watch some of the action, including
footage of Adolph "Beep Beep" Bellizeare.
TIM MAZZETTI'S IVY-RECORD 54-YARD FIELD GOAL:
Lehigh 24, Penn
20 (September 24, 1976)
Penn kicker Tim Mazzetti
tied the Ivy League record for the longest field goal in
league history after booting a 54-yard kick against Lehigh.
The kick tied the score, 17-17, early in the fourth quarter.
Mazzetti added a 27-yard field goal later in the quarter to
put Penn ahead, 20-17. But it was all for naught, however, as
the Quakers fell 24-20, at Franklin Field. Click to watch
Tim Mazzetti's record-tying 54-yard field goal.
TIM MAZZETTI'S IVY-RECORD 54-YARD FIELD GOAL
(PART II): Penn
15, Lafayette 14 (October 16, 1976)
Penn kicker Tim Mazzetti
again tied the Ivy League record for the longest field goal in
league history, as well as his own school record which he set
just three weeks earlier, after booting a 54-yard kick against
Lafayette. The field goal gave the Quakers a 9-7 lead, with
6:17 remaining in the third quarter. Penn would go on to win,
15-14, at Easton, Pa. Click to watch
Tim Mazzetti's record-tying 54-yard field goal.
"VURA
TO HALL": Penn 29, Cornell 22 (September 19, 1981)
Penn had won a total of one
game since October 7, 1978, coming into Jerry Berndt's
coaching debut with the Quakers. In the third quarter at
Franklin Field, it seemed as though the Red and Blue would
walk off the field with yet another defeat, as the Big Red
held a 22-7 lead. Penn's comeback was, quite simply, an air
show. After years under Harry Gamble's wishbone offense, the
Quakers took to the sky. Gary Vura threw touchdown passes to
Karl Hall for 84 and 93 yards which, respectively, represent
the fifth longest and the longest touchdown pass plays in Penn
history. Cornell had one last chance after a pass interference
call late in the game against the Quakers brought the Big Red
to the Penn 1-yard line with three seconds to play. Chris
Metz, the Cornell quarterback, ran a bootleg play but was met
-- and stopped -- six inches from glory by defensive back John
Waterfield, who had committed the interference to bring
Cornell down the field. Click to
listen to the Vura-to-Hall record 93-yard touchdown pass,
followed by the game-winner.
Penn
27,
Yale 14 (October 23, 1982)
Pundits had dismissed the Penn football
team's 3-0 start in the Ivy League as an aberration. On
homecoming weekend, the Quakers proved them wrong with a
27-14 victory over Yale. It was the Quakers' first win over
the Elis in 10 years -- in front of the largest crowd
(32,175) to see a Penn football game at Franklin Field in
nine years. Down, 7-3, at halftime, the Quakers rallied in
the second half. Dave Shulman hit the longest field goal of
his career, a 46-yarder, to cut the deficit to one, and Penn
took the lead when Steve Rubin scored from five yards out.
Rubin scored again -- this time on a seven yard touchdown
run -- early in the fourth quarter, and Penn iced it when
Steve Flacco took a pitch from quarterback Gary Vura and ran
83 yards for the score late in the fourth. Click to watch Steve Flacco's
(not Steve Rubin's, in spite of the call by the
Penn student broadcast team) 83-yard touchdown run.
"MIRACLE ON 33RD STREET": Penn 23, Harvard 21 (November 13,
1982)
The Quakers faced Harvard in the season's
penultimate game with the Ivy League championship up for grabs
for the winner. Penn raced out to a 20-0 lead, but Harvard
scored three touchdowns in seven minutes in the fourth quarter
to take a 21-20 lead. With three seconds remaining, Penn's
Dave Shulman lined up for a 38-yard field goal. The kick
sailed wide left, and time expired, with Harvard apparently
emerging with the championship. But there was a flag on the
field. Harvard had been penalized for running into the kicker
-- and Shulman would get another chance. The second time
around, he split the uprights to clinch Penn's first Ancient
Eight championship since 1959. The next day's main editorial
in the DP read "Harvard 21, Pennsylvania 20" with a big "X"
through it, and then "Pennsylvania 23, Harvard 21. What else
is there to say?" Click to watch.
Penn
24,
Brown 24 (October 8, 1983)
Brown took advantage of
Penn mistakes to force a 24-24 tie, before 14, 576 fans at
Franklin Field. Brown's 17 points in the first half --
including one touchdown with just seven seconds to play before
intermission -- all were scored after taking advantage of a
Penn mistake, and its fourth quarter touchdown came after a
Quaker field goal attempt was blocked. The Red and Blue
offense did put impressive numbers in the records, rushing for
143 yards and passing for 280 for 423 yards in total offense.
The game featured five lead changes before Dave Shulman's
37-yard field goal tied the game on Penn's next-to-last
possession of the game. Following Shulman's kick, Brown
marched 62 yards to get within range for a 24-yard field goal
attempt which was wide right with just 11 seconds to play in
the game. Click to watch highlights of Penn's game-tying drive and field
goal.
"PENN SURVIVES PRINCETON":
Penn 28, Princeton 27 (October 29, 1983)
There are 60 minutes of playing
time, and Jerry Berndt's teams seem to make sure all 3600
seconds are played to the hilt. But this game did not come
down to the last second. There were still a whole 31 seconds
left when the game's "big play" was made. The "big play" came
on a Princeton two-point conversion attempt, after the Tigers
had driven 76 yards in 12 plays, using 3:40 and scoring on a
Doug Butler 21-yard fourth down pass to Derek Graham.
Princeton went for two points and the victory, but Penn
defensive end David (Bubba) Smith sacked Butler, setting off
sideline and field celebrations. When Princeton's onside kick
attempt failed to go the necessary 10 yards, the Quakers
wisely let the ball roll out of bounds and the game was over
with 31 seconds to play. Trailing 21-14, Penn moved to within
a point early in the final quarter when Steve Ortman went 44
yards around his left end for the score. A two-point
conversion attempt was stopped and the Tigers still led,
21-20. After Princeton was stopped, Penn defensive back Tim
Chambers returned a punt 25 yards to the Princeton 39, and
three plays later the Quakers scored the go-ahead touchdown on
Chuck Nolan's 12-yard run. John McGeehan then passed to Jim
O'Toole for two points and a 28-21 lead, before Princeton took
over on its 24 for its final drive with 4:11 to play. Click to watch the dramatic
finish.
"BACK-TO-BACK
CHAMPIONSHIPS": Penn 38, Dartmouth 14 (November 19, 1983)
The Quakers' offense sputtered
on its first two drives. And then, in a six-minute span of the
second quarter, everything came together. Penn went 88 yards
in 13 plays for a 7-0 lead. On the first play of the Big
Green's next series, Dartmouth's Mattey Lopes fumbled after
catching a pass from quarterback Frank Polsinello. Five plays
later, Steve Ortman took a pitch to his left for one yard and
Penn's second touchdown. On Dartmouth's next series a
Polsinello pass was intercepted by nose guard Joe Lorenc on
the second play, after being tipped by defensive tackle Tom
Gilmore. The offense took over on the Big Green 31. Again Penn
needed just five plays to score and it was 21-0 at the end of
the half. At the end of the third quarter, it was 31-0. A
79-yard touchdown pass from Polsinello to Mike Viccora came
when the score was 38-0. And when Dartmouth scored its second
touchdown, on the last play of the game, the goal post in the
west end zone had already been torn down. Click to watch Chuck Nolan's second
touchdown give Penn a 21-0 first half lead.
Penn 34, Yale 21
(October 27, 1984)
On Penn's first play from
scrimmage, quarterback John McGeehan dropped back and found
wide receiver Jim O'Toole slanting over the middle, one step
ahead of Yale cornerback Tim Kotkiewicz. McGeehan threw the
ball 40 yards in the air, hit O'Toole in stride, and the
result was a 72-yard touchdown reception. Although the next
Quakers possession ended with a fumble, Penn regained
possession with 6:49 remaining in the first quarter and
embarked on a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, making the
score 14-0. The Quakers held a tenuous six-point lead, 27-21,
with only 3:44 remaining. But with the game on the line, the
Penn defense came up big and picked off a Yale pass at the
Elis' 48. A 20-yard touchdown screen pass from McGeehan to
Steve Ortman iced the victory for the Quakers. Click to watch.
Penn 38, Harvard 7 (November
10, 1984)
At this point, it seemed
this was a yearly occurrence, and it basically was. For the
third straight year, the Puritans in football pads remained
the sole obstacle in front of the Quakers' Ivy League title.
The results were more like two years before. The temperature
was much warmer, and so was the Penn offense. Mother Nature
gave 64 degrees to work with at Franklin Field, and the
Quakers produced 38 points on 404 total yards. The Crimson
could only muster 199 total yards, losing 38-7. The result:
the Quakers captured their third straight title after a
Harvard game. No real excitement in this one. Just Quakers
domination. The
first half, which ended with a 10-7 Penn lead, was tightly
played but filled with penalties. But the mood changed
dramatically when Steve Ortman returned the second-half
kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, lifting the Quaker lead to
17-7. In the third quarter, Penn drove 55 yards, mostly on the
ground, with fullback Mike O'Neil scoring from the one. In the
fourth, McGeehan threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to the wide
receiver Pat Buehler and the score was 31-7. Steve Olekszyk's
7-yard touchdown run gave Penn its biggest victory margin ever
against Harvard. Click
to watch.
"THE DOCTOR
WHO GAME": Penn 31, Princeton 21 (November 2, 1985)
This game will be remembered
more for one incredible play than for the overall game --
which was pretty incredible in itself. The Quakers trailed,
21-0, midway through the second quarter, but Penn closed to
within 21-14 on the strength of two long touchdown drives
flanking halftime. Then the Quaker defense stiffened, stopping
Princeton on its initial possession of the second half and
forcing the Tigers' Rob DiGiacamo to punt from the Penn
38-yard line. The punt was short and high, and Chris Flynn --
the Quakers' returner -- signaled for a fair catch, allowing
the ball to hit at the 14-yard line. Princeton's Eduordo Waite
went to down the ball as it took a Penn bounce. Waite hit the
ball up in the air. Once he touched the ball, Flynn knew he
could pick it up and run with it. That's exactly what Flynn
did, and 79 yards later, Penn had tied the game, 21-21. The
game-winning points came on a 29-yard Ray Saunders field goal
at 2:33 of the final quarter. The Quakers never let Princeton
out of its own territory after that, and a 20-yard Jim
Crocicchia pass to Brian Moyer gave the Quakers a 31-21 lead.
Then, with 5:43 remaining, play-by-play man Marty Glickman
announced that due to the length of the game, they were
leaving Franklin Field. Viewers of the game on the PBS Network
would not get to watch the end of the game. Instead, due to a
contractual agreement between the Eastern Education Network
(distributors of the syndicated Ivy football package through
Trans World International, Inc.) and PBS, the football game
vanished from WHYY-TV 12, in Philadelphia, at 4:00 PM, and on
came "Doctor Who". Other PBS affiliates switched to "The David
Susskind Show". Fortunately, unlike the "Heidi" game on
November 17, 1968, there would be no more scoring in this
game. Click to watch Chris Flynn's
79-yard punt return and the ensuing controversy.
Harvard 17, Penn 6 (November
16, 1985)
The unfortunate part of
this game is that it didn't have any bearing on the title
hopes of the Quakers. But it did pose arguably the two best
teams in the Ivy League against one another for the fourth
consecutive year. The story: Penn was 5-0, Harvard 4-1.
Harvard and Penn were the only teams still in the hunt. With a
weak Dartmouth on the schedule for the last week, the Red and
Blue were almost assured a piece of the crown. But they didn't
want an undefeated season fall by the wayside. Three quarters
of utter domination by the Crimson could not be overcome by
what some consider Penn's best athlete of all time, running
back and lacrosse star Chris Flynn. Harvard posted a 17-point
advantage through three quarters, and Penn was cooked. Harvard
won, 17-6. Penn held the title alone, after a Harvard loss to
Yale, but the Quakers had let the perfect season get away. Click to
watch some of the
highlights.
"FOUR IN A ROW": Penn
19, Dartmouth 14 (November 23, 1985)
In a fitting conclusion to
the 1985 football season, Penn defeated Dartmouth, 19-14 at
Franklin Field, ending the year in the same manner they began
10 weeks earlier -- as undisputed Ivy League champions. The
Quakers kept the championship trophy in Philadelphia for the
entire year to come, after Harvard -- which entered Saturday's
play tied with Penn for first place -- lost at Yale, 17-6.
Thanks to clutch performances by a host of players not
accustomed to the spotlight and the stellar play of a defense
that allowed only 61 total yards in the second half, the 1985
Quakers ensured their place in the school's record books by
wrapping up an unprecedented fourth consecutive Ivy title. The
Schuylkill is getting crowded now -- for the fourth straight
year, the east end zone's goalposts were ceremoniously
deposited into the river for a burial at sea. Four years ago,
who ever would have thunk it. Click to watch Jeff Fortna's safety, which
broke a 7-7 tie and gave Penn a lead it would never
relinquish.
Penn 30, Navy 26
(October 18, 1986)
Penn
quarterback Jim Crocicchia, on a day he tied the school
record with four touchdown passes, threw three of them in
the final 11 minutes to rally the Quakers from a 20-10
deficit to their first win over a current Division I-A team
since they edged Rutgers, 7-6, in 1963. Crocicchia's final touchdown pass, a 29-yard
strike to running back Jim Bruni with just 1:59 left, pushed
the Quakers to a 30-20 advantage and made meaningless for
Navy a late touchdown by tailback Chuck Smith. Ironically,
the clinching touchdown came after Penn tight end Brent
Novoselsky, who caught two fourth quarter touchdown passes
and three in the game, was penalized for moving before the
snap. Click to
watch.
"PERFECTION IS FINALLY
REALIZED": Penn 31, Cornell 21 (November 22, 1986)
Both teams had 6-0 Ivy
League records going in. The Quakers were gunning for a fifth
straight Ivy title and a perfect 10-0 record. When the final
gun sounded, the scoreboard showed a score that was all too
familiar to the Quakers and their fans. The one that had the
Quakers ahead of the other team. It read simply "Cornell 21,
Visitors 31." For Ed Zubrow -- a man who took on the
responsibility of keeping alive an incredible tradition, a man
who performed the impossible task of taking a great team and
making it better, a man who had taken his season day by day
and never looked ahead to being undefeated -- it was time to
reflect on some achievements. "To tell you the truth," Zubrow
said, "I didn't think about winning the championship until the
final whistle blew. But now, the emotion is so deep it hasn't
even hit me yet. It is just great to be everything we had
wanted to be. It's going to be a fun trip home." A fun trip
indeed. No matter how you look at it you'll see that the
Quakers had a perfect season. They did just about everything
possible. Except lose. Click to watch
some of the action.
17-POINT COMEBACK:
Penn 38, Brown 17 (October 10, 1987)
The Daily
Pennsylvanian headline read "Brown,
in Town, Looking for a Crown". But
Penn, the defending Ivy League football champion, scored 38
unanswered points to rally from an early 17-0 deficit and stun
Brown, 38-17, at Franklin Field. The victory evened the
Quakers' record at 2-2; 2-1 in the Ivy League. Brown
suffered its first loss to drop to 3-1; 2-1 in the league.
Brown opened the scoring when Mark Donovan threw a 17-yard
touchdown pass to Jamie Simone. Donovan ran six yards for a
touchdown, and Alex Koss kicked a 39-yard field goal for
Brown. Then, the Quakers came to life. Bryan Keys' 62-yard
kickoff return set up Jim Grass for a 28-yard field goal, the
first of three. Chris Flynn's 7-yard run capped an 11-play,
62-yard drive, and Grass' 40-yard field goal on the final play
of the half cut the Bruins' lead to 17-13. Midway through the
third period, the Quakers drew closer on Grass' 27-yard field
goal, making it 17-16. Penn took a 24-17 lead on Jim Bruni's
3-yard plunge and a two-point conversion with four seconds
left in the quarter. Click to watch some of the highlights.
"MIRACLE AT THE
MEADOWLANDS NORTH": Yale 28, Penn 22 (October 24, 1987)
Penn gave
Yale's Kelly Ryan a second chance and that cost the Quakers
the game. Ryan, the Elis' captain and quarterback, passed to
his wide receiver, Bob Shoop, for 32 yards and a touchdown
with six seconds remaining and that enabled the Elis to win,
28-22. The circumstances near the end were such that it
appeared the Quakers could hardly help but win. Penn's strong
pass rush had stopped Ryan on the previous series after the
Quakers had gone ahead, 22-21. Quarterback John Keller had
scored the last two points with a run on the two-point
conversion. Ryan then had four incomplete passes at the Penn
45 and the Quakers took over. They ran two plays and Yale used
its last timeout. There were 32 seconds left. Then came
disaster for Penn. Keller fumbled on a missed exchange from
the center, Tom Gizzi, and Mike Browne recovered for Yale.
There were 30 seconds left and Ryan had his second chance. The
Penn goal was 58 yards away. Ryan passed 12 yards to tailback
Mike Stewart, then five yards to Shoop, who went out of bounds
with 18 seconds left. Another pass to Shoop took Yale to the
32 with 13 seconds left, and then a bold play was called.
Shoop would fake the out pattern he had run on the previous
two plays, but continue up the field. Shoop broke a tackle,
raced to the goal, and Yale had won.
Click to watch the disastrous final 32
seconds.
CHRIS
FLYNN SCORES 5 TOUCHDOWNS: Penn 49, Dartmouth 17 (November 21, 1987)
Chris Flynn ran for 194
yards and five touchdowns for Penn, as the Quakers routed
Dartmouth, 49-17, in their season finale. His five touchdowns
rushing tied a Penn record set in 1940 by Frank Reagan against
Princeton. Playing with a wind-chill factor of minus-11
degrees, the Quakers scored four of the first five times they
had the ball to close their first losing season since 1981 on
a winning note. Penn finished 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the Ivy
League. Dartmouth fell to 2-8 and 1-6. A 5-yard run by Flynn
capped a 52-yard drive in five plays in the opening
three-and-a-half minutes of the game. He then added a 10-yard
touchdown run to complete a nine-play, 60-yard drive with 2:48
left in the quarter.
Click to watch some of the highlights.
Penn 10, Yale 3 (October 22, 1988)
Penn kept
both its unbeaten record and its hold on first place in the
Ivy League intact with a 10-3 victory over Yale in the cold
wind at Franklin Field. The defensive unit starred for the
usually offensive-minded Quakers. Junior defensive tackle
Jerry Meyer had two fumble recoveries and a crucial
fourth-quarter sack. Tom Charters, a senior safety,
intercepted two passes, the last one thwarting Yale's final
threat at the Penn 30 with 1:11 left. When Yale failed to move
on its second possession, the Elis had to punt deep in their
own territory. The punt, by Todd Cowan, was deflected, and
Penn took over on the Yale 30. Four plays later, sophomore Rich Friedenberg kicked his
10th field goal of the season from 41 yards away, and Penn
led, 3-0. Penn widened its lead to 10-0 in the second period
with a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Dave Whaley scored the
touchdown when he got behind the Yale secondary and grabbed a
pass from Malcolm Glover on fourth-and-eight for 28 yards. Penn appeared to increase its
margin to 16-0 when safety Steve Johnson had a thrilling
84-yard interception return for a
touchdown, however, it was nullified by a penalty. Yale moved the ball inside the Penn 10 three
times in the second and third periods, but came away with only
three points. On the first play of the second quarter, senior
tailback Kevin Brice fumbled at the Penn seven. In the third
quarter, three plays after Yale recovered a fumbled punt,
Brice lost a fumble at the Penn five and Meyer recovered for
the Quakers. Yale finally scored with 3:09 left in the third
period. After blocking Dave Amodio's punt, Yale drove to the
Penn eight, but had to settle for Scott Walton's 31-yard field
goal. Click to watch
Steve Johnson's
thrilling 84-yard interception return.
Penn
31, Princeton
23 (October 29, 1988)
Penn was penalized 21
times, an Ivy League single-game record. Nevertheless, the Red
and Blue managed beat Princeton, 31-23, while curbing the
Garrett brothers' flashy show, so much a part of Tiger
football, before a crowd of 24,500 at Palmer Stadium. The
turning point came on two plays just before the end of the
first half. The score was tied, 10-10, with 74 seconds left.
Malcolm Glover, the Penn quarterback, had been sacked on
successive plays by Rob Vanden Hoven, the Princeton tackle, to
his 17. On the next down, the blocks held for Glover. He had
unlimited time to pick out a receiver and chose wide receiver
Scott Sandler way down the field. Sandler caught the pass for
a 54-yard gain and Frank Leal's tackle saved a touchdown. On
the next play, Glover's pass went to Sandler again, and Leal
missed the tackle at his 20. The wide receiver continued to
the end zone to complete a 29-yard touchdown play. Princeton
quarterback Jason Garrett passed for 242 yards but had his
first interceptions of the season after setting a Division
I-AA record of 179 pass attempts without an interception.
There were two and nearly were four. Two by Penn were canceled
by penalties against the defense. The two that counted were
costly. The first, made by Tom Charters, the free safety
closing to the inside on Judd Garrett, the intended receiver
covered to the outside, gave Penn the ball at midfield and
started a touchdown drive that ended in a 31-yard pass from
Glover to the tight end Dolph Tokarczyk. The second in the
third period ended a difficult Princeton drive at the Penn
six. Garrett was hit while throwing by Mark Fessler, and the
ball fluttered into the hands of the linebacker Steve
Bankston. Leading by 17-10 as the second half began, Penn had
an 82-yard drive for a touchdown to go ahead, 24-10. In
between Princeton's two fourth-period scores came the fourth
Penn touchdown and a 31-16 lead. Glover had a big hand in
those two scores. On the first, he completed passes of 23 and
20 yards to Marty White, a backup wide receiver, that led to
Jim Beato's 1-yard plunge for the score. On the second, he hit
White with a 45-yard pass before Bran Keys scored, also from
the one. Glover, a junior, shook off the penalties and the
five sacks and completed the long passes that eluded Jason
Garrett. He had 14 completions of 22 attempts for 289 yards
and no interceptions, an average of 20 yards a completion to
10 for his Princeton counterpart. Click to watch some of the
highlights.
"RESPECT": Penn 31, Lafayette
17 (November 5, 1988)
All Penn wanted was respect --
the Quakers not only got that, but a 31-17 victory as well.
Penn and Lafayette, ranked one-two in the Lambert Cup voting
which rates the East's top Division I-AA football teams, were
headed in opposite directions entering the showdown. The
Leopards possessed the most potent offense in the country and
had been ranked as high as seventh in the Associated Press
poll. Three weeks ago, they stood at 5-0; but a recent loss to
Army and a tie with Cornell dropped them to 17th. The Quakers,
on the other hand, had been engaged in a season-long quest for
respect. They stood undefeated, but still unranked nationally
-- indicating that the voters considered Penn's relatively
lenient schedule to be more significant than its perfect
record. Immediately after Lafayette tied the score, 17-17,
with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter, Penn marched
upfield, using a 29-yard kickoff return from Steve Hooper, a
key third-down completion from quarterback Malcolm Glover and
an explosive 30-yard touchdown run from backup tailback Mike
Waller to put the Quakers ahead to stay. Click to watch
Mike Waller's game-winning
touchdown run.
IVY CHAMPS: Penn 52,
Harvard 13 (November 12, 1988)
Bryan Keys had three
touchdowns as Penn (9-0, 6-0) clinched at least a share of the
Ivy League championship with a 52-13 rout of defending
champion Harvard. Malcolm
Glover threw for one touchdown and ran for two touchdowns.
Penn's 52 points were the most scored against Harvard (2-7,
2-4) since Yale scored 54 in a 1957 game. And Penn's 39-point victory margin was
their largest in the 94-year history of their competition. Keys, a junior, ran 28 times for 178 yards.
He scored his first touchdown on a 3-yard run in the third
period. He then scored on runs of three and 12 yards during a
1:44 span in the fourth quarter. Glover scored Penn's first
touchdown on a 7-yard run in the first quarter. He later
scored on a 12-yard run and threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to
senior end Dave Whaley. Click to watch some of the highlights.
"THE LONESOME
END PLAY": Princeton 20, Penn 14 (November 7, 1992)
The Quakers reached into
their bag of tricks and pulled out the old "Lonesome End
Play". Senior running back Fitz McKinnon supposedly left the
game for a substitute, but never actually left the field.
Instead, he hung out by his own sideline, took a quick pass
from Quaker quarterback Jim McGeehan and turned upfield for 36
yards. The Quakers still lost at Princeton, which would go on
to win the Ivy League title, 20-14. The frustration was
symbolized by quarterback Jimmy McGeehan throwing the ball out
of Palmer Stadium after being sacked by Michael Lerch at the
Princeton 30-yard line as time expired. It would be the
Quakers' last setback until their 24-14 defeat at Columbia in
1995. In between the losses, Penn dominated its opposition,
winning 24 consecutive games and claiming two straight
undisputed Ivy League championships. Click to
watch "The Lonesome End Play".
"NO FRESHMEN ALLOWED": Penn 10, Dartmouth 6
(September 18, 1993)
Penn disposed of three-time
defending Ivy League champion Dartmouth in regal fashion - and
the Quakers did it without 40 players. That's right, the
40-something freshmen who had been practicing with the team
since day one were ineligible to play against the Big Green
because it was orientation week at Dartmouth. Jim McGeehan's
166-yard passing effort moved him into 10th on the Quakers'
all-time passing list with 1,923 total yards. Miles Macik had
seven catches and some big third-down receptions. On the
defensive side of the ball, unlikely candidate sophomore
defensive back Kevin Allen turned in a Rookie of the Week
performance with one interception and four passes defensed. As
expected of any first-time starter, Allen had to defend
against not only Jay Fiedler's potent arm, but also his own
case of butterflies. Outside of all the stellar individual
performances and the final score, the game against Dartmouth
was far from perfect. The Quakers were flagged for an
astounding 11 penalties for a total of 100 yards. Click to
watch Penn stop Dartmouth's final drive.
"QUAKERS PULL GREAT ESCAPE": Penn 34, Fordham
30 (October 2, 1993)
The fans filing into
Franklin Field on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon anticipated a
blowout. For much of the first half they got one. What the
10,529 stunned witnesses did not expect to see was underdog
Fordham (0-4) score 24 unanswered points to grab a 24-7
second-quarter advantage. The Penn football team's first-half
free fall, however, turned into a bungee jump, as the Quakers
snapped back just before it was too late. When the manic
marathon ended, Penn was ahead 34-30 and still unbeaten.
Quarterback Jim McGeehan's 11-yard touchdown strike to wideout
Miles Macik with 4:56 left to play provided the final margin
of victory. Even Houdini would have envied the Quakers' narrow
escaping of defeat. The game-winning march commenced at the
Fordham 40, but the Quakers were quickly retreating. A holding
penalty and a sack forced Penn into a second down and 33.
Running back Terrance Stokes carried for eight yards to make
it third and 25. Then McGeehan found Macik for 20 yards. On
fourth down and five, McGeehan spotted Matt Tonelli over the
middle for seven yards, the tight end's only catch of the day.
Six plays later the Quakers had their first lead since it was
7-0. Click to watch Miles Macik's game-winning touchdown reception.
"GAME OF
THE CENTURY" A/K/A "THE KEITH ELIAS GAME": Penn 30,
Princeton 14 (November 6, 1993)
This one really should be called "The
Terrance Stokes Game." In the week leading up to the meeting
between the undefeated Quakers and the undefeated Tigers,
Elias spoke insultingly about the Penn team and its
intelligence, all the while flaunting his mohawk and 183.7
yards per game rushing mark. On game day, though, Stokes'
actions spoke much louder than Elias' words. The tailback ran
for a Penn record 272 yards on 42 carries, seven of which went
for 10 or more yards. Elias, meanwhile, was held to just 59
yards on 15 carries by a strong Red and Blue defense. After
the game, he still couldn't stop talking, blasting his
teammates and coaches over the performance. Six months later,
at the Penn-Princeton basketball game at Jadwin Gym, Elias was
still sore about the loss and his failure to put his money
where his mouth was. As he walked onto the floor at halftime,
Penn fans in the upper balcony started chanting "Elias
Sucks!", "59 yards!" and "Terrance Stokes!" Elias charged
towards the upper balcony and had to be restrained by the
arena guards. Click to watch.
"THE
HEX
IS BROKEN": Penn 27, Harvard 20 (November 13, 1993)
Harvard had a hex -- Penn's
20-year history of losses on the road to the Crimson -- and hype on its side which
carried it for half the game until the Quakers eventually
prevailed in a 27-20 win. The Crimson were up 20-10 at
halftime. Penn's turnaround came in dramatic fashion just 6:11
into the third quarter as Harvard running back David Sprinkle
met with defensive end Michael Turner four yards from a
Crimson touchdown. Turner caused a fumble which linebacker
Andy Berlin scooped up. After one incomplete pass, Jimmy
McGeehan found running back Terrance Stokes wide open along
the Harvard sideline. After catching the ball, Stokes beat the
Harvard secondary in an 80-yard mad dash to the end zone. On
the Crimson's next drive, quarterback Mike Giardi was
intercepted on the Penn 46-yard line by cornerback Jerel
Hopkins. Three plays and just over a minute elapsed before
McGeehan found Miles Macik in the front corner of the end zone
for a touchdown and a 24-20 Penn lead. Horowitz later added a
38-yard field goal to give the Quakers their final margin of
victory. The Quakers had scored 17 points in just over five
minutes of play and their defense wasn't about to let go of
the 27-20 lead. After the game it was Penn's turn to rush the
field but this time it was in celebration of clinching a tie
for the Ivy title. Click to watch highlights of Penn's come-from-behind victory.
"THE 100TH MEETING":
Penn 17, Cornell 14 (November 20, 1993)
In the centennial clash between
Penn and Cornell, the Quakers turned the ball over four times
in the first half en route to a 14-0 deficit, and the
Schuylkill appeared safe from a second date with the
goalposts. Penn didn't lead until Marc Horowitz booted a 30
yard field goal through the goalposts with 5:44 remaining. The
kick left the game in the hands of the Penn defense, exactly
where Cornell quarterback Bill Lazor had been all afternoon.
The Quakers sacked Lazor nine times wit defensive ends Dave
Betten and Michael "Pup" Turner the ringleaders. Cornell
started its final possession from its own 24, facing a long
field and long odds. The Big Red moved from its own 24 to the
Penn 21, where they. faced a
fourth down and two. Betten and defensive end Kelly Tolton stopped Cornell
running back Chad Levitt with 59
seconds remaining, preserving Penn's 17-14 victory that
culminated its perfect season. Click
to watch.
Penn
33,
Princeton 19 (November 5, 1994)
Penn traveled to
Princeton's Palmer Stadium in the midst of a dogfight with
Cornell for the Ivy crown. After trading punches for over 20
minutes, Quakers cornerback Kevin Allen scooped up a blocked
Princeton extra point attempt halfway through the second
quarter and raced 84 yards for two points. The runback
energized the Penn fans in the stands. The Quakers went on to
reel off 24 unanswered points, winning the contest 33-19 and
clinching a share of the Ivy crown. Click to watch Kevin Allen's blocked extra
point return.
DANA LYONS' 94-YARD INTERCEPTION
RETURN: Penn 28, Lafayette 8 (September 23, 1995)
At Easton, Penn extended
its Division I-AA winning streak to 23 games with a solid
28-8 victory over an overmatched Lafayette squad. Its
offense was efficient, and the defense was as unyielding as
ever. The game was over by halftime. Penn safety Dana Lyons
returned an interception a school-record 94 yards for a
touchdown, and Mark DeRosa threw three touchdowns to stake
the Quakers to a 28-0 lead. The issue was virtually decided
five minutes into the game, as the Quakers' defense came
through when Penn needed it most. Lafayette recovered a
fumbled Penn punt 12 yards away from a touchdown that would
have tied the score at 7-7. But Quakers defensive end Tom
McGarrity blasted Lafayette quarterback Shawn McHale just as
he released a pass, and the ball went behind the intended
receiver. Lyons grabbed the tipped ball on the six-yard line
and raced 94 yards to give the Quakers a 14-0 lead. Click to watch Dana Lyons' record-setting 94-yard interception return.
"PENN
SURVIVES BUCKNELL": Penn 20, Bucknell 19 (September 30,
1995)
The Bucknell players
started the victory celebration exactly 73 seconds too early,
and that one innocent party foul may have cost the Bison an
upset of monumental proportions. A double unsportsmanlike
conduct penalty for excessive celebration gave Penn an
enormous field position advantage, setting up Jeremiah
Greathouse's game-winning 41-yard field goal, and narrowly
preserving Penn's 24-game win streak with an improbable 20-19
victory. After Bucknell wide receiver John Sakowski tiptoed
just inside the end line for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:13
remaining, dozens of Bison ripped off their helmets and piled
onto the Franklin Field turf. The penalties, assessed on the
ensuing kickoff, backed the Bucknell special teams up to their
own 10-yard line and changed the complexion of the game. "When
I knew we had to kick off from the 10, I wanted to give our
kids a chance to win," Bison coach Tom Gadd said, explaining
his decision to go for a two-point conversion with a 19-17
lead. But Bucknell squandered the conversion opportunity when
quarterback Jim Fox tripped taking the snap from center, and
rolled out the red and blue carpet for a Penn comeback. To
their credit, the Quakers wasted no time capitalizing on their
good fortune. Mark Fabish took the ensuing kickoff and
sprinted 25 yards to the Bison 45-yard line. Quarterback Mark
DeRosa connected immediately with Miles Macik on a quick slant
for 14 yards. Two plays later, running back Aman Abye
scampered another eight yards before stepping out of bounds
with 27 ticks remaining on the clock. That brought out
Greathouse, who split the uprights with a full five yards to
spare. Click to watch the second half.
"THE END
OF THE STREAK": Columbia 24, Penn 14 (October 7, 1995)
The Quakers entered New
York with a 24-game winning streak, the longest winning streak
in the nation and a Division I-AA record. Quarterback Mark
DeRosa completed 22 of 39 passes for 310 yards and two
touchdowns. However, it was his two interceptions and a fumble
that lost the game for the Quakers. One of the interceptions
was on a third and goal from the Columbia two yard line. The
rushing game also came out strong as Aman Abye rushed for 115
yards on 25 carries. Yet the Quakers could not stop Columbia
quarterback Mike Cavanaugh, who completed ten passes for 147
yards and scrambled for another 92. It was the Quakers' first
loss since November of 1992. Click to
watch Mark DeRosa's 40-yard touchdown pass to Mark Fabish,
which gave Penn a 14-10 lead.
COLUMBIA FINALLY WINS IN PHILLY: Columbia
20, Penn 19 (OT) (October 12, 1996)
With the score tied at 13,
the two squads headed into overtime. The Quakers put together
a solid offensive series, in which tailback Jasen Scott
plunged in for a touchdown that put the Red and Blue ahead.
But the most crucial moment came when the Quakers attempted
the extra point -- which they missed. Columbia then gained
possession of the ball and, following two incompletions,
quarterback Paris Childress hit flanker Dennis Lee over the
middle at the Penn 10-yard line. Lee avoided Penn defender Joe
Piela and ran untouched into the end zone. When the Lions converted the
extra point, they earned their first win over the Red and Blue
at Franklin Field since 1976. Until that final play, Piela had been one of
the defensive stars of the game. The sophomore nickel back had
two interceptions and returned one 93 yards for Penn's only
regulation touchdown. Click to
watch Joe Piela's 93-yard interception return.
Penn 17, Harvard 12 (November
16, 1996)
Penn freshman signal caller
Brian Russell's first pass in a varsity uniform was also his
first career touchdown pass, a 13-yarder to Aman Abye, with 5
minutes, 29 seconds left in the first quarter. On the last
play of the first quarter, Penn's Tom MacLeod threw a flat
pass straight to Harvard linebacker Joe Weidle, who rumbled 50
yards down the sideline to the Penn 18. Two players later,
Colby Skelton took a reverse 19 yards for a touchdown. The
kick failed and Penn held a 7-6 halftime edge. The Quakers
coasted through most of the second half, completely shutting
down Harvard tailback Eion Hu. Penn had established a 17-6
lead on a Jasen Scott 1-yard touchdown run in the third
quarter and a Greathouse 24-yard field goal with seven minutes
to play. Moments later, a double reverse pass by wide receiver
Jared Chupaila to Skelton went for 70 yards and put the
Crimson on the one yard line. On the next play, Hu scored to
make it a 17-12 game. Following a failed attempt to run time
off the clock, Penn punter Jeff Salvino squibbed a 26-yarder,
allowing Harvard to have the ball with 5:13 left on the
Quaker's 35-yard line. The result was Penn's defense
smothering Crimson quarterback Rich Linden and forcing Harvard
to punt for the tenth time. With one last chance the Crimson
took over on offense at the 1:42 mark, but a James Finn
interception sealed the victory for Penn. Click to
watch Brian Russell's first career touchdown pass.
JIM FINN'S 92-YARD TOUCHDOWN RUN: Penn
26, Yale 7 (November 1, 1997)
Tailback Jim Finn scored
three touchdowns, including an unbelievable 92-yard run in the
fourth quarter, to lead Penn to a 26-7 victory over Yale, in
the rain, at the Yale Bowl. Finn's run was
the second-longest run for a touchdown in Penn history. Finn, who also played defensive
back, ran for a total of 196 yards on 21 carries. He also led
Penn (4-3, 3-1 Ivy) receivers with 25 yards and two catches. Finn's first carry of the game, just Penn's second
play from scrimmage, resulted in a 38-yard touchdown just 57 seconds into the
contest. Penn had a 14-0 lead at the half after an 8-yard
touchdown run by Matt Rader. Yale, whose only score came on a
third-quarter, 50-yard interception return, fell to 1-6 and
0-3. Click to watch Jim Finn's unbelievable 92-yard touchdown
run.
"PENN BLOCKS
PRINCETON COMEBACK": Penn 20, Princeton 17 (November 8, 1997)
As the sun set and the mist
descended on Franklin Field, Penn's John Bishop felt the roar
of the remaining Homecoming crowd as his left elbow deflected
Alex Sierk's 46-yard, go-ahead field goal attempt with 2:38
left in the game. Nineteen yards downfield, on the Princeton
47-yard line, Bishop picked up the loose ball, giving the
Quakers one more chance to break the 17-17 tie in regulation.
From there, Quakers running back Jim Finn and the offensive
line took over. With five straight rushes for 29 yards, Finn
muscled Penn down to the Tigers' 17-yard line, setting up a
34-yard field goal with four seconds remaining. After
converting only seven of his previous 15 field goal attempts
on the season, Penn's Jeremiah Greathouse redeemed himself in
front of the 15,841 fans, giving Penn a 20-17 win over the
Tigers. The game was a nail-biter that never should have been.
Down 17-3 with just over two minutes left in the third
quarter, Princeton's second-string quarterback John Burnham,
who came in due to an injury to starter Harry Nakielny, led
the Tigers on three straight scoring drives. For the Quakers'
offense, its silent fourth quarter came after consistent play
in the first three periods, especially from Finn. The newly
converted running back capped another big day with 146 yards
on 33 attempts and a touchdown. Click to watch.
JOE PIELA'S 74-YARD PUNT RETURN: Cornell 33, Penn 20
(November 22, 1997)
Jim Finn rushed for 140
yards and two scores, and Joe Piela returned a punt and an
interception for touchdowns as Penn beat Cornell, 33-20. Piela
returned a punt 74 yards for Penn's first touchdown. With Penn
leading by 20-13 with 10:31 left, Piela put the game out of
reach with a 25-yard interception return. Click to
watch Joe Piela's 74-yard punt return.
"THE WILD ONE": Brown 58, Penn
51 (October 24, 1998)
Jim Finn broke a Penn
record in Providence by running for six touchdowns against the
Bears, but the fourth quarter was a game all by itself. Brown
outscored the Quakers 30-28 in the final period, scoring the
winning touchdown with four seconds remaining, 40 seconds
after Finn's 5-yard touchdown run tied it up. Finn ran for 259
yards on the day, so easily cutting through the Bears defense
that the DP wrote "on one touchdown run in the fourth quarter,
he would have scored even if it had been a game of two-hand
touch." Finn's four touchdowns in the fourth quarter were the
entirety of the Penn scoring. Just about the only thing that
the '98 Bushnell Cup winner did wrong all day was a missed
two-point conversion in the third quarter. The Bears,
meanwhile, went through the air to win the game. James Perry
threw for 470 yards and six touchdowns, four of which came in
the final period. Click to watch highlights of this
wild game.
"KUNLE WILLIAMS TAKES IT HOME TWICE": Penn
41, Princeton 13 (November 6, 1999)
For the first 2� quarters, Penn was locked in a
defensive struggle with the Princeton Tigers, 6-6. But the
Quakers changed that in a span of 5:14 in the third period.
First, Gavin Hoffman hit wide receiver Rob Milanese across the
middle for a 22-yard touchdown to make it 13-6 Penn with 8:41
left in the third. Princeton's next possession was highlighted
by back-to-back sacks by Penn's Jim Hisgen and Jason Maehr,
before the Tigers shanked a 6-yard punt. Four plays later,
Quakers running back Kris Ryan ran in from five yards out to
make it 20-6 with 4:35 left in the third. As a result of
porous pass protection on the ensuing drive, Princeton
starting quarterback Tommy Crenshaw was knocked out of the
game on the drive's second play. Seconds later, Tigers backup
Jon Blevins handed Quakers strong safety Kunle Williams a
wobbling pass at the Princeton 41-yard line, which the
sophomore returned up the right sideline for a touchdown,
making it 27-6 with 3:27 left in the third. That brought the
crowd to its feet and broke the Tigers' backs. In the final minute,
with the game already well in hand, Williams again picked off
a Blevins pass and ran a record-setting 100 yards to
paydirt.that put a big exclamation point on the Quakers'
defensive effort. Click
to
watch Kunle Williams' record-setting 100-yard interception
return.
"HAIL-MARY":
Penn 21, Harvard 17 (November 13, 1999)
Move over, Doug Flutie.
Facing a do-or-die fourth-and-10 from midfield with 1:17 left,
Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman was flushed from the pocket and
forced to throw a scrambling desperation heave toward the end
zone. As if guided by Flutie himself -- one of Boston's
favorite sons -- the pass settled into the leaping arms of
Quakers receiver Brandon Carson 50 yards away for the winning
score in Penn's improbable 21-17 victory. Hoffman completed 29
passes for 348 yards in the Quakers' last-second-win --
including seven for 105 yards to Carson -- but none could even
hold a candle to this final heave. Just minutes earlier, the
Quakers had been left for dead. Hoffman was picked off by
Crimson linebacker Jeff Svicarovich and Harvard took the ball,
and a 17-14 lead, to the Penn 31 with two minutes left. But
fate works in mysterious ways. On a third-and-two, Crimson
quarterback Brad Wilford collided with sixth-string tailback
Brent Chalmers -- the lone available Harvard back -- on a
handoff and the ball hit the ground. Penn safety Hasani White
recovered the fumble, and seven plays later, Penn's prayers
were answered. Click to watch Brandon Carson haul in the
50-yard touchdown to seal Penn's comeback win over Harvard.
"THE COMEBACK": Penn 41, Brown 38 (October 28,
2000)
Gavin Hoffman's 7-yard
touchdown pass to Rob Milanese with 28 ticks left on the clock
gave the Quakers a stunning 41-38 come-from-behind victory
over visiting Brown. Penn trailed, 38-20, with 7:28 remaining
in the fourth quarter when Hoffman led the Quakers on the
first of the three scoring drives late in the game. He nailed
Milanese with a 48-yard pass and then hit Jason Battung for an
8-yard score with 4:37 remaining. After the Quaker defense
forced a three-and-out, Penn's Joe Phillips returned a Sean
Jensen punt 32 yards to the 50-yard line. Hoffman came out on
the first play of the drive and hit Doug O'Neill with a
49-yard strike and then rushed the ball into the end zone
himself on the next play to draw the Quakers within five
points, 38-33, with 2:49 left in regulation. After forcing the
Bears to punt, again, the Quakers started their game-winning
drive on their own 38-yard line, with 1:41 left in the
contest. Hoffman opened up with an 18-yard strike to Colin
Smith. Hoffman's next two attempts were incomplete before he
found Smith again for a 19-yard gain to keep the drive alive.
Hoffman came back to Smith one more time, hitting the
third-year wideout with a 13-yard pass at the Brown 12-yard
line. Hoffman then laced a perfect pass to Doug O'Neill for a
10-yard gain. After an incomplete pass and a 5-yard penalty
against the Quakers, Hoffman found Milanese for the
game-winning score. When the smoke cleared, Hoffman had taken
the Quakers down the field on drives of three plays-for-61
yards, two plays-for-50 yards and eight plays-for-62 yards,
respectively, in 4:11. Click to watch highlights of Penn's
improbable comeback.
"THE COMEBACK" (PART II):
Penn 40, Princeton 24 (November 4, 2000)
The Princeton Tigers knew it
would come. They had to have known that the Penn football team
and its high-octane offense couldn't be held to the measly six
points it scored in the first 29 minutes and 54 seconds of the
game, but there was no way the Tigers could have known what
they were in for. For the second straight week, the Quakers
overcame an 18-point deficit and won. Princeton's Taylor
Northrop hit a field goal to give the Tigers a 24-6 lead on
their last possession of the first half, and it looked as
though the Quakers would spend the second half digging their
way out of another 18-point hole. The Quakers got the ball at
their own 40 with 43 seconds left in the half. They used 37 of
those seconds to move the ball just 18 yards, to the Princeton
42. But then, serendipity hit. With just six ticks on the
clock, Hoffman heaved a throw toward the end zone. Princeton
linebacker Chris Roser-Jones leaped at the six yard line and
batted the ball backwards and down into the waiting arms of
Penn wideout Doug O'Neill, who ran nearly the width of the
field evading Princeton defenders and managed to stick the
ball just over the goal line with his outstretched left arm.
The Quakers came out in the second half on fire, scoring
touchdowns on their first three possessions after the break,
and with about seven minutes to go in the third quarter found
themselves ahead 34-24. The Red and Blue left Old Nassau with
a very convincing 40-24 win. Click to
watch Doug O'Neill's improbable hail-mary touchdown reception.
"PENN
ENDS
LEHIGH'S
26-GAME
WINNING
STREAK":
Penn
24,
Lehigh
21
(September
28, 2002)
The Red and
Blue upended #4 Lehigh, 24-21, at Franklin Field,
halting the Mountain Hawks' 26-game regular-season winning
streak. As Matt Douglas' 29-yard field-goal attempt sailed
wide with 1:17 remaining in the contest, so did Lehigh's hopes
of a come-from-behind victory. Penn's Mike Mitchell threw for
277 yards and two touchdowns, while Stephen Faulk scored a
pair of touchdowns to help give Penn what appeared to be a
dominating 17-point lead heading into the game's final 15
minutes. However, Lehigh rallied in the game's waning moments
to score two fourth-quarter touchdowns and set up the
game-tying 29-yard field-goal attempt. Leading 10-7, the
Red and Blue got the ball back on their own 26-yard line with
just 24 seconds remaining in the half. Mitchell started the
drive off by hitting Faulk with a 16-yard pass, and then
followed that up with a 24-yard connection with Milanese.
After an incomplete pass on the Lehigh 34, Mitchell completed
a 12-yard pass to Joe Phillips, who then pitched the ball back
to Faulk on the Lehigh 22. Faulk had only one man to beat,
when Milanese threw the block that sprung Faulk into the end
zone with no time remaining in the opening half, as Penn went
into halftime leading 17-7. Faulk added one more touchdown for
the cause, as he leapt over a pile of bodies from the 1-yard
line, while Peter Veldman's third extra-point of the contest
gave the Quakers a 24-7 lead with 19:26 left in the game. Click to watch
highlights, including Stephen Faulk's "hook-and-lateral"
touchdown .
"PENN
UPSETS #19 LEHIGH": Penn 31, Lehigh 24 (September 27, 2003)
Sagar
Patel's first career reception could not have come at a better
time as the second-year receiver hauled in an 18-yard
touchdown to cap off a 21-0 Red and Blue run in the fourth
quarter as No. 21 Penn overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to
defeat No. 19 Lehigh, 34-21, at Goodman Stadium. And while it
was the Quakers' offense which scored 21 second-half points,
including two fourth-quarter touchdowns, to turn the contest
around on the scoreboard, it was the Penn defense which shut
the door on Lehigh, holding the Mountain Hawks to just 46
yards of offense in the second half and four first downs. The
Red and Blue defense also came up with the game's biggest stop
with 1:41 remaining in the fourth as Lehigh attempted to
convert a fourth-and-12 situation on the Penn 31. Although it
was Patel's touchdown (as he was sliding out of the end zone)
that gave the Red and Blue the go-ahead score, it was the Mike
Mitchell-Dan Castles show on offense in the second half that
made the first reception of Patel's career that much more
memorable. Mitchell threw four touchdown passes, hitting
Castles twice in the end zone in the second half to knot the
score at 24, 1:33 into the final quarter. The contest included
a 66-minute delay due to lightning with 6:52 remaining in the
third quarter. Click to watch Sagar Patel's first career
reception, as he was sliding out of the end zone.
"PENN SURVIVES BUCKNELL" (Part II): Penn 14, Bucknell 13 (October
11, 2003)
Ryan Korn's 39-yard field-goal
attempt with 14 seconds remaining in regulation fell short as
No. 15 Penn held on to defeat Bucknell, 14-13, at Franklin
Field. It was a day for runners as Penn and Bucknell combined
for 444 rushing yards with Sam Mathews leading the Red and
Blue with 105 yards on the ground. Perhaps the most important
statistic for Mathews was his two touchdowns, which was all
Penn needed for victory. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native rushed in
a 3-yard score in the first quarter to give the Red and Blue a
7-3 lead, 10:56 into the game. His second touchdown was off a
20-yard pass from Pat McDermott and put the Quakers up for
good at 14-10 with 2:11 remaining in the first half. Bucknell
pulled within one point 6:13 into the final quarter when Korn
connected on a 28-yard field goal to cap off a 16-play,
69-yard drive. Click to watch the
dramatic finish.
Penn 34, Yale
31 (OT) (October 25, 2003)
Peter Veldman's 23-yard
field goal in overtime gave No. 13 Penn a 34-31 victory over
visiting Yale at Franklin Field. Quakers' Casey Edgar blocked
John Troost's 22-yard field-goal attempt on Yale's overtime
possession to help set up Veldman's game-winning kick. Penn
had built a 17-3 halftime lead. That lead was extended to 21
as Sam Mathews carried in an 18-yard score to give the Quakers
a 24-3 lead with 7:47 remaining in the third quarter. Dan
Castles' 22-yard fourth-quarter touchdown reception appeared
to put the game out of reach as Penn took a 21-point lead,
31-10, with 11:29 remaining in the contest. However, Yale had
other plans as the Elis rallied to score 21 points over the
next 7:32 on three touchdown passes by Alvin Cowan to deadlock
the contest at 31-31 with 32 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Red and Blue did have an opportunity to win the game in
regulation as Veldman attempted a career-long 45-yard field
goal with no time remaining. The kick fell just short and sent
the contest into the extra session. Click to watch highlights of this thrilling
overtime game.
IVY
CHAMPS:
Penn 32, Harvard 24 (November 15, 2003)
No. 8 Penn defeated
Harvard, 32-24, at Harvard Stadium to clinch the outright Ivy
League title. Penn jumped out to a quick 22-0 lead on Mike
Mitchell touchdown strikes to Brian Adams (11 yards), Dan
Castles (44 yards) and Kevin Desmedt (7 yards) 16:26 into the
contest. Early in the game, it appeared as if everything would
go the Quakers way especially when Gabe Marabella was able to
recover a bad snap on Peter Veldman's point-after attempt on
DeSmedt's touchdown and scramble to find Matt Boyer in the end
zone for the successful two-point conversion. That lead was
extended to 29-7 to start the second half when Michael
Recchuiti scored on a 2-yard run. Veldman then converted a
35-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter in heavy
cross winds to give Penn a 32-16 advantage with less than
eight minutes to play. However, Penn still needed some
late-game heroics from senior captain Steve Lhotak, as the
linebacker pulled down Harvard's Matt Frotto on the Quakers'
6-yard line as time expired to seal the win. Click to
watch Steve Lhotak's game-saving tackle.
"PENN SURVIVES BUCKNELL" (PART III): Penn 32, Bucknell 25 (2 OT)
(October 9, 2004)
Pat McDermott threw for a career-high
384 yards, but it was his 1-yard touchdown run that was the
deciding factor in the Red and Blue's victory. Prior to the
overtime, the game hinged on a literal change of fortunes in the
fourth quarter. A holding call negated a 23-yard touchdown run
by Bucknell's Darius Wilson. The penalty pushed the ball back to
the Penn 27-yard line and a 2-yard loss forced the Bison to punt
30 yards from the opposing goal line. Penn moved the ball well
on the ensuing possession but lost a fumble in Bucknell
territory on a Sam Mathews carry only to have Chris Mizell
recover a Bison fumble on the same play at the Bucknell 49-yard
line. Two plays later, Penn tied the score at 22 when McDermott
hit Gabe Marabella from 12 yards out with under six minutes
remaining in regulation; a score that would send the game into
overtime. Ryan Korn of Bucknell made a
47-yard field goal to open the extra frame, a career-high. On
Penn's possession, the drive was stalled on the Bucknell 25-yard
line, forcing the Quakers to attempt a 42-yard field goal of
their own. Evan Nolan, on his 22nd
birthday, nailed the attempt to force the second and decisive
overtime session. Click to watch highlights of this
thrilling overtime game.
"THE DRIVE": Penn 20,
Brown 16 (October 30, 2004)
There were three minutes remaining and it
looked as if the Quakers' 18-game Ivy winning streak was going
to come crashing to an end. In the course of two minutes, 10
seconds and 88 yards, the Penn offense, which to that point
had done nothing, found an unstoppable rhythm. First it was a
13-yard pass from Pat McDermott to Chris Mizell, then
McDermott found Kevin DeSmedt, then Matt Carre -- four times.
With the ball already at the Bears' 24, a McDermott run and a
pass interference penalty set up Sam Matthews' 2-yard
touchdown run. And keeping in mind that none of this would
have been possible without Brown's Nick Hartigan fumbling on
Penn's goal line in the third quarter, this was a game to
remember. Click to watch the game-winning touchdown
drive.
"WIDE RIGHT": Penn 16,
Princeton 15 (November 6, 2004)
One, two or even
three offensive drives can be the difference in a game and
possibly a season. Penn needed those three drives and a key
defensive stop with under a minute remaining to defeat
Princeton, 16-15, at
Princeton Stadium. The Quakers, down 15-13 with eight and a
half minutes left in regulation, pulled off yet another
spectacular scoring drive. Penn raced 59 yards in 12 plays to
set up freshman Derek Zoch for a 22-yard field goal, the first
attempt of his career. A false start call on the Red and Blue
moved the rookie back an additional five yards but his leg and
aim held true, booting his first-career field goal to give
Penn the decisive edge, 16-15. Penn was not out of the woods
yet -- there were still nearly three minutes remaining.
Princeton drove to the
Quakers' 19-yard line. Luke Hadden, who led Penn with 11
tackles, pulled down Brandon Benson for a 5-yard loss. An
incomplete pass from Matt Verbit put the weight of a 41-yard
field goal attempt on Derek Javarone, who had hit three field
goals during the game from distances of 27, 32 and 33 yards,
respectively. Javarone would not make a fourth as the kick
sailed wide right. Click to watch the
dramatic finish.
KYLE AMBROGI'S LAST GAME: Penn 53, Bucknell 7 (October
8, 2005)
It was a day made more for
ducks than football. A driving wind, a pouring rain (that only
got worse as the game went on) and a slippery turf guaranteed
that things would not be easy for Penn and Bucknell at
Franklin Field. So what did the Quakers do? They played
solid defense. Real solid defense. They held the Bison -- who
entered the contest 16th in the nation in rushing offense
-- to 74 yards on 46 attempts, a 1.4 average per carry. They
jumped on a Bucknell fumble in the end zone for a score. They
intercepted a pass and took it in for another score. And then
they recovered another fumble deep in Bison territory, which
set up a one-play drive that went all of eight yards. In other
words, they made things easy in a 53-7 victory. Click to watch a short tribute to Kyle Ambrogi.
Yale 17, Penn 14 (OT) (October
21, 2006)
Yale's Alan Kimball hit a
35-yard field goal in overtime to win the game for the Elis,
17-14, at the Yale Bowl. Derek Zoch's attempt from 36 yards on
Penn's overtime possession clanked off the right upright. The
game ultimately came down to missed opportunities on both
sides of the ball, but the Quakers in particular were hurt by
two missed field goals, including the critical attempt in the
extra frame. On Yale's first possession, Matt Polhemus
connected 10 yards to Chandler Henley to put the Bulldogs up a
touchdown with less than three minutes gone in the game.
Robert Irvin went long and hit Matt Carre for a 57-yard
completion to put Penn at the five. Two plays later, from six
yards out, Chris Mizell snared a one-handed catch on the goal
line to tie the game at seven. Penn began the second quarter
with the ball inside the Yale 10 after taking over at
midfield. After a 3-yard run by Blakely Thorton, Joe Sandberg
tight-roped the line and leapt for the pylon to put the
Quakers up 14-7 with his 6-yard run. Late in the half, Mike
McLeod knotted the game on a 4-yard run after Polhemus
completed a series of passes to move the Elis 80 yards
downfield. The game remained tied up into the overtime, with
both defenses shutting things down.
Click to watch the highlights.
"DEJA VU": Brown 30, Penn 27
(OT) (October 28, 2006)
For the second week in a
row, Penn went to overtime and for the second week in a
row, the Quakers failed to score in the extra frame as Brown
came back to beat Penn, 30-27, at a blustery Franklin Field.
Derek Zoch missed a 26-yard field goal wide right in the first
overtime period, and Brown's Steve Morgan was good from 25
yards to win the game. Morgan had initially missed a 35-yard
attempt, but an offside penalty on Penn gave Brown a fresh set
of downs and a second chance. The overtime came after Penn
watched a 27-17 lead fall away with 10 unanswered Brown points
in the fourth quarter. Scotty Williams was a defensive
standout for Penn, nabbing two interceptions and returning a
fumble for a touchdown. Freshman Chris Wynn provided the
special teams highlight, returning a kickoff 98 yards for a
touchdown. Wynn took the kickoff at his own 2-yard line and
hit the hole running, breaking free and dancing along the Penn
sideline to go 98 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the
third quarter. The play, which was Penn's longest kickoff
return since Frank Riepl went 108 yards against Notre Dame in
1955, electrified the Homecoming crowd as toast rained down
between the quarters. Click to watch the highlights, including
Chris Wynn's electrifying 98-yard kickoff return.
"DEJA
VU
ALL
OVER
AGAIN":
Princeton
31,
Penn
30
(2
OT)
(November
4, 2006)
Somehow, the ending didn't
seem all that strange. Sure, there were two overtime periods
that included two botched kicks, a blocked field goal and an
impromptu running back-to-quarterback pitch, but Penn's fate
recently seemed to suggest that the Quakers couldn't have won
even with a perfect performance. The Quakers dropped a 31-30
double-overtime heartbreaker at Princeton, their third
extra-frame loss in a row, setting the NCAA Division I record
for consecutive overtime games and eliminating themselves from
the Ivy League title race. Aside from a career-long 38-yard
field goal by wideout-turned-kicker Braden Lepisto, Penn's
kicking game held true to form; the Quakers had problems every
step of the way, from the snap to the hold to the actual kick.
Sprint football call-up Peter Stine missed a gimme from 23
yards out before leaving the game, and Penn's special teams
unit made a mess of two overtime kicks. The first, a field
goal from 20 yards out in the first possession of the first
overtime, was doomed by holder Matt Reinert's inability to get
the ball down. The second was an extra point following a
25-yard touchdown strike to Matt Carre from quarterback Robert
Irvin, and may have been the most heartbreaking play that Penn
had seen in these three unfortunate weeks. A converted kick
would have sent the game into a third overtime, but a low snap
from Ted Rosenbaum led to a mad scramble by Reinert to the end
zone. And just like most things had gone recently, Penn was
just a couple yards short, sealing its fate in the Ivy League.
However, Penn might not have even been in this position had an
unorthodox play not bailed Princeton out of a failed
fourth-down conversion. Penn put forth an admirable goal-line
stand on the Tigers' second overtime possession, stuffing
Terrell and running back Rob Toresco on three straight plays.
But the kicking unit stayed on the sidelines on fourth down,
and Princeton once again went to Toresco. Stopped in his
tracks before the goal line, Toresco had nowhere to go.
Terrell, however, did. Toresco pitched it straight back to his
quarterback, and Terrell scampered into the end zone
untouched. But perhaps Toresco's goal-line pitch never should
have happened as the Quakers appeared to have stopped the
sophomore's forward motion, and perhaps he should have been
called down. Click to watch the highlights.
"WHO NEEDS OVERTIME?": Penn
22, Harvard 13 (November 11, 2006)
With a
chance to go up by a pair of touchdowns, the Penn offense ran
into a wall. So out strode Penn's leading wide receiver,
Braden Lepisto, to try a 38-yard field goal. He left no doubt.
When the ball sailed through the uprights to make the score
17-7, Lepisto had delivered a clear message to visiting
Harvard: This would not resemble Penn's last three games.
There would be no points left on the field. The Quakers went
on to defeat the No. 17 Crimson, 22-13, snapping an
NCAA-record three-game overtime losing streak. Harvard
tailback Clifton Dawson broke the Ivy League record for career
rushing yards on a 55-yard run, just his second carry of the
game. But the Quakers ruined his big day in the end. That was
hardly a foregone conclusion, even though Penn only trailed
for the opening 10 minutes. Harvard drove 44 yards in three
plays to set up a field goal as time expired in the first
half, making the score 20-13. But that was the last time the
Crimson would threaten. Punter Anthony Melillo pinned Harvard
inside its own 3-yard line on three straight possessions in
the second half, and regaining the field-position battle
proved to be too much even for Dawson and quarterback Liam
O'Hagan. Neither team could add anything offensively to the
scoreboard in the second half. The lone points came for Penn
in the fourth quarter when O'Hagan tripped two yards deep in
his own end zone for a safety, making the game a
two-possession battle with 6:38 remaining. Click to watch the highlights.
Cornell 28, Penn 27 (November 18, 2006)
Different opponent, same story.
For the fourth time in five games, the Quakers suffered a
close loss resulting from special teams mistakes. So it was an
appropriate season finale at Cornell when the Red and Blue
lost, 28-27, after failing on a trick play for a two-point
conversion with under two minutes to go. Nobody watching the
first three quarters could have predicted the wild fourth
quarter and bizarre finish. By halftime, Penn quarterback
Robert Irvin had only completed one of eight passes for a
total of 11 yards. Quakers running back Joe Sandberg, who
figured to be a factor against a relatively weak Cornell rush
defense, couldn't get much running room. The senior scored
four touchdowns in the game, but all of those scores came from
inside the 10, and he had just 58 yards on 19 carries. Things
didn't look good for the Big Red going into the fourth quarter
as Penn led 14-7. With starting quarterback Nathan Ford out,
Cornell was forced to rely upon freshman quarterback Stephen
Liuzza, who had been inconsistent both throwing and running
the ball. But Liuzza wouldn't relent to the pressure as he led
his team to a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback. After Penn
was forced to punt from deep in its own territory, the Big Red
made a quick score to knot it at 14. Soon after, a 74-yard
pass to receiver Anthony Jackson set up a draw play, and
Liuzza ran it in to make it 21-14. With momentum shifting in
Cornell's favor, Irvin found his groove and receivers Matt
Carre and Braden Lepisto for big gains, leading to another
Sandberg touchdown run. But the Big Red was unfazed, and it
hit back immediately. Bryan Walters returned the ensuing
kickoff 88 yards for a score and had the home crowd, band and
bench on their feet. Irvin again led Penn on a 70-yard
touchdown drive. But Bagnoli opted to run a fake PAT that had
holder Scotty Williams pitch the ball over his shoulder to
kicker/wide receiver Lepisto, who was supposed to run it into
the corner of the end zone. However, the play broke down after
a bad snap, and Cornell snuffed out the last chance for the
Quakers to win back the Trustees' Cup, the trophy that has
gone to the winner of the Penn-Cornell game since 1894. Click to watch some of the highlights.
Yale 26, Penn 20 (3 OT)
(October 20, 2007)
Not again. Penn lost a football
game. In overtime. Check that -- in triple overtime. And once
again, this loss was not without its controversy. Controversy
No. 1 -- did Yale running back Mike McLeod get into the end
zone on third down during Yale's possession in the third
overtime? It appeared that he bounced off the ground about a
half-yard shy of the end zone, but his momentum (and reach)
put the ball over the line. However it appeared, the refs were
quick to signal touchdown. Controversy No. 2 -- facing
fourth-and-goal from inside the 1, and needing a touchdown to
tie the game, Penn rolled a halfback pitch to the left. Joe
Sandberg caught the pitch and quickly realized he had nowhere
to go -- Yale had sniffed the play out. Sandberg turned back,
came to the right side, and with several more Yale defenders
bearing down on him had the wherewithal to throw a pass to
fullback Nick Cisler in the end zone. Touchdown! Hold on.
Flag. The penalty? Ineligible man downfield. Bring it back
five yards and re-play fourth down. This time, quarterback
Bryan Walker tried Braden Lepisto on a slant route, but the
ball sailed a bit and slid through the leaping Lepisto's
outstretched hands. Final score: Yale 26, Penn 20. The final
sequence capped off a wild affair at Franklin Field, one that
provided several riveting moments for the Homecoming crowd of
15,668 and a national television audience on the YES Network. Click to watch some of the
highlights.