Football battles back to beat Bears

While staging one of the most dramatic comebacks in its long and storied history, the Penn football team kept itself in the Ivy League title hunt today with a 41-38 home victory against Brown. Penn (4-3, 3-1 Ivy League) quarterback Gavin Hoffman shattered his previous single-game passing record of 399 yards in today's victory, connecting with eight different receivers for 476 yards and three touchdowns. He also vaulted himself to second in the Penn record books for total offense in a game, falling just eight yards short of Reds Bagnell's 50-year-old mark of 490 yards by scrambling for a net total of six yards - including a one-yard sneak into the end zone that cut Brown's lead to 38-33 with 2:49 remaining. Brown (4-3, 1-3) quarterback Eric Webber passed for 399 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. Penn students and parents began filing out of Franklin Field midway through the fourth quarter when Brown kicker Sean Jensen's 22-yard field goal put the Bears up, 38-20, on a Quakers squad that hadn't scored since the start of the second quarter. Seven and a half minutes later, though, it was the Red and Blue rushing the field in celebration after the enlivened Penn offense scored three straight touchdowns in just four minutes to nab a three-point lead. The Quakers defense then survived Brown's final play - a hail mary pass from the Bears' 36-yard line followed by five consecutive laterals around midfield - to secure the win. Quakers wide receiver Colin Smith tallied 132 yards on eight catches, while wide receivers Doug O'Neill and Rob Milanese both scored touchdowns on 100-yards receiving. On the ground, Penn running backs Kris Ryan returned from a sprained knee to run for 88 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. Mike Verille also found the end zone for the Quakers. Bears wide receiver Stephen Campbell - the all-time Ivy Leauge receptions leader with 253 catches coming into today's game - caught 17 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns.

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