A FRONT ROW VIEW: Quakers rely on their experience

The Pennsylvania Quakers football team wins. It is that simple. After the dynasty in the 1980s, when the Quakers won five consecutive Ivy League titles, coach Al Bagnoli has brought back that winning attitude. Bagnoli's squads, which have only lost only three games during his two-plus years at the helm, believe they are invincible. They come out expecting to win every single contest. Why shouldn't they? They have not lost a game since 1992. So when the Quakers marched onto the turf of Franklin Field Saturday to face the traditionally hapless Columbia Lions, why should they have expected anything less than another victory? These are the same Lions, after all, who hold the Division I record for consecutive losses. "Winning is an attitude," Columbia safety Jim Hudnall said. "They have an attitude. You can see it when they walk on the field. They expect to win." But what transpired Saturday was nothing short of a miracle. The Lions came out fired and ready to knock off the defending league champions. The Quakers calmly went through the motions, with little, if any, emotion. The Lions ripped through the field on their first possession to take an early 3-0 lead. The Quakers calmly came back and tied the game. "We weren't really that concerned," senior running back Terrance Stokes said about the halftime attitude in the Penn locker room. "We weren't concerned about losing.?We figured things would eventually go our way." So the second half was not the same as the first half. The Quaker defense once again shut down the opposition. The defense, which starts eight seniors and three juniors, knows how to win games. Those 11 men realize when the offense has only put three points on the scoreboard by halftime, it is up to them to control the game. Just like in every other game, the defense once again saved the game. As the intensity picked up, the Quakers only allowed the Lions past midfield once in the second half. But even this outstanding performance was not enough to ignite the dormant Penn offense. However, the Quakers did get close enough to the Columbia end zone to connect on four field goals. Every time Penn faced a long third down, Mark DeRosa found the sure hands of all-American wide receiver Miles Macik. After one seemingly perfect third-down conversion, Columbia linebacker Jim Lill grabbed his helmet in disbelief. Then Bagnoli looked to his sure-footed kicker -- Andy Glockner. Once again, an experienced senior came through in the clutch. "They play with a tremendous amount of intensity," Holy Cross coach Peter Vaas said last week. "That comes from having been exposed to success in the past. When you have success, success breeds success." And when you lose, that losing attitude snowballs. So down by six midway through the fourth quarter, the Lions should have known what was coming -- another 'L.' But the Lions had a chance on a fourth-and-long situation. But then again, this is Columbia. "I think you have to learn to win in these types of games," Bagnoli said. "We've been through plenty of close games with 17-14 and 34-30 scores, and that's something that just evolves. I give the Columbia team credit, but it just takes a little time to be able to win in those tight situations." And that is what Saturday's game eventually came down to -- the Quakers know how to win, the Lions just do not. Joshua Friedman is a College senior from Beverly Hills, Calif., and sports editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian.

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