Can this year's Quakers hold on to big leads late in games?

It started in week six last year, when Penn surrendered a 21-point lead in the last 11 minutes against Yale before winning in overtime.

It continued the next week, when Penn almost blew another 21-point advantage, this time letting Brown score two touchdowns in a five-minute span.

Against Harvard, in week nine, it happened again. Penn entered the fourth quarter leading 29-9. However, the Crimson fell just six yards short of having an opportunity to send the game into overtime.

For Penn football in 2003, it seemed as if for almost every big lead that the Quakers would build, Penn's opponents would mount an equally impressive comeback late in the game.

Sure it made otherwise boring and lopsided games a lot more interesting, but Penn coach Al Bagnoli would have preferred the end of last year's games to remain one-sided.

"A lot of what happens in the end of the games is that kids get fatigued," he said. "We were nowhere near the depth we normally have. We just wore out as games went along."

Last year's squad struggled with injuries and inexperience at defensive back, which contributed to its struggling to maintain leads.

A tri-captain this season, defensive back Kevin Stefanski missed almost all of last season with cartilage damage to his knee.

This forced then-junior Brian Arguello to play an unexpectedly large role in the defensive secondary, joining 2004 graduates Rudy Brown and Pat McManus.

Last year's sophomore class was also "thrown in the fire," Arguello said.

This lack of depth and experience in the secondary allowed opposing offenses to drain the secondary's energy in the first three quarters and then make a late charge in the fourth.

Opponents outscored the Quakers 84-55 in the final quarter last season.

Returning Yale quarterback Alvin Cowan especially had his way with the Quakers secondary late in the game, converting 3-of-4 fourth-down conversions in the last quarter.

But Penn's failures last season will most likely help the squad this year.

The lack of depth in the secondary gave valuable experience to the defensive backs, who will now see extensive playing time this season.

"Just seeing from camp, they've grown up tremendously," Arguello said of last year's sophomore class. "Now with Kevin anchoring the back, we are a lot more experienced. We've definitely learned a lot."

"We're really deep," Stefanski added. "We're going to roll up to 10 guys in the game.

"We've got some experience back there and we've got some young guys who can play, and that's a good match."

But even more importantly, last year's late game breakdowns have made it extremely evident to Penn's secondary just how important it is to close out a game.

"A point of emphasis throughout the entire offseason and in training camp was that we wanted to finish everything we did," Stefanski said. "Unfortunately, we always look back to that fourth quarter [against] Yale. Yeah, we won the game, but our performance is not something that we were happy about walking off the field.

"So that's been our motivation -- to finish every drill, finish every route and, hopefully, every game."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.