Villanova is the only team to defeat Penn football since 2002.
However, there was a meaty 17-game winning streak sandwiched in between the two Wildcats victories.
The Red and Blue's 16-13 loss Saturday night was completed in a style very different from the 17-3 Villanova victory in 2002.
Two years ago, the Quakers traveled to Villanova and played against a veteran Villanova offense on a rainy day that left much to be desired for the Red and Blue.
On Saturday, the two teams squared off with fairly similar rapports -- each entered the game with a young offense still learning the West Coast playbook and a seasoned defense capable of big plays.
The Wildcats (3-1) won with team statistics comparable to Penn's, but they were helped by a Quakers kicking unit that was not as commanding as the one that tallied 13 points against San Diego the weekend before.
Down 16-0 after three quarters, the Quakers (1-1) looked finished. But after going 3-for-16 in the first 45 minutes of play, Penn junior quarterback Pat McDermott turned it on, going 7-for-15 for 103 yards and two touchdowns in the final quarter to keep the hope of maintaining the longest Division I-AA winning streak alive.
However, Penn failed to recover the subsequent onside kick attempt, and the Wildcats ran the clock down to 12 seconds, not enough time for Penn to launch a scoring drive from its own 15-yard line.
"I think our offense grew up a little bit today," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We made some plays, but unfortunately we didn't make enough."
The Quakers began the game moving the chains, and even got to Villanova's 6-yard line on their second drive after Wildcats punter Adam James bobbled a bad snap.
The drive ended when Penn senior kicker Evan Nolan's 23-yard field goal attempt was blocked with 10:45 left in the first quarter.
On the next Penn drive, the Villanova defense started to tighten its grip on the game. McDermott was sacked twice, and Villanova defensive end Jamil Butler forced and recovered a fumble by junior running back Sam Mathews.
"I don't think I felt as comfortable as I would have liked in the pocket," McDermott said. "They forced me to move around, which wasn't what I wanted to do."
Villanova's first score came after sophomore quarterback Marvin Burroughs completed a 45-yard pass to sophomore receiver Chris Polite, an atypical play for a West Coast offense.
The pass set up Villanova senior running back Terry Butler's 1-yard touchdown run.
"We're not normally a long passing team, but our guys kept coming back and saying that we had to take a shot," Villanova coach Andy Talley said. "[Our receivers] think they can run past everybody."
On Penn's next drive, Butler forced another fumble, this time in the backfield. All McDermott could do once he recovered the ball was run to the back of the end zone for a safety.
Penn's next two drives ended in two more missed field goal attempts, with one getting blocked again and another one hitting the left upright. Penn went into halftime trailing, 9-0.
"I don't know if it was the kicker, the snap or the protection ... usually it's a combination of both," Bagnoli said of the missed field goals. "And it was big, since points came at a premium."
Penn finally broke its scoring drought with 6:11 remaining in the game, when senior receiver Dan Castles made a stellar catch in the corner of the end zone to score the Red and Blue's first touchdown. After a three-and-out drive by Villanova, Penn launched an 80-yard drive with 2:53 left, ending in a touchdown catch by senior Matt Makovsky to cut the Villanova lead to three.
Both drives came after Villanova defensive back Ray Ventrone, "one of the hearts and souls of the defense," according to Talley, left the game after breaking his tibia.
Penn's final drive proved to be very controversial, especially for a 12-second attempt to cover 85 yards. On Penn's first play, McDermott looked as if he made an attempt at a forward pass, but the clock continued to run as the ball bounced out of bounds.
The game ended, but restarted after the officials finally convened to correct this mistake.
"It was a very experienced crew, so it was surprising that they wouldn't gather together and at least talk about it and make a decision" right after the play," Bagnoli said. "The whole ending was a debacle."
With 4.2 seconds put back on the clock, the Quakers got one more shot at the end zone, but two laterals ended in a fumble and a Villanova recovery.
After the game, the lessons learned were mentioned more often than the ending of Penn's winning streak.
The media "makes a lot more of these streaks than the players do," Bagnoli said. "We know eventually that everything comes to an end.
"We are somewhat disappointed that we had some opportunities and could not take advantage of them, but we have a much clearer idea of what we can and cannot do when we come out of this game. ... We could have easily won this game by more than a touchdown if we had made some plays early."
