With Penn's 14-3 win over Columbia Saturday, the Quakers tied their own record for most consecutive Ivy League football victories.
Not since Penn's Nov. 10, 2001, 28-21 loss to Harvard have the Quakers lost a game in the Ancient Eight -- a streak of 17 straight wins.
And the Quakers have not just won these games by the skin of their teeth. For the most part, they've destroyed their Ivy rivals.
The Red and Blue have outscored their league opponents by an average of 37-12 during the 17-game streak.
Only in five of these games did opponents get within two touchdowns of Penn. Only once, this Saturday, did the Quakers score under 24 points.
In seven of these 17 games, opponents have failed to score in double digits.
These numbers raise several interesting questions.
First, is Penn too good at football for the rest of the Ivy League?
According to Columbia coach Bob Shoop, Penn is the "model" football program. The school demands success from its athletic teams, especially football and basketball.
"It starts at the top with the administration," Shoop said. "If you want to be good, you'll be good. They make a commitment, from [Athletic Director Steve] Bilsky right on down to coach [Al] Bagnoli."
Penn treats its football team like a professional squad, and that makes for a very successful program.
Winning isn't hoped for, it is expected.
But Penn is not the only Ivy League football program with strong support from its athletic department.
Harvard and Yale also have a strong commitment to football success, along with the finances to back it.
Only twice in the last 10 years has a school other than Harvard, Yale or Penn won an Ancient Eight title. But Penn has outscored these programs, 151-84, during this 17-game streak, beating each one twice.
So this raises another question. How has Penn been so much better than Harvard and Yale during its win streak?
Look no further than Bagnoli.
Bagnoli has instilled in his players something Shoop calls "The Edge."
"That's the kind of confidence that borders on cockiness where when they walk on the field they expect to win," Shoop explained. "They expect success."
During this streak, Bagnoli has had to replace two quarterbacks -- Gavin Hoffman and Mike Mitchell -- both of whom were named Ivy League Player of the Year. Penn wasn't fazed.
In 2002, the Quakers didn't return a starting running back. They converted defensive back Stephen Faulk to their starting rusher and he became an All-Ivy player.
Bagnoli has proven that he can recruit top players to the Ivy League and then develop them into even better, more confident players.
Nobody was really nervous when Penn led just 7-3 in the fourth quarter on Saturday.
"We've been there before when it's a close game at the end of the game to know how to pull it out at the end," senior receiver Gabe Marabella said.
It's the same way Bagnoli's players were not worried when they trailed late last weekend against Bucknell.
Penn knows it has a better program than most of its competitors and then goes out and proves it every weekend.
Even the best teams have off days every now and then. Saturday was one of those, but the Quakers still find ways to win on those off days.
"Sometimes you win pretty and sometimes you win ugly, and this was one of the ugly ones," Bagnoli said on Saturday.
Notice how Bagnoli didn't say, "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose." Losing isn't an option for him or his players.
To the Penn coach, a 14-3 win is the worst allowable scenario.
The players say they don't think about the streak, and they probably don't.
After all, when winning is all you know, 17 in a row really isn't that special.
David Burrick is a junior urban studies and philosophy, politics and economics major from Short Hills, N.J. His e-mail address is dburrick@sas.upenn.edu
