Despite tremendous effort by team and city, not even the high-flying hopes on Penn's campus could push the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory.
Football fans around campus walked home dejectedly as their year-long dreams failed to come to fruition.
"Right now, I am very disappointed," Wharton and Engineering senior Scott Campion said. "But I recognize that this is the best season we've had in years, and we're not even losing any good players next year."
But even though E-A-G-L-E-S cheers and green shirts were ubiquitous around campus throughout the season, rival fans refuse to be forgotten.
Engineering freshman Joseph Frey, who proudly streaked across the Quadrangle to celebrate his team's triumph, stood up for his compatriots.
"Being on a Philadelphia campus, I feel like a minority, but that doesn't mean I am the only one," he said. "My act [of streaking] was an attempt to express the collective emotion of Patriots fans across campus who might be fearful about celebrating when everyone around is against them."
Frey's naked run -- which concluded with his stepping on broken glass -- was accompanied by screams and chants from a few spectators.
His description of the experience was almost symbolic of what many Eagles' fans felt.
"It was cold. It was nerve-wracking. It didn't end well, but it was worth it," Frey said.
Many students seem to have weathered the outcome of the game with a healthy dose of optimism.
"I don't really look at it as a huge loss," College junior Elizabeth Mathew said. "We were the underdogs, and we still had a lot of fun. You know what they say, 'Battles are many, wins are few, we stay with our Eagles through and through.'"
Mathew has already moved on and is looking towards the future.
"We're already getting pumped for next year!"
Students from other parts of the country had slightly different perspectives.
"I would have liked the Eagles to win, but I understand that loss is a necessary part of life," College sophomore Zachary Kern said. "Being from Chicago, where every year we lose everything, I can see that just getting to the Super Bowl was a step in the right direction."
Philadelphia Police were strategically stationed around the city to preempt possible unrest after the game, though no incidents were reported in the immediate aftermath.
