Robert Carr. Clifton Dawson. Nick Hartigan. If the memories Penn football fans have of these three names are particularly painful, they are ever worse for the Quakers' defensive front.
In successive games last season, Carr of Yale rushed for 167 yards, Brown's Hartigan ran for 176 as the Bears rushed for 199 total, and Princeton's ground game ate up 196 total yards.
But Penn won all of those games, and for the time, all was forgiven.
Then came November 13 at Franklin Field. Harvard came to town with the Ivy League championship on the line. Both teams were undefeated in conference play, but it was only the Crimson who came to play.
Penn was literally run off the field, allowing 243 yards on the ground -- with Dawson running for 160 of them -- as Harvard won 31-10, in a game that was not even as close as the final score may have indicated.
In those four games, Penn allowed an average of 200.5 yards a game, but it was not always that bad.
For the rest of the season the Quakers allowed an astounding 80.8 yards a game -- a full 12 yards better than the average that Penn allowed in 2003, which was second in all of Division I-AA.
So what happened in those four games? For one, the fact that Penn did not have a big lead in any of those games allowed its opponents to run the ball far more often than they had in the past.
In 2003, as the Quakers rolled to a 10-0 season, they had 410 rushing attempts compared with their opponents' 346. Last season, the numbers were reversed, with the edge going to Penn's foes, 422-350.
But aside from this statistic and the very talented and experienced running backs that the Quakers faced, Penn's front seven did not do their job.
This year, the front line is very inexperienced -- in fact, no players in the unit were starters last year.
And they are angry. They want to get their reputation back. And they are going to try to do it with a chip on their shoulder.
Penn will be playing a 3-4 defense, with sophomore Naheem Harris and juniors Brian Fairbanks and J.J. Stanton -- who by his own admission may be best known for his false start penalty that gave Penn another chance for a game-winning kick against Princeton -- up front, juniors Jim Malizia and Al Wawszczyk at the outside linebacker spot and fifth-year senior Ric San Doval and junior Kory Gedin on the inside.
"We feel we have some good players," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said.
Bagnoli was not sure how much of an impact the young starters would have on the defense, saying that he would like to see them at game speed before he can make a full judgement.
However, he had a great deal of confidence in San Doval.
Out for all of last year with a knee injury, San Doval is a team captain, and as a two-year starter in his sophomore and junior season, is by far the most experienced player in the front seven.
He will be counted on to make decisions during plays and will always be right in the middle of the formation.
"He's that stabilizing influence up front," Bagnoli said. "He brings a wealth of experience."
San Doval's younger teammates also have nothing but praise for their leader.
"He makes our jobs 10 times easier because he always knows what he's doing," Stanton said.
San Doval accepts the responsibility willingly.
"You're put in the position for a reason," he said.
For the 2005 season, though, the front seven is all about restoring the pride in Penn's rushing defense.
"Penn was the perennial rushing defense leader in the Ivy League," San Doval said. "It's something we took pride in."
And do they think they have something to prove?
"I think so," San Doval said.
"Definitely," was Harris' response.
Hartigan and Dawson will be back this year, with another year of experience under their belts.
But the Quakers defense will be ready.
