Football: Quakers end 2005 with fourth straight loss

The Penn football team ended the 2005 season with a 16-7 loss to Cornell Saturday at Franklin Field. With the loss, the Quakers (5-5, 3-4 Ivy) finished the season with a losing Ivy League record for the first time since 1997. The Big Red took advantage of an anemic Quakers offense in the second half and wore down the Penn defense with its two-pronged running attack of quarterback Ryan Kuhn and running back Luke Siwula. "It's another frustrating day for us," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "We seem to be caught in this rut, we were pressing so hard to make plays we really missed out on some golden opportunities." The Quakers struck first with just over four minutes left in the first quarter when senior Pat McDermott connected with junior Matt Carre for a 17-yard touchdown pass. But that would be the last time the Quakers would get anywhere close to the end zone. After taking a 7-0 lead into halftime, the Quakers were held scoreless in the second half and only managed 55 yards of total offense against a stingy Big Red defense. Meanwhile, Kuhn, who was fourth in the Ivy League in rushing heading into the contest, led the Big Red on two scoring drives en route to its first victory over Penn since 1999. "We just couldn't get much going on offense and kept our defense out there for too many plays," Bagnoli said. The Penn seniors ended their season on a sour note, with four consecutive losses after such an auspicious start to the season. Nevertheless, the Class of 2006 posted a record of 32-8 in its four years with the program.