Penn sprint football quarterback Mike Loguidice led his team in a valiant attempt to win, but mistakes and a poor night of blocking dampened all hopes for capturing the Allegiance Bowl title. In the end, the Quakers fell to Cornell, 20-12.
In the loss, Loguidice performed well, completing 15-of-25 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
Cornell has been one of Penn's fiercest rivals, and the Big Red beat the Quakers 24-17 in Philadelphia last season. Penn had hoped to restore some of its pride by taking down Cornell in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., but the Big Red took an early lead in the first quarter that Penn could not recover from.
According to Penn coach Bill Wagner, the biggest problem for the Quakers was the offensive line's inability to sustain blocks, allowing Loguidice to be sacked eight times.
Penn had the opportunity to take the lead several times, failing to score when the game was still close.
Cornell's Michael Fullowan helped his team score first by rushing for a two yard touchdown, but the two-point conversion that the Big Red attempted came up short. With six points up on the board, Quakers tight end Tomas Altamirano caught a 19-yard touchdown catch from Loguidice, but, like Cornell, Penn couldn't convert the point-after-touchdown when kicker Peter Stine's kick was blocked.
The stalemate between the Quakers and the Big Red continued until the third quarter. Cornell was able to score a 4-yard touchdown when quarterback Zak Dentes connected with Jason Remillard, making it 13-6, Big Red.
The Quakers continued to fight back, but, yet again, misfortune was at Penn's door. Sophomore wide receiver Mike D'Angelo was able to make a 4-yard catch to seemingly tie the game up, but yet again Stine's extra point attempt was thwarted by Cornell as the third quarter ended, 13-12.
Cornell's Dentes - later named game MVP - ran for a 6-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. With its best effort, Penn tried to salvage the game in the final minutes. The Quakers got as far as the 30-yard line, but as they seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough, time ran out.
Wagner recognizes that something must be done in order to put Penn on the right track for the rest of the season.
"Some major improvements have to be made before our game against Princeton," he said.
But in relation to the game against Cornell, Wagner conceded that it was just not Penn's day.
"We just didn't put Cornell away when we had the opportunity," he said.
