ITHACA, N.Y.
The record will show that Penn finished this football season at 5-5 and 3-4 in the Ivy League, identical to last year's record. It will also show that the Quakers lost its five games by a total of 15 points, with a 27-20 loss to Villanova being the worst defeat.
Additionally, Penn has lost three games in overtime and lost on Saturday because coach Al Bagnoli did not want to go there again.
But, for at least the second time this season, Bagnoli started a press conference after the loss by blaming himself.
"That's completely my fault," he said.
"I take the blame strictly and solely on me."
Bagnoli said he was responsible for not getting the Quakers ready to play on Saturday. And they did come out flat, but looking back on this season, it was a few big plays that led to Penn's demise; if the Quakers had made these plays, they probably would have won the Ivy League championship.
If things had gone differently - the missed field goals, botched snaps, a couple defensive and special teams breakdowns - Penn could easily have been 10-0.
While every non-championship season ends with a what-if look back at the season, it has never been more appropriate to do this than for Penn's team this season.
The 28-27 loss to Cornell was a perfect example of the kind of season the Quakers have had.
Penn gave up a number of big plays; struggled offensively; chose not to try to score points at the end of the first half despite having 1:33 left to play with all three timeouts remaining; and could not make enough clutch plays to pull out the win.
"It's been that kind of year," Bagnoli said.
This season, Penn was outgained by its opponents by an average of about nine yards per game; yet Penn also outscored its opponents by an average of 3.7 points per game.
The unusual stats exemplify the odd year that Penn has had and show how close Penn came to having a successful season.
But it's not all bad for the Red and Blue.
Running back Joe Sandberg decided to use his final year of eligibility next season after having an All-Ivy-caliber season where he ran for 1,042 yards and had 13 touchdowns, including four against the Big Red.
Sophomore quarterback Robert Irvin has shown signs of maturation and will start next season with a full year of college experience under his belt.
And while there are 17 seniors who played their last game Saturday, some of whom filled important roster spots (wide receiver and defensive line especially), Penn will not be taking a major hit from graduation. Its two most important offensive players and more than half of its starters will be back next year.
Bagnoli has, by his own admission, not done his best coaching job this season. And it has shown. But he has a chance to come back next season and use the lessons of 2006 to have a strong 2007.
"The seniors, I thought, deserved a little bit better than what they got this year," Bagnoli said after Saturday's loss.
He's absolutely right, and his job is to make sure that he isn't saying the same thing a year from now.
Josh Hirsch is a senior urban studies major from Roslyn, N.Y., and is former Senior Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is jjhirsch@sas.upenn.edu.
