For four years, senior Mike Loguidice has quarterbacked the Quakers.
At 7 p.m. tonight, he will walk onto Franklin Field for the last time in Penn's sprint football match against Princeton (0-5).
"As long as we win, that's the only way you want to go out," Loguidice said.
This will mark the second time that the Quakers (2-4) and Tigers have faced off this year. In the first meeting, Loguidice went 9-for-13 for 105 yards and four touchdowns as the Quakers coasted to their only victory of their year, 50-15. Despite the team's earlier romp, coach Bill Wagner is quick to point out that Penn will be well prepared coming into this game.
"I think that just because we beat them, you can't really have any feeling of overconfidence because it's a football game and Princeton has some good football players," Wagner said.
In fact, Loguidice even spun the earlier victory around into a possible disadvantage for Penn.
"It's tough when you have to face someone twice in a season . because they know what you have. They've seen your offense; they've seen your defensive packages," he said. "It makes it that much easier for them and for us."
In the earlier matchup, the Quakers had a preview of what the Tigers will probably throw at them today.
"They have this wide-open, spread: Texas Tech, five receivers, a lot of people running around, throwing a lot of passes," Wagner said.
The Quakers stuffed what little running game the Tigers threw at them, holding Princeton to a measly 11 yards on 13 rushing attempts. However, Wagner was quick to point out that Princeton is coming off a bye week, and has an opportunity to beef up its running playbook.
Apart from the dominating performance against the Tigers earlier this year, the Quakers have been struggling this season. They are coming off three consecutive losses, including an embarrassing one 21-2 defeat against Navy last Friday.
"This team is very resilient," Wagner said. "They are surprisingly able to respond and rebound much faster than probably the coaching staff."
Loguidice hopes that the team will continue to show its trademark resilience against Princeton as he performs his swan song. When asked how he felt about his four years playing sprint football at Penn, he responded: "Second to none, really. I felt the same way when I was done with football my senior year in high school. The camaraderie of the guys - you can't get it anywhere else."
If only as a tribute for what Loguidice has done for sprint football at Penn, the Quakers hope to help him make his swan song a masterpiece.
