The year was 1896.
Gas cost four cents a gallon, Grover Cleveland ruled the Oval Office, "separate but equal" was all the rage and Dartmouth's football team visited Penn's newly erected home stadium for the first time - falling 16-0 to the two-time defending national-champion Quakers.
Sure, a lot has changed in the 112 years since that 19th-century day, but Saturday afternoons on 33rd and Spruce Streets have remained largely the same.
Tomorrow at noon, the Big Green (0-2) return to Franklin Field for the 47th time, helping Penn (0-2) mark its 800th game at the historic site.
"Some of the greatest games in Ivy League history have occurred there," Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said in a statement. "It is truly a special experience."
But the Quakers are not here to talk about the past - especially the recent past.
After thwarting the Big Green in nine straight meetings entering last season's Ivy opener, the Red and Blue saw their conference prospects take an all but fatal turn with a 21-13 loss in Hanover, N.H., last September.
"That win last year was big for us," said Dartmouth safety Tony Pastoors, who garnered national exposure in a 2006 People Magazine spread on high-school proms. "It was nice to get the monkey off our back a little bit."
Despite outgaining Dartmouth on the ground and through the air and forcing three turnovers and committing none, the Quakers were unable to finish off their drives, scoring on just three of their seven trips to the red zone.
"We've prepared much better this year," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "I think both teams have had very difficult early schedules."
Indeed, while each squad has stumbled to an identical 0-2 start against some stiff non-conference competition, the tenor of these losses have hardly been comparable.
The Quakers forced overtime against No. 19 Villanova two weekends ago at Franklin Field, then nearly erased a 24-point halftime deficit in the road opener at Lafayette last Saturday.
Dartmouth, meanwhile, has been outscored 76-26 in its two contests, at Colgate and home against New Hampshire.
The defensive front seven has been of particular concern, allowing an astronomical 316 rushing yards per game. The 632 yards allowed through two games exceeds the total surrendered by Cornell, Brown, Harvard and Yale combined - by 115.
"This is one of the younger Dartmouth teams that I've seen," Bagnoli said. "They're pretty athletic . [but] we hope to exploit some of those young, inexperienced characteristics."
Given the Big Green's deficiencies up front, Bagnoli is likely to rely heavily on his rushing tandem of sophomores Bradford Blackmon and Mike DiMaggio.
After a miserable opening weekend in which he gained just 2.9 yards per carry and fumbled twice, Blackmon rewarded Bagnoli's patience with a stellar showing in the season's second game.
Displaying a repertoire of shifty moves between the tackles and a knack for bouncing to the outside, the Jackson, Miss., native amassed 102 all-purpose yards against Lafayette, highlighted by a 42-yard touchdown scamper off a screen pass from quarterback Robert Irvin.
"I'm starting to feel really comfortable," Blackmon said. "I was pressing a little in the first week."
To be sure, against a vulnerable defensive line like Dartmouth's, the Quakers should find success with the bruising, downhill running style of DiMaggio, as well.
Of course, Bagnoli also expects a little help from the 12th man tomorrow, hoping the fans will see the Quakers "fiercely defend" their hallowed home turf, something they've done 535 times in the program's history.
"Historically," he said, in the understatement of the past 112 years, "we've done very well at it."
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