When the Quakers received the ball at their own 44-yard line with 1:28 on the clock and the score tied, both the Penn and Columbia sidelines could feel what was coming.
After all, Penn’s quarterback has had a certain knack for orchestrating the game-winning touchdown drive — he did it two weeks earlier at Dartmouth, just as he did twice last season, while leading Penn to the Ivy title.
Billy Ragone is not the prototypical pocket passer who racks up yardage totals that give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares. He has very respectable numbers, but only five touchdowns, passing or rushing, in five games this year.
PHOTO GALLERY: The best shots from the Penn football season
RECAP: Ragone spoils Lions’ homecoming
Nor is Ragone the flashy, play-making quarterback who was born to be on highlight reels, though he is always a threat to run and can break a big play at any moment.
What Billy Ragone proved Saturday — what he continues to prove each time he conducts these last-minute heroics — is that he is a winner.
He is one of those players that seems to shine in the big moment, whether or not he’s had a great game up to that point. In the pros, there are many of these types of players, and they are often recognizable by the rings they wear on their fingers.
Critics can’t argue with the numbers that Ragone has put up in his Penn career — the numbers that matter.
Now in his third year for the Red and Blue, the quarterback has amassed an 11-3 record as a starter, going a perfect 9-0 in the Ivy League.
Those are the statistics that count, more so than passing yardage or completion rate. Those stats prove that the Quakers have been achieving what every team sets out to do at the beginning of every game and every season: win.
And while the Quakers have not lost an Ivy game in over two years, there have been some very close calls during their 17-game winning streak.
Yet, in all of these narrow games, there have been two recurring themes: Penn comes away with the victory, and Ragone plays an instrumental role in the clinching score.
In last season’s opener against Lafayette, Ragone called a quarterback sneak on a fourth down and converted it, ultimately leading to the Quakers’ winning score. Two weeks later against Dartmouth, another Ragone sneak gave the Red and Blue the win in overtime.
And it was déjà vu against the Big Green this year, except the game-winning touchdown came through the air. Saturday at Columbia, Ragone did it yet again.
While the quarterback could not have done it all on his own, it is to him that the offense looks when that big drive is needed.
And when his teammates look to him, they know what is coming. And so does the other team.
MIKE WISNIEWSKI is a junior classical studies major from Philadelphia. He can be reached at wisniewski@theDP.com
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.