Turn Back the Clock: A comeback of epic proportions

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In a tribute to last week’s historic fourth quarter domination of Yale, this week’s segment focuses on what may be Penn football’s most epic comeback in its history. It is also the first time I’ll turn back the clock to a Penn victory — so after two weeks of Penn football winning after blogging about losses, we'll see if this post does not have the reverse effect.

On this day in Penn sports history …

October 28, 2000: Like this year’s Penn-Brown football matchup, the Y2K version also had title implications. Down 18 to Brown with less than five minutes to go, it looked like Penn’s shot at an Ancient Eight title was over. Already with one Ivy loss on the season, the team couldn’t afford a second. Coming back from three scores seemed improbable, but not impossible, as the two teams had two of the best offenses in the Ivy League. Coming into the game, Brown led Division I-AA with 514 yards per game, 30 more than the next team. And if you thought this year's defense is scary, check out the scores from the two previous games betweens the Quakers and Bears: Brown won both games — 44-37 in 1998 and 55-51 in 1999.

The matchup took place over Family Weekend, so the game saw a slight boost in attendance. But after Brown’s kicker put one through the uprights to give the Bears a three-score lead with just over 10 minutes to go, most of the folks that stayed after the toast-throwing headed for the exits. After scoring 20 points in the first half, the dynamic Quaker offense was held scoreless for the first 25 minutes of the second frame. Then quarterback Gavin Hoffman hit Rob Milanese on a 48-yard bomb, and there was a glimmer of hope.

The pass brought the Quakers to the Brown 8-yard line, and two plays later, Hoffman found Jason Battung for a touchdown, cutting the score to 38-27. The drive took all of three plays and 27 seconds to complete, and left Penn with 4:37 to try and even the score.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Red and Blue attempted an onside kick but failed to recover it, and Brown started their drive at the Penn 41. A first-down run play for three yards in the wrong direction must have scared Brown coach Phil Estes away from the run, as the next two plays were passes — both which went incomplete, and forced the Bears to punt with just over three minutes remaining. The Quakers started their drive at midfield, and on the first play, Hoffman hit Doug O’Neill for a 49-yard strike. From the 1-yard line on the very next play, Hoffman kept the ball on a quarterback sneak for a touchdown, and though Penn’s two-point conversion attempt failed, they were within one score, 38-33. The drive took only 17 seconds and two plays.

For whatever reason, the Bears came out throwing again when they got the ball back. (That’s a common theme in this epic comeback tale — Brown keeps passing.) Though the Bears completed their initial pass for 17 yards, three straight incompletions following that forced them to punt yet again. The Red and Blue got the ball back with more than enough time. Only a touchdown would suffice, and it would put Penn in the lead.

Unlike the previous two drives, this one would not be easy. Starting at his own 38 yard-line, Hoffman hit Colin Smith on the first play for an 18-yard pass play to move into Bears territory. Two incompletions then brought up a third down, but Hoffman hit Smith again on the next two plays, first for 19 yards to get the first down, and then for 13 to put Penn at the Brown 12. A 10-yard completion to Doug O’Neill, and the Quakers were within two yards of taking the lead. A false start penalty set them back five yards, and time was ticking off the clock — there was less than 30 seconds remaining. But finally, on the drive’s eighth play, Hoffman found Milanese on a swing pass, and the Quaker receiver then proceeded to “break through seven yards of attempted tackles,” according to the DP, and ran in for the go ahead score with 0:28 on the clock. A two-point conversion put Penn up, 41-38.

Brown had one final chance to win the game on the last play, when they completed four legal laterals and came uncomfortably close to the Penn end zone. But the fifth lateral sailed out of bounds and Penn celebrated its historic comeback. The Red and Blue went on to win the Ivy title that year — outright — by walloping a 5-1 Cornell team on the final day of the season.

Also on the day, Penn quarterback Gavin Hoffman passed for a Penn record 476 yards, shattering the previous record of 399 yards he set himself the previous year against Columbia. This record still stands today.

On the triumphant comeback and Brown coach Phil Estes’ decision to continue passing despite holding the lead late in the game, Penn coach Al Bagnoli had this to say:

I assume that if you have those kind of receivers and the quarterback is putting up the kind of numbers he is, you are going to try and throw some high percentage passes. But if you don’t complete them, time doesn’t come off the clock … This league right now seems to have everything. It seems to have drama, big plays, comebacks. It’s a spectator’s delight and a coach’s nightmare.