The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Penn football at Columbia

It sure wasn't pretty but Penn football pulled a 21-7 victory at Columbia with a strong defensive effort.

THE GOOD: Penn's defense

It is hard to describe Penn's defensive effort as anything but dominant. The Quakers held Columbia to four first downs the entire game, including just one in the final three quarters. And with the Lions possessing the ball down by seven in the fourth quarter, Evan Jackson came up with a big interception that led to Penn's game-sealing touchdown. Overall, the Red and Blue gave up just 118 yards, and just 33 yards on 29 rushing attempts.

THE BAD: Special teams

It wasn't pretty for Connor Loftus against Columbia. Loftus had a chance to get Penn on the board in the first quarter but missed a 31-yard field goal. And when given a chance to extend the Quakers' lead to double digits in the third quarter, he missed from 37 yards out.

Meanwhile, Penn's special teams were consistently beat by Columbia, as Lions punter Paul Delaney boomed kicks all game, including a 58-yard punt with no return.

Both teams were penalized early and often on Saturday, turning the game into a sloppy affair. Penn totaled 12 penalties for 105 yards while Columbia racked up another 85 yards in penalty yardage. Each team consistently shot themselves in the foot with penalty after penalty. Columbia defensive back Marquel Carter racked up three personal fouls all by himself.