Turn Back the Clock | Al Bagnoli's first game as Penn football's head coach

On Saturday in Hanover, Al Bagnoli will be on the sidelines for his 221st game as Penn football’s head coach, facing Ivy-rival Dartmouth. 220 games ago, Bagnoli and the Quakers made the same trip to New Hampshire to take on a very different Big Green squad.

Bagnoli’s first game as Penn coach began well but ended badly, as the Red and Blue fell, 36-17, to the defending champion Big Green.

In 1991 — the year before — Dartmouth was an offensive juggernaut, having averaged an impressive 28.3 points per game.

Bagnoli entered the program promising a new spread offense based on a one-back, four-wide receiver attack. With the new system, there was some hope that the Red and Blue would be able to increase their offensive production from the year before, but few expected that the Quakers would be able to keep up with the Big Green.

However, it was Penn’s new defensive system — designed by Bagnoli and then-defensive coordinator Mike Toop, both of whom worked together at Union College previously — that stole the show.

At least in the first half.

The Red and Blue’s defense dominated in a low scoring first half to start the season, shutting out the Big Green. One touchdown was good enough to give the Quakers a 7-0 lead going into halftime.

Once the third quarter started, though, it didn’t last long.

Then-Penn quarterback Mike Barthlow got the second half off to an inauspicious start for the Quakers when he threw an interception on third down that was returned deep into Penn territory.

“I think the momentum changed with the interception,” Barthlow said. “I think we kind of got down on ourselves.”

The mistake proved to be the ignition that would get the Big Green offense going for the remainder of the game, as then-Dartmouth quarterback Jay Fiedler caught fire.

Two plays later, Fiedler was able to connect with wide receiver John Hyland for a 13-yard score, and it was all downhill from there for the Quakers.

When all was said and done, the Big Green torched the Red and Blue for 273 yards and 22 points in the third quarter alone. The sleeping giant had been awoken, and there was nothing that the Red and Blue could do about it.

“Obviously, it’s not the way you would want to script it,” Bagnoli said. “I’m not sure what went wrong after halftime ... All of a sudden we stopped doing the things we were doing before.”

Fiedler’s efficiency in the second half was almost unheard of. He only threw the ball 11 times in that span, but he completed eight of them and tied an Ivy record with five touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Barthlow wasn’t nearly as efficient, completing only 12 of his 33 total attempts.

The Quakers enter this weekend’s matchup with a different set of expectations, having defeated Dartmouth last year in a thrilling four-overtime contest.