The defense — the last piece of the puzzle — has fallen into place just in time. Harvard is on the horizon and a title lays in the balance.

In football, as in life, timing is everything. At no point was this more evident than in the first quarter of Penn’s 37-9 victory over Princeton Saturday at Franklin Field.

The late-game heroics that have kept Penn in contention for a share of the Ivy League title came a little bit earlier against the Tigers. THE BUZZ: The Good, Bad and Ugly from Penn-PrincetonELI COHEN: Defense steps up just in time

Penn football legend Adolph “Beep Beep” Bellizeare may have been known for his fancy footwork on the field, but his rushing yards are far from his greatest legacy at Penn.

With three teams tied for second place in the conference, the Red and Blue have to win out to secure at least a share of the rings.

Playing football with the same group of guys for four years has a funny way of strengthening camaraderie. For three Class of 2012 Quakers, the ties go back even further.

NFL veteran Roy Hilton has been teaching his grandson Brandon Copeland about the game since his grandson picked up a football in fifth grade.

Penn and Brown’s mudbowl in Providence, R.I., wasn’t the only football game affected by Saturday’s storm.

The official box score reads, “Temperature: 47, Wind: 10-15, Weather: rainy, cold.” If that told the whole story, the 2011 Quakers would still be undefeated in the Ivy League.

After a 6-0 loss to Brown on Saturday that ended an 18-game Ivy League winning streak, it was clear: this team was not made to go undefeated in league play for the third straight year. RECAP: Brown ends Penn’s 18-game Ivy win streak

On a rainy Saturday afternoon at Brown, the Quakers lost their first Ivy game in two years in an ugly 6-0 affair. THE BUZZ: The Good, Bad and UglyALYSSA KRESS: With streak over, weight of history lifted from Quakers

Facing a dominant Brown team on the road, the Penn football team might be slapped with the ‘underdog’ tag in an Ivy League matchup for the first time since its 2009 title run. But don’t count the Quakers among those who see this pivotal game that way.

On Nov. 19, just before the Quakers kick off their final home game of the season against Cornell, a statue of the man they call “Concrete Charlie” will be unveiled.

When the Quakers took on the Lions two weeks ago, Penn freshman Matt Schwartz was on the field with his twin brother Roy — on the opposing sideline.

As solid as Penn’s offense looked in Saturday’s fourth quarter against Yale and in all of its late-game comebacks, I’m worried about the defense giving up big plays.

As the third quarter came to a close Saturday, several members of the Yale football team held four fingers aloft.

Despite being down 20-10 at one point, the Quakers rallied back to win their 18th straight Ivy game, 37-25. VIDEO: Penn vs. Yale highlightsGALLERY: The best photos from the 2011 Penn football seasonTHE BUZZ: The good, the bad and the ugly from Yale