Unlike last year, Penn volleyball coach Kerry Carr has the veteran firepower needed to keep the team from being reliant on freshmen.

Penn football’s recent upset victory over Villanova — the program’s first in more than 100 years — has sent tremors throughout the Penn Athletics community.

They say defense wins championships. But while its too early to talk about championships for Penn field hockey after only one Ivy League contest, it looks like the team’s offense is ready to prove this well-known maxim wrong. After losing to Liberty on the first day of the 2015 season, the Quakers’ attack has been nothing short of unstoppable in the three weeks since.

Tear, strain, break, and fracture. In the midst of a season packed with daily practices and arduous games, injuries are an unfortunate and inevitable part of all sports. For Penn women's soccer, injuries are the ill-fated reality with which they must deal.

Penn football's stunning win over Villanova last Thursday earned its players some hardware this week. On Monday, sophomore wide receiver Justin Watson was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week.

For all of Penn’s student-athletes, there exists a never-ending juggle between athletic and academic commitments.

Number 29 got the ball with just under seven minutes left in the first quarter of Penn sprint football’s home opener. With the Quakers already up 7-0, the freshman running back looked like he wasn’t going to gain any yardage as multiple Franklin Pierce players made contact with him.  But he shocked everyone by fending off the Quakers' opponents before reeling off another 20 yards into the endzone.

If Penn football is going to buck one of the longest active losing streaks in the sport, it might actually be the squad's lack of game experience in 2015 that helps it out.

This past weekend marked the first time in 2015 that each of the Red and Blue's fall sports teams were in action.

Nigel Blackwood and Gavin Barger were granted the special opportunity of training together at the highest level of junior soccer before ever donning the Red and Blue.

While Mike Beamish may have graced the gridiron at Franklin Field last Saturday, Penn sprint football will have to adjust to life without its former star and captain this season. Beamish participated for the fifth time in the program's annual Alumni Game last weekend, but not as a member of the Quakers' current team.

"For anything to be worth anything, it takes time."

The play of Penn football’s defense in 2014 was, well, indefensible. The Quakers struggled mightily to stop opposing offenses a year ago, surrendering an average of 31.9 points per game.

Change is inevitable. Nothing continues forever... except for time and, maybe, space, but that’s not the point.

Penn football operates under a microscope. With that said, it seems curious that the biggest guys on Franklin Field are consistently the most overlooked.

Alek Torgersen has something to prove. This year it’s not about proving he’s capable of locking down the top spot at quarterback.

Penn football’s first game may come a full two weeks after most teams begin their seasons, but a high level of competition has been brewing for weeks in Quakers' practices at Penn Park. As the Red and Blue approach their opener against Lehigh, position battles have been on the minds of many coaches and players.