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Quakers, Wildcats both need a victory

After opening the season with a 25-point loss to Lafayette that was its worst at home in 60 games, the Penn football team will make its second outing against Villanova on Saturday night at Franklin Field.

Penn's football team hasn't beaten Villanova since 1911. (H Rumph Jr./AP file photo)
Penn's football team hasn't beaten Villanova since 1911. (H Rumph Jr./AP file photo)Read more

After opening the season with a 25-point loss to Lafayette that was its worst at home in 60 games, the Penn football team will make its second outing against Villanova on Saturday night at Franklin Field.

The Quakers, who are the two-time defending Ivy League champions, fell hard against Lafayette. A punt was blocked, and they committed three turnovers and attracted far too many penalty flags.

Penn was coming off a 9-1 finish that included a 7-0 mark in the Ancient Eight. Like other teams around the country, the Quakers lost a bunch of contributors to their recent success. What that led up to was the team's worst first-game defeat in 31 years.

The Quakers did not score in the second half. The final was 37-12.

"It was clunker against Lafayette," said Penn coach Al Bagnoli, whose team's eight-game winning streak entering the game against the Leopards was the longest in the Football Championship Subdivision. "No excuses. We weren't good in any area. We weren't good on offense. We weren't good on defense, and we weren't good on special teams. Just a total debacle from my perspective. There were a lot reasons for it. But it doesn't matter at this point. We have tried to put it behind us. The blames starts with me and goes on down. Hopefully, we learned how well you have to prepare to win week in and week out."

The last team to handle Penn as a visitor like Lafayette did was Villanova, which drubbed the Quakers 34-6 in 1999. But the Wildcats are winless after three outings this year.

In Penn's debut for the season, all-Ivy League quarterback Bill Ragone had a rough day. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound junior was 8 for 23 passing with two interceptions as he wound up with 91 yards through the air. Bagnoli also used backups Ryan Becker and Andrew Holland, though Becker usually plays some, and Holland finished out the game.

"Our quarterback has been able to play well. He didn't necessarily play well last week," Bagnoli said. "But, we're hoping that's just an aberration."

Leading 16-12 at intermission, Lafayette took control with a 14-0 third period on a 73-yard pass play and a 31-yard interception return.

"Right after the game, we were down,'" said Penn safety Jimmy McGoldrick. "It was embarrassing. We knew we were much better than the way we played Saturday."

The Quakers came out for practice this week eager to prepare for redemption. Their returnees, which include 32 letterwinners, three starters on offense and four on defense, have eight all-Ivy players among them.

Bagnoli is expecting his experienced players to lead the Quakers back to solid ground.

"We're searching," Bagnoli said. "We graduated a tremendous amount of talent, not only on the field but in the weight room, in the locker room and in leadership. We're waiting for our seniors to give us that stability we all need on the field."