On defense, tackle Ford played perhaps his best of the season, downing five Quakers and helping take down three more, while cornerback Bergstrom tackled a pair of men in Red and Blue and notched four assists.

Those were the brightest spots of an otherwise ineffective defensive performance.

Meanwhile Vignali, one of the two best running backs in the league, was kept to only 43 yards.

The blame for that really can't go anywhere, most would agree, but an inconsolable Caron was quick to take responsibility. "It was our fault we lost, the offensive line," he said.

But all through that interminable second half, more than bad offensive line play stopped Harvard.

Penn stopped the foolproof running game and the hosts' multi-faceted offense stopped the Crimson defense.

When it was all ever, when Quaker Coach Jerry Berndt had left the field on his players' shoulders and a goalpost had left the field on the shoulders of the ecstatic fans, Penn, had also stopped Harvard's title hopes for good.

All that remains is the goal of a face-saving victory against Yale next weekend--for tradition, not the crown. "I think we have something to prove now," Vignali said.

And Bergstrom, Caron, Ford, and Vignali have one more chance to prove it.

"I don't have another season--that was a very tough way to go out." Ford said. "It's really hard to swallow, especially a loss like that."