NCAA television controversy

See: NCAA Football television controversy

In 1951, the NCAA attempted to stop any live broadcast of college football games during the season, which affected Penn due to them being one of only two colleges to enact this practice (the other being Notre Dame). After public outcry, the NCAA restricted the number of games televised for each team. Penn attempted to circumvent the rules through its contract, but they had to back down due to the NCAA's threat of possibly expelling the Quakers from the association.

National championships

Penn has been named national champions seven times by NCAA major selectors, and claims all seven championships.^[6]

The Billingsley Report named the 1907 Quakers national champions under Billingsley's original formula. Updated Billingsley rankings no longer name Penn national champions in 1907, but Penn continues to claim the championship.^[7]

Conference championships

Penn has won 18 conference championships (all of which in the Ivy League), winning 13 outright and five shared.^[8]

† Co-champions

Cornell

Penn/Cornell game, 2019

The series with Cornell dates to 1876. Penn leads the series 73–46–5 through the 2017 season.^[10]

Harvard

The series with Harvard dates to 1881. Harvard leads the series 48–38–2 through the 2017 season.^[10]

Princeton

The series with Princeton dates to 1876. Princeton leads the series 66–42–1 through the 2017 season.^[10]

Notable Quaker players

• Reds Bagnell – 1950 Maxwell Award winner, All-American, runner up for the Heisman Trophy, College Football Hall of Fame
• Chuck Bednarik – namesake of the Chuck Bednarik Award, 1948 Maxwell Award winner, Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame
• Bert Bell – former NFL commissioner, founder, owner & coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pro Football Hall of Fame
• George H. Brooke – Twice All-America, College football Hall of Fame.
• Truxton Hare – Consensus All-American every year he played, College Football Hall of Fame, winner of silver medal in the hammer throw at the 1900 Summer Olympics
• Jim Finn – 1999, New York Giants starting full back in Super Bowl XLII
• John Heisman – namesake of the Heisman Trophy, College Football Hall of Fame
• Florian Kempf – Professional soccer player and NFL kicker for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints
• Alden Knipe – All-America, led team to 1894 national championship.
• Leroy Mercer- All-America, College Football Hall of Fame, Olympic athlete
• Skip Minisi – first-round NFL draft pick, College Football Hall of Fame
• Bob Odell – 1943 Maxwell Award winner, College Football Hall of Fame
• John H. Outland – namesake of the Outland Trophy, College Football Hall of Fame
• George Savitsky – All-American tackle in the 1940s, only four-year All American of the 20th century in College Football, in the College Football Hall of Fame, drafted by Philadelphia Eagles.
• Kevin Stefanski – Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns

Individual award winners

Penn's total of three major award winners surpasses several BCS programs to this day.

• Maxwell Award

Bob Odell – 1943

Chuck Bednarik – 1948

Reds Bagnell – 1950

• Ivy League Coach of the Year

Jerry Berndt – 1984

Ray Priore – 2015

College Football Hall of Fame

Eighteen former players have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.^[11]

Quakers in the NFL Draft

Chuck Bednarik (aka "Concrete Charlie") played gridiron football at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a '60-minute man', excelling as a center on offense and linebacker on defense, was a three-time All-American gridiron football player, and was elected a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, drafted as number 1 pick in 1st round of 1949 NFL Draft by Philadelphia Eagles.

A total of 51 players from Penn have been drafted in the NFL^[12] including NFL Hall of Famers Chuck Bednarik (#1 overall pick in 1949) and NFL first-round pick Skip Minisi.

Penn 30, Navy 0

On October 18, 1986, Penn defeated Navy 30–0 in front of Navy's Homecoming crowd. Penn finished the season undefeated at 10–0, 7–0 in the Ivy League for their 5th straight Ivy League title.^[13]

Penn 35, Harvard 25

On November 14, 2015, Penn defeated 12th ranked Harvard 35–25 at Harvard Stadium. This win ended Harvard's 22-game winning streak; their first loss since October 26, 2013.^[14] With this win, Penn improved to 6–3, 5–1 in the Ivy League, and with a 34–21 win in their next and final game against Cornell, were able to clinch a share of the Ivy League title along with Harvard and Dartmouth. The title capped a remarkable comeback season for Penn. After back-to-back losing seasons in 2013 and 2014, Penn started the 2015 season at 1–3, including a loss in their Ivy League opener, but rallied with 6 straight wins to end the season.

Penn 27, Harvard 14

On November 11, 2016, Penn defeated 22nd ranked Harvard at Franklin Field. This win ended Harvard's Ivy record 13-game Ivy road game win streak.^[15] With this win, Penn improved to 6–3, 5–1 in the Ivy League, and into a three-way tie atop the Ivy League alongside Harvard and Princeton. Penn scored two touchdowns in the game's final 17 seconds, headlined by an 80-yard touchdown drive engineered by quarterback Alek Torgersen and a last second scoop and score by Tayler Hendrickson. A 42–20 victory the next week against Cornell gave Penn a share of the 2016 Ivy League title, making them back-to-back champions for the first time since 2009–2010. A Harvard loss to Yale in "The Game" the next week dropped the Crimson out of title contention.

Penn 23, Harvard 21

On November 13, 1982, Penn defeated Harvard with no time left on the game clock at Franklin Field. This win clinched a share of the Ivy football title for Penn. While Penn led 20–0 with nine minutes to play, Harvard scored three touchdowns in just eight minutes. However the Quarterback Gary Vura, starting at his own 20-yard line with just a minute and 24 seconds left, marched his team down the field, setting up a field goal attempt by kicker Dave Shulman. Shulman's 38-yard attempt was tipped by a Harvard player and went wide left. But Harvard was called for roughing the kicker. Since a game cannot end on a potential decision-changing defensive penalty, Shulman kicked again, this time from the 11-yard line and his 27-yard field goal was good.^[16] Although the Quakers did lose the following weekend to Cornell, their victory that day, after three losing seasons of 0–9, 1–9 and 1–9, gave Penn a share of the Ivy title for the first time since 1959, which had been its only Ivy title. It also marked the turning point in Penn's Ivy football play, with the Quakers winning or sharing another 16 Ivy titles during the 35 years since then.