Great Games in Penn History: Nov. 13, 1982

On the verge of making history, the Pennsylvania Quakers made time stand still. Following a sequence of plays that will long be remembered for the emotions involved as much as for what actually happened on Franklin Field, Dave Shulman kicked a 27-yard field goal to give the Quakers a 23-21 win over Harvard and bring Penn at least a share of its first Ivy League title since 1959. But to do it, the Quakers needed two plays when there was time for only one. With three seconds left, Shulman lined up for a 38-yard attempt that sailed wide to the left as time ran out. Harvard was ahead, 21-20, and the Ivy League title appeared destined for Cambridge. Except that a yellow flag changed destiny. "The first time," a drained coach Jerry Berndt recalled of the field goal, "my heart was down in my toes. I said, 'Oh my Lord, we lost this ballgame.' Then all of a sudden I saw the flag out on the field -- it was incredible." It was incredible. Harvard was called for running into the kicker, penalized 10 yards, waited through Penn's final time out, and then could only watch as Shulman made his second chance count. "I didn't want to stay with the team [during the timeout]," the junior kicker said in a noisy, crowded locker room after the biggest Penn win in over two decades. "You don't want to get involved with the emotion of the team. You've got to stay away, keep your composure. You can't think about anything else." It is not hard to see where composure could have been lost. With 13:19 left in the game, the Quakers opened up a 20-0 lead and were so completely in control of the game that the frenzied crowd of 34,746 had every reason to sense a championship. But Harvard came back to score three touchdowns in seven minutes, and the Quakers were suddenly fighting for their lives, trailing by a point. After giving up a crushing touchdown to Harvard on a fourth-and-goal from the three-yard line, the Quakers went through a sack, an injured quarterback, a deflected pass completion and back-to-back first downs before they could even set up the field goal chance. What happened in the last 1:24 was almost too unbelievable to comprehend while it was happening. "I'm a little disappointed at myself that I wasn't more enthusiastic and encouraging to the offense," junior defensive tackle Bill Lista admitted. The Quakers began their final drive at their own 20-yard line. Gary Vura (18 of 28, 199 yards) had to scramble out of the pocket for one yard. On the next play, he was sacked at the Penn 15. The Quakers had used 32 precious seconds to back up five yards. And then things got worse. Vura connected with wide receiver Rich Syrek for an 18-yard gain and a first down, but finished the play lying near his own end zone. As he was helped off the field, it looked like the Quakers were finally out of miracles. Fred Rafeedie came in to throw the ball out of bounds and stop the clock, with 24 seconds left. But with their backs to the ultimate wall, with the emotion level close to the bottom, the Quakers found a spark. Vura fired the ball over the middle for Warren Buehler at midfield. The ball and cornerback Chris Meyers hit Buehler at the same time, and the ball lost. But instead of falling to the ground, it popped into a trailing Syrek's hands for a 19-yard gain into Harvard territory, and somehow, some kind of chance seemed possible. Vura hit Buehler on the right side with 10 seconds left for 16 yards. And then he hit tailback Steve Flacco for 11 yards to the 21. And then Berndt pointed his finger at Shulman. After the first field goal, there was the stunned quiet of the crowd and the eruption of the Harvard bench. "They roughed the kicker," Berndt said, "but you don't know if that's going to be called or not. My emotions went from Mount Everest to the depths of the ocean to back to Mount Everest again." That second trip up Everest came when the penalty flag flew, and the crowd erupted while the Harvard bench took its turn being stunned. The Penn players formed a blue mass in the middle of the green field, which was quickly mixed with fans pouring out of the stands. The first casualty was the west goal post, which was attacked, brought down, dragged to the Schuylkill River and drowned.

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