Three weeks ago, a media poll anointed Harvard the favorite for the upcoming Ivy League football season, but recent personnel losses could vault Penn right back to the top.
In June, the Crimson lost captain Matthew Thomas, an all-league linebacker the previous season, after he was suspended for all of 2006.
The situation got worse for the Crimson when coach Tim Murphy was forced to suspend starting quarterback Liam O'Hagan for unspecified team rule violations.
Thomas' punishment was doled out in response to an incident involving his ex-girlfriend for which he has been charged with assault and battery, breaking and entering and destruction of property.
Last season, Thomas led the Crimson defense with 69 tackles and three fumble recoveries.
Senior linebacker Ryan Tully has since been named the new team captain.
On the offensive side, O'Hagan, a junior, has been suspended for the first five games of the season.
Murphy has only said that his suspension is due to a violation of team rules.
O'Hagan finished second in the league in passing last season, throwing for 2005 yards with a 59.9 percent completion rate.
"Going into it, if you had to ask me, before all the crazy stuff happened at Harvard, would Harvard have been the top choice?" Penn head coach Al Bagnoli asked. "Most people would have said yes. [After the suspensions,] I'm not sure what's going to happen there."
The Harvard roster features no senior quarterbacks, but does contain two other juniors: Richard Irvin and Chris Pizzotti. Of the two, only Irvin saw playing time last season, completing 19 of 33 passes for 240 yards. However, Murphy has named the untested Pizzotti the starter, according to a report by The Harvard Crimson.
Although there's no guarantee the Crimson will be the league's best squad after the key losses, they do have several factors working in their favor. They will still start all-Ivy running back Clifton Dawson, who has a chance to break the Ivy League record for career yards (4,715, by Cornell's Ed Marinaro) in his senior season, already having amassed 3,618.
Harvard isn't the only team trying to deal with key losses this season. Dartmouth's sophomore starting quarterback Josh Cohen has been suspended from the university for two terms - and the entire football season - due to poor academic performance.
His loss will leave Dartmouth with no experienced signal callers, and open the door for either senior Mike Fritz or junior Tom Bennewitz to lead the team.
Last season, Cohen started the last six games of his freshman campaign, completing 58.5 percent of his passes for 1,529 yards. Neither Bennewitz nor Fritz saw action and could face competition from three incoming freshmen.
Penn received two first-place votes in the media poll and totaled 99 points, putting the Quakers just ahead of defending champion Brown, which received three first-place votes for a total of 94 points. Harvard led the poll with 116 points overall, including nine out of 16 possible first-place selections.
After Harvard's losses, however, the season looks to be a three-team race.
"Brown, the defending champion should always be up top. . The trick is to try and consistently win, and that becomes difficult to do," Bagnoli said.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.