1953 Penn Quakers football team

The 1953 Penn Quakers football team represented the University of Pennsylvania during the 1953 college football season.[1] In head coach George Munger's final season at Penn, the Quakers compiled a 3–5–1 record and were outscored 152 to 96 by their opponents. Although they finished with a losing record, Penn played a tough schedule, opposing four different ranked teams in a row, and defeating No. 10 Navy, 9–6. Their three losses against ranked teams were by a combined 24 points, including a ten-point loss against Notre Dame.

1953 Penn Quakers football
Conference	Independent
1953 record	3–5–1
Head coach	George Munger (15th season)
Home stadium	Franklin Field

1953 Eastern college football independents records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 14 Army			–					7	–	1	–	1
Harvard			–					6	–	2	–	0
Franklin & Marshall			–					5	–	2	–	0
Hofstra			–					6	–	3	–	0
Penn State			–					6	–	3	–	0
Yale			–					5	–	2	–	2
Carnegie Tech			–					5	–	3	–	0
Boston College			–					5	–	3	–	1
Boston University			–					5	–	3	–	1
Syracuse			–					5	–	3	–	1
Princeton			–					5	–	4	–	0
Tufts			–					4	–	3	–	0
Cornell			–					4	–	3	–	2
Holy Cross			–					5	–	5	–	0
Temple			–					4	–	4	–	1
Colgate			–					3	–	4	–	2
Columbia			–					4	–	5	–	0
Fordham			–					4	–	5	–	0
Villanova			–					4	–	6	–	0
Drexel			–					2	–	3	–	1
Brown			–					3	–	5	–	1
Penn			–					3	–	5	–	1
Pittsburgh			–					3	–	5	–	1
Dartmouth			–					2	–	7	–	0
Buffalo			–					1	–	5	–	1
Bucknell			–					1	–	8	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	Vanderbilt		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 13–7	35,000	[2]
October 3	Penn State		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 13–7	51,000	[3]
October 10	California	No. 20	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	L 0–40	52,000	[4]
October 17	No. 17 Ohio State		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	L 6–12	44,270	[5]
October 24	No. 10 Navy		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 9–6	52,210	[6]
October 31	at No. 16 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 14–24	57,655	[7]
November 7	No. 1 Notre Dame		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 20–28	69,071	[8]
November 14	Army		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	L 14–21	47,305	[9]
November 26	Cornell		Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	T 7–7	38,159	[10]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

1. "Pennsylvania Game by Game Results". web.archive.org. 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
2. Bibb, John (September 27, 1953). "Late Penn Scores Tip VU, 13-7". The Nashville Tennessean. Nashville, Tenn. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
3. Smith, Chester L. (October 4, 1953). "Fourth-Quarter Pass Beats Penn State, 13-7". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pa. sect. 4, p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Sullivan, Prescott (October 11, 1953). "Larson, Marks Pace Cal Landslide". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, Calif. p. 40 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Schlemmer, Jim (October 18, 1953). "Ohio State: One Good Quarter Beats Penn, 12-6". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
6. McCulley, Jim (October 25, 1953). "Last-Minute Penn Kick Topples Middies, 9-6". Sunday News. New York, N.Y. p. 101 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Middlesworth, Hal (November 1, 1952). "Penn Rallies to Lead; U-M Rallies to Win". The Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Mich. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Smith, Red (November 8, 1953). "Notre Dame, Lattner Subdue Penn, 28-20". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Good, Herb (November 15, 1953). "Army Rolls 75 Yds. in 4th Period to Top Penn, 21-14". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pa. p. S1 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Danzig, Allison (November 27, 1953). "Penn Ties Cornell as Munger Ends Career as Quakers' Football Coach". The New York Times. New York, N.Y. p. 31.