Twenty seconds of fame. It’s something that everyone talks about. How will it happen? Will it make an impression? Will it last? Everyone, at some point in their life, has wondered about these questions. It happens in different ways to everybody. Penn’s Frank Riepl used his 20 seconds of fame in a very special way ? in fact, the Quaker found his fame in only 19 seconds.
On Nov. 5, 1955 Notre Dame walked into Franklin Field fully expecting an easy victory over the University of Pennsylvania. At the time, Penn had not won a game that season and was facing a 16-game losing streak. The Red and Blue faced Notre Dame as the major college football program with the longest standing losing streak in the nation. All pre-game predications had Notre Dame as a “name the score” favorite. As Penn took the field on that particular Saturday, however, the Quakers weren’t planning on going down without a fight.
After the coin toss, it was determined that Notre Dame would kick off to the Quakers. Fighting Irish kicker Paul Hornung, who would later be a successful NFL player for the Green Bay Packers, prepared to start the game. For the Red and Blue, sophomore Frank Riepl stood ready to return the kick. Riepl, who was appearing in his first game ever for the Quakers, waited anxiously for the start of the game. The whistle blew, the ball was kicked and it flew deep into the Penn end zone.
Most football players know and understand that when a kick is going to land in your own end zone, you take a touchback and start on the 20-yard line. As the ball flew through the air in Franklin Field, everyone in the stadium expected the Quakers to take the touchback. Riepl stunned everyone as he caught the ball and began moving up the field.
“I was only a sophomore and it was my first game, so I wasn’t very wise.” Riepl recalls. “I should have taken the touchback, but I really didn’t know better.”
With the biggest crowd of the season in Franklin Field stunned, Riepl ran straight at the oncoming Fighting Irish. The Quaker ran straight up the middle to the Penn 35-yard line, with the help of a number of phenomenal blocks. The sophomore then cut to the right sideline. That cut opened up the field, and no player was able to catch the young halfback as he tore down the remaining 65-yards of Franklin Field straight to the end zone. Riepl had returned the opening kick-off from deep in Penn’s own end zone 108 yards to give the Quakers a very quick 7-0 lead.
“I hit the 35-yard line, and Jolly McKinney provided a huge block that opened the field up for me,” says Riepl. The Red and Blue’s McKinney had blocked Hornung, who was Notre Dame’s last chance to tackle Riepl as he tore down the field.
When Riepl caught the ball in the Penn end zone and began to run, the enormous crowd at Franklin Field was caught off guard. As he made his way down the field, the 45,226 people were on their feet. The Fighting Irish stood stunned as the Quakers rejoiced in the end zone.
As Riepl related in 1955, “I was clear on our 35 and had only 65 yards to go. But they were the longest 65 yard ever measured. And I know a football field is at least a mile long.”
Penn’s surprise start shook up the Fighting Irish so much that they fumbled four times and threw two interceptions before regrouping. Nevertheless, the Quaker lead was short-lived, as Notre Dame replied with a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. The Red and Blue weren’t giving up without a fight, however.
The Quakers took advantage of the shaken up Notre Dame team, recovering a fumble in the second quarter that led to a scoring drive and a 14-7 lead. Who was behind the second Red and Blue touchdown, but Riepl. His teammate Bob Barber recovered the ball on the Notre Dame 13-yard line, setting up the play that would earn back the lead. On the first play, Riepl threw a pass to Barber in the end zone. Riepl, an all-around player, kicked the extra point, as he had previously in the game, to bring the Quaker total to 14.
Going into the second half of the game, Penn held the Fighting Irish to a 14-14 stalemate. The powerful opponent came back in the end of the game with authority, however. Notre Dame proved its strength, winning the game, 46-14.
Riepl had made major waves throughout the nation. His 108-yard kick return was the longest in the nation that season and stood out among all the impressive efforts. It remains the longest kickoff return in Penn history. Though the Quakers had lost the game that day, the spotlight still shined on Franklin Field.
For his outstanding game, Riepl was named the nation’s Back of the Week for his effort. The same weekend, Illinois had defeated Michigan in a stunning upset, led by Bob Mitchell, UCLA’s Ronnie Kox played tremendously, and Lenny Moore of Penn State ran all over the Syracuse defense. Of all of the outstanding players and plays in the country that Saturday, people found Riepl’s inspiring effort worthy of the honor of Back of the Week.
Frank Riepl’s 108-yard earned him more than Back of the Week honors. One hundred forty-nine sportscasters and broadcasters throughout the country came together on Dec. 6, 1995. Of that number, forty-five voted that the Quaker’s play against Notre Dame was worthy of the Most Spectacular Play of the 1955 season. The following day, the Associated Press recognized Riepl for his outstanding effort against the Fighting Irish.
Despite all of this national recognition, Riepl was a model of modesty. “Why me?” said the 19-year old Quaker in 1955. “After all, we lost.”
A half century later, Riepl remains just as modest of his success about that 1955 season, especially that famous game against Notre Dame.
“Obviously I was excited and elated about the recognition,” replied Riepl, “but I was more excited for the recognition that the team and Penn was receiving as a whole. After all, football is a team sport and we played as a team.”
Modest as he may be, Frank Riepl was and is deserving of the accolades that he was given for his play in that November game. He may have been an inexperienced sophomore who didn’t know better, and the Red and Blue may have lost, but the Quaker was truly inspirational that day. When Riepl caught the football deep in the end zone and began to run, he didn’t realize that the was about to run 108 yards into national football history. In less than 20 seconds, Frank Riepl rushed into the hearts and minds of more than 45,000 fans and cut to his right ? right into the national spotlight.
Written by Matthew Valenti
