The Penn Quakers have competed in the Ivy League since its inaugural season of 1956, and are a Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Penn plays its home games at historic Franklin Field, the oldest football stadium in the nation.

The team has won a share of 7 national championships (7th all-time) and competed in the "granddaddy of them all" (The Rose Bowl) in 1917.

Penn is one of the few college football teams to have had an exclusive contract with a network for broadcasting all their home games.

The Quakers competed as a major independent until 1956, when they accepted the invitation to join the Ivy League.

Before the start of the 2020 season, the Ivy League announced that no sports would be played until January 1, 2021, at the earliest, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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

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

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

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.

On November 13, 1982, Penn defeated Harvard with no time left on the game clock at Franklin Field.

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.