Penn-CCSU Box Score (PDF)
 
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Perhaps still stinging from last weekend's final-play loss to Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania football team got punched in the mouth by Central Connecticut State to start Saturday's game. It looked like the Quakers might weather the storm at Arute Field, but CCSU used a pair of sustained second-half drives to take the wind out of the Red and Blue's sails and gain a 42-21 victory.
 
The difference in this game? Among others, how about CCSU's three interceptions which turned into 21 points (six of them directly on a 79-yard return). Combine that with nearly 300 yards rushing, and it was an overwhelming Devils performance that Penn could not overcome.
 
It was a game where Penn was down 14-0 after one quarter and 28-7 midway through the second before getting within 28-21 just before halftime. However, the Quakers were their own worst enemy on offense in the second half and could not contain the Blue Devils on defense in falling to 2-2 overall on the season. Central Connecticut is now 3-3 overall and has won three in a row for the first time 2010.
 
Penn started with the ball, and it was a promising beginning as Will Fischer-Colbrie found Nick Bokun for 45 yards down the middle on the first play. The next play brought a reversal of fortune, however, as Fischer-Colbrie was intercepted by Tymir Hinton. The Blue Devils took advantage, mixing the run and the pass for a 10-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Drew Jean-Guillaume scoring just inside the left pylon from 14 yards out.
 
It was 14-0 after CCSU's next drive, a carbon copy of the first as the Devils needed one fewer play (9) to go the same amount of yards (70) and scored in similar fashion. This time, it was Courtney Rush took it around the left side on a jet sweep and tucked the ball inside the left pylon.
 
It was a disastrous first quarter for Penn, who ran seven plays for a grand total of six yards following that opening 45-yard play. By comparison, Central Connecticut ran 24 plays for 159 yards.
 
It looked like Penn was finally getting its offensive game going to start the second quarter, as the Quakers gained a pair of first downs and moved past midfield. However, Fischer-Colbrie again was picked off, and this time Najae Brown took it 79 yards down the left sideline for the pick-six—CCSU's third in the last three games.
 
However, Penn was on to something. Nick Robinson took over at QB following an injury to Fischer-Colbrie on the next drive, and completed three passed in a row as the Red and Blue went 69 yards over five plays. The final of those three completions went for the score, as Christian Pearson snared it in traffic at the goal line for a 15-yard play.
 
The Quakers then attempted a pooch kick, but the ball went out of bounds and CCSU started near midfield. Just five plays later, Jake Dolegala found Jean-Guillaume for the score to make the score 28-7.
 
Penn got right back to business behind Robinson, who got the Quakers to CCSU's 44-yard line and then found Justin Watson all alone on the right sideline. The All-America candidate took it from there, outrunning a pair of defenders to the end zone to make the score 28-14. Overall, Watson had seven catches for 99 yards and became just the second Penn wideout and the sixth in Ivy League history to move past 3,000 yards receiving.

Watson now has 3,083 receiving yards over his illustrious Penn career. He is 327 yards away from setting a new Penn record. Watson's seven catches give him 232 for his career -- also No. 6 among Ivy wide receivers all time and No. 2 in the Penn record books. He is 28 catches away from a new Penn record. Along the way on Saturday, he extended his Penn career record for consecutive games with a reception to 34 -- closing in on the Ivy record of 39.

Watson's pair of touchdown receptions give him 25 for his career, No. 10 all-time among Ivy League players and three away from the Penn program record.
 
The Quakers got within a score before halftime, as Robinson found Watson in the end zone with 18 seconds left before the break to complete a 62-yard drive that took just one minute. It was 28-21 CCSU at the half.
 
The teams traded possessions to start the second half, before Central Connecticut used a sustained drive that took up much of the third quarter en route to a 35-21 lead. The drive went 15 plays, covered 86 yards, and took more than seven minutes and ended with a rush that was fumbled and recovered by a Blue Devils player in the end zone.
 
Penn looked like it might respond, but once again CCSU took it away. This time it was Robinson who was picked off, as he telegraphed his pass to the right sideline and Tajik Bagley picked it off at the Blue Devils 12-yard line. Once again, Central Connecticut converted it into points with a second-straight sustained drive (11 plays, 88 yards, 6:22 of time) that ended when Dolegala raced 11 yards into the end zone on a fourth-down play.
 
Penn's final push of six Ivy League games begins next Saturday, when the Quakers travel to Columbia and face the Lions in a game that will kick off at 1:30 p.m.