PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania and Princeton football teams met for the 109th time on Saturday at Franklin Field, and the Quakers won the game 38-35. It was the highest-scoring game in this rivalry since Penn pinned a 46-28 loss on the Tigers all the way back in 1940.
 
That said, when the game was over the Homecoming crowd of 9,073 was walking out of Franklin Field with nearly as many talking points as there were combined yards (979) in the contest.
 
First the good stuff. The final scoring of the day came with just 1:12 remaining, when Will Fischer-Colbrie found his All-America wide receiver, Justin Watson, for a 15-yard touchdown. It was the last of eight catches for Watson on a day when he became the program's all-time leader in career receptions and added to his records for career receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Jack Soslow nailed the PAT, and that set the margin at three.
 
As it turned out, the final 1:12 is when the game got most interesting. And, you might argue, most controversial.
 
Penn's kickoff was a touchback, so Princeton started on its own 20 and immediately gained 11 yards when Chad Kanoff found Tiger Bech. However, the Tigers were called for a false start, called a timeout, then got hit with another false start which pushed them back to their own 21-yard with a first-and-20.
 
Kanoff then threw a pass to Jesper Horsted that was tipped and picked off by Jyron Walker in front of the Princeton sideline. Game over, right?
 
Not so fast. Penn was called for offsides, and the next thing you knew Princeton was snapping the ball with first-and-15 at its 26, Kanoff hitting Stephen Carlson for a first down at the 41. Perhaps buoyed by the second chance, the Tigers went for 22 yards on their next play as Kanoff hit Jordan Argue to get the ball well into Penn territory.
 
Kanoff missed his target on first down after that, but on second down he hit Bech for 19 yards to the Quakers' 18-yard line and another first down. The next play was another pass for five yards, to the 13.
 
On second and five, and with 12 seconds left, Kanoff sent a pass into the deep right corner of the end zone that Carlson appeared to bobble and then catch. Immediately, the referee on the sideline signaled touchdown and the Princeton bench went crazy.
 
Not so fast.
 
The referee on the back line ran in and signaled no catch. After a discussion, and despite massive protestations from the Tigers sideline, that call remained.
 
Princeton still had seven seconds left, though, and with it being third down the Tigers decided to kick a 31-yard field goal and send the game to overtime. Two Penn timeouts later, the ball was snapped and the ball was kicked.
 
Wide right.
 
Pandemonium switched sidelines, the Quakers players bouncing all over the place and being held back by the coaches lest they get called for a delay-of-game penalty. (There were still three seconds left.) Order was finally restored, Fischer-Colbrie took a knee, and only then could everyone breathe.
 
Yup, it was a game people won't forget, or stop talking about, for a long time. On either side.
 
The win was Penn's second in a row, and pushed the Quakers to 2-3 in Ivy League play. Amazingly, after this weekend's results around the league the Red and Blue are still mathematically alive for a piece of the Ivy League title, but the first orders of business have to be wins at Harvard next Saturday and then at home against Cornell in two weeks.
 
Princeton (5-3, 2-3 Ivy) wasted no time getting on the board on Saturday, taking the opening kickoff and using nine plays to drive 80 yards for the opening score. The scoring play was a 22-yard pass from Kanoff to Carlson.
 
Penn came right back on its own opening drive, needing 11 plays to cover its 80-yard drive after the Princeton kickoff. The Quakers punished the Tigers with eight rushing plays on the drive, which ended with Abe Willows running it in from a yard out to tie the score.
 
Penn's next drive bridged the first and second quarters, and ended with a 34-yard Soslow field goal that gave the Red and Blue a 10-7 lead. The drive covered 71 yards and took more than seven minutes.
 
That lead bulged to 17-7 on Penn's next drive, another one defined by the Quakers' run game as all 11 plays and 52 yards came on the ground. Willows earned the final 35 in four plays, the last an 11-yard gain up the middle that saw him bounce off a few Princeton tacklers on his way to the end zone. The 17-7 score held up to halftime.
 
Penn finished Saturday's game with 317 rushing yards, and had two runners go over 100 yards on the day (Willows 136, Tre Solomon 116). The last time the Quakers had that happen was Sept. 18, 2004.
 
Penn had the first possession of the second half, and the Quakers took advantage with their third touchdown of the day. The 79-yard drive ended in spectacular fashion, as Fischer-Colbrie faked a pass, held the ball for a beat, and with the Princeton rush closing in on him threw a perfect ball into the far right corner of the end zone. Watson somehow caught it in stride and kept his feet in to complete a 36-yard play that was breathtaking at both ends and put Penn up, 24-7
 
However, Penn essentially gifted Princeton the game's next 14 points to make this a game. Punting from his own 26, the Quakers punter shanked it off his foot and out of bounds just 14 yards downfield. Given the ball in Penn territory, the Tigers did not hesitate to take advantage, using four plays to get to the end zone. Penn's next possession then started with a fumbled handoff at its own 14, which Princeton recovered, and this time the Tigers needed just three plays to score. Just 1:15 passed between scores.
 
Princeton's scoring plays were mirror images of each other: Kanoff threw an out pass to Horsted at the sideline, Horsted shook off a leg tackle and then beat a second defender to the pylon. The first score went to the right, the second to the left. After the second, Penn's lead was a nervy 24-21 as the teams entered the final quarter.
 
Penn scored to restore some semblance of confidence, but that also came with a measure of controversy. The Quakers faced fourth and three near midfield, and chose to go for it. Fischer-Colbrie and Solomon rolled out on an option play to the left, and Solomon broke free for the first down and suddenly was in the open, running across the field for a sure touchdown. However, as he got to the 5-yard line Solomon raised the ball in triumph before hitting the end zone and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Instead of an easy score, Penn was marched back to the Princeton 20. Fortunately for Solomon, four plays later the Red and Blue were back in the end zone as Karekin Brooks punched it in.
 
Princeton's offense was clicking by this time, however, and the Tigers marched right down the field for their third score in as many drives. The drive was 79 yards and took just 3:12, ending with a Charlie Volker rush from a yard out that made the score 31-28 Penn with 8:47 to play.
 
Penn fumbled another exchange near midfield, and once again Princeton came up with the football. Again starting in Quakers territory, the Tigers once again took advantage and went up 35-31 -- their first lead since 7-0 -- with a five-play drive that ended with Volker taking it in around the left end.
 
Penn, which has been victimized so much by late scores this season, could have wilted. Instead, the offense went out there and put together a gutsy, 80-yard drive that took 3:14 off the clock. One final time, the Red and Blue's run game did its part, with six rushes totaling 34 yards. The other 46? Those game from Watson, who had a five-yard reception, a 26-yard catch to get the Quakers to Princeton's 18, and then the final catch in the end zone to provide the winning points.
 
Penn's game with Harvard next Saturday will kick off at noon.