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Penn Game Notes  |  Ohio Dominican Game Notes

Broadcast Information
TV: CSN Philly
Web Streaming: Ivy League Network
Radion: WNTP 990AM

Kickoff: 1:05 p.m.

PHILADELPHIA -- Welcome back, Quakers fans! The 141st season of Penn Football kicks off with the first-ever meeting between Penn and Ohio Dominican. The Quakers are coming off back-to-back Ivy League championship seasons to open the Ray Priore era and boast 10 returning All-Ivy players to lead the charge toward another Ancient Eight crown. 19 starters from last year's championship team return, including eight on the defensive side of the ball!

The Penn-Ohio Dominican Series—First Meeting
For the second year in a row, Penn plays a first-time opponent. Last year, the Quakers defeated Central Connecticut in the first meeting and the Red and Blue will look to pick up an early lead in another series this afternoon. Penn will be looking for its first-ever win against a school from Ohio. The Quakers are 0-3 all-time against Ohio schools — all three losses coming to ODU's neighbors in Columbus, Ohio State. Penn's last game against a team from Ohio was a 12-6 loss to the Buckeyes at Franklin Field on Oct. 17, 1953. 

Season Openers
All-time in season openers, the Quakers are 104-36-1 with a 2-8 record in their last 10 season debuts. The Quakers have dropped their last three season openers. The last time Penn lost four consecutive season openers was from 1955-58 as part of a five-game losing streak in season debuts. The Red and Blue are 5-5 in their last 10 season openers which have been played at Franklin Field.

Welcome Back!
No team in the Ivy League returns more All-Ivy selections from last season than the Quakers. 10 players recognized among the best in the Ancient Eight last season are back for the Quakers, led by first-team All-Ivy selections Justin Watson, Louis Vecchio and Tre Solomon. Vecchio leads five returning All-Ivy selections on the defense, joined by linebackers Colton Moskal, Nick Miller and Connor Jangro as well as safety Sam Philippi.

A Look at Ohio Dominican
The Panthers are 0-2 to start the 2017 season and will be playing their third consecutive road game to open the campaign. After a two-point loss at California (PA) in the opener, the Panthers fell behind, 27-7, at Ashland last week and could never recover in a 47-21 loss. ODU is averaging 374.0 yards passing in two games, with quarterback Grant Russell throwing five touchdowns to zero interceptions.

NCAA Record
No program in the history of college football­—at any level—has played more games than Penn. Every time they play, the Quakers set an NCAA record. Saturday's game will be the 1,374th in the Red and Blue's illustrious history. Penn is one of only five programs to pass 1,300 games, and was the first to hit that mark on Oct. 31, 2009 in an overtime win at Brown. 

Priore Powers Through the Ivy League
With a win over Dartmouth in 2016, Ray Priore became the third-fastest Ivy League head coach to record his first win over all seven League opponents. Only Ed Zubrow (Penn, 7 games in 1986) and Jordan Olivar (Yale, 7 games in 1956) swept through the Ivy League in fewer games than Priore's eight.
 

Penn Scoring Trend at Home
Home is where the points are. Penn has gone 135 consecutive games at home without being shut out. The last time the Quakers were scoreless at home was a 24-0 loss to Dartmouth on Nov. 18, 1989.

Leading Indicators
Penn has protected leads as well as anyone in the country under Ray Priore. The Red and Blue are 12-0 when leading at halftime, and 13-0 when leading at the end of the third quarter.

Setbacks Pave The Way for Comebacks
Penn is now 4-2 under Ray Priore in games following a loss. The last time Penn dropped consecutive Ivy League games was in 2014 when Penn lost four Ancient Eight contests in a row from 10/25-11/15.

Reeling in Ranked Teams
The Red and Blue are 3-1 all-time against ranked opponents under head coach Ray Priore. In addition to last week's 27-14 win over #22/24 Harvard, that record includes a 35-25 win at No. 12/13 Harvard and a 24-13 win at #5/4 Villanova in 2015.

First-Time Signal Callers
The Red and Blue will have a first-time quarterback under center today. Senior Will Fischer-Colbrie is the expected starter, while sophomore transfer Nick Robinson and freshman Ryan Glover are the backups.
For comparison's sake, here's what the trio's predecesor, Alek Torgersen did in his first start at QB for the Quakers in 2014 at Jacksonville:
    14-for-33 passing for 200 yards
    1 touchdown
    2 interceptions
    Team-high 65 rushing yards on 12 carries with one rushing TD

Solomon's Success Equals Penn's Success
The Quakers are 10-1 in games where Tre Solomon finds the end zone. The lone blip on the record came in 2016 against Fordham. Penn is 9-0 in Ivy League games were Solomon rushes for a touchdown.

Pearson Propels Penn
Much like Solomon, Christian Pearson's ability to find the end zone usually results in a Penn win. Pearson has at least one touchdown in nine career games and the Quakers are 8-1 in those games — with win in the last eight games he's hit paydirt.

Watson's Catch Of The Day
Justin Watson has appeared in all 30 possible games during his career and has made at least one catch — in fact he has at least two — in all 30 games. His run of 30 consecutive games with at least one catch is a Penn record and he enters today tied for No, 4 all-time among Ivy League players.

Vecchio Vanquishes Opponents
Senior defensive end Louis Vecchio has had multiple tackles for loss in back-to-back games entering 2017. He had three TFLs — all sacks — against Harvard before closing 2017 with a pair of TFLs at Cornell. He had a team-high 10.5 TFLs last season.

Quakers In the NFL
Training Camp opened for the NFL with four Penn alums vying for spots on NFL rosters. At the end of camp, 2013 alum Greg Van Roten found himself with a spot on the Carolina Panthers — after being the last man signed and invited to camp the day before it opened. 2017 alum Alek Torgersen was in camp with the NFC champion Atlanta Falcons before finding a home on the practice squad with the Washington Redskins. 2013 alum Brandon Copeland was injured in the first preseason game with the Detroit Lions and will be out for the season.

Sam Philippi Is Matched as Bone Marrow Donor
Each spring, Penn Football joins programs around the country in registering potential bone marrow donors through the "Be The Match" registration drive. In November of 2016, safety Sam Philippi was found to be a match as a potential donor. Then a sophomore, Philippi played his way to second-team All-Ivy honors before donating in early December. Philippi is the third Penn Football player to be selected as a donor while active with the Quakers since the program started.

Gutsy Quakers Find Favor On Fourth Down
In 2016, Penn ranked No. 9 among all FCS prorgams and No. 1 in the Ivy League in 4th down conversion percentage. The Quakers were 17-for-25 on fourth down, good for 68%.

Discipline, Discipline, Discipline
Penn was the 10th-fewest penalized team in all of FCS football in 2016, averaging 4.6 infractions-per-game. Penn's 40.6 penalty yards-per-game were seventh-fewest among all FCS team.

Priore Primed When Facing Ivy's Winningest Coaches
Third-year head coach Ray Priore is the shortest-tenured head coach among the eight bench bosses in the Ivy League, with just 20 total games to his credit. However, he has found early success against the two winningest-coaches in recent Ivy history — Harvard's Tim Murphy and Columbia's Al Bagnoli. Priore is undefeated (4-0) against the two coaches who have 115 Ivy League wins apiece. Priore is one of only four current Ivy head coaches with a winning record in Ancient Eight play.