Penn-Lehigh Box Score (PDF)
 
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania and Lehigh football teams engaged in a game that more resembled a video game than the actual on-field product on Saturday, as the teams combined for 112 points and 1,167 yards on 139 plays (a staggering 8.4 yards per play).
 
When the dust finally settled at Goodman Stadium, Penn could breathe a sigh of relief as the Quakers emerged with the 65-47 decision. As a result, the Red and Blue are 2-0 for the first time since 2004 as they prepare for their Ivy League opener next Friday against Dartmouth.
 
On such a wild day, it seemed only appropriate that the final points came when Penn intercepted a Lehigh two-point conversion attempt and ran it all the way back 100-plus yards for the game's final two points. Even the head referee was crying uncle by that time—he appeared to pull a muscle on the play and was forced to hand the reins to his staff for Penn's final drive. (A drive, by the way, in which Karekin Brooks took it 61 yards to the house but had it called back on a holding penalty. Despite that, he finished with 268 yards rushing. Think about that for a second.)
 
This was a game for the stat geeks. The Penn record book in the press box was dog-eared by the time this one was over. Among the numbers:
 
*It was Penn's highest point total in a game since a 66-0 win over Lafayette on October 5, 1946
*The 112 combined points were the most in a game in the 141-year history of the Penn football program, breaking the record of 109
*Penn had 312 rushing yards, the fifth-most since 2003 and the secone game in a row with over 300 yards on the ground.
*Penn had 615 yards of total offense, just 13 shy of the program record set in 2000
*The 47 points scored by Lehigh were the most by a Penn opponent in a Quakers win
*Brooks finished with the aforementioned 268 rushing yards, four shy of the program record set by Terrance Stokes against Princeton in 1993
 
Kickers? Unnecessary. There were just two punts in the game, one from each team. And in a game where the teams combined for 16 touchdowns, not one field goal was attempted. Honestly, the difference in the game might have been the turnovers. While both teams gave the ball away once on fumbles—both times leading to scores—Penn picked off Lehigh on consecutive possessions and did not throw any interceptions themselves. Both picks led to Quakers touchdowns, breaking a tie game, and from there Penn managed to match Lehigh score for score the rest of the way.
 
Penn started on defense, but it was a quick start for the Quakers as Nick Miller forced and recovered a fumble by Lehigh quarterback Brad Mayes just on the Mountain Hawks side of midfield. Five plays later, Penn QB Will Fischer-Colbrie banged it in on the left side on an option play and the Quakers were up 7-0.
 
Lehigh came right back on its following drive. The Mountain Hawks covered 75 yards in just six plays, almost all of them through the air as Mayes complete three passes for 70 yards including a six-yarder to Gatlin Casey that found paydirt.
 
Following an adventurous kickoff, Penn's first play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive saw Brooks bust through a massive hole in the line and rumble 61 yards to the Lehigh 3-yard line. Two plays later, Brooks moved into the QB position and ran it over the right side for the score and Penn was up 14-7.
 
Lehigh again answered, this time needing eight plays to cover 77 yards. And again, those yards came primarily through the air as Mayes completed four passes totaling 69 yards before Micco Brisker ran it in from four yards out.
 
Ironically, it was a lengthy pass play that put Penn back in front early in the second quarter. Fischer-Colbrie lofted a ball up to Christian Pearson. It looked like Jaylen Floyd might pick it off, but the ball bounced off his hands and essentially caught Pearson in stride as he took it in to complete the 43-yard play. It was the capper on a 10-play, 92-yard drive for the Red and Blue.
 
A third time, Lehigh came roaring back. Mayes found Gatlin for 37 yards on the Mountain Hawks' first play, and that was the jump-start to a seven-play, 77-yard drive that ended when Dom Bragalone ran it up the middle for the final two yards.
 
Lehigh then stopped Penn on offense, and appeared on its way to another score by quickly getting to the Quakers' 29. However, Cooper Gardner sacked Mayes for an 18-yard loss on second down, and then Mayes threw a pass that Conor O'Brien picked off Penn's 28 and returned across midfield. Tack on another 15 yards with a Lehigh penalty and the Quakers found themselves on Lehigh's 29-yard line. Four plays later, Brooks ran it up the middle for a yard, the final play in a 34-second drive that put the Red and Blue up 28-21.
 
Penn again picked off Mayes, this time Miller on the Lehigh 30, and once again the Quakers quickly made the Hawks pay. This time Fischer-Colbrie found Logan Sharp for a 26-yard score, the second play of the drive, giving Penn a 35-21 lead.
 
Lehigh got seven of those points back on its next drive, going 78 yards and finishing it when Mayes hit Casey in the left corner of the end zone for a 13-yard score. The half ended with Penn up, 35-28.
 
Penn picked up where it left off to start the second half, needing just five plays to go 71 yards and take a 42-28 lead. Brooks had 27 yards on two rushes during the drive, including the final two up the gut for the score, which complemented a trio of completions by Fischer-Colbrie.
 
The Penn defense stopped Lehigh on the next drive, but Isaiah Malcome muffed the ensuing punt and the Mountain Hawks recovered at the Quakers' 34-yard line. Three plays later, Mayes found Bragalone and the back scooted around a defender and into the left corner of the end zone to make the score 42-35.
 
Penn looked like it might finally be stagnating on offense, going just 25 yards on seven plays and facing a second-and-20. At that point, Fischer-Colbrie threw an out pass to Justin Watson, and the senior All-America candidate took it from there. On an overall pedestrian day, he gave the NFL scouts in attendance a glimpse of why they were there by racing through a host of Lehigh defenders in front of the Penn sideline and then outracing the backfield into the end zone. The play  covered 54 yards and put Penn up 49-35.
 
Lehigh drove all the way to Penn's 4-yard line on its ensuing drive, but Colton Moskal sacked Mayes for nine yards and the Mountain Hawks turned the ball over on downs when Mayes overthrew Jorge Portorreal and then Casey in the end zone on consecutive plays. Perhaps sensing an opportunity to put this one away, Penn drove all the way back 87 yards and capped the drive in entertaining fashion when Brooks took the direct snap and threw a jump-pass to offensive lineman David Ryslik for the score.
 
Lehigh drove down the field again, but it appeared that once again the Penn defense bent but refused to break. This time Eric Markes appeared to step in front of his receiver in the end zone and pick Mayes off to give the Quakers the ball, but upon further review the call was an incomplete pass. The Hawks took advantage, and on fourth down Mayes hit Casey for the score. The extra point was blocked, however, and Penn's lead was still 56-41 with 9:21 to play.
 
Penn came right back down the field. The Quakers faced some drama with a fourth-down play on the Lehigh 21, but reached deep into the playbook as Fischer-Colbrie faked an option to the right and instead threw across the field to Nick Bokun who ran untouched into the end zone.
 
Lehigh's final scoring drive covered 55 yards and ended when Mayes ran it in from three yards out. However, his two-point pass was picked off by Jay Cammon who took it coast-to-coast to close out the scoring.
 
Penn opens Ivy League play next Friday, hosting Dartmouth at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live to a national audience on the NBC Sports Network. A pre-game FanFest on Shoemaker Green with food, beverages, music and games begins at 5 p.m.