This week just feels different. Maybe it's those Friday Night Lights. Maybe its the national television audience on NBC Sports Network. Most likely it's the fact that a pair of undefeated teams are set to open their Ivy League slates in front of a national television audience. The two teams tied for the most Ivy League titles in Ancient Eight history are set to do battle once again, each looking for a positive first step on the road to a 19th Ivy crown.

The Penn-Dartmouth Series—85th Meeting
For the second year in a row, Penn and Dartmouth will meet under the lights and in front of a national audience on NBC Sports Network. Last year, Penn downed the Big Green, 37-24 in Hanover to improve to 48-34-2 all-time in the series. At Franklin Field, Penn is 31-17-1 against Dartmouth with wins in eight of the last nine games played in Philadelphia.

Something's Got to Give
Each team has won its first two games of the season, making tonight's game the first time both Penn and Dartmouth enter their Week 3 game undefeated since the meeting moved to this spot on the schedule in 2000. The Quakers are 2-0 for just the first time since 2004 and the Big Green are 2-0 for the third year in a row and the fourth time since 2000. The Red and Blue have handed Dartmouth its first loss three of the four times Dartmouth has been undefeated entering the game.

Quakers Are Rushing To Conclusions
Penn enters today's game leading the Ivy League in rushing with 614 yards — and average of 307.0 per game. Penn ran for 300+ yards in each of its first two games, including 312 last weekend at Lehigh. Sophomore Karekin Brooks has been a revelation in place of injured Tre Solomon. Brooks ran for 268 yards at Lehigh — just five away from setting a new Penn single-game record! Brooks' 410 yards rushing over the first two games of the season are the most ever by a Quaker in consecutive games and already rank him No. 21 in a season by a Quaker since 2003!

A Look at Dartmouth
The Big Green picked up a big win last weekend, knocking off No. 25 Holy Cross, 27-26, in overtime at Memorial Field. Special teams were key for the Big Green. Dartmouth blocked a field goal midway through the fourth quarter which would have made the score 20-17 in favor of Dartmouth. That play made what happened at the end of regulation even more important as the Big Green stuffed an extra point attempt with 0:00 remaining after Holy Cross had tied the score at 20-20. In overtime, the Big Green scored on their possession and would deny a Holy Cross 2-point attempt on the next sequence to snag the one-point win.

Brooks Breaks Off In First Career Start
Sophomore running back Karekin Brooks made the most of his first career start, rushing for 268 yard and three touchdowns in Penn's 65-47 win at Lehigh. His rushing total was the second-highest in a game in Penn history and 11th all-time by an Ivy Leaguer. He finished just five yards away from setting a new school record — a fact which makes his 61-yard run in the fourth quarter that was called back on a "hold" by a wide receiver on the opposite side of the rush a sore subject.

Karekin Carries The Load
Taking advantage of playing time with 2016's Ivy League leading rusher out with injury, Karekin Brooks has rushed for 410 yards over the first two games — the highest back-to-back output all-time by a Penn running back. He enters today's game as the No. 1 running back in FCS football with 205.0 yards-per-game. The next-best rusher in terms of yards-per-game is averaging 167.3. Also of note is the fact that Brooks' 410 total yards ranks No. 9 among all FCS running backs despite 1 to 2 fewer games played.

Brooks' Brothers
Karekin Brooks is not the only Penn running back doing damage this season. As a group, Penn is No. 4 in rushing offense-per-game in FCS (307.0) as the Quakers have gone over 300 yards in each of their first two outings. Brooks' classmate, Abe Willows, is averaging 5.5 yards over his 19 carries. Freshman Isaiah Malcome had three carries in the opener and averaged 16.3 yards. Quarterbacks Will Fischer-Colbrie and Nick Robinson each have a rushing touchdown. Oh, and most of this has been done without Tre Solomon. The Ivy League's leading rusher (907 yards) in 2016, Solomon was injured in the first quarter of the opener and missed all of last week. Solomon was averaging 6.2 yards on his five carries in that one quarter of work.

Watson is 100!
Senior wide receiver Justin Watson enters today's game with 15 career 100-yard games — the most ever by a Penn wide receiver and tied for No. 1 all-time in the Ivy League. Watson has gone over 100 yards in each of his last five games — tied for the second-longest streak of his career. Watson had 100+ yards in six straight games from 10/23/15 to 9/17/16 to set the Penn school record and tie with Yale's Grant Wallace (done in 2014) for the Ivy League record.

Watson's Catch Of The Day
Justin Watson has appeared in all 32 possible games during his career and has made at least one catch — in fact he has at least two — in all 32 games. His run of 32 consecutive games with at least one catch is a Penn record and he enters today tied for No, 3 all-time among Ivy League players. The Ivy record is 39 set by Cornell's Keith Ferguson (1999-2002) and Harvard's Corey Mazza (2003-07).

Piling On The Points
The Quakers have scored 40+ points in each of their last three games dating back to the 2016 season finale, scoring 148 over that span. This marks just the eighth time in program history that the Quakers have scored 40+ points in three consecutive games and the first since 1940. If the Penn reaches 40 points tonight, it would mark the first time since 1898 that a Penn team scored 40+ points in four consecutive games. That 1898 team outscored its opponents 181-0 over the first four games of the season — including a 40-0 shutout of Penn State.

Miller Time
Junior linebacker Nick Miller has recovered a fumble in each of Penn's first two games to start the 2017 season — the first time since 2015 that a Quaker has picked a ball up off the floor in consecutive games (Austin Taps). Miller also forced a fumble and picked off a pass last week at Lehigh to earn Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors. Miller is No. 4 in FCS football in solo tackles per game (7.0) and No. 21 in total tackles per game (10.0).

Minute To Win It
Penn has five scoring drives of under 1:00 this season, already surpassing the three from all of 2016.

That's Tight!
Through two games this season, Penn's tight ends have caught nine passes for 136 yards and three touchdowns. Nine passes caught by tight ends matches the total from all of 2016, while the group already has more yards  (88 in 2016) and touchdowns (1 in 2016) than all of last season.

Night Moves
The Quakers have won their last six night games dating back to Sept. 21, 2013. The Quakers are 5-0 in night games under head coach Ray Priore, 4-0 in night games against Ivy opponents, and have won both night games at Franklin Field during the Priore Era. Penn has won both night games played against Dartmouth, including a 37-24 win in Hanover last season and a 22-20 win in the first-ever night game at Dartmouth's Memorial Field in 2011.