For the first time since 1989, Penn is playing a home Ivy League game for the second week in a row as the Quakers host the Bulldogs under those "Friday Night Lights" at historic Franklin Field. The Red and Blue have rallied late in each of their last two games, including a 13-10 win over Columbia last weekend. The Quakers have won five in a row at home dating back to 2017. The last team to beat Penn at Franklin Field? The Yale Bulldogs last October 21.
The Penn-Yale Series — 85th Meeting
Penn had won four in a row at Franklin Field against Yale before the Bulldogs scored a late win over the Quakers en route to an Ivy League title last season. Overall, Penn has won 12 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams and is 21-12-1 all-time against Yale at Franklin Field.
Looking Back On The 2017 Meeting
Yale handed Penn a 24-19 loss at Franklin Field in 2017, securing the win via a 4-yard Kurt Rawlings touchdown pass with 4:11 to play. Penn would go three-and-out on its next drive, and Yale salted the game away with a pair of Deshawn Salter first downs to run out the clock.
Justin Watson had 10 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown for Penn, but the run game was the difference. Penn ran 37 times for just 60 yards while the Bulldogs had 34 carries for 217 yards.
Fourth Quarter Favors Penn In Consecutive Weeks
What a difference a year makes for the Quakers in terms of fourth quarter success. In 2017, Penn dropped two games on the last play and another (the Yale one) deep in the fourth quarter. This year, the Red and Blue have shown team poise in back-to-back weeks when facing late adversity. One week after
Ryan Glover threw a game-winning touchdown with 1:13 left to beat Sacred Heart, Penn's QB ran for a game-winning score as he plowed in from four yards out with 6:55 remaining to defeat Columbia. Penn needed a defensive stand to tame the Lions, and got it in the form of a
Mohammed Diakite interception with 0:07 remaining and the Lions at the Penn 24.
A Look at Yale
The defending Ivy League champions are coming off a 35-28 win over Mercer last weekend to improve to 3-2 overall this season. Quarterback Kurt Rawlings is averaging 285 yards passing a game and has thrown nine TDs and just three interceptions. Zane Dudek — 2017's Ivy League Rookie of the Year — has played in only three games and is averaging 92.7 yards per game. He has 278 rushing yards over his three games, but 217 of those came in Week One. Reed Klubnik is Rawlings' favorite target, with 40 catches for 494 yards and six TDs through five games.
Leading Indicators
Penn has protected leads as well as anyone in the country under
Ray Priore. The Red and Blue are 21-1 when leading at halftime, and 22-1 when leading at the end of the third quarter. Priore had won his first 13 games when leading at the half and first 15 with a lead after three quarters before an overtime loss at Columbia on October 14, 2016. Priore's teams are 11-0 at home when leading at the half and 11-0 at Franklin Field when leading after three quarters.
Brooks Brings It Into The End Zone
Karekin Brooks is No. 2 in the Ivy League and ranks No. 19 in the country in rushing touchdowns with seven. Prior to going without a touchdown last weekend vs. Columba, Brooks had found the end zone in each of his last five games dating back to the 2017 finale. His seven total touchdowns are No. 3 in the Ivy League.
Back-To-Back Sacks
Penn's 17 sacks over two games were the most in a two-game span since accumulating 13.0 against Harvard (6.0) and Cornell (7.0) in 2003.
Gardner Racks Up Sacks
Senior
Cooper Gardner had 2.5 sacks over 29 career games entering 2017, and he has 4.0 in five games this season. His four sacks over two games were the most in back-to-back outings since Steve Lhotak had 6.5 in the Harvard and Cornell games to close 2003.
Spreading The Wealth
Ryan Glover completed passes to eight different receivers against Lehigh, the most Penn receivers to catch at least one pass in a game since Andrew Lisa completed passes to eight receivers against Fordham in 2015.
Jack Attack
Jack Soslow is 16-for-23 on field goals for his career, and had made nine in a row dating back to 10/21/17 against Yale before a 41-yard attempt hit the right upright at Dartmouth. He is 49-for-50 on career PATs.
Miller Time
Senior linebacker
Nick Miller has 10+ tackles in four of five games this season and has done so in 13 of his last 15 games dating back to the start of 2017. A first-team All-Ivy linebacker and finalist for Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year in 2017, Miller has four forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries over his last 15 games.
Protect The Quarterback
The Quakers have allowed just two sacks over five games in 2018, No. 5 in the nation in sacks allowed per game (0.40). Penn went 67 pass attempts into 2018 before allowing its first sack in Week Three at Dartmouth. Penn's 3.6 TFLs allowed through four games ranks No. 8 in the country.
Thrown For A Loss (TFL)
The Quakers aren't getting in the backfield only for sacks, Penn's 8.8 TFLs per game rank No. 5 in the country. 16 different players have at least 1.0 TFLS and 11 have more than two.
CP, Are You With Me?
Senior
Christian Pearson found his groove at Sacred Heart on Saturday, hauling in seven passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns after just three catches for 38 yards and no scores over his first two games of 2018. A second-team All-Ivy selection in 2016, Pearson had gone almost a full calendar year since his last touchdown — he found the end zone at Central Connecticut State on 10/7/17, 364 days before he scored at SHU. He battled injury at times since the CCSU game in '17, totalling six catches, 49 yards and no scores in his seven games played since the CCSU game.How productive were Pearson's first two seasons? Despite his lack of production over the last year, he still enters this week No. 11 all-time at Penn in receiving yards (1,290) and No. 6 in receiving touchdowns (15). Pearson is six catches away from becoming Penn's 12th receiver all-time with 100 career catches.
Sonekan Ties FCS Blocked Kick Record
Junior
Taheeb Sonekan blocked a pair of field goals at Sacred Heart on 10/6/18 — setting a Penn single game record and tying both the FCS and Ivy League single game record. His blocks were of great importance in a game Penn would win by four points. He earned Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his work.
Block Party!
Sonekan's two blocked field goals were part of a three-block day for the Quakers alongside a blocked PAT. The Quakers rank No. 1 in the Ivy League and No. 7 in the country in blocked kicks with four.
Third Down Thoughts
The Quakers ave converted 20-of-66 third down attempts, ranking No. 102 in the country. On defense, Penn is getting it done on third down — opponents are 28-of-82 for a conversion rate of 34% — good enough to rank Penn No. 38 in the nation.
Fourth Down Facts
Penn is the only team in FCS football without a fourth down conversion this season, entering this week 0-for-4. The Quakers are winning 4th down on defense, with opponents converting at 33%, going 3-for-9 to rank Penn No. 20 in the nation.
Quakers Go Low To Win Big
As the old saying goes, "They don't ask how, just how many" but for those who may ask "how many" points Penn scored in its win over Columbia in Week Five the answer is 13 — the fewest points scored bt Penn in a victory during
Ray Priore's tenure as head coach and the fewest by any Penn team since a 9-0 win over Yale (10/24/09) — a span of 88 games and 53 victories.
Brooks Serving A Purpose
Karekin Brooks has rounded into a dual-threat out of the backfield this season. He ranks No. 2 in the Ivy League and No. 22 in the country in all-purpose yards per game with 132.2 - more than 40 ypg higher than his 2017 average of 93.7. He is coming off a career-high 65 receiving yards against Columbia in Week Five — he had 61 total recieving yards over his previous four games this season.
