Game 5: Penn at Columbia
October 19  |  1:30 p.m.  |  Kraft Field at Wien Stadium
TV: SNY, NBC Sports Philadelphia
Live Internet Video: ESPN+
Live Internet Audio: Quaker Audio Network (Free)
Live Stats  |  Tickets

For the third consecutive season, Penn takes a winning non-conference record into the heart of Ivy League play as the Quakers look to build on a 38-24 win over Sacred Heart as they venture to the Big Apple. The last time these two teams met in NYC was a thriller as Columbia snuck away with an overtime win — the only win for the Lions in the series since 1996.

The Penn-Columbia Series — 99th Meeting
A series that dates back to 1878 convenes for the 99th time this weekend, the Quakers entering with a dominant 75-22-1 overall record against their rivals from New York City. Penn has had the best of things since 1982 with a 33-4 record. Since 1997, Penn is 21-1 against Columbia. Penn is 10-1 in its last 11 trips to Columbia, but is looking to avenge an overtime loss the last time the two sides met at Wien Stadium in 2017.

KK2K
Senior Karekin Brooks continues to climb Penn's all-time rushing charts. He ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns against Sacred Heart last weekend, giving him 629 yards and seven TDs in 2019. For his career, Brooks has run for 2,473 yards which ranks No. 6 all-time by a Quaker — six away from the No. 5 spot held by Rich Comizio '87 and 32 away from Sam Matthews '06 who holds the No. 4 spot. Brooks enters today with 25 career rushing TDs, tied which is No. 6 all-time by a Quaker and three away from former NFL sta Jim Finn '99 who ranks No. 5 with 28.

Climbing The Ivy Ranks
With his 2,473 rushing yards entering today's game, Brooks ranks No. 31 all-time among Ivy League running backs. He could move as high as No. 25 depending on his performance against the Lions this weekend. 

An Above-Average Average
Over his stellar career, Karekin Brooks has carried the ball 417 times for his 2,473 yards – averaging an astounding 5.93 yards per carry which ranks No. 6 among active FCS running backs. Penn's career record is 5.68 held by Chris Flynn and the Ivy League record is 6.06 set by Dartmouth's Rick Klupchak from 1971-73.

Leading The Country
Brooks is averaging 157.3 yards-per-game on the ground this season, No. 1 among FCS rushing backs. His 181.3 all purpose yards-per-game rank No. 3. Brooks also ranks No. 14 in total rushing yards among FCS players despite 12 of the 13 backs ahead of him playing at least two more games so far this season.

Priore Primed When Facing Ivy's Winningest Coaches
Fifth-year head coach Ray Priore is one of the shortest-tenured head coach among the eight bench bosses in the Ivy League, with just 42 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 6-2 against the two coaches who have over 115 Ivy League wins apiece. Priore is one of only four current Ivy head coaches with a winning record in Ancient Eight play. 

Here's To You, Mr. Robinson
Senior Nick Robinson enters this week 84-for-134 passing with 939 yards and seven touchdowns. Since throwing an interception early in the second quarter of the season opener at No. 20 Delaware, Robinson is 78-for-124 (62.9%) for 864 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Brotherly Love
Nick Robinson comes from a football family. His father, Jeoff, played at Pacific in the 1970s and his uncle, Gregg, was a football coach who spent time with the New York Jets, Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL in addition to stints with Syracuse (head coach), Michigan (defensive coordinator) and Texas (defensive coordinator). Now, that family connection is stronger as his younger brother, Matt, made his first career start at QB for Illinois on October 12 against Michigan.

Party In The Backfield 
Brian O'Neill is No. 2 in the Ivy League and No. 16 in the FCS in tackles for loss-per-game with 1.6. Penn had recorded 10 sacks through its first two games, but has gone without a sack over its last two contests.

Red (Zone) Alert
Penn enters the week 12-for-15 on red zone opportunities, with touchdowns on all 12 scoring drives inside the red zone. Penn's first red zone stop on defense was Sam Philippi's interception late against Sacred Heart in Week Four, ending a 14-for-14 run by opponents dating back to the season finale at Princeton in 2018.

Rushing To Conclusions
The Quakers rank No. 18 in the FCS and lead the Ivy League in Rushing Offense, averaging 223.0 yards-per-game. The bulk of that work has come from Karekin Brooks —he accounts for 71% of Penn's rushing attack with his 629 yards. Penn's second-leading rusher this season is Isaiah Malcome who had 73 yards rushing at Delaware in Week One before suffering a season-ending injury.