Game 3: Penn vs. Dartmouth -- Celebrating 125 Years Of Franklin Field!!
October 4  |  7 p.m.  |  Franklin Field
TV: ESPNU
Live Internet Video: WatchESPN
Live Internet Audio: Quaker Audio Network (Free)
Live Stats  |  Tickets
"Know Before You Go" Fan Information

These games just mean more! It is time for Ivy League football as Penn and Dartmouth open their 2019 Ancient Eight slates in front of a national television audience at America's oldest and most historic college football venue. The last time these two teams met in Philly on a Friday night saw an epic contest go undecided until the very final play. What do the two teams with 36 combined Ivy titles have in store this evening?

The Penn-Dartmouth Series — 87th Meeting
These two teams have met 86 previous times dating back to October 10, 1896 when Penn picked up a 16-0 win at this very stadium. Since then, the Quakers have compiled a 48-36-2 record against their rivals from New Hampshire. Since 1998, Penn is 16-5 against the Big Green, and the Quakers have won six of the last 10. However, Penn's last win at Franklin Field against Dartmouth came in 2013 – an epic 4ot win in the longest game in Ivy League history. Since then, Dartmouth has won four of five in the series.

Looking Back On The 2017 Meeting
A national television audience saw the Quakers and Big Green go down to the wire the last time the two sides convened at Franklin Field. Neither team led by more than a score the entire way and a Jack Soslow 27-yard field goal with 5:37 to play gave the host Quakers a 13-10 lead. Dartmouth then put together a game-winning, 15-play drive that was capped by a Jared Gerbino 1-yard rush on fourth down as time expired for a 16-13 Big Green victory.

Night Moves
Penn and Dartmouth have met four previous times in Friday night games as part of the Ivy League's national television deal. Before the last-second loss in 2017, the Quakers had won the three previous Friday night games between the two teams. Head coach Ray Priore is 5-2 all-time on Friday nights since taking over in 2015 and 6-2 overall in night games.

Party In The Backfield 
Through two games, the Red and Blue have 10 sacks as a team and Penn's 5.0 sacks-per-game lead the FCS. Eight different players have at least one sack for the Quakers, with Benji Mowatt and Brian O'Neill leading the way with two apiece. O'Neill's 3.0 tackles for loss-per-game lead the FCS. Conversely, the Quakers rank No. 3 in the country in tackles for loss allowed-per-game, conceding just 3.0 a game.

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 1,396th in the Red and Blue's illustrious history. Penn is one of only seven programs to pass 1,300 games, and was the first to hit that mark on Oct. 31, 2009 in an overtime win at Brown. 

Penn Scoring Trend at Home
Home is where the points are. Penn has gone 145 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 23-2 when leading at halftime, and 24-1 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. The only other time since 2015 that the Quakers did not protect a halftime lead was Week One this season when the Red and Blue led, 21-7, at No. 20 Delaware. Priore's teams are 11-0 at home when leading at the half and 11-0 at Franklin Field when leading after three quarters.

O'Neill On The Mark
Junior middle linebacker has 2.5 sacks through his first 21 career games heading into last week at Lafayette. Against the Leopards, he dialed up two solo sacks to almost match his career high. His six tackles for loss lead the Ivy League and his 3.0 TFLs per game are No. 1 in the country.

KK2K
Senior running back Karekin "KK" Brooks enters today's game with 2,204 career rushing yards, No. 8 all-time by a Quaker. He ran for 202 yards last week at Lafayette, becoming the first player in program history to total three career 200-yard games. In the process, he passed a trio of Penn legends in Tre Solomon '18 (2,005), Adolph Belizeare '75 (2,155) and Chris Flynn '88 (2,181) on the career rushing list. Up next are Jasen Scott '97 (2,224) and Jim Finn '99 (2,251).

An Above-Average Average
Over his stellar career, Karekin Brooks has carried the ball 370 times for his 2,204 yards – averaging an astounding 5.96 yards per carry which ranks No. 5 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.

Brooks And Fun
Karekin Brooks leads the nation in rushing yards-per-game with 180.0, averaging almost 45 yards a carry higher than the next back — N.C. A&T's Jah-Maine Martin (135.8).

Release The Cragun
Sophomore Ryan Cragun has caught 16 passes for 273 yards over his first two varsity starts. Cragun has gone over 100 yards in each of Penn's first two games after the Quakers only produced one 100-yard receiver in a game all of last season. Cragun is the first Quaker to go over 100 yards in consecutive games since Justin Watson '18 did so in three straight games from 10/21-11/4 in 2017. Cragun's receiving yardage total through two games this season would have ranked No. 3 among Penn receivers last season. Because I know what you're wondering, all-everything wide receiver Justin Watson '18 had 3 catches for 21 yards in his first career game at Jacksonville in 2014 and did not have a 100-yard game until his 11th career appearance. Watson, of course, went on to record an Ivy League record 19 100-yard games. 

Rajin' Cragun
Cragun's 136.5 yards-per-game lead the Ivy League and rank No. 3 among FCS receivers. His 8.0 receptions-per-game also lead the Ivy League and are No. 9 among FCS wideouts. 

Third Down Thoughts
Penn enters the week ranked No. 4 in the country in third down conversions, converting on 16-of-29 for 55% which ranks second in the Ivy League behind Dartmouth which is 16-for-22 (73%) which is also No. 1 in the country.

Fourth Down Fun
The Quakers wre 1-for-2 on fourth down conversion attempts in Week One at Delaware, the one successful fourth down play a 12-yard touchdown pass from Nick Robinson to Kolton Huber on 4th-and-1 in the third quarter. That was Penn's first 4th down attempt of the season, and was Penn's first conversion on 4th down since 2017 — Penn was 0-for-8 on fourth down last season. Overall in 2019, Penn is 2-for-4 on fourth downs.

Line Leading The Way
The Quakers did not concede a sack in Week One, and only allowed one tackle for loss against the Blue Hens. Overall this season, Penn has allowed two sacks and 6 TFls. That performance continues a trend from 2018 where the Quakers ranked No. 10 in the nation in TFLs allowed-per-game (4.2) and No. 19 in sacks allowed-per-game (1.1). Penn has held an opponent without a sack in five of its last 12 games.