PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football team struggled all day offensively against Cornell, and the result was a 15-12 loss to the Big Red Saturday at Franklin Field.
The Quakers—who only mustered two field goals and a touchdown from the special teams unit—fell to 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in Ivy League play. Cornell earned its first Ivy win of 2021 and improved to 2-6 overall.
Quaker Notemeal
*The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Quakers against Cornell.
*It marked the first game this season in which Penn failed to score an offensive TD.
*Freshman
Aidan Sayin was 26-of-45 passing for a career-high 247 yards and an interception. He also was the leading rusher on the day for the Red and Blue, racking up a career-best 32 yards on the ground.
*Playing without starting wide receivers
Ryan Cragun and
Rory Starkey, Jr., the Quakers saw good production from
Owen Goldsberry,
Joshua Casilli and
Julien Stokes. All three set new career highs in receptions and receiving yards. Goldsberry caught 7 for 72 yards, Casilli had five grabs for 61 yards and Stokes hauled in four passes for 54 yards.
*Jason McCleod had an interception for the second game in a row. He also had three pass breakups. McCleod leads the Quakers with three picks and 11 pass breakups this season.
*
Garrett Morris and
Chris Rankins each had six tackles apiece for Penn. Morris had a solo tackle for loss and six of Rankins' tackles were solo stops.
How It Happened
After a scoreless first quarter, Cornell jumped in front early in the second. Jameson Wang capped the Big Red's nine-play, 61-yard drive when he ran it in from 21 yards out.
Penn's offense, meanwhile, started making some headway but couldn't find the end zone. Instead, the Quakers had to be content with a pair of field goals from
Daniel Karrash, the first a 40-yarder with 3:48 left and the second a 24-yard effort that ended the half. The teams went to the locker room with Cornell in front, 7-6.
Penn took its first lead of the day midway through the third quarter, thanks to its special teams. With the Big Red punting from the edge of its own end zone,
Jordan Niles broke through and blocked Koby Kiefer's kick.
Mozi Bici jumped on it in the end zone for the score and a 12-7 lead. The Quakers went for two, but Sayin's pass attempt failed.
Cornell responded immediately. The Big Red needed just six plays to go 75 yards, the big play a Richie Kenney pass to Thomas Glover down the right side that covered 40 yards. Wang then came on and hit Alex Kuzy for a 17-yard gain on the next play, then snuck it in over center for the final yard. Wang then hit a wide-open Glover for the two-point conversion, and the Big Red were back in front, 15-12.
That turned out to be all the scoring in this game. Penn had three possessions in the fourth quarter, but the furthest Penn got down the field was Cornell's 44-yard line. On the Red and Blue's final possession, Sayin rushed around the right side on fourth-and-7, fumbled the ball and recovered it. After a long review, it was determined that he did not reach the line to gain and the Big Red took over with just 1:34 on the clock and Penn out of timeouts. Cornell took a knee three times to finish things off.
Up Next
Penn plays its final road game of 2021, traveling to Harvard to face the Crimson next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
#UPrising
#FightOnPenn
