EASTON, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania football team lost at Lafayette on Saturday, 24-14. The Quakers took a 14-10 lead midway through the third quarter, but it lasted just one play as the Leopards came right back with a quick strike en route to the victory.
Penn falls to 1-1 with the loss, while Lafayette's win was its first this season against three losses.
Quaker Notemeal
*The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Quakers against the Leopards.
*It was Penn's first loss to a Patriot League team since 2016.
*Rory Starkey had seven catches for 121 yards and a TD. Dating back to 2019 it was his seventh straight game with a touchdown.
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Ryan Cragun had eight catches for 96 yards. With a 23-yard reception in the first quarter, he became the 21st player in program history to record 1,000 career receiving yards.
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Jake Heimlicher had seven total tackles, highlighted by registering 1.5 sacks.
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Prince Emili also had 1.5 sacks for the Red and Blue. It was his second game in a row with 1.5 sacks as he has a team-leading 3.0 sacks through two games.
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Brian O'Neill and
Jaden Key each had nine total tackles apiece.
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Adam Conyer registered the second sack of his career in the game.
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John Quinnelly passed for 244 yards and a TD. He was intercepted three times in the contest as he completed 18-of-34 passes.
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Trey Flowers scored a rushing TD for the second game in a row. He now has three career TD runs.
How It Happened
After a scoreless first quarter, Lafayette was first to get on the scoreboard early in the second quarter. The Leopards were gifted the ball in Penn territory when Quakers punter
Ben Krimm muffed a snap and was tackled just as he recovered the ball. From there, the hosts needed just three plays to cover the 38 yards to the end zone, most of them coming on third-and-1 when Joe Gillette ran around the right side on a jet sweep and took it 29 yards to paydirt.
On Lafayette's next drive, the Leopards had fourth-and-2 on Penn's 35-yard line but
Adam Conyer drove through the line and sacked Lafayette QB Ah-Shaun Davis for an 11-yard loss near midfield. Perhaps inspired by the play, the Quakers offense came onto the field and needed just two plays to even things up. A
Trey Flowers three-yard rush gained an additional 15 yards thanks to an unnecessary roughness call on the Pards, and on the very next play
John Quinnelly found a wide-open Rory Starkey up the middle for a 36-yard TD.
Lafayette came right back and regained the lead on the ensuing drive, aided by 30 yards of penalties against the Penn defense on the first two plays. The Leopards' eight-play, 67-yard drive ended with Micah Pettit splitting the uprights from 25 yards out. It was 10-7 Lafayette at that half.
Penn took its first lead of the game midway through the third quarter, driving 64 yards on seven plays to go in front 14-10. Flowers capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge up the gut, but the highlight came two plays earlier when
Ryan Cragun made a spectacular catch at the 2-yard line near the right sideline on a ball that looked like it was overthrown.
Lafayette needed exactly one play to go back in front. Davis sidestepped an onrushing
Jonathan Melvin to avoid the sack, then zipped a pass to Gillette on the left sideline. The Leopards' receiver caught it in stride and took over from there, shaking off one tackler and avoiding another on his way to the end zone. The entire play covered 70 yards.
The Leopards had a chance to up their lead on their next drive, but after they got the ball down to Penn's 19-yard line Pettit missed a 36-yard field goal attempt. However, just two plays later Quinnelly threw an ill-advised pass while being brought down in the backfield. The ball floated to Lafayette's Billy Shaeffer, who caught it at the Penn 41-yard line and had an unimpeded jaunt to the end zone. The Pards' lead was 24-14 after three.
Penn had a nice drive to start the fourth quarter, getting all the way down to Lafayette's 12-yard line. However,
Isaiah Malcome was dragged down from behind for a one-yard loss on third down and then
Daniel Karrash missed the 30-yard field goal, giving the ball back to the Pards with less than 10 minutes to play.
Penn got the ball back with a little more than seven minutes left, but after a first down the Quakers went for broke. However, Quinnelly's heave down the middle went over Cragun's head and was caught instead by Lafayette's Saiku White at the Leopards' 32, and then he added insult to injury by returning it all the way back to Penn's 36. Penn's defense held—the Quakers using all three of their timeouts in the process—but when the Red and Blue got the ball back Quinnelly was again picked off by Shaeffer with less than four minutes remaining. Lafayette ran the clock out from there.
Up Next
Penn plays its home opener next Friday at Franklin Field, hosting Dartmouth at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on ESPNU. It will be the Quakers' first home game in 678 days.
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