PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football has its sights set on Homecoming Saturday, welcoming Yale at 1 p.m. at Franklin Field.
 
The Quakers (5-0, 2-0 Ivy) have been rolling as of late, winners of five straight contests to open the season and are coming off a strong, 34-14 effort last Saturday against Columbia.
 
GAME 6 – PENN vs. YALE
Homecoming: Presented by David Auto
Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022 | 1 p.m.
Franklin Field | Philadelphia
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($)  |  Listen Live (QAN)  |  Live Stats  |  Tickets
Penn Game Notes (PDF)   |  Yale Game Notes
 
The Yale Series
A lot of the luck in this series has gone the way of the Bulldogs as of late, today's guests winning six of the last 10 matchups including four straight against the Quakers. Penn is looking for its first win over Yale since Oct. 21, 2016, a 42-7 victory in New Haven, but also its first at home since Oct. 23, 2015 (34-20).
 
Finishing Out Strong
Yale completed the non-league portion of its season slate last weekend in convincing fashion, getting a 29-9 win over Bucknell at home. With the victory, the Bulldogs have won four in a row, the team's longest streak since claiming five straight victories at the tail end of the 2019 campaign, en route to the program's 16th Ivy League title.
 
5-0!
From this point forward, everything will direct back to Penn's historic 2003 team. The Quakers are 5-0 for the first time since that season, when they went a perfect 10-0 and earned the program's 13th Ivy League title. Penn, which swept the non-league portion of the schedule for the first time since 2018, beat Columbia last weekend to start Ivy play 2-0 for the first time since 2016, the last of the Quakers' 18 Ivy titles. Penn and Princeton are the only two Ivy League teams with an unblemished record through the first five games and just two of six remaining perfect teams in FCS football.
 
All Eyes On Us
For the third straight week, the Quakers are receiving votes in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches Poll. This week, Penn clocks in with 14 points in the Week 7 iteration of the poll after checking in with 16 points last week. The Red and Blue are five teams shy of being ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 2011. The Quakers were also receiving votes in the STATS FCS Media Poll last week but dropped out on Monday.
 
National Honors
Senior defensive back Kendren Smith had himself a career day last Saturday against Columbia, registering three takeaways himself with two forced fumbles and recoveries, as well as an interception in the victory. For his effort, Smith was named FedEx Ground FCS National Defensive Player of the Week as well as Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, the third time this season a Quaker has won the award. (Jake Heimlicher earned the honor 9/26 and 10/3.) Smith is the first player wearing the Red and Blue to receive national recognition since kicker Jimmy Gammill in 2014.
 
Sticky Fingers
Junior wideout Joshua Casilli had it all working last weekend against Columbia, recording a team-high 11 catches with 159 yards receiving and a touchdown in the win. It's the second time this season Casilli has totaled 10 or more receptions and the first time a Penn player has accomplished that since Ryan Cragun in 2019. Cragun is also the last Quaker to put up 150 or more receiving yards in a single game, picking up 208 yards against Yale in that same year.
 
Can't Say(in) Enough
QB Aidan Sayin continues to create headaches for opposing defenses, as evidenced by his top-notch performance last Saturday against Columbia. The sophomore signal-caller completed 29 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns, staying turnover-free against the Lions. In five games this year, Sayin leads the Ivy League with 11 touchdown passes, throwing for more than 1,200 yards and completing  64.5 percent of his passing attempts.
 
Defense Wins
Not enough can be said about how strong Penn's defense has been this season. Aside from Smith's monster day against Columbia, many other players got involved and put on a show. Garrett Morris, Jack Fairman and Julian Talley each finished with four total tackles, ranked second on the team behind Smith. Defensive tackle Micah Morris had himself a signature moment, picking off Lions QB Joe Green and taking it 30 yards to the house at the end of the first quarter. In addition, the rushing defense has been spot on this year, going 4-0 in games when holding opponents to less than 75 yards on the ground.
 
Home Sweet Home
A win today would mark the fourth straight at Franklin Field for Penn. The Quakers have not started a season 4-0 at home since  2010, where they went a perfect 5-0 to close out the campaign.
 
Winning Ways
If Penn were to beat Yale Saturday, it would clinch its first winning season since 2018 with a sixth victory of the campaign. The Quakers have won at least six games six times since 2010 and four times during the Ray Priore era as head coach.
 
Homecoming Success
The Quakers are 26-20-1 all-time in Homecoming games since 1972. Penn is 9-4-1 in such games against Yale, having not played the Bulldogs on Homecoming since 2007, a three-OT, 26-20 defeat. The Quakers are searching for their first win on Homecoming since Nov. 9, 2019 against Cornell (21-20).
 
Quakers On Air
There will be multiple ways to catch Penn's important Ivy matchup against Columbia on Saturday. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ (subscription required) with Joe Tordy (PxP) and Coffee Jones (Color) on the call, while also aired on regional television through NBC Sports Philadelphia. Matt Leon (PxP) and Hench Murray (Color) will have the radio call of the game through the Quaker Audio Network.