PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football team has one final opportunity to make a statement when it heads to Princeton Saturday afternoon in the final game of the 2022 season.
 
The Quakers (7-2, 4-2) are looking to rebound after a loss to Harvard last weekend at Franklin Field and will look to do so with major Ivy title-implications at stake.
 
GAME 10 – PENN at #22 PRINCETON
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022 | 1 p.m.
Princeton Stadium | Princeton, N.J.
NBC Sports Philadelphia | Watch Live on ESPN+ ($)  |  Listen Live (QAN)  |  Live Stats
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Princeton Game Notes
 
The Princeton Series
Penn's history with Princeton has some major ebbs-and-flows with how the matchup has gone. The Tigers hold the all-time edge, 69-42-1 including six of the last 10 games and a current three-game win streak. The Quakers are looking for their first win over Princeton since 2017 and their first victory against the team on the road since 2012.
 
Didn't See THAT Coming
Remember how we said last week was the surprise of the season (when Columbia beat Harvard to get its first Ivy win)? Well, we were steered straight when Princeton was knocked off from the ranks of the unbeatens by Yale to turn the Ivy title race upside down with just one game to go. The Tigers had a one-touchdown lead heading into halftime, but the Bulldogs reeled off 17 unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead with just one quarter to go. A 22-yard touchdown pass from Blake Senstrom to Carson Bobo to make it 24-20 made things interesting, but Yale held the visitors off to hand Princeton its first loss of the year.
 
Sharing Is Caring
Well, we have a potential history-maker on our hands as the ultra-rare four-way share of the Ivy title is in play after Penn's loss to Harvard and Princeton's defeat to Yale last weekend. It's even more surprising given the Crimson were almost completely mathematically written off after their loss to Columbia two weeks ago. Now, things are a bit different as Penn will become Harvard fans and vice versa heading into the final weekend of the season. The Ivy League title has been shared the last two seasons (in 2019 and 2021) and has been shared three ways on four occasions (1966, 1969, 1982 and 2015), but never four ways. The Quakers will try for their 19th Ivy title in program history (second-most in history) and first since 2016 with a victory Saturday and a Crimson win over Yale in Cambridge.
 
Tough Luck
The good news? Penn still has a shot winning the Ivy League title. The bad news? The chances got a lot slimmer after Saturday's defeat to Harvard. The Quakers were handed their first loss at Franklin Field this season with a 37-14 defeat to the Crimson on Saturday and it never really was close after Julien Stokes rushed in a two-yard TD to tie the game up at 7-7. Harvard went on to outscore the Quakers, 24-0 over the next couple of quarters to lead 31-7 with 13 to play in the third stanza. Rory Starkey, Jr. caught a five-yard pass from Aidan Sayin with 10 minutes to go, cutting the deficit to 31-14, but the Crimson added two Jonah Lipel field goals to take a 37-14 victory.
 
It's Him!
Starkey, Jr. played a starring role in the passing game on Saturday against Harvard, totaling eight catches for 117 yards and a touchdown in the loss. It marked the fourth time in his career he registered at least 100 yards receiving and the first in 2022.
 
More Targets
Although he was the leading guy, Sayin wasn't just throwing to Starkey, Jr. last weekend, as nine different receivers caught a pass from both Sayin and backup Liam O'Brien. Trey Flowers had four catches, Joshua Casilli added three with a pair each for Jonathan Mulatu, Malone Howley, Sterling Stokes and Bryce Myers.
 
One Man Wrecking Machine
What else can be said about Garrett Morris at this point in the year? He was super active against Harvard once again, leading the team in total tackles for the third straight game and again had double-digit numbers. Morris picked up 11 against the Crimson, one week removed from at 10-tackle performance after a season-high 15 stops at Brown. Through nine games, he leads the team in total tackles (64) with a team high-tying 34 solo tackles.
 
Among The Nation's Best
Penn has had a great season relative to the rest of FCS Football, currently holding down the fort in a variety of statistical leaderboards, especially on the defensive end. The Quakers are ranked third in fourth down conversion defense (.250), third in fewest fumbles lost (1), third in fewest turnovers lost (7), fourth in team sacks (3.44) and fourth in rushing defense (92.8 ypg).
 
Individual Success
Not only has the team proven to be successful on both sides of the ball among the rest of the country, but individual players have played strong football all season long. Julien Stokes is eighth in kick returns TDs (1), Jake Heimlicher is ninth in sacks per game (1.3) as well as 20th in tackles for loss per game (1.3) and QB Aidan Sayin ranks 10th in completions per game (23.89).
 
Last Time Out
Penn took a 7-3 lead with 2:41 to go in the first quarter, but Princeton erupted for 28 straight points in the second quarter en route to a 34-14 victory at Franklin Field last season. Sayin completed 19 passes for 255 yards, a touchdown and two picks, while Isaiah Malcome rushed eight times for 49 yards and Flowers had a TD. Starkey, Jr. totaled four catches for 68 yards and a touchdown while Shane Sweitzer and Ryan Cragun also caught four passes from Sayin. On the defensive end, Prince Emili had eight total tackles with two TFLs and Heimlicher had seven total tackles, 1.5 TFLs and a sack for a loss of eight yards.
 
If Penn Beats Princeton...
• And Harvard beats Yale, those four teams will share the Ivy League title four ways for the first time in league history. The Quakers will win their 19th Ivy League title in program history, the first since 2016 and third under head coach Ray Priore.
• The Quakers will top the Tigers for the first time since 2017.
• It will mark the team's first victory at Princeton in 10 years (2012)
• It will clinch its first eight-win season since 2010 when the Quakers went 9-1 overall and 7-0 in Ivy play to win the outright title.