PHILADELPHIA – It's the final non-conference test of the season for the University of Pennsylvania football team, hosting Georgetown Saturday at 1 p.m. at Franklin Field.
 
The Quakers (2-1, 0-1 Ivy) are coming into the weekend following a tough overtime defeat to Dartmouth at home, falling 23-20 after trailing 20-10 at the half. The Hoyas (3-2, 1-0 Patriot) defeated a tough Fordham team, 28-24, at home.
 
GAME 4 – PENN vs. GEORGETOWN
Community Day presented by Macquarie Asset Management
Saturday, October 7, 2023 | 1 p.m.
Franklin Field | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($)  |  Listen Live (QAN)  |  Live Stats
Penn Game Notes (PDF)  | Georgetown Game Notes (PDF)
 


The Georgetown Series
It's hard to believe Saturday is just the eighth meeting between two teams that have a history dating back nearly 130 years. But here we are in the first matchup featuring the Quakers and Hoyas at Franklin Field since the 2007 season. Penn leads the series, 6-0-1, including wins in the last three meetings. Penn took down Georgetown, 59-28, at Cooper Field last season to notch the second most points in a game in program history and the most since a 65-point outburst at Lehigh on Sept. 23, 2017.
 
Last Meeting With Georgetown
Penn started pretty quickly and never cooled off, cruising to a 59-28 romp at Georgetown last fall. The win improved the Quakers to 4-0. With a 17-0 lead with 8:19 remaining in the first quarter, Penn ballooned that edge to 24-14 heading into the locker room at halftime.  The Quakers added five more touchdowns before it was all said and done, outscoring the Hoyas, 35-14, in the second half. Quarterback Aidan Sayin had five total touchdowns—four through the air, one on the ground—becoming just the seventh Quaker since 1940 to total at least five touchdowns in a game and first since Billy Ragone vs. Dartmouth on Oct. 2, 2010.
 
Tough Ivy Start
It wasn't the start to Ivy play Penn hoped for last weekend against Dartmouth at Franklin Field, trailing 20-10 at the end of the first half. The Quakers got back into the game in the fourth quarter thanks to a 16-yard touchdown heave from Sayin to Malone Howley with 5:52 to play and then a 51-yard field goal for Albert Jang with 57 seconds remaining to send the game to OT. After a quick three-and-out for the Penn offense to begin the extra period, Graham Gotlieb missed a 42-yarder which gave possession to the Big Green at the 25 yard-line. Three consecutive short Nick Howard runs set up a 37-yard try for the win, which Owen Zalc executed to perfection to lift Dartmouth to a 23-20 victory.
 
Historic Start for Sayin
Sayin has been a major bright spot for the Penn offense three games into the year, showing exactly why he's one of, if not the most elite signal caller in the Ancient Eight. Not only did he record a second consecutive 300-yard passing game against Dartmouth Saturday—which happens to be the first since Alek Torgersen in 2014—but he also accumulated 711 yards during that stretch—354 at Bucknell, 357 vs. Dartmouth—the most by a Penn player since all-time leading passer Gavin Hoffman had 742 from Oct. 16-23, 1999.
 
Say Hello To The Sophomores
It's a youth revolution for the Penn offense as second-year pass catchers Jared Richardson, Alex Haight and Bisi Owens are already making an impact in offensive coordinator Dan Swanstrom's offense through the season's first three games. All three have totaled north of 100 yards receiving so far and have accounted for 47 of the Quakers' 98 receptions (48 percent). Richardson was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week after an impressive performance at Bucknell, where he caught 12 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Weekly Honors
Penn secured its second weekly award in three weeks on Monday as junior kicker/punter Albert Jang was named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week. He's the first Quaker to win that award since Jack Soslow in 2018, whom he tied for the third-longest field goal kick in program history Saturday with a 51-yarder to send Penn to OT with Dartmouth at Franklin Field. Oh, and that also so happened to be his first-career field goal try and make. Jang also boomed three punts with an average distance of 43.3 yards. Jack Fairman, Malachi Hosley and Sayin all earned honorable mention nods for their efforts.
 
Preseason All-Ivy
Twelve Penn players earned Preseason All-Ivy selection by Phil Steele in early August including first-team honorees Key, Kendren Smith and Julien Stokes. A 2022 first-team All-Ivy pick, Smith, along with Key will play a large role in anchoring the Penn defense this season. The second team was made up of eight Quakers—Joshua Casilli, Jake Ligos, Jack Purcell, Micah Morris, Joey Slackman, Jack Fairman, Jonathan Melvin and Graham Gotlieb—while Aidan Sayin earned a spot on the third team.
 
Hey, Coach!
Head Coach Ray Priore has one new face on the coaching staff as Sean Reeder takes over as tight ends coach for the 2023 season. Reeder joins the Quakers following six seasons on staff at Ithaca, the first five working with the offensive line before he was promoted to the role of offensive coordinator in 2022. Prior to his stint with the Bombers, Reeder spent two years at Division II Wayne State before working as a tight ends and offensive line coach at California Lutheran. As a student-athlete, Reeder was a key member of the offensive line at Johns Hopkins, where he graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering in 2013.
 
Oh Captain, Our Captains
Following a team vote, Priore named five captains for the 2023 Quakers including a familiar face to the leadership group. For the second straight year, Melvin was voted a co-captain, while Casilli, Sayin, Slackman and Kendren Smith will join him for the coin toss at the beginning of each game this season.
 
Follow The Action
Penn and Georgetown will square off on ESPN+ ($) with Joe Tordy (PxP) and Penn Athletics Hall of Famer Joe Valerio C'91 (Analyst) on the call. Matt Leon (PxP) and Hench Murray (Analyst) have the radio call for the Quaker Audio Network (QAN) and live stats will be provided on pennstats.com.