PHILADELPHIA – Going down to the wire in overtime for the second consecutive week, the University of Pennsylvania football team did its part and bounced back with a 42-39 victory over Georgetown Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field, closing out the non-conference portion of the 2023 season.
 
Penn improves to 3-1 on the young season, while the Hoyas fall to 3-3.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn played two straight overtime games for the first time since 2006. That year, the Quakers played (and lost) three consecutive OT contests.
 
*The Quakers remain unbeaten in the all-time series with the Hoyas, improving to 7-0-1 in a series that dates back to 1893. Penn's winning streak extends to four straight since 2007.
 
*The third-quarter safety was the first scored by Penn since 2016 (Sept. 3 at Dartmouth).
 
*Penn totaled four rushing touchdowns—two for Malachi Hosley and two for Liam O'Brien—for the first time since last season at Georgetown.
 
*Hosley led the rushing attack with six carries for 48 yards and the two TDs. He also added five catches for 53 yards.
 
*For the second straight week, Bryce Myers led the Quakers in receiving yards with 66 on five grabs.
 
*John Lista and Jaden Key each had a team-high seven total tackles. Lista finished with six solo tackles and a 24-yard interception return.
 
*Albert Jang punted five times for a net yardage of 209. He had four punts inside the 20-yard line, the most in a single game since Ben Krimm had four land inside the 20 vs. Columbia on Oct. 15, 2022.
 
How It Happened
The first quarter was scoreless, but Georgetown was gifted great field position with just 11 seconds left in the period when Sayin coughed up the ball and the Hoyas' Mateen Ibirogba recovered on the Quakers' 40. After running just one play before the quarter ended, GU needed six more plays in the second before quarterback Tyler Knoop ran it in around the right side for the first points of the game.
 
That score appeared to awaken the Penn offense. After a Hoyas kick was downed at the Penn 35 by DJ Brown, the Quakers needed just seven plays to drive 65 yards and get on the board. Sayin completed a pair of passes during the drive, covering 36 yards, and Liam O'Brien came in for the final yardage as he took it in from three yards out behind solid blocking from the offensive line and Jonathan Mulatu.
 
Georgetown made a critical error on the ensuing kickoff, the Hoyas receiving the kick but stepping out of bounds at their own 4-yard line. The Penn defense pinned its ears back and knocked the Hoyas back another three yards—nearly getting the safety—and forcing their guests to punt from the back of the end zone. Shabay caught the kick at the Georgetown 39 and had lots of room in front of him, advancing the ball 17 yards to the Hoyas' 22. On first down, Sayin found Casilli up the middle and hit him in the end zone to put the Quakers in front, 14-7.
 
Penn was rolling now. Georgetown went three-and-out on its next possession, and on its first play of the next drive Sayin found Malachi Hosley who scampered down the right sideline and all the way to the Hoyas 10-yard line, a 55-yard play. Penn stalled there, but Graham Gotlieb kicked a 23-yard field goal and the Quakers' lead was 17-7.
 
Georgetown was able to find the end zone a second time late in the second quarter when Knoop found Joshua Stakely on a wheel route over the left side for a 10-yard score. It was the final play in a 10-play, 75-yard drive that featured a nice mix of the Hoyas' passing (6 plays) and rushing (4) attacks. GU's kick was no good, hitting the left upright, and Penn's lead was four at 17-13.
 
However, Georgetown's kick went out of bounds and Penn started with the ball on its own 37-yard line with 16 seconds left. Sayin completed a pair of passes down the middle, for eight yards to Bryce Myers and—after a Penn timeout—30 yards to Alex Haight who made a great catch in traffic. That got the ball well into Georgetown territory, and on the final play of the half Albert Jang easily converted a 47-yard field goal to send the Quakers into the locker room with a 20-13 lead.
 
The teams traded unsuccessful possessions to start the third quarter—Shiloh Means ending GU's possession with a spectacular, leaping interception near midfield—but after Penn was stopped on downs Jang's punt was downed on Georgetown's 1-yard line. On the Hoyas' first play, the ball was snapped over Knoop's head and out of the end zone for a safety, pushing the Quakers' lead to nine at 22-13.
 
Penn got the ball well into Georgetown territory almost exactly midway through the third when John Lista sniffed out Knoop's pass to Nicholas Dunneman on the right sideline and picked him off, returning the ball to the Hoyas' 22-yard line. An illegal block in the back brought the ball back to the 37, but just four plays later Hosley took the ball up the gut and through the GU defense 20 yards to paydirt. That made the score 29-13.
 
Georgetown used the big play to score, Knoop heaving a ball down the left side where Jimmy Kibble caught it behind a Penn defender. Kibble turned and had nothing but daylight in front of him, taking it untouched into the end zone. The play covered 65 yards. The Hoyas were ready to go for two in an attempt to make it a one-score game, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the ball back 15 yards and so GU kicked instead to make the score 29-20.
 
Penn quickly re-established its double-digit lead. The Quakers sped up their pace and needed just eight plays to go 75 yards, O'Brien getting the last six of them on a rush around the right side for his second score of the day.
 
Georgetown wouldn't go away. The Hoyas again mixed the pass and the run and needed eight plays to hit paydirt, Stakely pushing it over the goal line from six yards out. GU then went for two and converted, Knoop floating a pass to the deep left corner of the end zone that Dunneman caught to make it a one-score game at 36-28.
 
Despite getting a first down into Georgetown territory, Penn's next drive stalled out following seven plays and a costly holding penalty that caused Jang to punt to the Hoyas' 14-yard line.
 
That set up a lengthy drive for the visitors, draining nearly seven minutes of clock time to score a one-yard TD run with a two-point conversion to make it 36-36 with 1:17 to play in regulation. That capped a 16-play, 86-yard scoring drive for the Hoyas.
 
The Quakers took the ball over again late in the fourth quarter, looking to set up a drive down the field for Sayin and his offense. However, the Red and Blue only managed to get to the Georgetown 45, which put Jang in the vicinity a possible program-record 62-yard field goal attempt. With the wind in his favor and a boot to the ball, he came up just a few yards short of the uprights.
 
Georgetown had one more opportunity to put points on the board, but a last-second heave from Knoop was broken up by Slackman as time expired to set up overtime for the second consecutive week.
 
Unlike last week, the visitors started with the ball in OT as the Hoyas were unable to pick up a first down, setting up a successful 49-yard field goal from Patrick Ryan to take a 39-36 lead.
 
On Penn's turn, Sayin handed the pigskin off the Hosley twice for a total of 20 yards all the way to the Georgetown 5-yard line. After a one-yard loss for O'Brien, Hosley ran right and picked up six yards for the game-winning score.
 


Up Next
Penn is on the road for its next two games, starting next Saturday when the Quakers are in New York City to face Columbia. Kickoff with the Lions is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
 
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