PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football team continues its push towards a 19th Ivy League title when it heads north to No. 19 Harvard on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
The Quakers (6-2, 3-2 Ivy) are currently locked in a four-way tie for second place when they take on the Crimson (7-1, 4-1 Ivy) who are currently in sole possession of first with just two games remaining.
 
GAME 9 – PENN at #19/24 HARVARD
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 | 1 p.m.
Harvard Stadium | Cambridge, Mass.
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) |  Listen Live (QAN)  |  Live Stats
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Harvard Game Notes (PDF)
 


The Harvard Series
Penn is meeting Harvard for the 93rd time on Saturday with the Crimson owning a 51-39-2 mark in the all-time series. However, the last 10 meetings have been pretty tight with each program taking half. Harvard has beaten Penn in back-to-back seasons as the Quakers look for their first victory since Nov. 16, 2019 in Cambridge (24-20).
 
What About 2019?
The last win for Penn over Harvard was a good one, the third straight victory in Cambridge dating back to 2015. In fact, that made program history as the first time in the Ivy League era of college football the Quakers won three straight games at Harvard Stadium. Penn scored first on a three-yard run by Nick Robinson, but Harvard re-took the lead going into halftime up 13-10. Rory Starkey Jr. was the recipient of two touchdown passes—a 70-yarder in the third quarter and the game-winning 16-yard pass from Robinson with 7:15 left—as the Red and Blue came away with the 24-20 win. Karekin Brooks rushed for 102 yards while Starkey, Jr. caught three passes for 96 yards and a pair of scores.
 
Last Meeting With Harvard
Harvard got the best of the Quakers last season, topping Penn 37-14 in the final game at Franklin Field in 2022. Despite holding the Crimson off the majority of the first quarter, Harvard struck first with 4:53 left to take a 7-0 lead. With a minute to go, Julien Stokes ran in a TD to tie the game at 7-7. From there, the Crimson scored 24 unanswered points to lead 31-7 near the start of the third quarter. The Quakers got seven more points on a five-yard Rory Starkey, Jr. touchdown catch from Aidan Sayin to make it 31-14, but two more Harvard field goals put the game out of reach. Starkey, Jr. led Penn with eight catches for 117 yards and a TD, while Garrett Morris led the way on defense once again with his 11 total tackles (five solos) and 1.5 tackles for a loss.
 
The Quakers' Last Time Out
Freshman running back Malachi Hosley put forth one of the most impressive running games in program history as Penn topped Cornell, 23-8, Saturday afternoon on Homecoming at Franklin Field. Hosley ran wild for 261 yards—the most by a Penn freshman and the third-most in a single game in program history—on 21 carries and two touchdowns. His first TD went for 68 yards and the second was a 96-yard run back, the longest offensive play in program history and longest since 1914. The Quakers took a 16-0 lead into halftime and only let up a five-yard Big Red TD pass early in the third quarter to earn the conference win with two games remaining. Logan Nash led the Penn defense with 11 total tackles (eight solos) and a pass breakup while Joey Slackman had two TFLs and a sack for a loss of eight yards.
 
Newcomer On Notice
Jerry Rice Award? Ivy League Rookie of the Year? None of it is out of question after the game Hosley had Saturday against the Big Red. The true freshman running back got himself some serious hardware this week, earned FedEx Ground FCS National Freshman of the Week laurels, as well as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week for the third time this year.
 
It's More Than Just Passing
Penn has found itself on the winning side of ballgames this season after stellar performances through the air by Sayin. However, the Quakers got it done on the ground on Saturday in the victory over Cornell, totaling 264 rushing yards following the outstanding performance Hosley. In fact, the 101 passing yards totaled by the Quakers is their fewest since an 83-yard showing at Columbia in 2021.
 
Defensively Sound
Penn's defense remains one of the top defensive units in the country with just two games to go. We saw it last season when Jake Heimlicher led the Ivy League in sacks and we're seeing it this season again with the Quakers ranked 11th in the nation in total defense (297.4 ypg), behind only Princeton (261.5) in the Ivy rankings. Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator Bob Benson has done a fantastic job in working with his personnel this year. Iuliano is in a tie for third in the Ancient Eight for sacks with four, while Joey Slackman leads the league in TFLs (11.0) after a stellar day vs. Cornell, Iuliano's third (8.5) and Jack Fairman ranks seventh in tackles per game (7.1).
 
Welcome Back, #1!
Senior defensive back Jaden Key has been playing more and more since his return from a scary upper body injury suffered in the overtime win over Georgetown in September. Key had a bigger role Saturday against Cornell in recording his first interception since the opener at Colgate and his second of the season. He joins fellow senior Shiloh Means (3) as the only Quakers with more than one interception this year.
 
First-Half Team
Some teams are second-half teams, but under head coach Ray Priore, the Quakers start fast and finish most games. After leading the Big Red 16-0 at halftime on Saturday en route to a 23-8 victory, Penn is now 37-2 overall when leading at the half under Priore's direction, 18-0 at Franklin Field and 23-1 in Ivy League play. The numbers expand even more when factoring in a lead after third quarter, going 41-1 overall, 21-0 at home and 23-1 in conference contests.
 
Playing For MG
Sophomore defensive lineman Michael Gavin passed away on Oct. 14 at the age of 20 after battling a rare, incurable form of brain cancer. Despite learning of his diagnosis in June 2022, Gavin decided he wanted to fight the disease as a Penn student-athlete and became a deeply respected member of both the academic and athletic communities. In the 2022-23 academic year, Gavin received the Coach Lake Award, awarded to the player who demonstrates leadership, team spirit and unwavering Penn pride. The Hun School and Penn teammate Jake Bingham will wear No. 62 in honor of Gavin for the remainder of the 2023 season.
 
Follow The Action
Saturday's game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Alex Vispoli (Play-by-Play) and Tyler Davey (analysis) on the call. A radio feed will be broadcast live on the Quaker Audio Network with Matt Leon (Play-by-Play) and Hench Murray (analysis) on the call. Live stats will also be provided on gocrimson.com.
 
For the latest on Penn football, follow @PennFB on X (formerly Twitter), @PennFootball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.