HAMILTON, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania football team used touchdowns on either side of halftime to pull away from Colgate and earn a 20-6 win Saturday afternoon. In their first trip to Hamilton in 30 years, the Quakers won their season opener for the third straight season and improved to 5-3 in openers under head coach
Ray Priore.
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Quaker Notemeal
*Penn starts 1-0 for a third consecutive season and has now won four in a row against Patriot League opponents.
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*It's the Quakers' fifth straight victory over Colgate dating back to 1992. Penn now leads the all-time series, 7-2-1.
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Jared Richardson and
Maurcus McDaniel each hauled in first career receiving touchdowns. Richardson finished with a team-high 62 yards.
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*Junior quarterback
Aidan Sayin settled in late, completing 26 passes for 166 yards and a pair of TDs.
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Jacob Cisneros ran eight times for a team-high 65 yards while Sayin carried five times for 20 yards.
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*Penn's defense tallied six sacks—one each for
Travis McFarling,
Paul Jennings,
Kendren Smith,
Logan Nash,
Micah Morris and
John Lista—while Smith had a strong game with a team-high eight total tackles, two pass breakups and a hurry. It's the most sacks for the Quaker defense since last year's season opener, also against Colgate.
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Graham Gotlieb booted two field goals, including a career-high 42-yarder, while drilling a pair of extra points.
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*Penn led the way with 276 yards of total offense and went 3-for-4 in red-zone opportunities. First downs were even, 19-19.
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How It Happened
Colgate started with the ball but was quickly forced to punt, and Penn started its first drive of 2023 on the Raiders side of midfield. The Quakers drove to Colgate's 20-yard line, went back five on a false start penalty, and stalled at the 25 before
Graham Gotlieb kicked a career-long 42-yard field goal to put the Red and Blue on the board.
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Colgate responded immediately. The Raiders' first two offensive plays went for first downs and nearly got Saturday's host to midfield. Penn's defense aided the drive from there, Colgate's next three first downs coming from Quakers penalties. That gave the Raiders' first and goal, and while the Red and Blue defense kept them out of the end zone Jacob Jaworski kicked a 25-yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3.
Penn's next scoring drive bridged the first and second quarters. A pair of Sayin completions sandwiched two
Jacob Cisneros rushes and got the Quakers to Colgate's 15 as the first quarter ended. On third and 3 at the Raiders' 8-yard line, a Sayin throw into the end zone fell incomplete but flags were thrown and targeting was called. However, after a lengthy review the flags were picked up, the targeting call was rescinded, and the pass was ruled incomplete. That left Gotlieb to split the uprights from 25 yards out to put the Quakers back in front, 6-3.
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Colgate knotted things back up midway through the second with a nine-play, 52-yard drive that ended with another 25-yard field goal by Jaworski. Penn nearly turned the Raiders over when
Shiloh Means looked like he might have an interception in the end zone, but upon review he was ruled to be out of bounds when he gained possession.
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The Penn offense had started sluggishly but picked it up late in the second. Following Colgate's score, the Quakers went 75 yards for their first touchdown of the season. Sayin was 7-of-9 passing on the drive, covering 46 yards, and added another 11 with his legs. The final completion went to
Jared Richardson just inside the right pylon for the score.
It looked like the Red and Blue defense had given the offense another chance to put points on the board before halftime, pinning Colgate with fourth-and-22 on its own 13 with a little more than a minute to play. However, from out of his end zone Jaworski's punt bounced past the Penn returner all the way down to the Quakers 21, completely flipping the field. Penn ended up taking the 13-6 lead into the locker room.
Isaac Shabay took the second-half kickoff 44 yards into Colgate territory, getting Penn off to a great start on the other side of the break. Just a few plays later, Sayin found
Maurcus McDaniel on the left side and the senior raced to the middle of the field and got the ball over the line for a 22-yard score. It was just McDaniel's second TD wearing the Red and Blue, the other coming at Columbia in 2021.
Penn's defense held Colgate to a three-and-out, and Jaworski's punt went just 14 yards which gave the Quakers the ball on the Raiders 40. It looked like the Red and Blue might score again, but on a second-down play from the Colgate 10 Sayin tried to force a pass into the end zone that was picked off by Arthur Hamlin. Colgate then flipped the field on first down, Michael Brescia finding Winston Moore for a 42-yard gain down the right sideline. However, the defense held from there, and the Raiders were stopped on downs at the Quakers' 35. It was still 20-6 after three.
Penn's defense made the plays in the fourth quarter to keep the lead intact, as neither team scored in the final 15.
Quotables
"It's always great to get that first win under your belt. It was our first game, their third game so there were some things we had to fix up early in the game. We played a lot of kids, they played hard and we got the victory." –
Ray Priore, George A. Munger Head Coach of Football.
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"It felt great. Being with the guys, getting a win in the first game is amazing. It was a great win and when I got the touchdown, I just felt good out there. Celebrating with my teammates is such a great feeling and I'm looking forward to next week." –
Jared Richardson, sophomore wide receiver.
Up Next
Penn is on the road again next Saturday, making the trip to the central part of the Commonwealth to face Bucknell. The Quakers and Bison will kick off at 3:30 p.m.
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Gallery: (9-16-2023) Football at Colgate - 9/16/23
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