PHILADELPHIA – After an impressive 31-21 victory over Bucknell to conclude non-conference action last weekend, the University of Pennsylvania football team resumes Ivy League play Saturday, hosting Columbia at Franklin Field.
 
The Lions (3-1, 1-0 Ivy) have been the talk of the town around the Ancient Eight to begin the campaign after beating Princeton two weekends ago to kick off their Ivy slate. New head coach Jon Poppe will face the Quakers (2-2, 0-1 Ivy) for the first time as ninth-year head coach Ray Priore is fresh off his 50th career victory in charge of the program.
 
Penn is searching for its third victory in a row against Columbia in the series and 13th straight at Franklin Field since 1996.
 
GAME 5 – PENN vs. COLUMBIA
Cancer Awareness Game in partnership with Penn Medicine
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024 | 1 p.m.
Franklin Field | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch Live on NBCSP, ESPN+ ($)  |  Listen Live (QAN)  | Live Stats | Tickets
Game Program | Penn Game Notes (PDF)  | Columbia Game Notes (PDF)
 

The Columbia Series
Penn has controlled the all-time series with Columbia dating back to the first meeting on Nov. 16, 1878. The Quakers hold an all-time series record of 77-24-1 including 45-6 at Franklin Field. Penn's only home losses have occurred in 1881, 1934, 1960, 1962, 1976, and 1996. Since the last loss, Penn has won 12 straight at home. Today will mark the first-ever meeting between the George A. Munger Head Coach Ray Priore and Columbia head coach Jon Poppe.
 
Last Meeting With Columbia
Penn withstood the elements and scored 10 points in the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter to come away with a 20-17 victory at Columbia. The victory propelled the Quakers into a six-way tie for second place in the Ancient Eight. Kicker Graham Gotlieb bookended the contest with two field goals—the second being what proved to be a 23-yard game winner—while Liam O'Brien snuck in for his fourth rushing touchdown of the year and Bisi Owens recorded the game-tying TD for his first career score. Aidan Sayin completed 30 of his 44 passes for 286 yards and the fourth-quarter touchdown, while Jared Richardson caught seven passes for a team-high 91 yards. On defense, Joey Slackman and Jack Iuliano each recorded sacks while Kadari Machen finished with a team-high eight tackles.
 
Penn > Patriot League Leaders
Penn scored 21 points in the third quarter en route to defeating Bucknell Saturday at Franklin Field, 31-21. It was the Quakers' 10th straight win over the Bison since 2003 and their eighth in a row against a Patriot League opponent. In addition, head coach Ray Priore recorded his 50th career win, making him the fifth head coach in program history to reach the milestone. Malachi Hosley had a pair of touchdown runs to put the game out of reach midway through the third period on his way to 146 yards on 22 carries, while Jamal Bing, Jr. added 68 yards and a TD. Defensively, John Lista led the way with 11 tackles and 3.5 TFLs; on Monday, he was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. Carter Janki added a TFL and a forced fumble while Sam Carlson recorded two TFLs and a fumble recovery. On special teams, Julien Stokes outpaced the nation's leading return specialist (Bucknell's TJ Cadden) with three kickoff returns for 104 yards (34.7 average).
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Penn's first Ivy League weekly honor of the 2024 season belongs to junior linebacker Lista, who was named Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. He's the first Quaker to win the award since Joey Slackman in 2022. Lista recorded a career-high 10 solo tackles, 3.5 TFLs (an Ivy League-best mark in 2024) and a sack in the Red and Blue's win over Bucknell on Saturday.
 
Leading Rusher
Hosley had yet another standout performance for Penn on Saturday against Bucknell, making an early case for as the Ivy's most outstanding running back just four weeks into the campaign. Heading into Week 5 against Columbia, Hosley paces Ivy rushers in almost every category including carries (80), yards (535), yards per attempt (6.7) and yards per game (133.8). On top of that, he ramped up to fourth in FCS football in rushing yards per game, sixth in all-purpose yards per game (145.5), and 13th in rushing yards per carry.
 
Fifty For Priore
George A. Munger Head Coach Ray Priore became the fifth head coach in program history to reach the 50-win milestone following the Quakers' 31-21 victory over Bucknell at Franklin Field. The win put Priore past Louis Young (1923-29) for sole possession of fifth place. Currently, he's now behind just Carl Williams (60; 1902-07), George Munger (82; 1938-53), George Woodruff (124; 1892-1901), and the all-time winngest head coach and recent Penn Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Al Bagnoli (148; 1992-2014).
 
Bing To The Rescue
Sophomore running back Jamal Bing, Jr. finally had his breakout moment Saturday against Bucknell at Franklin Field, who along with Hosley, helped Penn eclipse the 200-yard mark on the ground. Bing totaled 68 yards and scored his first-career touchdown as well. It's good to see another student-athlete show flashes of greatness on the gridiron and giving assistance to Hosley who has seen a bulk of the workload so far.
 
Home-Field Advantage
Franklin Field has certainly been the 'friendly confines' Penn has wanted it to be just two home games into the 2024 season. The Quakers are 2-0 in front of their home fans and are looking for their third win against Columbia on Saturday. Two years ago when the Red and Blue topped the Lions, 34-14, Penn went on to finish 4-1 at home.
 
Scouting The Lions
Columbia has been one of the Ivy League's biggest surprises heading after four weeks of play. The Lions finished the 2023 season in last place with a 1-6 record and are currently locked in a three-way tie for first with Dartmouth and Brown.
 
The Lions are coming off a 24-6 victory at Wagner on Saturday, scoring 24 unanswered points to begin the contest en route to the victory.
On the ground, it was Joey Giorgi who paced Columbia offensively with 111 rushing yards and a TD while the team totaled 228 yards running the ball.
 
The team has totaled 200 yards rushing in three of the four contests this year while new head coach Jon Poppe earned his first road win in charge of Columbia.
 
Keeping An Eye On Kadari
You will need to remember Kadari Machen's name as we progress through the remainder of this 2024 season. The junior linebacker has excelled in his second full season starting at SAM, leading the Quakers in total tackles with 34.0 and in solo stops (20) through the first three games. Machen recorded 15 total tackles—on eight solos—the most by a Quaker since 2022 (Garrett Morris, 15 vs. Brown) in Penn's Ivy opener at Dartmouth two weekends ago.
 
He's not only excelling as a member of Penn's roster, but he's also one of the Ivy League's leaders in total tackles, currently second behind Yale's Abu Kamara (39.0). His 20 solo stops are second in the league. The Ancient Eight leader—again, it's Kamara—has a mind-blowing 34 solos, which also lead the nation.
 
Penn in National Rankings
The Quakers continue to be one of the nation's leading teams in a variety of categories as we enter Week 5 on the calendar.
 
Penn ranks third in fewest penalties (16), third in tackles for loss allowed (3.00), fourth in FCS football in fourth-down conversion percentage (.833), fifth in kickoff return yards per attempt (27.2), fifth in turnovers lost (3), 11th in red-zone defense (.647), and 22nd in scoring defense (21.8 ppg).
 
Individually, Malachi Hosley is fourth in rushing yards per game (133.8), sixth in all-purpose yards per game (145.50), and 26th in total rushing yards (535). Julien Stokes is currently sixth in kickoff return yards per attempt (30.6). Placekicker Sam Smith has burst onto the scene ranked 25th in the nation in field goals per game (1.25).
 
Preseason All-Ivy
Announced by Phil Steele on August 2, eight Quakers earned Preseason All-Ivy honors led by first-teamers RB Malachi Hosley, WR Jared Richardson, TE Bryce Myers, LB Jack Fairman, LB John Lista, and DB Shiloh Means. DL Paul Jennings and LB Kadari Machen earned spots on the second team.
 
Hey, Coaches!
Priore added four new faces to his coaching staff with Greg Chimera (offensive coordinator), Marvin Clecidor (defensive backs), Jordan Johnson (running backs), and David Josephson (tight ends) coming to University City.
 
Follow The Action
For the first time this season, Penn will have a regional broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia in addition to ESPN+ as Joe Tordy (play-by-play) and Penn Athletics Hall of Famer Joe Valerio C'91 (analyst) do the honors while Matt Leon (play-by-play) and Hench Murray (analyst) will have the radio call on the Quaker Audio Network (QAN).
 
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