PHILADELPHIA – Carrying momentum from back-to-back Ivy League victories over Brown and Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania football team returns home to Franklin Field for the final time in 2024 on Saturday, hosting No. 22/20 Harvard at 1 p.m. on both Homecoming and Senior Day.
 
The Quakers (4-4, 2-3 Ivy) are coming off a historic win over the Big Red last Saturday in which they scored their most points since 1942 (67) and in the Ivy era behind a record-breaking individual performance from QB Liam O'Brien.
 
The Crimson (7-1, 4-1 Ivy) have won six consecutive games since an Ivy-opening loss to Cornell and could clinch at least a share of the title on Saturday, barring a win and a Dartmouth loss to the Big Red.
 
GAME 9 – PENN vs. #22/20 HARVARD
Homecoming presented by David Auto
Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024 | 1 p.m.
Franklin Field | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch on ESPN+, NBCSP ($)  |  Listen Live (QAN)  | Live Stats | Tickets
Game Program | Penn Game Notes (PDF)  | Harvard Game Notes (PDF)
 

The Harvard Series
Penn and Harvard are known for playing some extremely close matchups over the years and 2023 was no different, the Crimson besting the Quakers 25-23 in three overtimes in Cambridge. This weekend marks the 94th meeting between the two storied programs with Harvard leading the series, 52-39-2, winners of the last three games and six of the last 10. Penn is looking for its first win over Harvard since 2019 and first at Franklin Field since 2016.
 
Homecoming Highlights
Football on Homecoming at Penn has been a longstanding tradition for generations. Since 1952, the Quakers are 31-38-2 on Homecoming but have won six of the last 10 games. Saturday marks Penn's 11th Homecoming game against Harvard and first since 2018. The Quakers only have one win against the Crimson, doing so on Nov. 11, 2000 in a 36-35 victory where they went on to win the Ivy League title.

Senior Day
The Quakers will honor the program's 30 seniors—which includes student assistant coach Bo Sprague who medically retired following the 2023 season—prior to kickoff Saturday with a special pre-game ceremony.
 
Last Meeting With Harvard
Penn overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to force overtime but finished on the wrong end of a 25-23 final against No. 19/24 Harvard in three OTs. With the victory, the Crimson clinched a share of the Ivy League title, eliminating the Quakers from contention.
 
Malachi Hosley started the scoring on Penn's first drive with a 29-yard touchdown run, while both teams traded scores until late in the second quarter when Harvard took a 20-10 lead into the locker room.
 
Penn scored 10 straight points—a 23-yard Graham Gotlieb field goal and a one-yard run for Hosley—from the end of the third quarter to the start of the fourth to tie the game at 20-20. In a drive that bled nearly nine minutes off the clock, Harvard ended up missing a 30-yard field goal with 2:15 remaining and gave the Quakers life. The game went to OT after the Crimson blocked Albert Jang's potential game-winning 59-yard field goal.
 
Gotlieb knocked back a 36-yarder to up the Penn lead to 23-20, giving Harvard an opportunity to win the game on a TD. However, it was the Quaker defense that came up large, stopping the Crimson on three consecutive plays—with an injured Joey Slackman leading the charge—at the one-yard line to set up an 18-yard field goal and a second overtime.
 
After Logan Nash picked off Harvard's QB to begin the second OT, Gotlieb hooked his 36-yard attempt left, sending the game to a third overtime and 2-point conversions. Penn went first and were unsuccessful in finding the end zone. The Crimson followed up with the Philly Special to take the win.
 
Penn's Last Time Out
Penn scored its most points in the Ivy League era (since 1956) and overall since 1942, taking down Cornell in a 67-49 shootout victory Saturday afternoon in Ithaca, N.Y. Quarterback Liam O'Brien set a pair of program records, for passing touchdowns in a game (6) and total touchdowns responsible for (7). He threw three of his TD passes to Jared Richardson and finished the day with 341 passing yards, 77 rushing yards, and a score. The Quakers trailed the Big Red 21-7 before cutting the lead to two points at 28-26 entering the locker room at halftime. It was all Red and Blue from there, as they scored 41 points in the second half. Hosley continues to close in on a 1,000-yard rushing season as he carried the ball 27 times for 192 yards and his fourth two-TD effort of the year. He has an Ivy-leading 927 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Penn gained 627 yards of total offense—tied for the second-most in program history—and the game proved to be the highest-scoring game in Penn history as well, the teams combining for 116 points.
 
The Conan Liam O'Brien Show
O'Brien's performances these last two weeks have made for good primetime television, leading the Quakers to back-to-back victories on the road at Brown and Cornell.
 
On Monday, he was named both Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week and Ivy League co-Offensive Player of the Week for his historic performance against the Big Red.
 
O'Brien tossed six touchdowns—setting the Quakers' single-game program record—before adding another rushing TD to total seven, another Penn single-game record, both set over two decades ago.
 
After throwing for 341 yards on Saturday, O'Brien's completed 48 of his 67 pass attempts (71.6 percent) in three games with eight touchdowns and just one interception. His QBR is 193.16, leading the team.
 
The Touchdown Machine Strikes Again
Hosley is dangerously close recording Penn's first 1,000 rushing yard season since 2019 (Karekin Brooks, 1,003) with 927 yards and two games remaining.
 
He's tallied at least two TDs in half of his eight appearances so far this year, while recording nine scores. His yardage (927), TDs (9), and carries (156) pace all Ivy League rushers.
 
Hosley has a knack for playing Cornell, totaling 192 on Saturday and 261 last season against the Big Red. In last year's 25-23, three overtime loss at Harvard, he ran the ball 22 times for 109 yards and a pair of touchdown runs.
 
That's J-Rich!
Richardson has been playing on a whole other level as of late, registering his second consecutive 100-or-more receiving yard game on Saturday at Cornell.
 
He reeled in nine passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns against the Big Red, becoming the first player in program history with two three-TD games.
 
This year, Richardson has 39 catches for 596 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the Quakers.
 
Saturday marked Richardson's sixth 100-or-more receiving yard game of his career after tallying four such games in 2023.
 
Linebacker UofP
Defense is one of, if not the most important facet of a successful college football team, and this year the success has revolved around Penn's elite group of linebackers.
Kadari Machen, John Lista, and Jack Fairman have all stepped up in a big way this year at that position. Lista is chasing Yale's Abu Kamara atop the Ivy League's leaderboard in total tackles, leading the conference with 68. Lista is fourth with 61 stops this season. Machen is tied for seventh with 57.
 
Yale's Abu Kamara's 55 solo tackles rank first in the Ivy, while Lista is second with 43.
 
Lista leads the Ancient Eight in total tackles per game (8.7) and is ranked third in FCS football in solo tackles per game (6.1).
 
Picks For Everyone
It took the Quakers awfully long to register just two interceptions on the season—six games, in fact—when Josh Narcisse picked off Yale's Grant Jordan in Oct. 25.
 
In Saturday's win at Cornell, Penn defenders racked up three interceptions, the team's most in a game since Nov. 19, 2016 at Cornell (3).
 
Julian Talley and Shiloh Means both recorded their first picks of the year on Saturday while Narcisse became the first defensive back to get two on the campaign.
 
Scouting The Crimson
Penn will see one of the best football teams in the nation on Saturday when 22nd-ranked Harvard visits Franklin Field.
 
The Crimson are looking for their seventh consecutive victory, having not lost since a 31-28 defeat at Brown on Sept. 28.
 
A win over the Quakers and a Dartmouth loss to Cornell on Saturday would clinch Harvard a piece of the Ivy League title for the second consecutive year.
 
The Crimson are currently ranked first in the Ancient Eight and eighth in the nation for passing yards per completion (14.25), while averaging 33.3 points per game, also ranking first among Ivy teams.
 
Quarterback Jaden Craig is the fifth-most efficient passer in NCAA FCS (167.7), while also ranking fifth in passing yards per completion (14.49). Defensively, Harvard is paced by Jacob Psyk who leads the conference in sacks per game (0.81) and is second in TFLs (1.3).
 
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 8 on the calendar.
 
Penn leads the nation in punt return defense (-0.25), is second in fumbles lost (2), seventh in turnovers lost (7), eighth in blocked punts (2), 12th in fourth-down conversion percentage (.688), 14th in kickoff return yards per attempt (23.78), 15th in net punting (41.00), 17th in red-zone offense (.882), 21st in third-down conversion percentage (.451), and 22nd in TFLs allowed (4.38).
 
Individually, Hosley is fifth in rushing yards per game (115.9), 11th in all-purpose yards per game (124.75), 19th in rushing yards (927), and 24th in rushing yards per carry (5.94). Richardson is 20th in receiving touchdowns (7). Julien Stokes is currently 11th in kickoff return yards per attempt (26.5) and 24th in kickoff return yards (486). Lista ranks third in solo tackles per game (6.1). Means is 17th in passes defended per game (1.1). Placekicker Sam Smith has burst onto the scene ranked 22nd in the nation in field goals per game (1.25) and is 24th in field goal percentage (.769).
 
Follow The Action
Joe Tordy (play-by-play) and Penn Athletics Hall of Famer Joe Valerio C'91 (analyst) provide the broadcast call on NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBC Sports Boston, and ESPN+ on Saturday while Matt Leon (play-by-play) and Hench Murray (analyst) will do the honors on the Quaker Audio Network (QAN).
 
For the latest on Penn football, follow @PennFB on X (formerly Twitter), @PennFootball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.