PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football team led three different times against No. 22/20 Harvard on Saturday at Franklin Field, but the Crimson showed their championship mettle and pulled out a 31-28 win.
 
Harvard's Dylan Fingersh hit a 21-yard field goal as time expired, allowing the Crimson (8-1, 5-1) to escape Franklin Field with the three-point win and a share of the Ivy League title. Penn fell to 4-5 overall, 2-4 in Ivy play with the hard-luck loss.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Because Dartmouth fell to Cornell, 39-22, in Ithaca on Saturday, Harvard clinched at least a share of the Ivy League title for a second straight season. It also officially eliminated the Quakers from contention.

*It was Penn's first loss in the Ray Priore era at Franklin Field when leading at the half. The Quakers were previously 20-0 in such games entering Saturday and 40-4 overall.

*Reigning FCS National Offensive Player of the Week Liam O'Brien had another impressive outing slinging the ball, completing 13 of his 18 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns. He also added another on the ground for four total TDs, bringing his total to 11 over the last two games. 

*O'Brien completed over 70 percent of his passes for the third straight week and now has 850 passing yards, 11 passing touchdowns and one interception in four games.

*Malachi Hosley rushed for 143 yards on 17 carries on the day. He's recorded three consecutive 100-or-more rushing yard games this season and has six in his nine appearances on the year.

*Hosley also became the 10th Penn running back since Ivy League play began in 1956 to rush for over 1,000 yards. He's now at 1,070 yards, the most since Sam Mathews ran for 1,266 yards in 2003.

*Bisi Owens recorded the second 100-receiving yard game of his career, getting 107 on three catches with a pair of touchdowns. His 66-yard TD reception from O'Brien is Penn's longest scoring play of the year.

*Senior tight end Mike Fraraccio was the beneficiary of one of O'Brien's three touchdown passes, getting the first of his career on Senior Day. Fraraccio had just two catches in his career prior to Saturday.

*Senior co-captain Shiloh Means led the Quakers' defense with eight total tackles (all solos). Jack Fairman added seven with four each from Kadari Machen, Alec Wills, Julian Talley, and Max Matolcsy.

*Fairman, Matolcsy, and Carter Janki each picked up a sack.

*John Lista forced a fumble, which Sulayman Adeoye recovered.

*Albert Jang's 71-yard punt in the first quarter is Penn's longest punt since Hunter Kelley's 73-yarder against #13 Fordham on Oct. 10, 2015. Jang finished with two punts for 102 yards.

How It Happened
Harvard took the opening kickoff and marched down to Penn's 20-yard line. However, Carter Janki sacked Harvard QB Jaden Craig between a pair of incompletions and that forced Kieran Corr to take a 43-yard field goal that was wide left. The teams traded turnovers near midfield midway through the first quarter, Craig coughing up the ball when he was absolutely leveled by John Lista in the open field, and then Liam O'Brien getting stripped on a QB keeper just three plays later. Things were still scoreless after one.
 
After utilizing the run almost exclusively in the first quarter, Penn opened it up to start the second. The result was the first score of the game, as O'Brien found Bisi Owens up the middle for a 31-yard strike. The catch was Owens' second of the drive, both of them coming after the switching of ends. Harvard immediately responded. The Crimson methodically moved the ball down the field, mixing the pass and the run, and leveled things at 7-7 when Shane McLaughlin took it up the gut for the final four yards. The drive took 14 plays and more than six minutes.
 
Penn used the deep strike to go right back in front. The Quakers looked like they might be in some trouble when a personal foul penalty put them on their own 29, but instead O'Brien aired it out down the right sideline and the ball settled into the arms of an in-stride Owens who was able to take it into the end zone. The 66-yard scoring play was Penn's longest this season and gave the Red and Blue a 14-7 lead at the half. Hosley then got the second half off a raucous start, taking a handoff, bouncing off the left side and racing 55 yards to Harvard's 15-yard line on the first play of the third period. In the process, he pushed past the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Five plays later, O'Brien rolled out to the right side and found Mike Fraraccio just inside the sideline to double Penn's lead to 14, at 21-7. Harvard came right back to make it a one-score game again. Charles DePrima was under center at this point—Craig was lost for the game on the big hit in the first—and he proved to be elusive, running three times for a total of 41 yards including a 27-yard scramble. He then hit Xaviah Bascon for a 23-yard scoring pass that made the score 21-14.
 
Penn's next drive stalled near midfield, and the Crimson kept the momentum going with another scoring drive that tied things at 21-21. Starting on its 13-yard line, Harvard went the wrong way on first down when DePrima was sacked for a two-yard loss. However, that was offset by the next play when he gained 15 yards for a first down and another 15 was tacked on by a late hit. Just four plays after that, Bascon ran it nine yards up the middle for the score.
 
Penn's ensuing drive rolled into the fourth quarter, and it ended with the Quakers taking their third lead of the day. O'Brien again called his own number, scrambling four yards to paydirt to cap off a nine-play, 75-yard drive that took 5:35 of game time. For the third time in the game, Harvard tied it up. DePrima scored the touchdown, getting around the right side of the line and making a few would-be tacklers miss before diving into the end zone from nine yards out.
 
Penn's next drive took the game to the two-minute timeout, finishing at Harvard's 24-yard line which set the stage for a 41-yard Sam Smith field goal. Out of the stoppage, Penn was called for a false start which made it a 46-yard kick. Smith pushed it just wide of the right goalpost.
 
That set the stage for Harvard to march down the field and set up Fingersh for the winning kick, which was snapped with just two seconds left on the clock and went through the uprights as time expired.
 

Up Next
Penn will close out the regular season next Saturday at archrival Princeton. The Quakers and Tigers are scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Princeton Stadium.
 
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