ITHACA, N.Y. – One for the history books! Breaking record after record, the University of Pennsylvania football team trailed by two touchdowns late in the first quarter and ended up scoring the most points in a single game in program history (since Ivy League play began in 1956) in a 67-49 shootout win over Cornell Saturday at Schoellkopf Field.
 
Junior quarterback Liam O'Brien put together a special performance, setting the program's single-game passing touchdown record with six, totaling seven touchdowns—also the most accounted for in program history—in the dominant win.
 
Winning the 130th meeting between the two teams and extending its record in the Trustees' Cup series to 21-9, Penn improved to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in Ivy League play while Cornell dropped to 3-5 and 2-3 in the Ivy.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn's 67 points is the team's most scored in a single game since Ivy League play began back in 1956 (a 65-47 win at Lehigh in 2017) and the most in a single game since Oct. 16, 1942 against Lakehurst (74-6) coached by George A. Munger.
 
*This game was officially the highest-scoring game in program history, totaling 116 aggregate points (67 for Penn, 49 for Cornell), topping that Lehigh game (65-47) from 2017.
 
*Penn's 627 yards of total offense is tied for the second-most in a single game in program history. The Quakers put up 627 yards against Columbia on Nov. 17, 1973. The all-time record is 628, set 24 years ago in Ithaca against Cornell on Nov. 18, 2000.
 
*Liam O'Brien passed for six touchdowns, setting the program's single-game record originally held by Mike Mitchell (5) from Nov. 22, 2003 vs. Cornell.
 
*O'Brien's seven total touchdowns (6 pass, 1 rush) are also the most by a player in a single game in program history, topping legendary Penn running back Jim Finn's 26-year-old record from Oct. 24, 1998 against Brown.
 
*Jared Richardson became the first Penn player to register two three-touchdown games in a career. He also had a three-TD game against Princeton last season. The junior wideout finished with nine catches for 141 yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon.
 
*Malachi Hosley—who notoriously ran wild for 261 yards against the Big Red on Homecoming last season—put together another impressive effort with 192 yards on 27 carries and two scores. He's totaled 453 rushing yards in two career games against Cornell.

*Penn's defense intercepted Cornell QB Jameson Wang three times, one each for Julian Talley, Shiloh Means, and Josh Narcisse. With two on the year, Narcisse is now the team's leader.

*Devin Malloy and John Lista led the defense with six tackles each, while Talley and Carter Janki added five.

*Janki and freshman Connor Martin each picked up a sack while Narcisse and Means added a half TFL.

*Saturday's scoreline was a Diamond Scorigami, which means that the 67-49 final score has never occurred before in a UFL, XFL, USFL, NFL, or College Football game in history. Quite the afternoon in Ithaca!

How It Happened
Cornell won the opening toss and started the game with two big chunk plays over the top to get great field position in under a minute. On a 4th & 3, Jameson Wang found Samuel Musungu for 18 yards, breaking an attempted Shiloh Means tackle to get inside the red zone. Wang kept it for himself, going left on the designed run for seven yards and the score, the Big Red taking a 7-0 lead.
 
Penn made quick work of its first possession with Liam O'Brien finding Bisi Owens for 61 yards to the Cornell 10-yard line. O'Brien got the ball to Julien Stokes on a wheel route for three yards, getting Juice his first touchdown of the season and tying the game at 7-7.
 
Three costly penalties marred the Quakers on defense, as the Big Red ran 17 plays and took six minutes to go 75 yards and score their second touchdown of the afternoon, as Wang found Robert Tucker III's breadbasket for six points.
 
On the next offensive drive for the Big Red, Penn had thought it stopped Cornell on a three-and-out when it faked a punt, leading Tucker III to rush 74 yards up the middle for the score, taking a 21-7 lead.
 
Penn had the ball coming out of the first quarter break—a period that lasted 47 minutes, by the way—and got within striking distance when O'Brien rushed right for seven yards on 3rd and 8 and Malachi Hosley punched it past the marker three yards for the first after he hurdled a defender. After the Quakers were flagged for a false start, O'Brien lobbed a pass in the air and positioned it in just the right way where it found the arms of Jared Richardson for 11 yards and a TD, as Penn made it a 21-14 game.
 
Jameson Wang had the Big Red running with an early first down on the next drive when Devin Malloy tipped a pass that ended up handled by Julian Talley for the interception, gifting the Quakers the ball back on their own 44-yard line. Penn ended up cashing in for three points on Sam Smith's successful 37-yard attempt, making it a five-point game at 21-17.
 
It only took three plays to go 75 yards for Cornell's next score, using a 30-yard keeper by Wang and a 37-yard pitch-and-catch from Wang to Doryn Smith for the other as the Big Red pulled ahead further, up 28-17.
 
Even after a false start penalty called on Penn's offensive line, O'Brien got the ball out 27 yards to Joshua Casilli for a must-need first down. O'Brien got the Quakers back in opponent territory using his legs, rushing 12 yards to the 37 to move the chains. Richardson found the end zone for the second TD of the afternoon, good for 37 yards and a 28-23 score.
 
Shiloh Means recorded Penn's second interception of the day—and the senior's first of the season—with 1:09 remaining in the half. O'Brien brought the Quakers down the field into Cornell territory following a 20-yard rush with 12 seconds left, while Smith swished a field goal from 45 yards out to make it a two-point game at 28-26 entering the locker room.
 
At the half, the two teams combined for 54 points and nearly 700 yards of total offense.
 
Penn received the second-half kickoff and on its opening drive it converted on third down when O'Brien found Richardson for eight yards and the first down. Hosley put together two rushes for 23 total yards and got the offense all the way down to the goal line. O'Brien kept it himself for his first rushing touchdown of the day, now up 32-28.
 
Cornell began its next drive with a 55-yard pass from Wang to Ryder Kurtz, setting the Big Red up nicely at the 20-yard line. Wang ended up getting it back to Musungu for eight yards and the go-ahead score, now up 35-32.
 
Like clockwork, Penn once again scored on a nine-play drive, Hosley getting into the end zone for 10 yards and his first touchdown of the afternoon. Penn jumped back in front, 39-35.
 
Penn's defense caused Cornell to get rid of the ball on a three-and-out, taking the ball again with under two minutes to play in the third quarter. Hosley broke off two decent-sized runs for a total of 26 yards and O'Brien tossed a pass to the right corner of the endzone for 19 yards, getting Jacob Cisneros his first career touchdown catch and extending the Penn lead to 46-35.
 
The Big Red started the fourth stanza with the ball, but quickly had it dispatched after turning the ball over on downs at their own 43. O'Brien tossed the pigskin to Richardson for 30 yards, scoring the junior's third TD of the afternoon, now up 53-35.
 
On the very next offensive play for Cornell, Wang was intercepted by Josh Narcisse, Penn's third INT of the afternoon which ultimately ended up in more points for the Quakers by way of O'Brien's 23-yard pass to Bisi Owens—setting Penn's single-game record for passing touchdowns at six—and extending the lead to 60-35.
 
Cornell was able to add points to the board by way of Wang's nine-yard pass to Musungu (and the ensuing two-point conversion—to trim the Penn lead to 60-43.
 
Penn capped a seven-play, 60-yard drive with Hosley's second rushing touchdown of the game, upping the lead to 67-43.
 
The Big Red kept things going late in the fourth quarter, scoring on the final play of the game as Wang completed a six-yard pass to Musungu to leave the score at 67-49, totaling 116 points, the highest-scoring game in program history.

Quotable
"It was a great effort today. I'm just so proud of the kids. We got down 21-7 at halftime after the fake punt touchdown, but our kids shrugged it off and moved on to the next play. We battled back, battled back, battled back and found ourselves down by two points at the end of halftime. We knew we were getting the ball back in the second half we just went from there. Great performances by Liam, Jared, and Malachi today. It was a special day all-around." - Ray Priore, George A. Munger Head Coach of Football.
 
Up Next
Penn is home one more time this season; that comes next Saturday when the Quakers host Harvard at 1 p.m. on Franklin Field for Homecoming. Prior to kickoff, the Quakers will honor their graduating seniors in an on-field ceremony.
 
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