NEWARK, Del. – The University of Pennsylvania football team had a strong first half, but playing its first game of the season the Quakers were unable to sustain it against a Delaware program playing its third. The Blue Hens (3-0) used a dominant third quarter, a late touchdown, and a turnover in the final 90 seconds to slip past the Quakers, 29-22.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Delaware extends its all-time lead over Penn, 4-3. The Blue Hens have claimed the last four matchups in the series.

*Malachi Hosley put on a show in the first appearance of his sophomore season, totaling 176 rushing yards on 26 carries. He's recorded four straight 100-yard rushing games dating back to the end of last year.

*Jared Richardson led the way with five catches for 98 yards, following his 58-yard catch to end the fourth quarter. He also scored a TD early in the first quarter.

*Julien Stokes returned from injury in style, recording seven catches for 91 yards.

*Aidan Sayin was 17-for-28 through the air for 228 yards and two touchdowns.

*On defense, John Lista finished with a team-high eight tackles (with four solos), followed by defensive backs Alec Wills and Julian Talley (6).

*Penn's defense totaled four TFLs, with one each for Sam Carlson and Max Matolcsy.

*Shiloh Means had a team-high two pass breakups, with one each for Wills, Paul Jennings, Devin Malloy, and Grant Parker.

*The Quakers led the yardage battle, 393-375, with 228 passing yards and 165 yards on the ground.
 
How It Happened
Penn received the opening kickoff and the offense got right to work to begin the contest. A 20-yard gain up the middle by Hosley put the Quakers in the red zone. Penn had 4th and 3 on the 25-yard line when Sayin found Julien Stokes for the first down. On the very next play, Sayin faked the handoff to Hosley, airing it out to Richardson for 18 yards and the score as Penn took an early 6-0 lead. The Blue Hens also had a lengthy first drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock. Delaware drove 58 yards down the field and got within four yards of the end zone before the Penn defense caused a turnover on downs from a drop.
 
Getting the ball late in the first and the start of the second, Penn marched 75 yards down the field and Sam Smith converted a 30-yard field goal as the Quakers took a 9-0 lead.
 
The Quaker defense did a fabulous job limiting Delaware on its next drive, as the Blue Hens gained negative yardage when Bryce Hall and Carter Janki combined on a second-down sack. That caused UD to punt from the Quakers' 40-yard line.
 
With less than five minutes to play in the half, Delaware used three minutes on a nine-play, 80-yard drive and scored a 47-yard touchdown (with a failed extra point) to cut the Penn lead to 9-6.
 
Penn was fortunate to avoid danger following an interception from Sayin, getting the ball back at the two-minute timeout after a Blue Hens punt. The Quakers made good use of the time, a 27-yard rush by Hosley and a 47-yard pitch-and-catch from Sayin to Stokes allowing them to cash in on a nine-yard fade route to Bisi Owens. That gave Penn a 16-6 lead heading into the locker room. The third quarter was all Hens, as the hosts outscored Penn 9-0 and set themselves up for another score early in the fourth.
 
Ja'Carree Kelly set the tone, taking the second-half kickoff and running it back to midfield. It took just five plays for UD to score after that, as Ryan O'Connor found Phil Lutz down the left sideline for a 39-yard touchdown. The Hens went for two and were unsuccessful, and the Quakers' lead was 16-12.
 
Penn was unable to move the ball out of its end and punted, and the Hens went right back to work. Starting from its own 38, Delaware got the ball down to the Quakers' 18 and Nate Reed kicked a 35-yard field goal to get the hosts within one at 16-15.
 
Penn had a sustained drive after that, taking the ball from its own 25 and using 10 plays to get to Delaware's 22 before stalling. Smith came on to kick the field goal, but after getting called for a false start his 44-yard kick was just wide of the left post and it was still a one-point game.
 
The Delaware offense was still feeling it, and soon the Hens were in the lead for the first time of the night. The nine-play, 73-yard drive bridged the third and fourth quarters and ended with O'Connor throwing a touch pass to the left corner of the end zone that Jake Thaw ran under and caught ahead of a Penn defender. Now up 21-16, the Blue Hens again went for two and were unsuccessful.
 
Penn went three and out on its next possession, but the defense came on and held UD to a three-and-out and then Francesco Barone blocked the Hens' punt attempt. That gave the Quakers the ball on Delaware's 38-yard line, and then a defensive holding call was followed by a 13-yard rush by Hosley, getting the ball to Delaware's 13. On a third-and-12 play Sayin found Stokes on the left sideline to give Penn first down at the 1-yard line. It took four plays, but on fourth down Penn ran an option to the short side and Sayin spun into the end zone to give the Red and Blue a 22-21 lead. Sayin's pass to Richardson fell incomplete on the two-point play, leaving Penn with the one-point lead with 6:02 left. Delaware's offense again caught fire. The Hens needed 10 plays and a little more than four minutes to cover 75 yards, and they hit paydirt with 1:44 left when Jo'Nathan Silver ran around the left end and beat a pair of Penn defenders to the pylon from 13 yards out. UD then converted a 2-point conversion when O'Connor found Thaw on the right side. That left the Hens with a seven-point lead, 29-22.
 
Penn looked like it might be in a position to tie this game or even take the lead after Jared Richardson caught a pass from Aidan Sayin near midfield, shook a pair of UD tacklers, and raced the ball to the Hens' 17-yard line. However, on the very next play Sayin threw to Hosley who was hit as the ball reached him. The sophomore juggled the ball and it fell into the arms of Delaware's Ty Davis with 1:26 left. The Hens were able to take three knees to clock it out
 
Up Next
The Quakers host Colgate next Saturday for their home opener at Franklin Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.