PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania football team fell to No. 6/7 Lehigh, 20-7, on Saturday afternoon in their home opener at Franklin Field. With the loss, Penn dropped to 1-1 (0-0 Ivy League) while Lehigh moved to 5-0 (3-0 Patriot League).
"I thought our guys battled today, that was a really good football team we played today," said head coach
Rick Santos. "I thought we fought extremely hard, that's the best rushing attack in the nation we were going up against. Ultimately, we came up short and it wasn't good enough. That starts with my staff and I, getting our guys prepared for a slugfest, which is what that was. It came down to field position in particular in the third quarter. In an element game like this, we wanted to make sure to take the wind in the fourth. Our defense was at a disadvantage that whole third quarter, defending short fields."
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On a rain soaked Franklin Field, both teams struggled to get their offenses going, combining for just over 200 total yards in the first half, with Lehigh leading 3-0 heading into the break.
The Mountain Hawks were able to break through in half two, scoring two third quarter touchdowns to take a 17-0 lead. They would tack on another field goal to go up 20-0 before Penn scored a late fourth quarter touchdown for its only points of the day.
Penn was held to just 182 total yards on the day, while Lehigh went for 217. Penn freshman quarterback
Miles Teodecki was 18-for-37 for 133 yards and two interceptions.
Lehigh's Luke Yoder paced their offensive production, rushing 19 times for 74 yards.
The Mountain Hawks posted 168 of their 217 total yards on the ground. They entered the game leading the country with 293 rushing yards per game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn took the ball first and picked up a pair of first downs before Teodecki was picked off by Lehigh's Luke Denny at the visitors 34 yard line.
The two teams exchanged stops on the next pair of drives before the Mountain Hawks tallied the first points of the game, kicking a 48-yard field goal to go up 3-0 with 1:47 left in the first quarter. The drive went eight plays and went 22 yards in total.
The Quakers and Mountain Hawks exhanged punts on their first few drives of the second quarter before the visitors went on an eight play drive down to the Penn 25 yard line. The Quakers were able to get off the field with a fourth and two incompletion to take over on downs. Neither team threatened the scoreboard in the final two drives of the half and the Mountain Hawks took a 3-0 lead into the halftime break.
The visitors broke the scoring open in half two, getting great field position after a defensive stop and a short punt by Penn. Their four-play, 28-yard drive was finished off with an 11-yard touchdown run by quarterback Derek Morgan just five minutes into the third quarter.
After a three and out by Penn, another short, wind-affected punt allowed Lehigh excellent field position again at the Quakers 33 yard line. Three plays later, the Mountain Hawks extended their lead to 17-0 on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Morgan to Jamaire Harden. Lehigh would head into the fourth quarter leading by the same score.
The Mountain Hawks added on a 29-yard field goal on a seven-play, 30-yard drive to go up 20-0 in the fourth quarter.
The Quakers got on the board with 2:14 to play after going on a 13-play, 74-yard drive capped off by a
Tommy Lafayette touchdown run from a yard out. An onside kick attempt by Penn was recovered by Lehigh and the visitors were able to run out the clock.
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
*Penn went the first six quarters of the season without allowing an offensive touchdown before Lehigh scored five minutes into quarter three.
*Lehigh has now won two straight against Penn, but the Quakers lead the overall series 47-17.
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Mason Page had a career-high eight catches for 44 yards to lead Penn.
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Zach Darche paced the defense again, leading the way with 13 total tackles. He led the defense in game one with eight tackles.
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Joey Holliday had a career-best two sacks with three tackles for loss.Â
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Tommy Lafayette had career-highs in carries (11), yards (41) and scored his first collegiate touchdown.
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Isaac Lee got his first collegiate passes today. He went for four catches and 39 yards.
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Cole Olsztyn tallied a career-best 11 tackles.
UP NEXT
Penn travels to Dartmouth for a road game on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1:30 p.m.
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