The 4-1 Penn Quakers travel to New Haven to square off against the Bulldogs at the Bowl this Saturday. Kickoff is slated for noon and the game will air on ESPN+.
Penn soundly defeated Colgate and Bucknell in Weeks 1 and 2 before falling to Dartmouth in overtime in Week 3. The Quakers found themselves in another overtime contest versus Georgetown in Week 4 but prevailed victorious and kept that momentum alive squeaking by Columbia last week. Penn has comparable talent to Dartmouth across the board and may be the most physical team on the schedule this year.
Junior QB Aidan Sayin (6’2”, 200 lbs.) has shown solid improvement from his sophomore campaign and picked apart the secondaries of Dartmouth and Columbia. Sayin has completed 67.4% of his passes for 1,417 yards, 9 TDs and 4 interceptions. Football runs deep in the Sayin family as Aidan’s younger brother is a 5-star QB recruit who has committed to Alabama. Freshman Malachi Hosley (5’10”, 185 lbs.) and senior Jonathan Mulatu (6’0, 205 lbs.) have shared the bulk of the carries for the Quakers thus far and each average over 4.2 yards per carry. Penn has a very talented receiving corps comprised of large targets with 3 leading receivers all over 6’2”. Sophomore WR Jared Richardson (6’2”, 215 lbs.) leads the Quakers in receptions, receiving yards and receiving TDs hauling in 28 receptions for 310 yards and 3 TDs. Averaging 9.9 yards per catch, sophomore WR Alex Haight (6’2”, 200 lbs.) is another threat to keep on eye on. Senior TE Bryce Myers (6’2”, 230 lbs.) has the speed and hands of a wideout that makes it difficult for smaller defensive backs to contain him. The offensive line is one of the better units across the Ivy League led by multi-year starters Jake Ligos (6’3”, 305 lbs.) and Alex Purcell (6’5”, 305 lbs.). Penn has a balanced attack that will really test all areas of our defense this week. Getting pressure on Sayin and limiting big play opportunities will be crucial.
The hallmark of a Priore team is a tough, physical defense and this year is no exception. At all three levels of Penn’s defense they feature All-Ivy caliber athletes. Senior LB Jack Fairman (6’1”, 230 lbs.) leads the Quakers in tackles with 28 and was an Honorable Mention All-Ivy player in 2022. Senior DB Kendren Smith (6’0”, 205 lbs.) is the most heralded player on the team coming off a 1st Team All-Ivy season in 2022 and has broken up 5 passes on the season. Senior DB Shiloh Means (5’11”, 200 lbs.) has terrorized opposing QBs racking up 3 interceptions. Penn’s defensive line dominated Yale a year ago and returns the powerful senior Joey Slackman (6’4”, 300 lbs.) who has an astounding 7.5 tackles for loss through 5 games. Banged up or not, our offensive line will need to find ways to win battles at the line of scrimmage and our offensive coaches will need to keep Penn’s aggressive defense guessing.
Junior P/K Albert Jang (6’2”, 200 lbs.) has been exceptional in the punting and kicking games. Jang has averaged 38.5 yards per punt with a long of 52 yards and also nailed a 51-yard field goal. Penn is fortunate to have two talented kickers as senior Graham Gottlieb (5’,10”, 165 lbs.) has connected on 7 of 9 attempts with a long of 42 yards.
Go Bulldogs! Beat the Quakers!
21 replies on “Penn Preview”
Gentlemen; nice preview of the Ben Franklin squad. it would be nice to receive an update on status of current injury to the original starters. One man’s opinion the makeshift offense line is not so bad, and may improve hopefully this week.
Here’s hoping that Old Blue is correct about improvement on the offensive line. His wisdom gives me confidence.
Predicted wind gusts of over 30 mph might hinder Penn’s vaunted passing attack.
When Yale has the wind at their back they should be passing. Something they for most part failed to do on a windy day against Holy Cross.
Not a good start. Swiss cheese defense.
Inconsistent offense. Inconsistent defense.
30 minutes to prevent the season from turning into a disaster.
Can nobody cover Richardson?
Time to admit it. Against a decent team, Yale is just not that good. Porous defense. Talented offense that just cannot make the plays when needed.
Awful play calling, what happened to the cross over the middle.? Ridiculous at best.
Defense is offensive, linebackers need to clog up the running lanes. Just disheartening
There is no doubt that Penn is the better team. Brown’s offense might put up 50 against this defense and Columbia will hold this offense under 20.
Penn about to go 97 yards and put this one away.
Put a fork in them , well done Bulldog anyone.
How is that not pass interference or at least defensive holding.? At least they got 3 points
1st and goal at the 5 and settle for a FG. With the way the defense is playing even 21 probably wouldn’t have been enough. But at least there would have been some hope. Maybe a Penn turnover.
Can nobody cover Richardson? Part 2
Only Yale receivers get covered. Opponents are allowed to roam free.
Yale was thoroughly out coached. And out played.
Does Yale play pass defense at all?
Reno is going to come out say. We didn’t play our game. We need to do a better job.
No Reno YOU AND YOUR STAFF NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB IN COACHING THESE KIDS PERIOD.!!!
And if you recall, Reno coached the defensive backfield before he left and went to Harvard.