Football Starts Ivy plays at defending champion Dartmouth on Saturday

PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania football team begins its second season on Saturday, kicking off the Ivy against defending champion Dartmouth at the newly dedicated Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field.

The Quakers (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) earned a decisive 27-17 home win over Colgate on Saturday, while the Big Green (2-0, 0-0 Ivy) remain just one of two undefeated Ancient Eight teams after back-to-back wins over Fordham and Merrimack.

GAME 3 – PENN at DARTMOUTH
Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 | 1 p.m
Memorial field | Hanover, NH
Watch Live on ESPN+ ($) | Listen Live (QAN) | Live statistics | Tickets
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Dartmouth Game Notes (PDF)

The Dartmouth Series

Saturday is the latest installment in a series that dates back to 1896. It will be the 91st meeting between Penn and Dartmouth as the series moves back to Hanover at the newly dedicated Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field. The Quakers lead the Big Green 49-39-2 all-time, but Dartmouth has won seven of the last 10 meetings. The last two meetings went to overtime – a 23:17 double OT win in Hanover in 2022 and a 23:20 OT loss in 2023 – and each ended dramatically.

Last meeting with Dartmouth

Penn's valiant comeback sent the game against Dartmouth into overtime, but the Big Green scored the only points in overtime, outlasting Franklin Field for a 23-20 victory. The Quakers trailed the Big Green 20-10 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter Aidan Sayins 16-yard touchdown pass to Malone Howley with 5:52 left and Albert Jangs A 51-yard field goal in the final seconds of the game sent the game into OT. Jang's kick was the third longest in program history. Dartmouth capitalized on a missed field goal attempt and converted one of its own to earn its first Ivy win of the season. With 357 passing yards, Sayin became the first Quaker since Alek Torgersen in 2014 to record consecutive passing games of more than 300 yards, and his 711 yards in the last two games are the most since all-time leading passer Gavin Hoffman. Had 742 yards on October 16th and 23rd, 1999.

Putting up the W

Penn took care of business in its home opener at Franklin Field, defeating Colgate 27-17 on Saturday. Sayin found it far away Jared Richardson for 36 yards on an acrobatic touchdown catch to give the Quakers a 21-7 halftime lead, and Sam Smith scored two field goals in the second half to punctuate the 10-point win. Sayin completed 70.7 percent of his passes (29-41) for 320 yards and three touchdowns Malachi Hosley recorded his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game dating back to last season with 131 yards on 17 carries. He is the first Penn resident since Sam Mathews in 2003 to accomplish this feat. Richardson had six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown Shiloh means led the defense with 10 total tackles and Alec Wills recorded his first career interception.

Great saying!

Sayin had one of his strongest games under center of his career on Saturday against Colgate, posting a turnover-free, 320-yard, three-touchdown performance to shut out the Raiders at Franklin Field. He was in rare territory with his 29 completions, becoming Penn's all-time leader in completions with 665 completions. He passed Gavin Hoffman (1999–2001), the all-time leading passer, to take first place in this category.

Sayin is also on pace to match Hoffman's passing yards record and is currently in third place with 6,617 yards. Alek Torgersen '16 is second with 7,025, while Hoffman takes the top spot with 7,542.

How about touchdowns? I'm glad you asked. Sayin has thrown 44 TDs in his career, good for fourth in program history, three behind Mike Mitchell '03 (47), six behind Hoffman (50) and eight behind Torgersen (52).

So many goals

Penn was known to distribute the ball in former offensive coordinator Dan Swanstrom's offense. Under Greg Chimera? The same. Sayin threw the ball to eight different receivers in the Quakers' 27-17 win over Colgate on Saturday. All eight had a hook included Jayden Drayton and Josh Casilli, who caught his first TD pass since Oct. 7 against Georgetown last year. Casilli had one touchdown reception in all four years he played at Penn.

Trust the All-American

There was no doubt who Sayin's favorite target would be early in the season. It's Richardson and he showed it again Saturday against Colgate. The junior had another outstanding performance, securing the victory with six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. That means J-Rich has scored five touchdowns in his last three games since last season and caught one in every game starting this year. Entering the Ivy game, Richardson ranks 10th nationally in receiving yards per game (97.0).

Last time in Hanover…

Penn moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2003 after a thrilling 23-17 win over Dartmouth in double overtime. Senior running back Trey Flowers scored both the first and last touchdowns of the contest to lead the way on offense, while senior defensive lineman Jake Heimlicher Penn on defense tallied 13 tackles, including eight solo. once again set the pace of his career. Penn trails 10-7 in the closing stages of the fourth quarter, junior placekicker Graham Gotlieb kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired, sending the contest into overtime. After both teams scored touchdowns in the first OT – Penn's through a five-yard pass from Aidan Sayin to Josh Casilli – The Quakers' Grant Ristoff blocked a Big Green field goal attempt early in the second overtime, giving the ball to Penn, who needed just a field goal to win. On second down, Flowers scampered 24 yards, setting up his game-winning one-yard touchdown two plays later. At this point, the Quakers were one of only nine remaining undefeated teams in FCS football.

Defending champion? No problem.

Penn wore the reigning Ivy League champions' number last year and went 3-0 against those teams since the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season in 2020. In 2022, the Quakers defeated both Dartmouth and Princeton, the 2021 co-champions. Last year, Penn defeated Yale 27-17 in New Haven after the Bulldogs won the overall title.

On Saturday against Dartmouth, Penn will look for its fourth straight win after the Big Green shares the 2023 championship with Harvard and Yale.

Exploring the Big Green

Dartmouth enters the weekend at 2-0 as one of the Ivy League's two undefeated teams.

The Big Green defeated Fordham 45-13 in their season and home opener on Sept. 21 before picking up a 16-14 win at Merrimack last weekend. During that game, kicker Owen Zalc made three field goals, including the game-winner, with three seconds left. Zalc was named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week.

Following the graduation of star Big Green QB Nick Howard, Jackson Proctor has taken over the baton and has excelled this year, rushing for 346 yards and three touchdowns in two games so far. Q Jones leads Dartmouth with 138 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries, while Paxton Scott has a team-high 10 catches for 157 yards so far.

On defense, Josiah Green and Sean Williams each totaled 11 tackles, while Green has a team-best 1.5 sacks. Zach Farris has Dartmouth's only interception.

Penn in the national rankings

The Quakers continue to be among the top teams in the country in various categories heading into the third week of the calendar.

Penn ranks first in FCS football in fourth-down conversion percentage (1.000), seventh in first downs defense (39), 10th in rushing defense (90.0), 12th in passing offense (274.0) and 15th in total offense (424.5).

Individually, Malachi Hosley is third in all-purpose yards per game (162.0) and third in rushing yards per game (153.5). Sayin ranks fourth in points responsible per game (18.0), eighth in passing yards per game (274.0), 11th in completions per game (23.0), 16th . Ranked in completion percentage (.667) and 21st in pass efficiency (151.5). Julien Stokes is currently fifth in receptions per game (7.0).

Ivy predictions

Penn was ranked third in the Ivy League's annual preseason poll, voted on by 16 members of the media and announced on August 5. The Quakers scored 88 total voting points and two of the 16 first-place votes, trailing only Harvard (108.7) and Yale (114.6), both of which secured shares of the Ancient Eight title in 2023. Princeton had 80 points and one first-place vote, tying it for fourth place with reigning Ivy champion Dartmouth. Brown (56) is sixth, Cornell (26) is seventh and Columbia (24) is eighth.

Preseason All-Ivy

As Phil Steele announced on August 2, eight Quakers earned Preseason All-Ivy honors, led by first-team RB Malachi HosleyWR Jared RichardsonTE Bryce MyersL.B Jack FairmanL.B John Listaand DB Shiloh means. DL Paul Jennings and L.B Kadari Make secured places in the second team.

Hey, coach!

Priore expanded his coaching team with four new faces Greg Chimera (offensive coordinator), Marvin Clecidor (Defender), Jordan Johnson (Running Backs) and David Josephson (Tight Ends) is coming to University City.

Follow the action

Saturday's game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Matt Corsetti (play-by-play) and Steve Goldberg (analyst) on the broadcast call. Matt Leon (play-by-play) and Hench Murray (analyst) handle the radio call on the Quaker Audio Network (QAN).

For the latest on Penn Football, follow @PennFB on X (formerly Twitter), @PennFootball on Instagram and online at PennAthletics.com.

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