When Liam O’Brien stepped on the field at Cornell’s Schoellkopf Stadium last Saturday afternoon, he was making just his second career start for the Red and Blue. When he stepped off the turf three and a half hours later, the junior quarterback had led the Quakers to a victory and enshrined his name in the program’s record book.
O’Brien was the field general behind Penn football’s best offensive performance in decades. He completed 22 of 30 passes for 341 yards and six touchdowns while also adding 82 yards and another score on the ground. The seven total touchdowns were good for a new program record, and this production earned O’Brien FCS Offensive Player of the Week as well as Ivy League co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Immediately after the game, he wasn’t sure about exactly how great his performance was. A few days later, it had begun to sink in.
“I mean, it’s a little bit surreal, right?” O’Brien said. “A performance like that is … kind of unique, but at the same time, it’s what we expect. We expect to go out there and execute … and make plays.”
Despite the junior's new role, he said that nothing changed in his preparation for the Cornell game. O’Brien had been the backup for senior quarterback Aidan Sayin, and he was preparing to be the starter each week just in case something went wrong. That exact situation arose in Penn's matchup with yale, when Sayin left the game early with an upper-body injury, and O’Brien was handed the keys to the Quakers offense. Even though he couldn’t engineer a comeback against the Bulldogs, he has shined in his two appearances since.
But O’Brien has been betting on himself for longer than two weeks. In high school he excelled on both the football and lacrosse fields and was eventually recruited to play lacrosse with none other than Cornell, where his father had played.
The junior from Boulder, Colo. saw his future on the gridiron, though. So, without a single offer, he committed to Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts to play football in a postgraduate year. He excelled there, was noticed by coaches, and arrived in Penn’s quarterback room a year later.
Even though he didn’t have much experience leading Penn’s offense week in and week out, O’Brien wasn’t new to the field, either. He appeared in 10 games last year, all as the team’s backup quarterback, but also as a rushing threat who came on the field in specific short-yardage situations. Coach Ray Priore called O’Brien’s ability to run an asset for the team.
O’Brien ended last season with six rushing touchdowns on 20 attempts, the second most on the team and just one behind the Quakers’ leader, now-sophomore running back Malachi Hosley. He credited this running ability to his time as a lacrosse player, noting that sport’s emphasis on body control and moving through contact.
But O’Brien didn’t want to be defined as just a runner.
“I don’t know why, coming into college, people just think I’m a running quarterback, but my entire high school career, I was a throwing quarterback that could run,” O’Brien said. “I’m very confident in my ability to throw the ball, and I know my teammates have the same confidence.”
That confidence was reinforced by an offseason of development. After receiving shoulder surgery, O’Brien missed much of the team’s offseason training. But his mentality was always strong, and he was always dedicated to improving as a quarterback. O’Brien credits much of this to the support and mentorship he received from Sayin, and which the senior continues to provide.
“Mentally, he’s always been great. Even before I got here, I was friendly with the Penn coaches, and they always talked about his mental fortitude,” offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Greg Chimera said. “You could see that right when I got here … and then [he] worked his tail off for the summer.”
Priore noted how impressed he is with the junior quarterback’s development. He added that while O’Brien has “come through a lot physically,” the Quakers offense isn’t exactly the same depending on which quarterback is under center. The ultimate goal is maximizing the quarterback’s strengths, limiting their weaknesses, and optimizing the entire offense to operate smoothly.
On Saturday, Penn's offense felt polished and effortless. Even with a different quarterback, Chimera noted that the skill position corps — including Hosley and junior wide receiver Jared Richardson — remained consistent, and that O’Brien, just like Sayin before him, put them in positions to make plays.
Even with all the success the team had last week, everyone is still focused on keeping the strong play going with two more games remaining this season. Going into Saturday’s Homecoming game against Harvard, O’Brien isn’t looking back.
“Obviously, putting up that many points is awesome to see, but we’re trying to replicate that week in and week out, he said. “I appreciate it, but my mindset is onto the next week and focusing on Harvard.”
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