Penn football drops season opener to Lehigh, 42-21

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Maybe this season won’t be about change after all.

Coming off a 2-8 campaign in 2014, Penn football’s season opener shaped up a lot like most of its contests from last year. Despite putting together a pair of long touchdown drives, the Quakers were eviscerated by Lehigh quarterback Nick Shafnisky throughout the afternoon, surrendering five total touchdowns to the junior en route to a 42-21 loss on Saturday.

The Ray Priore era got off to an inauspicious start, as the Mountain Hawks (2-1) traveled 76 yards on 13 plays on the game’s opening drive to take an early 7-0 lead. It wasn’t difficult to see why Penn was so worried about Shafnisky heading into this weekend’s matchup: The junior from Whitehall, Pa., had thrown for 500 yards and was the team’s leading rusher through two contests, and he consistently hurt the Red and Blue with both his arms and legs.

“As I told the guys before the game started on Thursday, this is a 10 round fight and you get 10 opportunities,” Priore said. “After round one, we need to get better as we go through the season.

Penn (0-1) went three-and-out on its first drive of the season, but the Quakers managed to force a turnover on downs after Lehigh made it all the way down to the five yard line. From there, junior quarterback Alek Torgersen and sophomore running back Tre Solomon went to work. With a dazzling array of runs and quick passes, the Quakers went 95 yards in just over four minutes to knot the game at seven apiece the first play of the second quarter.

Despite stopping the Mountain Hawks on their previous possession, Penn couldn’t repeat the feat on either of Lehigh’s final two drives of the half. Shafnisky threw a six-yard touchdown to sophomore wide receiver Troy Pelletier to cap off a 19-play, eight-minute drive and give his squad a 14-7 lead, one it wouldn’t relinquish the remainder of the afternoon.

After the Quakers were forced to punt, Shafnisky went to work again, this time needing only six plays to extend the Mountain Hawks’ lead with two minutes remaining before halftime. The veteran managed to avoid pressure in the backfield and chucked the ball downfield to Pelletier, who was wide open when he caught the ball at Penn’s 15 and nearly walked into the endzone for a 47-yard score.

In his return from a torn ACL suffered last October, Solomon showed flashes of brilliance for the Red and Blue. Highlighted by a nifty 22-yard scamper, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native carried the ball 11 times for 89 yards, showcasing a backfield weapon the team sorely lacked in 2014.

“I didn’t really notice it, honestly,” Solomon said about his knee. “I thought I didn’t take as many live reps during the summer, but I thought that I ran pretty well considering everything, and I wasn’t really thinking about it. So all in all, it feels back to 100 percent.”

Penn received the ball to start the second half, but failed to make a dent in the Mountain Hawks’ lead on its first two possessions of the period. After two poor punts from sophomore Hunter Kelley, Lehigh went 39 yards on six plays, with Shafnisky scoring on a keeper from three yards out to make it 28-7.

“The trend of using the running quarterback [means] we need to be better at the point of attack stopping the spread and fitting in our plays,” Priore said. “There’s room [for us] to move, room to build upon, and I think our guys are going to be watching the tape and film and see where we can make those improvements.”

Less than a minute later, the Quakers seemed poised to go three-and-out yet again. But on third and 10, Torgersen found wideout Justin Watson on a quick pass, and the sophomore took it 74 yards to the house on the longest reception of his career. With a 10-catch, 143-yard performance, Watson went over the century mark in receiving yards for the first time in his career.

But if the Red and Blue had any momentum, a long kickoff return by the Mountain Hawks quickly squashed it. Lehigh went to work from Penn’s 40, and Shafnisky found senior wideout Stefan Sansone from eight yards out to push the lead back to three scores.

The squads traded a pair of touchdowns early in the fourth quarter, as Torgersen found freshman Christian Pearson on a 45-yard bullet before Shafnisky responded with his second score on the ground. The latter finished 24-of-34 with 250 yards through the air, adding 95 yards on 16 carries.

Penn won’t have much time to recuperate after Saturday’s contest. The Quakers will be back in action on Thursday against Villanova, a game that was moved ahead due to the papal visit later this week.

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