After trouble in the first half, Penn football rebounded from a 20-10 deficit to score an epic 26-23 overtime showdown against Princeton on Nov. 7, 2015. This historic Homecoming game marked the team’s fourth consecutive comeback victory of the season and first-ever overtime win against Princeton.
It was a game of technique, filled with long possessions on both sides. Each of the first five scoring drives were longer than 10 plays. The match seemed even at the start, as the Quakers and Tigers were tied 3-3 at the end of the first quarter. Running back Tre Solomon’s touchdown gave Penn a 10-3 edge at the beginning of the second quarter.
However, the Red and Blue was then bombarded with two Princeton touchdowns and a field goal and was unable to score for the remainder of the second quarter. During halftime, coach Ray Priore motivated his disheartened team to push back from the 20-10 deficit to regain the score.
“At the end of the day, all we want to do is win by one,” Priore said. “I simply said to them, 'We’ve been here before.'”
For the Quakers, losing to their rival would mean more than just a blow to their pride. This game against the Tigers was critical to Penn securing the Ivy League title. Without the victory, the Quakers would have needed to win their final two games and depend on favorable results from around the league in order to clinch the title.
Defensive end Tyler Drake said that the importance of this game to the overall season made him even more motivated. Drake had already won a title in 2012 and wanted to end his senior year with the same honor.
“You never know when you’re gonna be back on that stage,” he said.
While the situation seemed dire, Priore put it in perspective for the team, reminding them that they had made a comeback four times during the season and encouraged them to do it again.
“We don’t panic,” Priore said. “You could start blaming and point fingers [but] that does no good when you’re down by 10 points. Having a solution, having an answer to the problem is where our staff did a great job.”
Sure enough, the Red and Blue pushed back with a touchdown and field goal of their own, leaving the Tigers scoreless in the third quarter. With 3:22 left in the game, senior placekicker Jimmy Gammill nailed a 42-yard field goal, evening the score to 20-20.
“It was a matter of coming out in the second half,” junior quarterback Alek Torgersen said. “That’s familiar territory for us.”
However, with just four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Princeton attempted a field goal to catapult the Tigers to victory. In what is now considered Penn’s most critical play of the game, junior linebacker Donald Panciello blocked the kick to send the game into overtime.
"It was do or die," Panciello said. "It was either I blocked that kick or our shot at the Ivy title was gone. All of our guys work way too hard for our season to end right there. I had to do it for everyone else."
Going into overtime, the statistics were not on the Quakers' side. This marked the second overtime game with Princeton in Penn’s history. It was also the Red and Blue’s third-ever overtime Homecoming game. All of those previous games ended in defeat.
However, the morale on Franklin Field was high, both among the players and the 11,017 fans gathered to watch the game.
“We are always very confident,” Drake said. “We had to play more physical and we knew if we gave the ball to our offense, they would put up points.”
Overtime started with a field goal from the Tigers, moving the score to 23-20 in Princeton’s favor. However, the Quakers immediately followed with an 11-yard touchdown pass, which secured a 26-23 victory for the Red and Blue. Torgersen threw this winning shot to senior wide receiver Eric Fiore.
“All I had to do was get it in his area and pray to God that he didn’t miss the ball or that I overthrow it,” Torgersen said.
The game was also filled with personal accomplishments for the players. Notably, Torgerson rushed for a career-high 96 yards on 13 carries and Panciello made nine tackles. Drake tallied eight tackles, a sack, 3.0 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.
Following the game, Priore praised his team for their drive and impressive technique.
“I am very thankful that our kids were very resilient throughout that game,” Priore said. “We’re the comeback kids, we’ve done that five weeks in a row. We talk about believing in the system and executing what you are supposed to do; and that’s what we did.”
The Red and Blue went on to win the next two games of the season against Harvard (35-25) and Cornell (34-21) to secure the Ivy League title. The 2015 Penn vs. Princeton game has earned its place in the annals of Penn football history as a game to be remembered. It is revered as a model of how despite the odds, the Quakers can come back to clinch a victory.
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