It was a crisp November day at Franklin Field when his last drive began, with a crackle in air and a century-old rivalry on the line.

Trailing by seven with 43 seconds to go, senior quarterback Aidan Sayin knows he needs to move quickly. After 25 Division I starts and a football career dating back even further, these sorts of late-game, high-pressure moments are nothing new. Sayin drops back, fires, grabs two yards. Another drop back, this time a 10-yard pickup down to the Princeton 36.

Then, with 18 seconds on the clock, Sayin goes for it all. He fires downfield to his favorite target: junior wide receiver Jared Richardson, a record-breaking wideout who’s already racked up three touchdowns on the day. Richardson skies for the ball, but before he can corral it, a Tiger gets there first.

As Princeton defensive back Nasir Hill plucks Sayin’s prayer from the sky, it marks a number of endings: the end of a disastrous day for Sayin, one that saw him turn the ball over six times, including four interceptions; the end of the Quakers’ season, one that saw them lose four Ivy League games by a combined margin of 16 points. But most of all, it marks the end of an old era for Penn’s now-senior captain, and the start of something new.

“Last year got us 6-4. So, something needs to change in order to get us where we need to be …” Sayin said of his mindset ahead of his senior season. “For me, it’s definitely title or bust.”

It was a sunny morning in Carlsbad, Calif., far away and long before that day on Franklin Field. Here, in a quiet, coastal town, two brothers’ shared love of football is just beginning to bloom.

Sayin and his younger brother Julian took to football from a young age. Their stories began the way so many do: throwing the ball around the front yard as a family, passing the time and the pigskin in one another’s company. Outside of those ordinary beginnings, the brothers also fell for the game through the virtual eyes of the players they would one day become.

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“I remember we used to always be placing [the] NCAA [video game],” Julian said of his earliest football memory with Aidan. “NCAA 13, NCAA 14, when it came out we were always playing against each other.”

It wasn’t long before the brothers traded in their controllers for cleats. In sixth grade, Sayin began participating in a flag football league called Friday Night Lights, and quickly caught the attention of the league’s operator, Thadd MacNeal. MacNeal took Aidan under his wing, coaching him in private sessions when he was still a middle schooler and training him with a bigger ball to strengthen his arm and prepare him for the next level.

Sayin rose to the challenge. Just a few years later, he enrolled at Carlsbad High School, whose football team was helmed by none other than MacNeal. After so many years of working together, Sayin and MacNeal had an unspoken connection — one that helped Sayin win the starting quarterback job as a junior and lead the Carlsbad Lancers as something of a coach on the field.

Though Sayin’s final high school campaign was shortened to just six games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it also came with a special opportunity: the chance to put on the pads with his little brother. During their one year of overlap in high school, Julian served as Aidan’s backup quarterback, a full-circle moment for the brothers who had played such pivotal roles in each other’s love for football.

“It was awesome, just because we got to practice together everyday,” Julian said of his and Aidan’s year together. “Just being able to take points from him, then getting to go and watch him play … it was a really special season.”

When Aidan committed to Penn, he became MacNeal’s 17th quarterback to play at the college level. Just three years later, Julian became the 18th. But, in the younger brother’s case, it wasn’t a matter of whether he would play major Division I football, but where.

After Aidan’s departure, Julian immediately assumed the starting role and left his own indelible mark on the Carlsbad program, passing for 86 touchdowns and nearly 8,000 yards over his three years at the helm. When he graduated in 2024, he was rated as a five-star prospect, the top ranked player in the state of California, and the No. 6 ranked player in the nation.

But, just because Julian has achieved such immense success doesn’t mean he’s escaped the role of little brother.

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“Aidan never backs down,” MacNeal said. “Aidan still believes he’s the best one … the smartest, the most accurate. But they really love each other, encourage each other. There’s never been animosity. It’s just a total respect and admiration for each other.”

At the midpoint of the season, the Quakers needed a change.

Five games through the 2021 campaign, Penn sat at 2-3, still reeling from a 23-14 loss to Columbia in which the Red and Blue gained just 83 yards passing. It was evident that for the Quakers to succeed, both in the short and long term, they would need a different jersey under center.

It was then that the future began. For their upcoming game against Yale, the Quakers would turn to Sayin, the first time a freshman would start as QB for the Red and Blue since 2010. MacNeal recalled a conversation with Penn coach Ray Priore in which he praised Sayin’s football intellect, saying he had never had “a QB as prepared as [Sayin] coming out of high school.” And it was that intellect and preparedness that made Priore comfortable handing Sayin the reins to the offense.

“Aidan is an intelligent, smart football player. He understands the game that way,” Priore recently said of Sayin. “He’s a very talented young man. Behind him, we’ll do some good things.”

But it was not all sunshine for the California kid. Over his Sayin’s five starts as a freshman, Penn went just 1-4, including a three-game stretch to end the season in which it scored just 11 points per game. Sayin struggled, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns and completing just 54% of his passes. But it was that trial that forced Sayin to evolve.

“Being able to start freshman year was a lot to adjust to, being a young 18 year old …” Sayin said. “I didn’t play very well, but I got my toes wet, and then I feel like that gave me a place, a good platform where I could just progress up through the years. I think I’ve gotten better each year … and it all started those five games, getting thrown in the fire.”

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After that season, Sayin rose from the ashes. He broke out as a sophomore under new offensive coordinator Dan Swanstrom — who has since left for Cornell — leading Penn to an 8-2 season and earning his first of two All-Ivy honorable mentions. As a junior, he finished second in the Ancient Eight in both yards and completion percentage. This season, if Sayin reaches 1,474 passing yards, a mark he has eclipsed in both of his full campaigns as Penn’s starter, he will become the all-time passing leader in program history.

But amid those scores of success, the highest accolade still eludes him: an Ivy title. The Quakers have found success over the last two seasons, but their 14-6 combined record is a product of the team’s inconsistent play — a problem in which Sayin has played a significant part. Despite his success in 2023, Sayin’s 12 interceptions led the Ivy League, and Penn went just 1-3 in conference games where Sayin turned the ball over at least once. Though a team is more than its signal caller, a change in Penn’s destiny will start with a change in Sayin.

“We were good [last season], but we couldn’t get it done, right? We know what we have to do. We know we have be better …” Sayin said. “A big part of that is me. I can’t turn the ball over as much as last year. I think goals like that will help us get to our ultimate goal.”

During his time with the Red and Blue, Sayin has not only been playing for himself — he’s been setting an example. As Aidan carved out his place at the college level, Julian was navigating his own commitment, a process made infinitely easier thanks to the brother who’d been there before.

“He was always able to help,” Julian said of Aidan. “And then seeing him go off to college, become a starter, just the way he carries himself, the way he handles himself. It was good to see.”

After a whirlwind recruitment process, Julian eventually pledged to play at Ohio State. During the Buckeyes’ September 7 win over Western Michigan, he threw his first collegiate touchdown pass.

On September 21, Sayin will begin his final Quaker campaign on the road against Delaware. He will drop back, process the defense, fire throws and take risks just like he always has. But this year, it will be with the innate knowledge that his time in the Red and Blue has reached its final hour — that in his quest to hang a championship banner, his attempts are down to one.

“It’s Ivy title or bust for everyone on this team,” Sayin said. “We got so close the last two years … we just have to put everything together. We need to bring one back for Penn.”

Sayin’s Penn football journey has been defined by an unconquerable drive to climb the next rung on the ladder. But now, as he stands at the beginning of the end, he’s ready to reach the top.