Right in time for Halloween and spooky season, Penn football is experiencing a heavy dose of deja vu.
The last time Penn football started out 0-3 in Ivy League play was in senior quarterback Aidan Sayin’s freshman year. Heading into the 2021 team’s fourth conference matchup of that season against Brown, the team was sitting at 2-4 and 0-3 in the Ivy with then-senior starting quarterback John Quinnelly out of commission.
Similarly, the 2024 Quakers are once again sitting at 0-3 in Ivy League play with that 2-4 overall record after Sayin left the loss against Yale with an elbow injury. The next opponent on the schedule? None other than Brown. While Sayin’s status for this game is still up in the air, junior quarterback Liam O’Brien is ready to step up to the plate if needed.
“Every week with injuries presents all sorts of challenges,” head coach Ray Priore said. “Obviously, with [Sayin] going down last weekend, this is a new challenge for us as a team given how you prepare the game plan this week.”
In O’Brien’s first outing of the season, he put up respectable numbers in the air, throwing for 91 yards along with one interception, but it was on the ground where he impressed. O’Brien led the team in rushing yards with 61, including the Quakers’ lone touchdown of the night. If Sayin is in fact out for the game against the Bears, offensive coordinator Greg Chimera will be looking to lean into O’Brien’s strengths.
“You want to play to your player’s strengths, so [we’re] gonna do what Liam does well,” Chimera said. “A lot of things do carry over, but obviously there's some wrinkles that are in [the playbook] just for him.”
One thing that the offense will be looking to improve upon for the game against Brown will be in converting its red zone opportunities. Against well coached opponents such as the Bears, leaving any points on the field can be costly, as was proven in the Quakers' game against Yale. As such, playing a mistake-free game on the offensive side of the ball is a must this weekend.
“We're really trying to focus on us,” Chimera said. “I know it's a cliche coach thing to say, but all the mistakes we've made in games are self-inflicted, not really because of the other team. So we're more focusing on how good the Penn offense will be this week.”
The team has fully bought into the next man up mentality. Following a practice-ending two minute drill drive that culminated with O’Brien tossing a beautifully placed 30-yard pass to find the open receiver streaking into the back of the end zone, it wasn’t just the offense celebrating — the defense was right there with them.
“At the end of the day, we're all one team,” senior linebacker Jack Fairman said. “So when the defense makes a good play, everyone's excited. When the offense makes a good play, everyone celebrates and that just shows that we're together no matter what.”
While the offense hopes to execute regardless of who the starting quarterback is come Saturday, how the team performs in Providence will largely come down to the defense.
In Brown’s come-from-behind 23-21 win against Cornell last weekend, the Bears put up 530 yards of total offense and scored 20 straight unanswered points in the second half. The Red and Blue defensive unit is coming off a loss to Yale where the Bulldogs generated 497 yards of total offense. A major focus entering this game will be on stopping the big plays, which gashed the Quakers badly on Friday.
“They play really fast,” Fairman said. “We're gonna have to get some negative plays and get them off their script a little bit. We can't just let them march down the field.”
Another test for the Quakers will be whether or not they can stop Brown from running the ball down their throats. Brown is coming off a 214-yard performance on the ground against Cornell. While the Penn defense has managed to hold opponents to averaging 133.3 yards per game rushing, it will need to show up on Saturday to keep the team’s hopes of a winning season alive.
Almost halfway through conference play, Penn still has an outside chance to turn its season around and claim a share of the Ivy title. That starts with a win against Brown, though — something that the Red and Blue haven’t experienced since the 2021 season. This campaign hasn’t at all gone to plan, but Priore believes that this year’s team can still put the pieces together to end on a positive note.
“Hopefully we can put a victory on the board,” Priore said. “Our kids are hungry for it. They've worked hard for it. And more than anything else, I want to see our seniors, for these last four games, have a lot of fun.”
Penn football will take to the gridiron on Nov. 2 at 12 p.m. in Providence, R.I.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate
