Author William Safire once wrote, “when duty calls, that is when character counts.” Penn football junior quarterback Liam O’Brien has taken this quote to heart. In just two starts since filling in for injured senior quarterback Aidan Sayin, O’Brien has lit up the field, leading the Red and Blue to two straight victories and gaining national recognition in the process.
On Monday, Stats Perform named O’Brien the Football Championship Subdivision’s Offensive Player of the Week. The Ivy League also took the time to give the junior quarterback his flowers, naming both O’Brien and Yale’s Grant Jordan co-Offensive Players of the Week. The Bulldogs’ senior passer earned an FCS Honorable Mention after scoring seven total touchdowns of his own against Brown.
The Quakers rallied behind an offensive masterclass in Ithaca, coming out on top of a close shootout against the Big Red. Penn put up its highest point total since at least 1956 and O’Brien set program records in passing and overall touchdowns in a game. O’Brien wasted no time stuffing the stat sheet, finishing with six touchdowns through the air and one on the ground.
In his two weeks since filling in for Sayin, O’Brien has thrown only one interception while passing for 588 yards. On top of that, the junior has excelled on the ground, bagging a pair of rushing touchdowns and displaying fluidity in the pocket. By facilitating the offense, O’Brien has helped showcase his teammates’ talents, bringing the most out of Richardson and allowing the Quaker run game to face less pressure. With only two games to go, the Red and Blue are all on board the O’Brien train.
With Penn’s season on the line, there is no room for error in this last stretch of conference games. The Quakers will host Harvard at Franklin Field this Saturday.
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