Bears don’t scare Penn football.
After holding off a red-hot Brown offense last weekend for its first Ivy League win of the season, the Quakers are more than ready to take on the Big Red Bear of Cornell.
“We know some familiar faces up there, so this is a personal game,” junior wide receiver Jared Richardson said, referencing a group of coaches that left Penn for Cornell in the off season. “We have to stay focused and even-keeled throughout the game. Can't be up too high, can't be down too low. Just have to play consistently.”
This Saturday, the Red and Blue will travel up to Ithaca for the 130th matchup between the two sides — a combination that is the fifth-most played series in the Football Championship Subdivision. The game will also be the 29th edition of the Trustees’ Cup. In short, Penn vs. Cornell is a rivalry steeped in tradition, which has been a point of emphasis for coach Ray Priore heading into this week’s practices.
“I shared a little bit of that history with the players,” Priore said. “I think it's important to understand the traditions and the history of the program and the league itself. And when you're playing those types of games, our kids always like to understand.”
Last year's clash was headlined by then-freshman running back Malachi Hosley breaking loose for two scores of 68 and 96 yards — the second of which set the record for longest offensive play in program history. Hosley finished that game with 261 yards. After already racking up four games where he has tallied more than 100 yards on the ground this season, Hosley will seek to continue his dominance over the Big Red.
“I would love to,” Hosley said with regard to repeating his performance from a year ago. “I know that they’re going to game plan for it, so I just have to run harder and trust the guys in front of me.”
Richardson has had a relatively quiet season thus far by his standards following his breakout campaign last year. However, things finally seem to have clicked for the wideout as he put up a 113-yard performance against Brown last weekend. With junior quarterback Liam O’Brien set to make his second career start, the extra week of practice with O’Brien under center sets Richardson up well to continue performing over the course of his hot streak.
“As of right now, everybody's been doing their job,” Richardson said. “O’Brien — he's been trusting me to make plays. Everybody as a collective group has been doing a good job. So it's easier for me to have success when everybody else is doing their job.”
O'Brien has found success against the Big Red before, rushing for a touchdown in last season's matchup. Now, coming off a stellar performance against Brown that saw him pass for 247 yards and run for 60 more, O'Brien will look to replicate his previous success in a larger role.
The Big Red will also be a test for a Quaker defense that has been susceptible to giving up chunk plays this season. Cornell has largely been inconsistent on offense: The Big Red have dropped 47 and 49 points in wins over Yale and Princeton, but just 20 and 21 in losses to Harvard and Brown.
“We just have to stay in our gaps. This Cornell team is known to run a lot of trick plays just like last week’s team Brown,” senior linebacker John Lista said. “At the end of the day, it's just us staying disciplined, reading our keys and focusing on what we focus on.”
This game will also be a personal one for much of the Penn roster. There are plenty of familiar faces on the Cornell coaching staff. Co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Sean Reeder was Penn’s tight ends coach last season, while assistant coach/defensive backs/cornerbacks coach/pass game coordinator Eric Franklin was Penn’s cornerbacks coach last year.
But most prominently, Cornell’s first-year head coach Dan Swanstrom was the offensive coordinator for the Quakers last season. While there will be some catching up before and after the game, when the whistle blows, all the team cares about will be leaving the gridiron with the win.
“It’s us versus them,” Hosley said. “Before and after the game, it can be cool, but when the clock starts, it’s me versus you.”
Penn football is set to kick off the Trustees’ Cup at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y. at 1 p.m. on Nov. 9. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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