Here’s what we learned from Penn’s loss to Brown that likely ended its Ivy League title hopes

Penn has had a knack for fourth-quarter theatrics this season, and that didn’t let up against Brown on Friday night.

But when games come down to the fourth quarter, sometimes those theatrics won’t go your way, and the Quakers (5-2, 2-2 Ivy League) fell victim to that in a 30-26 home loss to the Bears (4-3, 2-2).

Down 13 with 12 minutes, 10 seconds to go, the Quakers mounted a comeback that brought them to the Brown 8-yard line with a minute left and a chance to take the lead. But a jump ball in the end zone turned into a Brown interception, which likely sidelined Penn from title contention.

At times this season, there have been two versions of Penn junior quarterback Aidan Sayin: the one who seemingly can’t miss on short and long passes, and the one who can’t stop turning the ball over. On Friday night, we saw both. Sayin was picked off three times — twice in the first 20 minutes — and recovered his own fumble at the end of the first half.

Sayin came alive in the fourth quarter, though. Down 13, Sayin put together a touchdown drive, completing six of eight passes for all of Penn’s 80 yards. On a clutch fourth-down conversion, he connected with sophomore wideout Alex Haight in the flat. Two plays later, Sayin hit sophomore receiver Jared Richardson on a 13-yard fade route for the score.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, Sayin led another drive into the red zone with a chance to take the lead. But the turnover-prone Sayin returned. On another fade route to Richardson in the end zone, Brown junior defensive back Isaiah Reed made his second pick of the day, which proved to be the difference.

On the day, Sayin threw a whopping 55 passes and finished with 322 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions.

In the second and third quarters, Penn’s defense was getting thrashed by Brown senior quarterback Jake Willcox. The Quakers gave up 27 points across the two periods, and Penn was in hot water. But in the fourth, with the offense finally showing signs of life and mounting a comeback, the defense made two crucial three-and-outs.

“That’s really what we train for,” senior linebacker Jack Fairman said. “We want that chance to be out there and have to make those plays, and we stepped up today, but it obviously wasn’t enough because we did give up 30 points before we made those stops at the end.”

Senior defensive linemen Jack Iuliano and Joey Slackman were all over the field, making 12 and 11 tackles, respectively, while Fairman and junior defensive back Julian Talley each had nine. All but Fairman had career-highs for tackles.

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Once again, Richardson exceeded 10 catches and 100 yards in receiving with 12 receptions for 122 yards. The sophomore wideout broke the Penn single-game catch record with 17 against Yale last week and has at least seven receptions in each of the six games he’s played this season.

Postgame, Richardson blamed himself for the jump-ball pick at the end but credited more communication with Sayin as a key to their evolving connection on the field.

“We talk a lot about what I see during plays, and what he sees and expects from me,” Richardson said. “The constant line of communication is definitely building, and it’s helping us to keep getting better.”

They’ll test that connection again on Saturday against visiting Cornell (1 p.m., ESPN+).