Penn’s defense steps up in comeback road win over Cornell
Junior Karson Siqueiros-Lasky got the start over freshman Miles Teodecki, and his connection with sophomore wideout Isaac Lee helped power the Quakers' offense.
Penn entered its matchup against Cornell keeping its quarterback situation close to the vest.
But on Saturday, junior Karson Siqueiros-Lasky got the start. Freshman Miles Teodecki came in briefly in the third quarter, rushing for a loss of 2 yards, but otherwise Siqueiros-Lasky remained under center as Penn erased two deficits to win, 14-13, in Ithaca, N.Y.
Penn coach Rick Santos said midweek that “both [quarterbacks] got to play, and then we got to see who has the hot hand.” That came on the heels of last week’s loss to Brown, in which Siqueiros-Lasky relieved Teodecki after a sluggish start.
» READ MORE: Miles Teodecki had offers from Power Four schools. The quarterback chose Penn instead.
Siqueiros-Lasky and Lee lead offense
Siqueiros-Lasky, making his second career start, relied on his arm — and a connection on Saturday with sophomore wide receiver Isaac Lee.
It showed during the first scoring drive for Penn (4-4, 2-3 Ivy League). With the Quakers down, 10-0, Siqueiros-Lasky found Lee on a 38-yard pass that brought Penn inside Cornell’s 10. A 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ronan Johannson made it 10-7 with 1 minute, 18 seconds to go in the first half.
Siqueiros-Lasky again found Lee on the Quakers’ other touchdown drive late in the third quarter. Lee, who finished with a team-high nine receptions for 106 yards, caught a 20-yard pass to advance Penn to Cornell’s 10-yard line before Sean Williams Jr. punched in the game-winning score from 2 yards out.
Of Penn’s 258 total yards, 220 were through the air. Siqueiros-Lasky completed 24 of 38 passes (63.2%). Williams was the team’s leading rusher with 55 yards on 18 carries.
Defense makes key stops
Penn entered the game allowing 285.9 yards per game, sixth in the FCS. Despite trailing until late in the third quarter, it held Cornell (3-5, 1-4) to 239 total yards and found stops in key moments.
On a punt attempt in the third quarter, Penn fumbled the snap, and Cornell recovered the ball at the Quakers’ 15-yard line. But Penn’s defense stepped up and held Cornell to a field goal — and minus-2 yards on the drive. The 34-yard boot by Caden Lesiewicz put Cornell back on top, but the lead didn’t last long as Williams’ touchdown run came just over three minutes later in the final minute of the third quarter.
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Cornell had one more chance with just over two minutes left. Freshman quarterback Michael McColgan, making his collegiate debut, rushed for 19 yards to near midfield. But the Quakers’ defense responded, forcing three straight incomplete passes as the drive stalled.
Though Cornell finished with 158 rushing yards, powered by McColgan’s 83, Penn allowed just 81 yards through the air. Senior linebacker Cole Olsztyn provided a second-half highlight when he sacked McColgan for a loss of 9 yards on Cornell’s penultimate possession, keeping it out of field-goal range.
Up next
Penn returns to Franklin Field next Saturday to face first-place Harvard (7-1, 4-1) for homecoming and the Quakers’ final home game of the season (1 p.m., ESPN+, NBC Sports Philadelphia).
