What to watch for as Penn football looks to extend its dominance at home against Columbia

Penn football has an all-Ivy League slate the rest of the way beginning on Saturday at home against Columbia.

Penn (2-2, 0-1 Ivy) is coming off a 31-21 victory over Bucknell on Oct. 14, bouncing back from a 20-17 road loss to Dartmouth as the Big Green put the Quakers away on a 21-play, 10-minute final drive.

“Much better vibe in the locker room, especially coming after the Dartmouth loss and that long bus ride. It really stuck with us,” said Penn senior wide receiver Julien Stokes after practice this week.

Following a last-place Ivy finish in 2023, Columbia (3-1, 1-0 Ivy) has been a surprise under first-year coach Jon Poppe.

Here’s what to know about the 1 p.m. game at Franklin Field (ESPN+).

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Columbia is looking to snap a 12-game losing streak at Franklin Field that dates back to 1996.

The Quakers are 77-24-1 in the rivalry. Last season, Penn spoiled homecoming for Columbia with a 21-17 victory led by Aidan Sayin, who passed for 286 yards and a touchdown.

With a daunting conference schedule looming, Penn is trying to focus on Columbia.

“One game at a time,” said Penn coach Ray Priore. “Those folks up in New York City are coming down this week to Franklin Field. We will just have to take it one day at a time, one game at a time.”

The Lions offense is powered by senior running back Joey Giorgi. He totaled 111 rushing yards and a touchdown last week, becoming the first Columbia running back in eight years to rush for 100 yards in consecutive games. The Lions offense is ranked first in the Ivy League in total yardage and rushing yards.

The Quakers will look to a pair of linebackers to stop Columbia’s potent rushing attack.

Strong side linebacker Kadari Machen has 34 tackles, the most on the team and second in the Ivy League.

Junior linebacker John Lista has a career-high 10 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and a sack against Bucknell. He was named Ivy League defensive player of the week.

Penn’s offense has a lot of mouths to feed.

Sophomore running back Malachi Hosley leads the Ivy League with 535 rushing yards and is fifth in the FCS in rushing yards per game with 133.8. He scored two touchdowns and rushed for 146 yards against Bucknell.

Penn’s ground game goes beyond Hosley. Last week, sophomore running back Jamal Bing Jr. burst onto the scene, rushing for 68 yards and his first career touchdown on 10 attempts. Bing did not see the field during his freshman campaign and was used sparingly this season before Bucknell. He rushed for nine yards the week prior against Dartmouth.

Junior wide receiver Jared Richardson, who leads Penn with 269 receiving yards, had a 49-yard touchdown reception last week after being held to two catches for 18 yards in the loss to Dartmouth.

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When asked about Richardson’s involvement in the crowded offense, Priore pointed to their efforts to get all the playmakers involved.

“Well, [Jared is] very confident. You don’t have to worry about his confidence at all, let me tell you that,” Priore said. “He has confidence when he wakes up in the morning. We have a lot of weapons on all sides, at every point. You have tight ends, you have wide receivers, you have running backs, you distribute the ball [between them]. Certain people are doing things to take [Jared] away. Dartmouth did that, they’re smart.”

Stokes, who missed all of last season with a leg injury, has racked up a team-high 18 catches.

“It’s just a week-to-week thing,” Stokes said of his role. “Some weeks, I have 10 blocks and no catches. In other games, 10 catches. It’s just a week-to-week thing. I’m just executing whatever I got to do. As long as the team wins, it doesn’t really matter to me.”