Penn keeps Ivy championship hopes intact with dominant road win over Cornell
The Quakers now round out the season with two tough tests in Harvard and Princeton in back-to-back weeks starting next Saturday.
Penn kept its conference title hopes alive with a 28-21 win at Cornell on Saturday.
The Quakers (6-1, 3-1 Ivy) rebounded soundly from a loss to Brown last week with dominant play from all three units against the Big Red (4-3, 1-3) after suffering a surprising 34-31 defeat at the hands of Brown last week. All three of Penn’s units shone in the dominant victory.
What we saw
After a few stagnant drives, sophomore quarterback Aidan Sayin got rolling with a couple of deep balls that included a 47-yard pass to senior wide receiver Rory Starkey Jr. to seize an early 7-0 Penn lead. Sayin finished 8-of-18 for 137 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw an interception in the third quarter.
The second quarter found a more methodical Penn offense highlighted by senior running back Trey Flowers, who capped off a pair of drives with blistering runs in the red zone for touchdowns. Flowers, who missed the last few games because of injury, led the Quakers on the ground with 124 yards on 26 carries.
Cornell botched an opportunity to tighten Penn’s lead near the end of halftime, as an unsuccessful fake field goal attempt left the Big Red empty-handed. A couple of turnovers and another touchdown strike by Sayin to his favorite target, junior Joshua Casilli , with 12 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter gave Penn a commanding 28-7 lead.
The Big Red continued to battle and kept the game competitive, but Penn’s early points would prove too much.
Breakthrough performance
Flowers reminded the rest of the Ivy league what he was capable of, plowing through the Big Red’s rush defense and racking up 124 yards that included two rushing touchdowns. Sayin also managed to stretch the field effectively, hooking up with Starkey and Casilli on long touchdown passes. Now, Casilli leads the Quakers with 48 catches and four touchdowns on the season.
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Up next
Next Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+), Penn will host Harvard (6-2, 4-1 Ivy) in a must-win game , as a loss will eliminate either team from contention for a conference title. The Quakers will then close their season against first-place Princeton on Nov. 19.