Penn’s turnovers contribute to 44-30 loss to No. 9 Lehigh: ‘You can’t give the ball up’

Turnovers plagued the Penn football team Saturday in a 44-30 loss to No. 9 Lehigh at Goodman Stadium.

The Mountain Hawks (5-0) converted three turnovers by Penn (1-1) into 17 points, the difference in the Quakers’ 14-point loss.

Penn went down 10 points early against Lehigh, which entered Saturday with the nation’s fifth-best rushing attack. Penn struggled on the ground but had better success in the air, particularly to wide receivers Jared Richardson and Bisi Owens. But the Quakers’ mistakes eventually prevented any chance of a comeback.

Penn’s defense allowed more than 500 yards of offense, the team’s first of the season.

“The game is all about the ball, and you can’t give the ball up and expect to win,” said Quakers quarterback Liam O’Brien. “They capitalized on that. Got to clean that up, had it happen the first week, get that fixed, and it’s a huge part of winning.”

The Quakers, who were facing a defense that has forced five turnovers in four games, would give away three of their own.

The first came early in the second quarter, when a snap sailed over O’Brien’s head, resulting in a short drive and field goal for Lehigh. In the third, O’Brien was sacked by defensive back Nick Peltekian and fumbled the ball. Peltekian recovered it, and Lehigh’s offense took advantage of the opportunity as Mountain Hawks quarterback Hayden Johnson threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Geoffrey Jamiel on the next drive.

“He was second team All-Patriot last year at safety, played with him at Deerfield [Academy in Massachusetts] as well,” O’Brien said earlier in the week. “I know those guys very well.”

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Down 30-27 in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead, Lehigh defensive back Mekhai Smith notched his fourth interception of the season on a tipped pass intended for Richardson. The Mountain Hawks eventually scored again on a Luke Yoder touchdown, who finished with 173 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Lehigh scored 17 points off of Penn’s turnovers.

“The pick getting tipped is just unfortunate,” O’Brien said. “One of the fumbles snapped over the head, I just have to dive on the ball. And the other one, we missed a block on the edge, tried to make a play, held onto it too long, and just had to get rid of the ball. Small mistakes that we have to clean up.”

On Penn’s first offensive drive, O’Brien looked deep downfield toward Owens. With the senior receiver a step ahead of the defender, O’Brien sailed the pass over Owens’ head on third-and-9 to force a punt.

Following another scoring drive by Lehigh, this time a 22-yard seam route to receiver Matt D’Avino, the Quakers looked Owens’ way again. O’Brien launched downfield to Owens for a 48-yard touchdown pass.

“Missing Bisi, us being slightly on a different page, and just put it slightly over him,” O’Brien said. “After that, we settled down, starting hitting and finding their weaknesses.”

In the fourth quarter, Penn was once again trailing by 10 points. Richardson called for the ball in the red zone. Running to the back pylon, Richardson hauled in the pass — but was ruled to have stepped out of bounds after review.

Not to be discouraged, Richardson taunted the crowd while calling for the ball again. The senior scored, both feet in bounds as he carried defenders into the end zone. Owens and Richardson would finish the game with a combined 242 yards, while O’Brien threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns, two to Richardson and one to Owens.

“The play before I wanted a shot to Jared, and we converted it, just unfortunately out of bounds,” O’Brien said. “The next play, had an opportunity, and Jared was in the progression and found him in the window.”

The Quakers will move on to home date with a tough Ivy League opener against Dartmouth (2-0), the reigning co-champions, next Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+) at home. The Big Green is coming off a 35-28 win over Central Connecticut in which Grayson Saunier threw for a career-best 407 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown pass to KyDric Fisher with 16 seconds to go.