Penn welcomes a top 10 opponent for home opener, but it’s not shying from the spotlight
While Lehigh already has four games under its belt, the Quakers are finding some silver linings as they prepare for their second game of the season.
The Ivy League is the last college football league to kick off its season, so Penn will be facing a team that has already won its four games.
Penn welcomes Lehigh to Franklin Field on Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+) for its first home game under new leadership in coach Rick Santos and freshman starting quarterback Miles Teodecki.
“It is what it is,” Santos said of the Ivy League’s scheduling. “We don’t have as much access to the student-athletes in the summer. So you can look at it like it’s a competitive disadvantage, but for us, we always want to look at it [as], ‘What can we control?’”
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Senior defensive back and team captain Josh Narcisse also didn’t think the later start gave Penn a disadvantage.
“Obviously, they have a few more weeks of film that we can watch on them, so if you want to talk about advantages, that’s one,” he said. “Then, obviously, we’re coming in probably a little bit healthier than they are. [They are] probably a little more banged up after four weeks.”
Beginning next season, the Ivy League announced that it will be starting earlier, however. Week 1 will be Sept. 11th, 2027, and there will be a bye week in October.
“I think that’s pretty big for us as a program,” senior tight end Dante Barone said, “but … it doesn’t really change our mentality.”
The mentality, according to Narcisse and Barone, is “to be great.”
“To be a great team, you have to play great teams,” Barone said.
Lehigh (4-0) currently is ranked sixth in the FCS and won back-to-back Patriot League championships in 2024 and 2025. The Mountain Hawks also have a new head coach, Richard Nagy, the team’s former defensive coordinator.
“They are one of the best teams in the country in all three phases, extremely well-coached,” Santos said. “I know Coach Nagy very well from battling against him. … So tough-nose[d] team, really well coached. They play hard.”
Santos also mentioned Lehigh running back Luke Yoder, the 2025 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, who’s already rushed for 569 yards (142.3 per game), good for second in the FCS.
“[Yoder] never gets tackled by the first guy,” he said, “So we need to wrap up. We need to rally the football. Stopping the run has to be our No. 1 priority this week.”
Hayden Johnson, Lehigh’s starting quarterback, was injured against William & Mary on Sept. 12 and has not returned to action.
“It will be interesting to see if their starting quarterback plays or not. I think both of those guys, though, their signal-callers are elite with their legs, and they can really run,” Santos said.
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“With [Lehigh] running the ball as much as they do, they like to control the clock, so that’s going to be something for us is to sustain drives. … We got to make this a four-quarter game.”
While Santos was “very, very encouraged” with Teodecki and the offense in last week’s 20-7 win over Bucknell, he also sees things to tighten up this weekend. The Quakers outgained the Bison, 367-124, and Teodecki threw for 197 yards on 18-of-34 passing with two touchdowns and an interception. He also was Penn’s leading rusher with 87 yards and another touchdown.
“We’ll clean up some things mechanically in the passing game. … We need to finish better in the red zone, and that starts with myself and our offensive staff in terms of play calling, putting the guys in better situations,” he said.
For Narcisse and Barone, it will be their last home opener.
“This is what we look forward to all season,” Narcisse said. “This is why you come out here in the winter when it’s 6 a.m. and nobody sees you working. You’re rolling around the snow. This is why you do that, right? For opportunities like this to shine when the lights are the brightest.”
