Penn comes up just short against Princeton in regular season football finale

Every time Princeton forces a turnover, the team gathers around as the player who forced it rings a miniature bell on the sideline.

Well, that bell was rung early and often on Saturday, as the Tigers forced a staggering seven Penn turnovers — the most the Quakers have had in a game in over five years.

Despite outpacing the Tigers in passing yards (385 to 155), total yards (500 to 277), and first downs, the giveaways led to a somber end to the Quakers’ season in a 31-24 loss.

“[The] kids played hard, and all of the effort was there,” Penn coach Ray Priore said. “We just couldn’t make the plays in the key times, and you have as many turnovers as we had today, you’re not winning many games.”

Penn (6-4, 3-4 Ivy) came out firing defensively, forcing punts on Princeton’s first five possessions. But two turnovers inside Princeton’s 25-yard line kept the Tigers close. On the Quakers’ first drive of the game, freshman running back Malachi Hosley fumbled at the Princeton 21, and on their fifth, a drop by sophomore wide receiver Jared Richardson inside the Princeton 13 led to a Tigers interception.

Without the turnovers, Penn potentially goes into the half up, 21-0. With them, the Quakers trailed, 10-7, despite outgaining Princeton in rushing and passing yards.

The second half started much like the first: a Quaker touchdown and a chance to take a two-score lead. But another turnover, this time an underthrown interception from Penn junior quarterback Aidan Sayin, set Penn back and gave Princeton (5-5, 4-3) the opportunity to regain the lead, which it did.

Including that pick, Penn turned the ball over on a whopping five of its last seven drives — three picks and two fumbles. The Tigers capitalized with touchdowns on three of those.

“We didn’t give ourselves a chance,” said Priore.

Aside from the turnovers, Sayin had a strong day, completing 30 of 52 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns. However, he also accounted for four interceptions. Top target Richardson had struggled in the last two games but thrived for the most part on Saturday, catching all three Penn touchdowns. He finished with six catches for 138 yards.

Penn finishes its 2023 campaign with a 6-4 record, with all four losses coming in the Ivy League. The Ancient Eight culminated in its first three-way tie since 2015 this season, with Harvard (8-2, 5-2), Yale (7-3, 5-2), and Dartmouth (6-4, 5-2) leading the conference with just two Ivy losses.

The final result comes as a cruel twist of irony for a Penn team that finished last season with two losses but was denied a share of an Ivy title because Yale finished with only one conference loss, which came to Penn.

Next season, Penn will have to plug in some holes on its offensive line, as left guard Jake Ligos and right tackle Jack Purcell will graduate.

But where Penn will really feel the impact of this senior class leaving is on the defensive side of the ball. Seven of the Quakers’ 11 starters are slated to graduate.

One senior defender who wasn’t a starter this season had a monster impact. With fellow senior linebacker John Lista injured, Isaiah Jordan was called up to start in his final game as a Quaker and totaled a team-high 10 tackles.

“I loved being out there with my boys,” Jordan said. “Just a great feeling of getting to play one last time with everyone. [It was] crazy how things unfolded with the whole season: me not even starting to begin with, but [in the] last game of the year, they asked me to step up, and it was a peak moment for me to be able to go out and finish with the guys.”