Seasoned Penn football team picked to finish third in the Ivy League

Penn was tabbed to finish third in an Ivy League football preseason poll of the media on Monday, behind Yale in first and Princeton in second.

That’s no big surprise, considering that the same teams finished neck-and-neck in the top three last year. They all finished 8-2 overall, although Yale had the slight edge in Ivy play (6-1) over Princeton and Penn (both 5-2).

Penn did not, however, receive any first-place votes in the media poll. Yale got the lion’s share with 13 first-place votes, while Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia each collected one.

Last season, Penn surpassed all expectations by tying for second in the league. Projected to finish sixth and one year removed from a 2021 campaign that featured only one Ivy win, the Quakers came out of the gate with a six-game winning streak.

That came to a screeching halt with a 34-31 loss to Brown in October — the last-place Bears’ only conference victory of the season. Coincidentally, Brown was the only Ivy team the Quakers had been able to defeat the year before.

Penn ended the season on a high note, completing a last-second comeback against Princeton on the road, the Quakers’ first win in Princeton since 2012. But the Ivy League title remained just out of reach.

“Doing what we did up at Princeton the last game was phenomenal, but I also want them to understand what we felt at Brown, where we did not meet the standards,” Penn coach Ray Priore said. “At Penn, we have high standards, 18 championships in our time, and we have a high standard of being successful. These guys do know it. So it’s been building blocks, we’ve been taking it step-by-step from the offseason.”

The Quakers will have a wealth of experience to pull from, with 39 seniors on the roster.

The Quakers’ starting quarterback, Aidan Sayin, now has a full season of experience under his belt. Sayin took over the position midway through his freshman season in 2021, and was the starting signal-caller last year as a sophomore.

“We saw the growth of Aidan Sayin, the last five games of his freshman year, really begin to take off. We knew we had a very special talent in that position,” Priore said. “His football IQ is high, very athletic. And once again, a very, very, very good person in the huddle in the locker room, as a true leader, and I think it all starts with that position.”

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Last season, Penn brought in a new offensive coordinator, Dan Swanstrom, who revitalized an offense that had been dead last in the league in several offensive categories in 2021.

“Coach Swanstrom is a genius, in regards to the offensive scheme,” said Jonathan Melvin, a senior linebacker. “The offense does a great job of adapting to utilizing different pieces here and there, and [the defense is] going to do the same thing as well. So I can’t really think [that] there’s a weak spot.”

Penn wide receiver Joshua Casilli is one of Sayin’s favorite targets, and he finished with 52 receptions for 491 yards and four touchdowns last season. Casilli has been working on building chemistry with Sayin even over the summer.

“Every game I’ve ever played has been with Aidan, and it’s kind of all I know. And it’s kind of been developing through the years,” Casilli said. “I’ve been sitting down with him a lot and kind of getting his thoughts on how he wants me to run certain things or what he likes to see from me, and I think if we just continue to build in the film room. I mean, sky’s the limit.”

Penn’s defense has been a consistent strength in recent seasons. The Quakers led the Ivy in sacks (34) and allowed the fewest rushing yards per game (89.4) last year and hope to build on that come the fall.

“A hallmark of our team is we play really good defense,” Priore said. “I think our defense has really been pivotal last year, in terms of putting us in that situation to be a successful team.”

Penn will have to overcome the graduation of first team All-Ivy defensive lineman Jake Heimlicher. Heimlicher, who transferred to UCLA for his final year of eligibility, was responsible for nine of Penn’s sacks and had 13 tackles for loss, both tops in the league. However, Penn does return other key pieces, including first team All-Ivy defensive back Kendren Smith and Jaden Key, a defensive back who made the second team.

“Our defense, we are very hungry,” Melvin said. “Very, very, hungry, and all across the board, we are a very experienced unit, from the front seven to the secondary as well.”

Melvin finished last season with 50 total tackles, including nine tackles for loss.

Six Ivy League games this season will be telecast on ESPN networks, including Penn’s Friday night showdown at Franklin Field against Brown on Oct. 27 (7 p.m., ESPNU).

“It will definitely be nice to play underneath the lights, the temperature dropped a little bit, and being underneath the Frank lit up like that and having friends and family there,” Melvin said. “It’s definitely exciting to get back to think about those high school days.”

Penn will face its first test Sept. 16 at Colgate (1 p.m.). Ivy League play commences Sept. 30, when the Quakers host Dartmouth at Franklin Field (1 p.m., ESPN+).