Penn feeling confident it can close out season on a high note against Princeton

After squandering a 14-point second-half lead to Harvard last week, Penn is looking to end a disappointing football season in the win column at Princeton on Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+).

Penn (4-5, 2-4 Ivy) is sixth in the Ivy League going into its final game. After last week’s loss, the Quakers are mathematically eliminated from conference title contention. However, the emergence of junior quarterback Liam O’Brien has been a bright spot. O’Brien has 14 total touchdowns and did not thrown an interception in his first three starts following a season-ending elbow injury to senior quarterback Aidan Sayin.

“Third start, feel comfortable, feel confident. I felt like our offense went out there and executed the game plan,” O’Brien said after the loss to Harvard.

Princeton (2-7, 1-5) is last in the Ancient Eight. This will be the first losing record for the Tigers since 2011. Last week, they were pummeled by Yale, 42-28.

Here is what to watch for Saturday:

Junior wideout Bisi Owens has come alive in the last leg of the season.

In the three games since O’Brien took over at quarterback, the 6-foot-4 is averaging 97 yards receiving, after averaging just 34.7 in the first six games. Last week, Owens scored two touchdowns on three receptions for 107 yards.

“I just think Liam brings a different dimension to the offense,” said Owens. “He has the ability to throw like a traditional quarterback as well as take off from the ground, hurt the defenses that way. And in terms of my stats, me and him are best friends. We’re roommates, so we have this built-up trust. We’ve been throwing together in the offseason the past two years, and now it’s kind of finally unraveling.”

Owens also pointed to his increased comfort in first-year offensive coordinator Greg Chimera’s scheme . He noted that there was “definitely a learning curve” for the team to get past that came “a little too late.”

Last year against Princeton, Owens caught 11 passes for 123 yards. He is looking for a repeat performance against a Princeton defense ranked seventh in the Ivy League in points per game allowed.

“Honestly, as an offense, we should be licking our chops a little bit. [Princeton] gave up a lot of points as of recent, so we’re trending in the right direction,” Owens said.

This is the 115th meeting between the programs. Penn is 43-70-1 in the rivalry, losing seven of the last 10. Last season, Penn turned the ball over seven times in a 31-24 loss.

Princeton is looking to end a four-game losing streak. Junior quarterback Blain Hippa, in his first year starting for the Tigers, has thrown the most interceptions in the Ivy League with 13. Princeton is last in the conference in total passing yards.

Princeton’s rushing attack is last in the conference. In a run-by-committee attack, senior halfback John Volker leads the team with 384 rushing yards, followed by sophomore Ethan Clark with 320.

Penn sophomore running back Malachi Hosley leads the Ivy League in rushing by a wide margin with 1,089 yards. Yale junior running back Josh Pitsenberger ranks a distant second with 676.

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