College football 2022: Experience and home-field advantage to start a plus for Penn

Feeling the effects of a 2020 season that was shut down because of the pandemic, Penn was a fresh-faced collective of talent in 2021. However, with much of its corps returning, aspirations run high ahead of the season opener against Colgate at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Franklin Field (ESPN+).

In all, the Quakers are looking to improve on last season’s dismal 3-7 record and finish with their first winning season since 2018. Here’s a look at how they stack up.

Team: Penn Quakers

Head coach: Ray Priore (sixth season, 34-26)

Though the Quakers come in with more experience, they still will feel the losses of their top running back and wide receiver. RB Isaiah Malcome and WR Ryan Cragun had 711 and 500 yards last year, respectively. Taking their place will be another set of seniors in RB Trey Flowers and WR Rory Starkey Jr. Both starters last year, Flowers had 379 rushing yards, while Starkey had 391 receiving yards.

Passing to Flowers and Starkey likely will be sophomore Aidan Sayin, as Priore has all but confirmed. Sayin played in five games last season after veteran QB John Quinnelly suffered a season-ending injury. Sayin passed for 920 yards and five touchdowns across 88 completions and 163 attempts.

On the other side of the ball, outside linebacker Jake Heimlicher will return for this senior season. Last year, he had 7½ sacks and 12½ tackles for losses, the fourth- and fifth-best totals, respectively, in the Ivy League.

“Our defense last year I thought was a very tough defense that no offense wanted to play against,” Heimlicher said.

Alongside Flowers, Heimlicher is one of the team’s four captains this season.

Penn vs. Yale, Oct. 22 (1 p.m., ESPN+, NBC Sports Philadelphia): Penn has the all-time edge at 36-35-1 but will look to avenge a 42-28 loss from last season. In fact, Penn hasn’t beaten Yale in six years, with the last victory a 42-7 win in 2016.

Penn vs. Harvard, Nov. 12 (1 p.m., ESPN+): In the Quakers’ first home game against Harvard since 2018, Penn will be seeking retribution from a 23-7 loss in Cambridge, Mass., last season.

Penn vs. Princeton, Nov. 19 (1 p.m., ESPN+): The final regular-season game for the Quakers is at home against its closest Ivy League rival. It will be the 81st meeting for both teams in a series that began in 1938. With a Penn win in this one, the all-time series would be even at 40-40-1.

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Penn will have to shake off the summer rust fast because this will be Colgate’s third game of the year. But Penn has a 6-1 record against Patriot League opponents since 2017, with its only loss coming at the hands of Lafayette last season. This year, three of Penn’s first four games are against nonconference opponents, all of which come from the Patriot League. Colgate and Penn haven’t met since 1996, when the Quakers pulled out a 38-7 victory.

“Success is not a destination, it’s a journey, [and] I think our kids are really focused on that journey.” — Ray Priore, during Ivy media day.