PHILADELPHIA, PA. 10/19/2018 – It is hard to say that a game in October is a “must win,” but for both the University of Pennsylvania and Yale, it fit. Both teams entered the game with a win and a loss in Ivy competition, a game behind league leaders Princeton and Dartmouth. Penn and Yale could ill afford to fall two games behind and remain in contention for the Ancient Eight crown. And Dartmouth defeated both of these teams.
Yale is back in contention and Penn is looking up in the standings as the Bulldogs earn a 23 – 10 win over the Quakers at Franklin Field under Friday Night Lights.
The game turned in favor of the Eli with their fast start, especially on the ground. Yale ran the ball effectively and Penn did not. Yale running back Alan Lamar peeled off a 47-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, the longest against Penn this season. He added another at the 3:37 mark of the first quarter, a touchdown run that gave the Bulldogs a 15 – 3 lead.
Lamar ran for 179 yards, 140 in the first half, and 2 touchdowns. He was one shy of his career-high. Penn gained a total of 14 rushing yards (minus 26 due to team lost yards) compared to 244 for the visitors, the highest rushing total against the hosts.
“When you get down like that it rattles everybody,” said Penn Coach Ray Priore. “We needed to get our feet back under us and we did a good job of that. You have to make the best of that when you have a chance to get back in the game. We were not able to get any run game established at all.
“It was important for us to get going on the ground,” said Yale Coach Tony Reno. “Penn made adjustments and made it tough sledding for us the remainder of the game. We had opportunities to take a sizable lead but couldn’t get through.”
The Red and Blue stabilized the game and appeared to change the momentum in the third quarter. The Eli was poised to get a score that would have given them a 28 – 3 lead. Lamar was hit at the one and fumbled. The Quakers recovered and answered with a 12-play, 99-yard drive, mostly via the air attack, in 4:32.
“We were rolling at that time,” said linebacker Nick Miller who had a game-best 13 tackles. “We were ready to go.”
The drive was capped by a Ryan Glover 9-yard scoring toss to wide receiver Steve Farrell cutting the gap to 21 – 10. Penn forced a Yale punt, but on the next play, a high snap went into the endzone recovered by the Quakers, but for a safety. The momentum was blunted as 1:11 remained in the third quarter.
“It was a good drive, but we needed to keep that going the whole game,” said Farrell.
Farrell led the Red and Blue with 7 catches for 173 yards, including an 87-yard reception in the fourth quarter, and one touchdown catch. Glover threw for 274 yards on 16 completions.
Yale (4 – 2, 2 – 1) stays in contention for the title. Penn falls to 1 – 2 in the Ivy League, 4 – 2 overall. The Quakers travel to Brown next week.
“We have competitive kids that want to go out there and perform,” Priore said about the next one up. “We are not happy with the loss. We have to get better in every aspect of the game.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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