This is the game everybody in the Ivy League’s been waiting for. After coaching Penn for 23 years, Al Bagnoli will face his former team for the first time when he welcomes the Quakers to his new digs at Columbia. Here’s a closer look at the intriguing matchup:
Penn Quakers (1-3, 0-1 Ivy) at Columbia Lions (1-3, 0-1 Ivy)
Kraft Field, New York, New York
Saturday, 3:30 p.m., ESPN3
Scouting Penn
For whatever reason, the Quakers have showed a lot of heart and promise against nationally ranked teams while struggling against teams closer to their level. The latest example came last week when Penn gave No. 12 Fordham all they can handle, rallying from 25 points down before dropping a 48-45 decision. While Penn’s defense had another rough outing, there were plenty of offensive stars to go around with Brian Schoenauer rushing for 161 yards, receiver Justin Watson continuing his breakout season with 134 receiving yards and a touchdown and backup QB Andrew Lisa throwing three TD passes. Despite Lisa filling in well for him though, starting QB Alek Torgersen is expected to return this week after dealing with concussion-like symptoms.
Scouting Columbia
The Lions snapped an astounding 24-game losing streak that spanned four seasons with a convincing 26-3 rout of Wagner last week for Bagnoli’s first victory at Columbia. Not only that, the Lions completely dominated from the outset, scoring on a Cameron Molina rush and a Max Keefe fumble return 16 seconds apart in the first quarter. Despite starting the season with three straight losses, the Lions also showed some promise in a 10-5 Ivy-opening setback to Princeton two weeks ago, limiting one of the top offenses in the FCS to just 183 total yards. Columbia ranks near the top of the Ivies in most defensive categories but is dead last in passing offense under junior quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg, a Florida transfer and the son of former Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
History
Penn owns the longest active winning streak over an annual opponent in the FCS — and the fifth longest such streak of all time — with 18 straight wins over Columbia. Overall, Penn holds a commanding 72-21-1 edge in the series and has won nine straight at Kraft Field.
Storyline to watch
At practice this week, Penn head coach Ray Priore was trying his hardest to say this game is just like any other. But how will Bagnoli’s longtime deputy react when he’s suddenly on the opposite sideline of his mentor of more than two decades? It will also be interesting to see how Penn’s players perform against their old head coach, and how well Bagnoli knows to game plan against the guys that he brought to Penn.
What’s at stake?
Aside from needing a win to get back to .500 in the Ivy League, this is a huge game for Penn not to lose. It would be bad enough to fall to a team that hasn’t won a league game since 2012 but to do it against the coach that left your school for Columbia would probably make it even tougher to swallow.