Turnovers played a key role in the Quakers’ victory over the Tigers—Penn forced four turnovers for the second week in a row. The Quakers scored 14 points off of Tigers quarterback Connor Michelsen’s three interceptions, and a forced fumble near Penn’s end zone with less than 30 seconds remaining sealed the victory for the Quakers.
“The first thing that we did was we were able to win the turnover battle,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. “We decisively won that by a 4-1 count, so we had opportunities to get the ball back for our offense. If we turn the ball over too many times [against Harvard], it’s going to be a long afternoon for Penn, I can tell you that.”
The Crimson will counter the Quakers’ stiff defense with its high-octane offense, led by an offensive line that gives senior quarterback Colton Chapple time to throw and paved the way for over 300 yards of rushing against the Lions last week.
“[Harvard’s] terrific—if you look at their numbers, it’s scary how many points they put up—they have no apparent weakness,” Bagnoli said. “The challenge is going to be huge for us, and we’ll have to play arguably our best game of the year to give us a chance.”
Ragone, who passed for a score before his game-winning rushing touchdown, leads Penn’s offense and presents a double-headed attack with his passing and rushing game.
“They have one of the guys that can change the game in just a couple of plays with his feet or his arm in Billy Ragone,” Murphy said. “A guy that’s a winner, a guy that’s won an Ivy League Championship, a guy that’s won a lot of games as a starter. The combination of those makes this guy a much more dangerous quarterback, a much more dangerous opponent.”
Close games have been the story of Penn’s season—all eight of its contests have been decided by two scores or fewer. Harvard, on the other hand, has been taking advantage of an explosive offense to outscore its opponents by an average of 28 points.
Although the statistics favor Harvard, which is currently ranked atop the league in total offense and defense, the volatility of this season has served as a reminder to prepare for the unexpected.
“You’re never as good or as bad as you think you are,” Holuba said. “You have to take it with a grain of salt. That’s what we strive to do, we just have to worry about our game and not try to get too psyched about our opponent.”