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Penn Battles Rival Princeton Saturday At Franklin Field

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- One of college football's great rivalries will continue on Saturday at Franklin Field as the University of Pennsylvania hosts Princeton University in an Ivy League match-up.

The Quakers are 3-4 (1-3 Ivy) and coming off a 17-7 win over Brown in Providence, Rhode Island last weekend.

"Real, real good team victory all the way around," Penn head coach Ray Priore tells KYW Newsradio. "Offense scored early, we had a great field goal at the end of the first half with Jack Soslow, 51-yarder, and our defense did a great job keeping them in check all day."

 

Senior wide receiver Justin Watson had yet another big day in the win over Brown. He finished with eight catches for 132 yards and he scored both touchdowns, one coming on an 80-yard catch-and-run on the game's first play from scrimmage. During the game, Watson set Penn career records for receiving yards (3,413) and receiving touchdowns (29). He is also now just three catches away from breaking Penn's career record for receptions.

This will be the 109th all-time meeting between Penn and Princeton. The first one came back in 1876. The Tigers lead the series 66-41-1 and Priore says this game always means a lot to everyone.

"I mean I get letters in the middle of the summertime about beating Princeton," he says. "This is our version of Michigan/Ohio State, UCLA/USC game. It's our big one, it's our big rival."

Princeton is 5-2 on the season (2-2 Ivy) and coming off a 29-28 loss to Cornell. The Tigers led 21-7 in the first half and 28-16 after three quarters, but the Big Red scored the game's final 13 points to win, taking the lead for good on a 43-yard field goal in the final minute.

For the season, the Tigers are averaging 38.9 points per game and that offense is being led by senior quarterback Chad Kanoff who has thrown for 2,225 yards and 19 touchdowns. Priore says Kanoff has a lot of talent to throw to.

"If you let their receivers run free, it'll be a long day," he says. "So we've got to keep them in check."

Priore talks about a key for his offense in this one.

"It's controlling the ball," he says. "With such an explosive [Princeton] offense, you want to keep them off the field as much as you can. So time of possession will be a key factor in winning the game."

Last year, Princeton beat Penn 28-0 in New Jersey.

Saturday's game will kick off at 1:00pm.

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