The Marist football team sits at 1-1 in conference play, and some may be looking forward to their next conference trip to Bourbon Country and the struggling Morehead State as a good way to improve; this would be ignoring a huge measuring stick game against one of the historical powerhouses of the sport.
The University of Pennsylvania football program dates back to 1876, and the Quakers are preparing to take on the Red Foxes at Franklin Field, their home since 1895.
In the nearly 150 years of their program, Penn has taken home seven national championships, five more than their in-state rivals Penn State.
Head coach Ray Priore is 51-38 in nine seasons since his promotion to head coach, winning two consecutive Ivy League championships in his first two seasons at the helm. The team looks to to replicate this success this season against fellow Ivy League heavyweights Harvard, Yale and Princeton, the former home of Marist head coach Mike Willis.
In conference play, the Quakers are 2-1 with wins over Dartmouth and Stonehill, soured by a tough loss to 5-0 eighth-ranked Lehigh, who had also taken down Bucknell a few weeks before. The Bison had provided a difficult yet winnable game for Marist earlier in the season, which they ended up dropping due to a few big plays.
The Marist defense has improved since then, however, showing off its strength and holding a San Diego offense that had previously averaged 29 points per game to only 14. Willis and defensive coordinator Mike Horan have made this unit into a strength, and they currently sit third in the PFL in scoring defense at an average of 20 points allowed per contest. They need to remain sound against a Penn offense that has scored 90 points through three games and is a perfect three for three on fourth down.
Defensively, Penn has allowed an average of 377 yards and 29.7 points per game. Lehigh accounted for 539 total yards and a colossal 300 of them on the ground. They allowed 326 yards to Dartmouth, too.
Meanwhile, Marist redshirt junior quarterback Sonny Mannino is coming off a 292-yard passing performance, the second-best of his career, despite taking six sacks in the game.
Graduate student tight end Connor Hulstein has comfortably become his favorite target after coming over from Princeton, complemented by redshirt senior and Cal Poly transfer Reed Shumpert.
Redshirt freshman Lance Martinez is coming off a big game as well, bringing in three catches for a career best 106 yards and two touchdowns last week, including a 67-yard grab late in the first to counter a San Diego score. If Marist can continue to spread the ball around and get the running backs involved, they should have a strong case to win this one.
Marist’s second year under Willis has yielded great results thus far, starting the first 5 games above .500 for the first time since 2021. To go on the road and snag a victory against a strong Ivy League school would be a great boost to the program, as well as the culture that the team is looking to instill.
Edited by Hayden Shapiro and Ben Leeds
Photos from Hunter Martin/Penn Athletics
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