Penn quarterback Karson Siqueiros-Lasky plays the role of hero to lift the Quakers past Howard
Stepping in for injured QB1 Miles Teodecki, the junior quarterback threw for two touchdowns and caught a third to lift the Quakers to its first win of the season.
In the first meeting between Penn and Howard, the Quakers would earn an edge in the all-time series, but barely, following a 24-20 defeat of the Bison.
However, it didn’t arrive without a setback.
Forty-nine seconds into the second quarter, freshman quarterback Miles Teodecki suffered a knee injury that saw him leave the game. Penn (2-2) head coach Rick Santos said Teodecki was set to undergo an MRI late Saturday afternoon.
“We do not know the scope or the magnitude of it right now,” Santos said. Before he went down, Teodecki put up 63 passing yards, and rushed for another 48 yards.
Teodecki walked off the field on his own, heading straight to the medical tent. He would be replaced by junior quarterback Karson Siqueiros-Lasky.
“I saw it in Karson’s eyes that he wanted the ball,” Santos said. “And he’s been eager and ready for this moment.”
Penn’s No. 2 was a little rusty in his first few drives, throwing an interception that led to a Bison 58-yard drive. Still, he says he remained unfazed.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel that nervous. Feel like I’ve been ready for the moment,” Siqueiros-Lasky said, “Obviously, [I] wanted to make sure Miles was okay... I hope he’s back as quick as possible, but was just super excited to finally get an opportunity to get on the field.”
But Penn’s defense kept things close until their quarterback found his footing, forcing incompletions and allowing Howard to average just 3.7 yards per play.
Siqueiros-Lasky threw his first collegiate touchdown pass with 7 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the first half to junior tight end and roommate Jack Donnelly, giving Penn a brief 10-7 lead.
“That decision a few weeks ago to not give [Siqueiros-Lasky] the starting nod, I know that cut him deep to his core,” Santos said, noting that the junior did show “a little bit of jitters” at first but “then that second half was just as clean [a level of] football as you’re gonna see him play.”
Siqueiros-Lasky finished with 226 total yards and two touchdowns.
Second half switch-up
Coming out of halftime, Penn was down 17-10. Relying on its run game primarily in the first half, the Quakers offense switched up its tactics, opting to focus on the passing game.
The decision, Santos said, was “based on schematically how they were attacking us.”
“They were playing a lot of man-to-man, they were pressuring us… We really didn’t have the ability to show what we could do where it would be down the field. Isaac, he’s been waiting for a game like this.”
In the second half, Penn rushed for only 15 of its 210 total yards, and put up 195 passing yards to Howard’s 38.
It wasn’t only the quarterback who was passing, though. A few minutes into the fourth quarter, on a third-and-6 at Howard’s six-yard line, Siqueiros-Lasky handed off the ball to junior running back Donte West, who then handed it to Lee.
Siqueiros-Lasky twisted off to the right, and Lee passed it back to the quarterback for his first receiving touchdown, capping off an 87-yard drive. It would be the first of two touchdowns in the second half for the Quakers, who got to celebrate their first win of the season with Siqueiros-Lasky playing the role of hero.
After his first game this season, Siqueiros-Lasky said he feels “pretty electric.” He laughed before adding: “Ready for more.”
Santos added: “I think it’s just the beginning with this group.”
Up next...
Penn returns to Ivy League play again against Columbia under the lights at Franklin Field on Friday (7 p.m., ESPNU)
