Just before Penn’s football training camp opened in 2014, Alek Torgersen went to the coaches’ office following a throwing session with a few receivers, some of whom he hadn’t even met yet.
“How were the freshmen?” one of the coaches asked.
Torgersen, then going into his sophomore year and getting ready to take over as Penn’s starting quarterback, could barely contain his excitement.
“That kid from Pittsburgh, he’s really good.”
The coaches nodded, as if they knew that was exactly how he’d respond.
“Yeah, he’s on a different level.”
Two years later, that kid from Pittsburgh — Justin Watson — has emerged as one of the best receivers in the FCS, getting off to a strong start in 2016 after leading the Ivy League in receptions (74), receiving yards (1,082) and receiving touchdowns (nine) last year. And a big reason for Watson’s success has been the play of Torgersen, who’s put up big numbers himself since becoming a starter in 2014 while forming with Watson one of the best quarterback-wide receiver combos in Penn football history.
“The first time I threw to him, I could tell he was something different than the other receivers,” Torgersen said. “He was catching everything.”
Watson was equally impressed with Torgersen on their initial throwing session in 2014, just a day or two after both arrived on campus.
“When you’re a freshman, no one really says hi to you,” Watson said. “You have to earn your way into it. I didn’t even know he was the starting quarterback at the time, until the first ball came out of his hand and zipped into my hands faster than any ball I’ve ever caught.”
Watson recalled going over to say hello and introducing himself to his new QB after they threw the ball around but Torgersen doesn’t think he said much, laughing now that he was “probably pretty rude.” But their relationship quickly developed with Watson setting Penn freshman records with 42 receptions and 497 receiving yards in 2014 before his breakout season last year in which he was named runner-up for Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year. And it took off even more this past summer as the two players become more than just in-sync teammates but even better friends off the field.
In fact, the two spent almost every waking hour together over the summer as they had the same internship at asset management firm Logan Circle Partners, sharing a subway to and from work and then working out at Franklin Field afterwards.
“He was just around the corner,” Torgersen said. “I’d go to his cubicle all the time and mess with him and just ask, ‘Let’s go get coffee. I’m bored.’”
Watson and Torgersen did take some coffee and lunch breaks together, usually at the Wawa on 17th and Arch Streets. They killed time in other ways too, sometimes running routes around the office with a little styrofoam football. Once, a few of their co-workers wanted to see in person how far Torgersen could throw a real football so they took a half-day and came down to Franklin Field. Much to their amazement, Torgersen launched it more than 60 yards but “one guy I think almost threw his shoulder out,” Watson laughed.
“Everyone thought it was cool having a quarterback-receiver combo in the office — and one of the better ones in the Ivy League,” Watson added.
Of course, the two also learned a lot from the internship, which served as another reminder why they both decided it was important to go to Penn, a school they know will set them up for life long after their football careers are over. But their recruiting processes were actually quite different.
Torgersen was only a one-year starting QB at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., and may have actually been a better punter before getting to college. But Penn head coach Ray Priore, then an assistant, “saw something in me a lot of coaches didn’t see and took a chance on me,” Torgersen said. The Quakers took another chance when they started him at quarterback for the final game of his freshman season, paving the way for him to be a three-year starter and possibly set several Penn passing records when his career ends later this fall. And no, he doesn’t punt anymore — though he does use his feet to gain yards on the ground, scoring two rushing touchdowns in last week’s big Ivy League-opening win at Dartmouth.
Torgersen ran for another touchdown in Saturday’s 28-16 victory over Central Connecticut State, while throwing for two more TDs and 216 yards, 84 of which went to Watson, who finished with a team-high nine catches.
“They brought me in as a punter and I think I blossomed as a quarterback,” Torgersen said. “They kind of realized that maybe we shouldn’t have this kid punt after I kind of shanked five in a row.”
Watson is similar to Torgersen in the sense that he played a few positions in high school (and continues to be a versatile player in college). But he was recruited more heavily than the Penn QB, fielding offers from several other Ivies, a few other FCS schools and even a couple of FBS programs (Akron and Buffalo).
Watson was worried at first that he wouldn’t fit the “Ivy mold” but loved Penn’s combination of academics and more of a blue-collar mentality than what he saw at other schools. And he fit right in from the start, especially with Torgersen, as the two players helped lead the Quakers back to the top of the Ivy League last season after two down years.
“They’re both extremely talented,” Penn offensive coordinator John Reagan said. “J-Wat is without a doubt one of the hardest working guys on our offense, probably on our team. He’s selfish in the fact that he’s absolutely selfless. He’s gonna do whatever it takes for the team.
“And Alek has an unbelievable talent throwing the football. The best quality about him is he wants to be more than a good passer but a good leader. The one trait both have that’s very similar is they constantly want to get better. They’re never satisfied. And guys like that generally get better.”
After getting hired as Penn’s offensive coordinator prior to the 2015 season, Reagan installed a version of a spread offense that let both players shine. But Watson didn’t get to practice in the spring of 2015 because he had offseason shoulder surgery, leading to some trepidation heading into his sophomore year.
“I was a little worried just taking a whole spring off and installing a new offense that me and Torg wouldn’t come back to the same chemistry that we once had,” the receiver said. “But right when we both got back on campus that summer, there was a sense of urgency like, ‘Hey, we’re both gonna be big parts of this thing and we got to get our timing down.’ And as the season went on, that timing kept getting better and better.”
Things certainly went from good to great as the 2015 season went on. Torgersen’s favorite moment with Watson came in Penn’s dramatic 26-23 homecoming win over Princeton on Nov. 7.
“I threw a really bad ball and he saved me and pulled it down for a touchdown,” the QB said. “I think that was the moment, for a lot of people on this team, it kind of solidified that he was the guy that’s gonna be able to make those ridiculous one-handed grabs.”
For Watson, the most memorable play happened a week later in the Quakers’ 35-25 upset at Harvard. Watson finished with 249 all-purpose yards, 68 of which came on a first-quarter touchdown pass in which he recalled Torgersen “looked over at me and gave me a route and didn’t really tell anyone else.”
That play was indicative of how well the two players understand each other.
“It’s little things where even if I’m not running the route I’m supposed to be running, he sees that and understands what I’m gonna do,” Watson said. “And whenever I make a bad play and he can tell I’m down, he knows exactly what to say in the huddle to bring me up. It’s just that friendship that really helps you ride the roller coaster of the game.”
Considering the big numbers both put up last season, they knew they might have some more challenges this year. And that was certainly the case in Penn’s 31-17 loss to Fordham two weeks ago, which Watson said was “really the first game where everywhere I went on the field there were two guys following me around.”
But they’ve since adjusted well and plan to continue to figure out ways to slice through opposing defenses, win another Ivy League title and, of course, grow their relationship both on and off the field.
“Chemistry is a word that gets thrown around,” Reagan said. “And people sometimes don’t understand what it really means. But for those two guys, they do have great chemistry. They’re almost always on the same page.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the Penn football game program on Saturday, Oct. 8.