Opponent Spotlight: For Dartmouth receiver, QB was not to be

The football landscape is littered with examples like Ryan Fuselier's: A former quarterback becomes a wide receiver and has some success.

But the case of the fifth-year Dartmouth senior is somewhat different than most.

That's because Fuselier chose to go to Dartmouth specifically so that he would not have to switch to receiver.

After an illustrious career quarterbacking San Pasqual (Escondido, Calif.) High School's triple-option offense, Fuselier said his college choices came down to four Ivy schools - Dartmouth, Brown, Harvard and Cornell.

When the Crimson told Fuselier that he would play receiver, he chose the Big Green, with the knowledge that the incumbent quarterback, Brian Mann, was graduating after the 2002 season - Fuselier's first in Hanover, N.H.

But when arriving at summer camp, the freshman quickly found that he was in over his head.

Fellow freshmen Dan Shula and Charlie Rittgers, as well as sophomore Scott Wille, were "so far ahead of me," Fuselier said.

Coming from the triple-option offense, which requires as much running out of the quarterback as passing, Fuselier was just not up to speed with the passing game and his throwing skills.

So after choosing Dartmouth in order to avoid becoming a wide receiver, Fuselier made the switch anyway.

And as it turns out, he is a pretty good wideout.

After playing on special teams his freshman year and redshirting 2003 because of an injury, Fuselier has become the Big Green's most reliable receiver.

In 2004, he made 23 catches for 289 yards, playing in every game. Last year, he earned an All-Ivy second-team spot with 51 catches for 501 yards and five scores.

This season, he has basically been the entire Big Green receiving offense, catching 16 of the 32 completed passes for 220 of 320 team yards - and he has the only two touchdowns.

"He's definitely their go-to guy," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said.

So how did the former quarterback learn his new position?

For starters, he had help from former Dartmouth receivers Jay Barnard, Bob Murphy and Andrew Hall. He also had a good knowledge of how an offense works from his QB days.

And as Bagnoli says, it doesn't hurt that "he's also 6-5, 220 pounds and a good athlete."

Indeed, Fuselier captained both the basketball and track teams in high school, so he is not without athletic ability.

The only problems that Fuselier had, he said, were "learning to get in and out of cuts," the actual physics of being a receiver.

Once he got that down, his career took off.

Penn junior John D'Agostini, who is also a quarterback-turned-receiver, agreed with Fuselier's assessment of the change.

"It's not the hardest transition on the field," D'Agostini said.

But on the other hand, "you can't just run a route and demand the ball when you want it," he added. "You kind of get used to the game speed and the timing with the quarterback."

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens inherited Fuselier when he took over the team before last season, and he could not be more glad to have him.

"He's been our top guy since I arrived," Teevens said. "It's nice that he is back with us one more season."

Both Teevens and D'Agostini said that it takes a certain type of mindset and unselfishness to switch from the marquee position on the field to receiver. Apparently, Fuselier has that mindset.

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