BUILDING BLOCKS: Three veterans lead special teams unit

Fabish provides the glitz,Fabish provides the glitz,Greathouse the range andFabish provides the glitz,Greathouse the range andSalvino the consistency Most people don't think of special teamers when they think of football players. Punt returners and field-goal kickers hardly fit the rough image the game cultivates. But as any observer will note, games often turn on the play of these forgotten players. On paper, Penn is in an enviable position, bringing back all of the key members of last year's special teams unit. Foremost among them is senior Mark Fabish, who will return punts and kickoffs. A senior out of Bergen Catholic High School in North Jersey, Fabish is everything you expect of a kick returner -- flamboyant, dynamic and, above all, unpredictable. Players like Fabish strike fear into the hearts of both opposing teams and their own coaches. Although he took a pair of punts back for touchdowns last season (a 53-yarder against Brown and a 39-yarder against William & Mary), the 5-foot-10 wide-out also hurt the Quakers with mental lapses and fumbles. "I won't say that I've calmed down -- I'm a lot more controlled," Fabish said. "The first thing on punts, I've got to catch the ball, then get my yardage." Penn special teams coach Ray Priore is confident that his biggest return threat will keep his head in the game. "He's explosive, he never stops, and he always wants to make the big play -- which is fantastic. But sometimes that excitement level needs to be controlled," Priore said. "I think after a brief point last year, he really regrouped and made some big strides." The recipe for a big kick return is part planning and part inspiration. According to Fabish, most of Penn's run-back plans involve the returner beating a man on his own and then following the blocks into a seam. The second deep man on kickoffs will be either senior Aman Abye, half of Penn's running back platoon, or Fabish's fellow starting receiver, speedy senior Erik Thompson. Another key returner to the special teams unit is placekicker Jeremiah Greathouse. The junior from Gainsesville, Fla., was the leading placekicker in the Ivy League last year. Greathouse's highlights included a 50-yarder against Brown and a last minute game-winner against Bucknell. His 11 Ivy League field goals were a conference record. Greathouse, a first-team all-Ivy pick last season, describes his range as "anything inside 55 [yards] right now, pretty consistently. On a good day, 60 and in." That may be a bit of an overstatement, but the fact remains that Penn has at its disposal a dangerous weapon. "We've got to consider going for a field goal whenever we're on the 33, 34, 32 -- somewhere in there," Bagnoli said. Another key component of the special teams is punter Jeff Salvino. Last year, the junior from Willow Grove, Pa., averaged an unexceptional 33.1 yards per attempt. However, that number can be misleading. "We don't punt for a big average," Salvino said. "We punt to pin people in. We have directional punting." That means the Quakers' punting scheme is designed to prevent long returns and only asks the punter to blast the ball when Penn is deep in its own half of the field. Other important members of Penn's special teams are Doug Miller, Steve Gross and John Ricchio. Greathouse's understudy as field-goal kicker, Miller is also the back-up punter. Of more importance, though, Miller will again handle all of Penn's kickoff duties. Gross and Ricchio are the long snappers for the punting squad and field-goal unit, respectively. Special teams are often remembered only for missed field goals, blocked punts and costly fumbles. In 1996, Penn's specialty performers hope to stay out of the limelight -- except when Fabish breaks one.