Recchiuti a new weapon for Football

Even though Villanova effectively shut down the Penn football team's offense on Thursday night, the Quakers emerged from the 17-3 loss with a new weapon for the rest of the season.

Midway through the second half, Penn coach Al Bagnoli -- his running game floundering -- looked down to the end of the bench and summoned redshirt freshman runningback Michael Recchiuti.

Recchiuti replaced the Quakers' starting runningback, Stephen Faulk, who stumbled to pick up just 12 yards on 10 carries. To call Recchiuti a savior would be misleading. He's a freshman and did just carry the ball eight times last Thursday.

But he did have a pretty darn good game last Thursday.

With Recchiuti's first carry, the tide of Penn's running game changed. Just like that, the Quakers were gaining yards on non-passing plays.

In just eight carries, Recchuiti gained 56 yards and averaged seven yards per carry. Recchuiti's longest run -- 18 yards -- was 11 yards longer than Faulk's best.

Before Recchuiti's entrance, the Quakers had recorded four possessions without a first down. Upon his arrival, the offense woke up and notched a pair of first downs.

Penn's only score in the game -- a field goal with only 3:52 left in the game -- came after a series of Recchuiti carries.

For his efforts, the freshman was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week, an honor that no other Penn player has received yet this season.

Recchuiti may prove to be a valuable asset to Penn's offense as the team enters the heart of Ivy League play in coming weeks. Though Faulk has made a rather rapid ransition to offense -- after having played defense for the past three years -- Recchiuti's emergence will afford the Red and Blue an additional option out of the backfield.

"We finally got Mike Recchuiti in, who's a very talented kid, who's been injured," Bagnoli said. "We finally got him on a varisty football field.

"He played very well. I thought we came away with a few positives."

After red-shirting his first year due to injury, this marked Recchuiti's third appearance for the Red and Blue.

He had four carriers for 16 yards in Penn's win over Dartmouth on Oct. 5. He also tallied 10 yards in four carries in his college debut against Lafayette on Sept. 21.

Judging from the numbers that Recchuiti put up during his years at nearby Downington High School, he has the makings to develop into a solid second threat on the Quakers' offensive front.

In his four years at Downington, he rushed for 2,249 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Despite his success in a limited opportunity for the Quakers, Recchiuti will be hard-pressed to earn time in a deep and talented Penn backfield. So far this season, Bagnoli has been dividing time between Faulk, Recchiuti, junior Jake Perskie and senior Todd Okolovitch.

Perskie -- who was voted the Quakers' Most Improved Player on offense last season -- has carried the ball 10 times for the Quakers this season, totaling 41 yards.

Okolovitch has gained 51 yards on 18 rushing attempts.

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