The injury plague that wreaked havoc on the Penn football team's defense has now infected the offensive side of the ball.
Saturday, en route to winning their first Ivy League game of the season against Dartmouth, offensive starters quarterback Mike Mitchell and tight end Brian Adams both left the contest early, and did not return, due to injury. Safety Seth Fisher was also was hurt.
Mitchell, who was well on his way to a possible career afternoon with 337 yards passing in under three quarters, left the game with 1:31 to play in the third quarter after attempting to scramble into the end zone on a broken play.
Mitchell went down with an upper ankle sprain and hobbled off the field with assistance. He was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and had X-rays taken to check for a possible broken bone.
"The X-rays [on his leg] were negative," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "It's a pretty good ankle sprain."
There is still some hope that Mitchell will be able to play on Saturday against Bucknell, but his status remains uncertain until he is re-evaluated on Thursday. He will not practice today or tomorrow.
"A lot depends on how he feels Thursday," Bagnoli said. "Unless he has enough strength to functionally protect himself, we can't put him out there."
Replacing Mitchell under center was sophomore Pat McDermott. In just over a quarter of play on Saturday, McDermott was 4-for-7 for 31 yards and one interception.
"We put him in under a very difficult scenario, and to his credit, he went out there and played well," Bagnoli said.
"We have confidence in Pat," he added.
McDermott will be taking all of the snaps in practice, attempting to give Mitchell's ankle as much rest as possible.
"With a full week of practice under his belt, he can hopefully build on Saturday and make some plays," Bagnoli said.
Mitchell is the second co-captain to be lost to injury for Penn (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) as linebacker Steve Lhotak went down Sept. 27 against Lehigh.
Adams, a senior, strained his medial cruciate ligament -- the same ailment afflicting Lhotak.
While playing with the special teams unit as time late in the first half, Adams went down with the injury.
"Hopefully it will be two weeks" until Adams returns, Bagnoli said. "We are shooting for Columbia. It will all depend on his range of motion."
The scariest of the injuries happened with 44 seconds left in the third quarter as Fisher went down after making a tackle on Dartmouth tight end Casey Cramer.
Fisher remained on the ground for over 15 minutes before being wheeled off the field on a stretcher. He was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center as well.
Despite the apparent severity of his injury, Fisher actually has the best chance of playing next week.
After a CT scan at Dartmouth, it was found that Fisher had no damage to his head or spine.
He did not black out or suffer paralysis on the field, yet precautions were taken after Fisher said he felt a tingling in his neck.
Currently, Fisher is listed as having suffered a burner, a painful but not terribly serious injury to the neck.
His status for Saturday's game on Franklin Field against the Bison is still uncertain.
Fisher's absence in the secondary, however, will create some defensive problems, as he will be joining safety Kevin Stefanski on the injured list.
"We're not as strong as we would be at this point if we had everybody," Bagnoli said. "There's not much you can do."
