Ragone out for season

Freshman QB Billy Ragone had a blessing in disguise turn into a disaster. With regular starter Keiffer Garton sidelined with an elbow injury, Ragone saw extensive playing time Saturday against Dartmouth. But in the third quarter Ragone tried a quarterback keeper on third down and six, and came up injured on the play.

We learned later that he went down with a broken collarbone, and I just confirmed that he'll be done for the year with the injury.

He had been playing well, and earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for his performance before the season-ending blow. He scrambled for a touchdown from three yards out in the first quarter and set up Penn's second touchdown of the day with a 33-yard run. He totalled 62 yards rushing on nine carries (6.2 per attempt) and went 3-for-3 through the air.

With Olson and Garton also banged up, Penn might have to turn to sophomore John Hurley for some snaps next week against Bucknell. Freshman Andrew Holland might also get a chance. For all the preseason hype about a more versatile offense with mobile quarterbacks, one has to question whether the injuries to Garton and Ragone should cause Al Bagnoli to re-think things. He's said he would limit their running attempts to prevent injuries like this, so has it been bad management or just bad luck? Either way, I'm sure he's thankful he's got a non-conference game coming up to test out the two young arms.