Running back Lyle Marsh out for season with fractured ankle

Last season it was a shattered forearm against Villanova, this year a fractured ankle against Fordham. The diagnosis is different but the outcome is the same: Penn football will lose junior running back Lyle Marsh to a season ending injury.

Marsh was carted off the field in the fourth quarter against Fordham Saturday after he was hit in the backfield for a loss during Penn's game-sealing touchdown drive. Coach Al Bagnoli said today in his weekly media conference that the back fractured his ankle and would be done for the year.

The news is particularly disparaging for two reasons: first, Marsh was closing out a career night, in which he scored three touchdowns and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. Starting in place of classmate Brandon Colavita, Marsh bulldozed through the Fordham defense and was key in Penn's dominant 35-20 win. Second, the promising back will miss the bulk of the season for another year after breaking his arm in an early non-conference game last year.

If it's any consolation, coach Al Bagnoli has set himself up for success with a stable of three powerful backs who can each, at any time, step in to the offense ready to go. After Marsh' injury last year, Colavita stepped up and was basically unstoppable in Ivy play, earning second-team All-Ivy honors. Jeff Jack, who split the carries with Marsh Saturday, is always a threat as well.

Bagnoli also announced today that Colavita would play Saturday against the Lions. After the Fordham game the coach said that "Brandon could have played if this was a week 8, week 9. ... He’s been a little bit banged up with his shoulder, so we wanted to rest him."

Joining Colavita in his return to the gridiron Saturday will be Matt Hamscher, who also sat as a precaution against Fordham.