Brandon Colavita out for a month with meniscus injury

Fifth-year senior running back Brandon Colavita must really hate Dartmouth.

Last season, Colavita got injured at Dartmouth in the opening sequence of play while still recovering from a rib injury sustained in the season opener two weeks earlier. It was an early exit at the hands of the Big Green, as Colavita sat the rest of the season.

Last week, Colavita managed to get to the third quarter before getting injured against the Big Green again. The DP learned Thursday that the injury Colavita sustained last week was to his meniscus and that he is expected to miss a month. Colavita underwent an MRI earlier this week to assess the extent of his injury, and coach Al Bagnoli said after the game that there had been an audible pop in Colavita's knee upon getting injured.

It is most likely a meniscal tear, a tear of the rubbery cartilage that absorbs shock between the thigh and shin bones. Based on his expected recovery time, any tear that Colavita may have sustained is not severe, but pain and swelling can return if the knee is twisted or overused after a meniscus tear.

In Colavita's absence, fellow running backs Kyle Wilcox and Spencer Kulcsar will bear the brunt of coach Al Bagnoli's sizable rushing workload. Wilcox is already the Quakers' leading rusher through three games with 114 yards on 21 carries, including 94 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime of Penn's historic win over Dartmouth after Colavita went down.

In other injury news, senior wide receiver Conner Scott will again be out with an ankle injury Saturday at William & Mary after missing last week's contest. Scott still leads the Quakers in receptions with 16 despite having missed last week.