Football soaked by No. 6 Villanova

VILLANOVA, Pa. -- A few days after suffering its first defeat of the season, the Penn football team must dry off and shift its focus on the Ivy League season.

In Penn's final non-conference game of the season on Thursday night, Villanova topped the Quakers, 17-3, in a game played through a steady rain at Villanova Stadium.

The special teams mistakes and turnovers that had not cost the Quakers (3-1) in their first three contests finally caught up with them against the Wildcats. Two Penn turnovers turned into 10 Villanova points, while a long punt return by J.J. Outlaw set up 'Nova's first touchdown.

The game was scoreless midway through the second quarter when Outlaw, a true freshman, returned a Josh Appell punt 24 yards to the Penn 46-yard line. Six plays later, QB Brett Gordon snuck in from a yard out to give the Wildcats (6-1) a 7-0 lead.

"Our first touchdown was really by way of [Outlaw's] punt return," Villanova coach Andy Talley said. "He helped us get six points when we needed it."

The steady rain -- as well as the wet turf -- affected both sides offensively, but it was the Quakers' running game that struggled most throughout the contest.

Starting running back Steve Faulk rushed for only 12 yards, average of 1.2 yards per carry, while Penn rushed for only 27 yards overall, a paltry 0.8 yards per carry.

"I don't know how many negative yards were due to the weather," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "Nobody's run the football against them real well. And nobody's moved the ball against them real well.

"Anytime you're giving up 244 yards a game, you're playing pretty good defense."

The only strong point of the Penn rushing game was sophomore running back Mike Recchiuti, who rushed for 56 yards on eight carries. Recchiuti, a product of perennial powerhouse Downingtown (Pa.) High School, sat out all of last season with an injury.

Although the Quakers had punts blocked and returned for touchdowns the previous two weeks, Penn was not able to take advantage of their own chances to pull off such a play.

Villanova freshman long snapper Matt Constantino had problems all night on punts, and four of the Wildcats' eight punts were nearly blocked.

On two occasions, the ball went over punter Adam James' head, and yet he was able to squib the ball down the sideline for a decent punt.

"Maybe you see one," Bagnoli said. "I've never seen a guy do four of them."

"The kid was just getting them off," Penn linebacker Travis Belden, who almost blocked two of James' punts, said. "I don't really know if there was much more we could do to capitalize on those bad snaps. It was really the kid making plays."

It was a pair of turnovers, however, by Penn quarterback Mike Mitchell that turned the tide of the game.

Coming off a five touchdown performance, the senior had his worst game of the season, completing 19 of 38 passes for 145 yards. His longest completion was only 16 yards. Rob Milanese did break the all-time Penn mark for career catches, hauling in eight balls to put him at 202 for his career.

In the second half, after a fumbled punt by Outlaw set the Quakers up at the Villanova 39, Mitchell was picked off by Jeremy Morgan at the 20.

Six plays later, the Wildcats were up, 14-0, on a four-yard pass from Gordon to Cameron Cross.

"Going into the game our goal was to force three turnovers and hopefully our offense was going to be able to score," Villanova corner Ray Ventrone said.

Ventrone recovered a fumbled snap on the Quakers next drive, the play after Mitchell converted a fourth down with a nice screen pass to Faulk. The ensuing drive turned into a Villanova field goal, and the game was essentially over at 17-0.

Penn's only points came on a controversial decision by Bagnoli. Facing a fourth and long with just over a minute to play, Bagnoli sent Peter Veldman out to attempt a 35-yard field goal. After the kick was good, the Quakers unsuccessfully attempted an onside kick.

"I would have probably tried to score a touchdown," Talley said. "I'm not sure that [the field goal] meant a lot... I don't have a problem with that at all, though."

"If it was fourth and reasonable -- five, four -- [then maybe go for it on fourth down], but it was fourth and pretty long," Bagnoli said. "I just felt that, for us, we would try and get on the board and get the ball back."

Penn might not have been in that bleak end-of-game situation if it had converted earlier opportunities. An average start position of the Villanova 46 on three drives in the fourth quarter only led to three points. The Quakers were also only 4 of 19 on third-down conversions.

The secondary had trouble containing the Wildcats' receivers, as Gordon threw for 271 yards. The Quakers had another strong performance against the run, holding 'Nova to only 2.1 yards per carry, and Gordon was sacked four times, twice by Belden.

"I honestly thought they were only going to score 14 points against us," Belden said. "And what it really came down to was... making plays. They made the plays that they needed to, and we didn't."

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