Homecoming Football Primer
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The win/loss column might not reflect the hopes and wishes of the Indian faithful, but a certain fire has ignited this season’s team, propelling them to the upset of Pennsylvania’s Quakers in the Ivy League home opener.
This is a different team than in years past, where standouts lacked the support to fully attain the success they deserved. This is a dynamic team lead by a depth of experienced seniors and promising underclassmen.
Let us hope that that fire continues to burn this Homecoming as the Boys in Green head back into Ivy League play this Saturday against the perennial bottom-dweller Columbia on the hallowed battle ground that is Memorial Field.
The Homecoming match marks a particularly must win scenario for Dartmouth Football. A win Saturday means retention of a third in Ivy bid, which they now share with the likes of Penn, Brown and Princeton. With Penn and Princeton playing unbeaten Yale and Harvard respectively this weekend, the stakes are all the higher.
Success is not guaranteed, however, as this season’s Division I BCS has shown college football fans. It’s only contingent on playing big for big games, like the one this Saturday.
Offensively, Dartmouth Coach Buddy Teevens must opt for the old school brand of football, which would mean nearly abandoning his west-coast new schoolery style of offense. That brand of which I nostalgically speak, not out of any partiality to the old school, is of course a hard-hitting running game to abuse, of course, the last ranked rushing defense in the Ivies.
No one said this departure would be easy. But the fact remains: the only offensive success the Green have mustered in their last two games have come when quarterback Tom Bennewitz ’08 or back-up Alex Jenny’10 have connected with standout receivers like Brian Evans ’08, or when golden-toed Andrew Kempler ’08 has knocked the skin through the uprights, the sum of which has resulted in a staggering low 19 points, 15 of which were encountered in the desperation of last week’s game.
The Columbia passing defense tops out the Ivies. Recording seven sacks to date due to their defensive backs, and defensive end, Phillip Mitchell, posting four sacks, the Lion defense can undeniably and effectively sniff out the pass. A reliance on Teevens’ hackneyed new schoolery against Columbia’s passing defense will only mean certain trouble on Homecoming Saturday. A new game plan is needed, and consistency has to be at its root. Teevens and the Indian attack must deliver.
On the Dartmouth defensive side, experience is the greatest asset. Defensive backs John Pircon ’08, who leads the team with seven tackles, and Chris Blanco ’07, as well as the veteran linemen and linebackers (all of which are seniors or juniors) will need to call upon their experience to play smart against Columbia, and for the rest of the season.
While penalties killed the hard work of the defense who spent all day on the field last week against the Crusaders of Holy Cross (and the week before that against Yale), the Indian defense will have to overcome the loss of defensive machine Ian Wilson ’08 to injury in order to capitalize on the weaknesses of the Columbia Lion offense.
With a rushing offense ranked last in Ivies, the Indians must pull out all the stops against the air attack of the Lions. Columbia quarterback Craig Hormann has thrown 8 interceptions and been sacked 10 times this season. With Dartmouth’s tenacious linebacker core and solid secondary, the boys must play every advantage of theirs against a weak Columbia team. Allowing their opponents 41 points and 50 points respectively in their last two losses should be reason enough.
The Dartmouth football squad has their work cut out for them this Homecoming. While this is not the same team we’ve seen for the last four years, Columbia is improving at a rate comparable to Dartmouth’s.
Lingering doubts aside, the Boys in Green gave us reason to celebrate in their last home stand. Let’s hope there’s more to come for Homecoming and for the next month. We’ve got a game to watch this Saturday. n
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