Dartmouth Heads to Columbia for Nationally Televised Game

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008

HANOVER, N.H. -- Something has to give in the football game between Dartmouth and Columbia on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Both teams enter the game with identical 0-5 records (0-2 Ivy), so someone will get the proverbial monkey off their back on national television (VERSUS) with a win at the Lions' Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. Dating back to last year the Big Green have lost seven straight, while Columbia's futility stretches back 13 games.

Last year's game between the two schools was a back-and-forth affair that Dartmouth pulled out in the final minutes. Columbia tied the game at 28 with just under 10 minutes to play, and it looked like the host Big Green would take the lead following a drive that lasted 6:41. That was when the game got a little wacky as the 28-yard field goal attempt bounced off the right upright. The Lions had plenty of time to move the ball down field, but fumbled the ball away on their first play. It took Dartmouth four rushes to take the lead, 35-28. A bad snap into the end zone on Columbia's ensuing drive became a safety, sealing the Lions' fate in the 37-28 Dartmouth homecoming victory.

The Big Green had two running backs -- Rob Mitchelson (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Nate Servis (Milwaukee, Wis.) -- top 100 yards on the ground in the game, while Hudson Smythe (Menlo Park, Calif.) ran for three touchdowns, the first Dartmouth player to do so in seven years.

Those three rushing touchdowns are one more than the Big Green has so far in five games this season. Dartmouth has really struggled to gain yardage on the ground, averaging just 57.4 yards a game -- only three other FCS teams have amassed fewer yards. Senior Milan Williams (Mobile, Ala.) has most of that total at 49.8 yards per game with one touchdown.

The passing game has been the crux of the offense, with junior quarterback Alex Jenny (Wayland, Mass.) throwing for over 200 yards per contest while completing 56.1 percent of his passes (105-of-187) with five touchdowns. He will need to limit his mistakes, however, as he has thrown five picks in the last two games.

Leading receiver Tim McManus (St. Paul, Minn.) is fourth in the Ivy League in receptions per game (5.6), and has hauled in three touchdowns among his 28 catches. A pair of senior receivers in Philip Galligan (Moraga, Calif.) and Eric Paul (The Woodlands, Texas) are good options for Jenny with 19 and 16 receptions, respectively, along with Williams out of the backfield, who has 20.

The defense is led by senior Ian Wilson (Burbank, Calif.), who last week picked off a pair of Holy Cross passes in the 44-26 defeat. The strong safety is fifth in the league with 48 tackles and has 263 in his career. He needs just four more to join the top 10 all-time tacklers at Dartmouth.

Special teams have been just that -- special -- of late for the Big Green. Sophomore Charles Bay (Marietta, Ga.) has blocked a PAT in each of the last two games, and senior Casey Frost (Lawndale, Calif.) swatted away a 42-yard field goal attempt last Saturday. In addition, senior punter Brian Scullin (Alexandria, Va.) has helped Dartmouth rank third in the FCS in net punting and has boomed six punts of at least 50 yards. Twice last week he nailed 58-yarders, one of which traveled that entire distance in the air. Add in place kicker Foley Schmidt (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) converting field goals of 37 and 42 yards last week, and special teams have become the area of least concern.

In that 44-26 loss to Holy Cross, the defense was opportunistic, forcing four turnovers. But when the Crusaders didn't give up the ball, they moved it up and down the field for 531 yards and 32 first downs, one shy of the record for a Dartmouth opponent.

Columbia has struggled offensively this year much like Dartmouth, but its defense has performed well. Each of the five Lion losses have been close affairs with a difference of only three to 10 points. Last week Columbia lost at Penn, 15-10, primarily due to five turnovers. The Lion defense yielded just 10 Quaker first downs.

Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens has never lost to Columbia, as a head coach or a player for the Big Green. He is 8-0 as a head coach against the Lions, and Dartmouth owns a 61-16-1 all-time mark in the rivalry. In a 44-year stretch from 1954-97, Dartmouth went 41-2-1 versus Columbia.

The game will be televised nationally by the VERSUS network with Rich Ackerman providing the play-by-play and former Dallas Cowboy Dale Hellestrae giving analysis. The game will also be broadcast over the Dartmouth Radio Network on 99.3 FM WFRD with Bob Lipman and Wayne Young '72 calling the action, and Andy Sloan on the sidelines. Fans can also listen to the broadcast over the internet at www.DartmouthSportsRadio.net.

Schedules