Dartmouth Hosts Cornell at Memorial Field on Saturday

Notes

HANOVER, N.H. — There is a logjam for fifth place in the Ivy League, and two of the four teams tied for that position play this Saturday at Dartmouth's Memorial Field at 12:30 p.m. The host Big Green (1-6, 1-3 Ivy) welcomes Cornell (2-5, 1-3 Ivy) to Hanover, and the winner is guaranteed to be in a tie for fourth place at the end of the day.

Dartmouth is coming off a 42-21 defeat at one of the Ivy's co-leaders, Harvard, and suffered a significant loss when the league's leading rusher, sophomore Nick Schwieger, was sidelined early in the second quarter with a broken hand. Just the week before he had set the school single-game rushing record with 242 yards against Columbia, but now will miss the remainder of the season.

Even without its star back, Dartmouth was able to put points on the board against the Crimson as all three touchdowns came after Schwieger was forced from the game. Senior Rob Mitchelson subbed in and performed admirably, gaining 61 yards on 14 carries as he sped through numerous holes in the line. And the receiving tandem of junior Tanner Scott and sophomore Michael Reilly combined to catch 13 passes for 174 yards, including a diving 12-yard touchdown reception by Scott before the end of the half.

Special teams continued to bring excitement to the Big Green games, with a blocked punt that was scooped up by Reilly for a touchdown and a kickoff following that score that was recovered by junior Robbie Krattiger, his first of two fumble recoveries in the game. Dartmouth also features one of the top 10 kickoff return men in the FCS in sophomore Shawn Abuhoff, who averages 27 yards per return.

Dartmouth has shown it can put points on the board against its Ivy opponents — three of the four teams the Big Green have played have not allowed more points in an Ivy contest than against Dartmouth. The Green have been able to put these points on the board despite the loss of its top receiver, Tim McManus, before the season started, and the injury to starting quarterback Alex Jenny in week four.

Sophomore Conner Kempe has stepped in behind center and made the most of his opportunity, throwing for 622 yards in the three-and-a-half games since Jenny went down, completing 57-of-113 passes with six touchdowns. Most importantly, he guided the team to a victory over Columbia two weeks ago, ending a 17-game skid.

To beat the Big Red, Dartmouth will need a defensive effort more in line with its showing against Columbia than the six losses. The Lions were held to just 271 total yards and six points, the fewest for a Big Green opponent in four years. In the other games this year, Dartmouth's opposition has averaged 470 yards of offense and 37 points. But in context, it's not hard to understand why as three of the opponents are currently ranked among the top 20 in the FCS, and two others are undefeated in the Ivy League. In fact, Dartmouth has played the most difficult schedule among the FCS schools thus far with its opponents winning nearly 70 percent of their games.

Cornell has lost its last five games since opening the year with consecutive victories. Last week the Big Red came up just short at Princeton in a 17-13 loss. The offense can be explosive at times as it showed against Fordham three weeks ago, racking up 552 yards. But mistakes have proven costly of late with 11 interceptions in the last four games, five in the Fordham game alone that led to a 39-27 defeat.

Dartmouth holds the all-time edge against the Big Red, 51-40-1, in a series that has been played every year since 1919. Only the Lafayette-Lehigh series has been played continuously over a longer period of time. But Cornell has the advantage in the recent history, winning seven of the last nine contests, including last year's 37-14 triumph in Ithaca. The last game played at Memorial Field, however, was a 59-31 Big Green victory with four Dartmouth touchdowns going for at least 60 yards.

The game will be broadcast by WFRD 99.3 FM out of Hanover with Bob Lipman calling the action and Wayne Young '72 providing analysis. Big Green fans can also listen over the internet at www.DartmouthSportsNetwork.com, or watch the video stream of the game live through the Big Green Insider section of the official Dartmouth athletics web site, www.DartmouthSports.com.

Schedules