Big Green to Tackle #6 New Hampshire This Saturday

Game Notes

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth certainly has a challenging task in its first road game of the year this Saturday when the Big Green (0-1) travel to Durham to square off against New Hampshire (2-0), ranked sixth in The Sports Network FCS Poll and seventh by the coaches. The Wildcats will have had two weeks to prepare for the Granite Bowl, featuring the two Division I schools in the state, and are coming off their fifth straight victory over an FBS opponent having beaten Ball State on Sept. 12, 23-16.

Not only is Dartmouth attempting to break a personal 18-game winless streak against UNH that dates back to 1979, but the Big Green are also trying to end an overall 13-game losing streak that began in the 2007 season. Dartmouth suffered a season-opening 34-15 defeat at home this past Saturday to the defending Patriot League champion, Colgate.

Despite the seemingly lopsided score, the game was a tight affair for most of the first three quarters before the Raiders pulled away late. Dartmouth had its share of highlights as well, including a 57-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter from senior Alex Jenny to sophomore Michael Reilly, the first collegiate score for the wide receiver.

Perhaps the most exhilarating play of the game came after Colgate scored a touchdown to take a 13-7 lead. Sophomore Eddie Smith blocked the extra-point attempt, and fellow sophomore Shawn Abuhoff scooped up the ball and took it over 90 yards to the opposite end zone for just the second defensive two-point conversion in the program's history.

The Big Green briefly had the lead, 15-13, in the third quarter after the second field goal off the foot of sophomore Foley Schmidt. But the Raiders scored 21 unanswered points to pull out the road win.

The disparity in the number of plays contributed mightily to the outcome as Colgate ran 82 plays to Dartmouth's 44. That led to the Raiders holding on to the football for 44:30 compared to 15:30, the largest difference for the Big Green in time of possession since it has been regularly recorded in 1982.

Dartmouth had just 26 yards rushing, which poses a problem against the Wildcats as UNH has the fourth-ranked rushing defense in the FCS with opponents gaining an average of 36.5 yards per game. New Hampshire is first in total defense having yielded just 162.5 yards per game.

Special teams continue to be a strong suit for the Big Green as evidenced not only by Schmidt's two field goals, but also Abuhoff's return yards. He brought back two punts for 44 yards and two kickoffs for 61 yards, putting the Big Green in Colgate territory to start a possession twice. Abuhoff's return average on both punts and kickoffs rank among the top 12 nationally.

With the defense on the field as long as it was, no less than five players racked up at least 10 tackles with each one setting a career high, led by senior strong safety Tony Pastoors with 16. He entered the game with 21 tackles in his career. Sophomore linebacker Royce Egeolu, who had 15 tackles in his rookie campaign, came up with 13 stops, while fellow sophomore linebacker Diego Fernandez-Soto brought down 12 Raiders. Both junior defensive end Charles Bay and sophomore cornerback J.B. Andreassi had 10 tackles.

Sophomore defensive tackle Mark Dwyer came up with a pair of sacks, placing him first nationally on a per game basis. In addition to his work on special teams, Abuhoff also intercepted a pass from his usual cornerback position.

The last time the Big Green defeated UNH was in the 1976 season by a final of 24-13. Since then, the Wildcats have gone 16-0-2 against Dartmouth with the ties coming in 1979 and 1990. New Hampshire has scored at least 42 points in each of the last six meetings and eight of the nine since the rivalry was renewed annually in 2000.

The game is scheduled to begin at noon with Bob Lipman and Wayne Young '72 providing all the action from New Hampshire's Cowell Stadium over the airwaves on WFRD 99.3 FM and www.DartmouthSportsNetwork.com. The broadcast will begin at 11:30 a.m., one-half hour prior to the kickoff. Live stats and a video stream of the game can be found on the New Hampshire web site, www.UNHWildcats.com.

Schedules