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Football
vs New Hampshire
Dartmouth Has a Holy Cross to Bear
10/13/2010 2:00:00 PM | Football
The Game: Dartmouth (2-2) vs. Holy Cross (3-3)
Location: Memorial Field, Hanover, N.H.
Kickoff: Saturday, Oct. 16 at 1:30 p.m.
Series Record: Holy Cross leads, 35-34-4
Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM
Live Video ($) • Live Audio • Live Stats
Complete Game Notes
With a 2-2 record that could just as easily be 4-0, Dartmouth has its sights set on ending not only its two-game skid, but also a personal six-game losing streak against the team it hosts on Saturday: Holy Cross. Last year the Big Green suffered a 34-14 defeat in Worcester to the Crusaders.
Dartmouth opened the season with consecutive victories, but has since lost an overtime game on the road to the defending Ivy champions, Penn, and last week suffered a 23-20 defeat on a last-second field goal at Memorial Field versus Yale. It was the Big Green's eighth straight loss to the Bulldogs and dropped them to 0-2 in conference play.
The running game remains strong for Dartmouth with junior Nick Schwieger racking up 128 yards on the ground as he continues to lead the league with nearly 140 rushing yards per game. He passed the 1,000-yard milestone for his career on his first run of the game and also has four touchdowns — including one against Yale — which is one less than the Big Green had rushing as a team all of last year.
The Green have a very dangerous weapon downfield as well in junior receiver Michael Reilly, who leads the team with 15 catches while averaging an amazing 23.7 yards per grab. Only five Dartmouth players have led the team in receptions and averaged at least 20 yards a catch since 1950; only two of those receivers caught at least 20 passes.
Junior quarterback Conner Kempe has been adept at throwing those deep balls, hitting Reilly four times for at least 40 yards this season. Kempe ranks third in the Ivy League in both passing yards per game at nearly 200 and efficiency (130.3).
The defense has gotten some terrific production from different players every week. Against Yale, sophomore free safety Garrett Waggoner stepped up to provide 10 tackles as well as a block on a PAT attempt. Three Big Green defenders have led the team in tackles in the four games, with Waggoner also holding team-high honors two weeks ago against Penn with eight. But it is senior Pat Scorah, who alternates between strong safety and linebacker, who leads the team with 27 stops, including a season-high 13 in the win over Sacred Heart.
Junior Foley Schmidt got on track with his kicks last week with field goals of 37 and 45 yards, the latter a career long for the left-footer and the longest for a Dartmouth kicker since Tyler Lavin boomed a 50-yarder against Harvard in 2003.
On the other end of kicks, junior Shawn Abuhoff showed off his return skills by bringing back a punt 41 yards for a touchdown, the first Big Green score on an unblocked punt return in 15 years. Abuhoff is now third all-time in Dartmouth history in return yards on punts and kickoffs combined (1,340).
Milestone Memo
Both junior tailback Nick Schwieger and senior wide receiver Tim McManus achieved career milestones in the game against Yale on Oct. 9. Schwieger became the 24th Dartmouth player to rush for 1,000 yards on his first run of the contest, then finished the day with a total of 1,123 after posting his fourth career 100-yard game. McManus, meanwhile, had four receptions on the afternoon, the second of which was the 100th of his career, a figure attained by only eight other Big Green players.
Block Party
Sophomore Garrett Waggoner continued the recent Dartmouth tradition of blocking at least one kick in a game, swatting a PAT attempt against Yale on Oct. 9. The Big Green have blocked at least one kick in eight of the last nine games with a total of 10 blocks as sophomore Teddy Reed also got a block when he got a piece of a 43-yard field goal attempt by the Bulldogs. This season, Dartmouth has five blocks, a mark equaled by just six other teams. But to set an FCS record, Dartmouth will have to pick up the pace a little bit — the record for blocks in one season is 13, held by the 1999 Davidson Wildcats.
Holding the Line
Through four weeks, the Dartmouth offensive line has yielded just one sack, the fewest allowed in the country. The front force has also created holes for the Big Green running backs, which have gained 155 yards a game, a respectable 44th nationally.
Return Specialist
With a 41-yard punt return for a touchdown, junior Shawn Abuhoff once again showed why he is perhaps the most feared return man in the Ivy League. Now he ranks among one of the best return men at Dartmouth ever with 1,340 return yards on punt and kickoff returns combined. Only Steve Jensen '05 (2,027) and Chris Pollard '89 (1,372) have more in Dartmouth history. Abuhoff is also just the fourth Big Green player to have 1,000 yards on kickoff returns alone, and his 27.3-yard average on those kickoff returns is the highest among the leaders (not to mention second among active FCS players).
Reilly Goes Long
Junior Michael Reilly is a modest 10th in the Ivy League in receptions per game, but is third in the conference and tied for 14th nationally in receiving yards per game (89.0). But his most impressive stat is his yards per catch at 23.7 yards, which is higher than any player with at least 10 catches among the top 100 in the country in receiving yards per game. Five of his 15 hauls have gone for at least 36 yards with a long of 53, and he has posted 100-yard games in each of the last two contests.
Bulldog Burden
The last-second field goal for Yale sent the visiting Bulldogs to their eighth straight victory over Dartmouth, equaling their longest winning streak against the Big Green originally accomplished during the 19th century. But Dartmouth still owns the longest winning streak in the series — nine games from 1990-98.
Good Footing
The kicking game may have gotten off to a rocky start this season, but lately it has been very good. Case in point is the placekicking of junior Foley Schmidt. The Minnesota native struggled in the season opener, going 1-for-3 on field goals and having two PATs blocked. But he is back on solid ground with two PATs and two field goals — including a career-long 45-yarder — against Yale. For his career, Schmidt has 98 points.
Waggoner Cruising Guide
Well, this isn't about the Northwest boating “bible,” rather the exploits of sophomore free safety Garrett Waggoner. The sophomore recorded his second career double-digit tackle game when he made a team-high 10 stops against Yale on Oct. 9, but it was his block on a PAT attempt that nearly made the difference in the game. The block in the second quarter kept Yale from taking a four-point lead, meaning Dartmouth could tie the game on a field goal (which it did in the second half).
Schweet Schwieger
Junior Nick Schwieger has been the most prolific runner in the Ivy League to date, despite missing one of the first four games. His 416 rushing yards are the most in the conference, and his 138.7 yards per game on the ground easily outdistance the next Ivy runner (and rank fifth nationally). Schwieger has 188.3 all-purpose yards per game as well, which also is first in the league and fifth in the country.
Players Mentioned
CB
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QB
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DE
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WR
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K/P
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DB
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