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Football
vs New Hampshire
Attempting to Break Patterns at Cornell
11/2/2010 1:24:00 PM | Football
The Game: Dartmouth (4-3, 1-3) at Cornell (2-5, 1-3)
Location: Schoellkopf Field, Ithaca, N.Y.
Kickoff: Saturday, Nov. 6 at 12:30 p.m.
Series Record: Dartmouth leads 52-40-1
Live Video: iBN Sports (free)
Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM
Live Audio • Live Stats
Complete Game Notes
Breaking Patterns
Dartmouth has become something of a creature of habit this season — winning two then losing two, winning two and now losing one last week against Harvard. It is a pattern the Big Green would like to break with Saturday's game at Cornell. A victory would also end a pattern of losing in Ithaca that dates back to 1998, spanning six games.
Another habit Dartmouth would like to break is allowing its opponent to score on the first possession. Every team thus far has put points on the board on their first drive, including touchdowns in each of the last five contests.
The Crimson were no exception to that pattern, then scored on each of their next three tries as well to build a 24-0 lead en route to the 30-14 victory over Dartmouth. It was the Green's seventh straight loss to Harvard and 13th in the last 14 meetings.
Junior Conner Kempe struggled a bit last week, despite throwing for a season-high 242 yards and becoming the seventh Dartmouth quarterback to reach 3,000 passing yards. His downfall was three interceptions, equaling the most he has ever thrown in a game, which just happened to come at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field as a freshman. But here's a pattern Coach Teevens would like to see continue for one more week — Kempe has thrown all seven of his touchdowns this year in the three road games while completing 63 percent of his passes.
The running game was slowed a bit last week with junior Nick Schwieger held to a season-low 69 yards on 16 carries before departing with an injury, as he did the year before against Harvard. But the Ivy's leading rusher is expected back against the Big Red in his pursuit of becoming the first Dartmouth player to run for 1,000 yards since Al Rosier in 1991, needing just 222 more over the last three games, well below his season average of 129.7 per game.
Another junior reached a milestone last week as well — Michael Reilly caught three passes for 78 yards to become the 17th receiver in school history to reach 1,000 yards in a career. He joins senior Tim McManus in that club, who had six catches for a season-high 91 yards and ranks 10th all-time with 1,364 in his three seasons on the field.
The most electrifying play against Harvard came in the form of an 82-yard punt return by junior Shawn Abuhoff, the fourth longest ever at Dartmouth. Abuhoff is one of the most prolific active return men in the NCAA, ranking among the top 10 in return average for both punt and kickoff returns.
The defense will need to clamp down after yielding a season-high 480 yards of offense to the Crimson, 352 of which came in the decisive first half. Sophomore free safety Garrett Waggoner equaled his season high with 10 tackles and leads the team with 44 on the season.
Crowded House
For the seventh straight year, Harvard beat the Big Green with a 30-14 victory on Oct. 30, spoiling homecoming and sent the Dartmouth crowd of 9,142 home unhappy. It was the largest crowd at Memorial Field since the renovations to the East stands in 2006, and the largest overall since Dartmouth beat Yale, 22-19, on Oct. 17, 1998 as 12,017 people witnessed the win.
Largest Crowds at Memorial Field since 1990
Yale
Oct. 15, 1994
15,150
Harvard
Nov. 1, 1997
13,111
Yale
Oct. 17, 1992
13,017
Yale
Oct. 17, 1998
12,017
Princeton
Nov. 23, 1991
11,230
Harvard
Oct. 30, 1993
11,030
Yale
Oct. 13, 1990
10,130
Yale
Oct. 19, 1996
10,119
Harvard
Oct. 29, 1994
9,529
Cornell
Oct. 26, 1991
9,526
Harvard
Oct. 30, 2010
9,142
Princeton
Nov. 20, 1993
9,120
Kempe Surpasses 3,000 …
Entering the 2010 season, junior quarterback Conner Kempe was 20th on the career passing list at Dartmouth, one spot behind current head coach Buddy Teevens. Against Sacred Heart, he reached the 2,000-yard milestone, the 16th player in school history to attain that mark. And with his 242 yards through the air versus Harvard, Kempe now has 1,319 yards this season to put him at 3,005, becoming the seventh quarterback to reach 3,000.
… While Reilly Goes Over 1K
Facing a 4th-and-17 with little more than three minutes to play against Harvard, Dartmouth had no choice but to go for it. In stepped junior Michael Reilly, who stretched as far as he could to pull in a 24-yard reception and keep the slim hopes of the Big Green alive. He catch boosted him above 1,000 receiving yards in his career, making him the 17th Dartmouth player to do so, joining senior Tim McManus on the active roster in the exclusive club.
Abuhoff Special of the Week
Junior Shawn Abuhoff was chosen as the Ivy's Special Teams Player of the Week on Nov. 1 after providing the fourth-longest punt return in Dartmouth history against Harvard — 82 yards for a touchdown. Not only is the return specialist and cornerback second all-time at Dartmouth in return yards for kickoffs and punts (1,630), he also has the third-highest kick return average (26.4 yards) and ninth-highest punt return average (10.24) among active FCS players.
Sackless Streak Stopped
In the season opener, Bucknell sacked Conner Kempe late in the second quarter for a two-yard loss. It took more than six full games (24 quarters) for a Big Green opponent to register another sack as Harvard got to the junior QB in the third quarter. The Crimson had three more sacks in the game, dropping Dartmouth from first to ninth nationally in fewest sacks allowed.
Road Warrior
The season has been a tale of two sites for quarterback Conner Kempe — home and away. In three road games, Kempe has excelled, completing 63.0 percent of his passes (58-of-92) for 685 yards and seven touchdowns against just one interception. But in the four home games, Kempe has hit on just 47.2 percent (50-of-106) of his throws for 634 yards with seven interceptions and nary a touchdown. Oddly enough, his numbers prior to this year were better at home. Be wary of small sample sizes!
Players Mentioned
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QB
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WR
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RB
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SS
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