Tabbed for Seventh, Football Ready to Prove Doubters Wrong

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League released its Football Preseason Media Poll for the upcoming 2010 season, and Dartmouth was pegged for seventh place in the eight-team conference. Harvard was chosen as the favorite to win the league for the fourth time in the past five years, receiving 10 of the 17 first-place votes.

After finishing in a tie for sixth place a year ago and in last place the year before, one might think head coach Buddy Teevens would quietly go about his business in proving the pundits wrong. Not so this time around for the member of the Class of 1979 and former Ivy League Player of the Year.

“With the number of guys we have coming back, the quality of the people who are playing, the development that is ongoing, the experience younger players have earned the last few years, I was surprised,” Teevens said of the poll. “People are graduating guys out and we haven't except for one here or one there.

“Either the (voters) have completely ignored all that, and haven't studied anything about our football program, or they just think we aren't very good. We have something to prove.”

Quite a few numbers do favor the Big Green, particularly the starting returning players. Nine of the 11 offensive starters, and 10 on the defensive side, return to the gridiron for Dartmouth. Those numbers don't even include returning tri-captain Tim McManus (6-0, 190) who missed out on the 2009 season with a broken leg a year after catching 60 passes as a sophomore to earn honorable mention All-Ivy status.

One player included in those numbers is junior tailback Nick Schwieger (5-10, 200), who was selected to the All-Ivy First Team after leading the conference in rushing yards per game. Also back is a pair of honorable mention All-Ivy receivers — senior wideout Tanner Scott (6-4, 190) and junior tight end John Gallagher (6-3, 245). Throw in junior quarterback Conner Kempe (6-5, 225) and his 1,786 career passing yards as well as four offensive linemen, including junior center Austen Fletcher (6-1, 275) who has started every game of his collegiate career, and the Big Green have the makings of a formidable offensive attack.

On the other side of the ball, junior cornerback Shawn Abuhoff (5-11, 180) headlines the defensive cast after earning second-team All-Ivy honors in 2009. But it is senior defensive end and tri-captain Charles Bay (6-3, 245) who could have the greatest impact on the fortunes of the defense with his combination of speed and power. The third captain, senior linebacker Pat Scorah (5-8, 205), is coming off a season in which he led the Big Green in tackles. And for a team that held three of its last five opponents to a single touchdown each during regulation, Dartmouth may have a dominant defense in the making for a run at its 18th Ivy crown. No team in the league boasts more conference titles.

But let's not forget the special teams. Junior place kicker Foley Schmidt (5-9, 195) has been an accurate kicker for the past two seasons with 15 field goals while going 31-of-33 on PATs and leading the team in scoring both years. Abuhoff is the return specialist and was named the All-New England FCS returner as a sophomore. Giving the team an added boost on kickoffs is senior Donald Kephart (5-11, 220) who features one of the most powerful legs in the league.

Overall, Dartmouth has 52 returning letterwinners, plus another 37 who have spent at least one year on the roster and an influx of 36 newcomers to the program.

“Guys are working hard. We are making a lot of progress,” stated Teevens. "We may be a well-kept secret to most, but [the poll] is another source of inspiration. If that's what they think of Dartmouth, it's fine. We won't forget it. My guys are well aware of it.”

The Big Green's first opportunity to prove themselves will be in the season opener on Sept. 18 at Bucknell. Dartmouth fans will get their first look at the team in the home opener the following Saturday against Sacred Heart before Ivy play begins on Oct. 2 at the defending champion Penn Quakers, a game that will be televised in the Philadelphia area by Comcast.

Penn might have a chip on its shoulder as well having posted a perfect mark in league play in 2009, yet was picked to play second fiddle to Harvard in the poll with 124 points (just four behind the Crimson) and six first-place votes. Brown placed third with 95 points, while Yale garnered the final first-place vote to finish fourth in the poll with 83 points. Columbia, Princeton, Dartmouth and Cornell rounded out the bottom half of the league.

2010 IVY LEAGUE FOOTBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
First-Place Votes in Parentheses

Rank	School	Points
1.	Harvard (10)	128
2.	Penn (6)	124
3.	Brown	95
4.	Yale (1)	83
5.	Columbia	61
6.	Princeton	55
7.	*Dartmouth*	39
8.	Cornell	27

Schedules