Football Hitting the Road to Open the 2010 Season

The Game: Dartmouth (0-0) at Bucknell (0-2)
Location: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
Kickoff: Saturday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m.
Series Record: Dartmouth leads 4-1
Radio: WFRD 99.3 FM
Dartmouth Audio Stream
Bucknell Video Stream $$$
Live Stats
Complete Game Notes

For the first time in 11 years, Dartmouth has a fresh look to its schedule, having played the same 10 teams each of the past 10 seasons. This year, Colgate and New Hampshire are gone from the slate, replaced by Bucknell for the season opener and Sacred Heart next week at home.

While the Big Green struggled against UNH and the Raiders during those 10 seasons with a 1-18 mark (one game was canceled due to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001), they have enjoyed success against the Bison in five previous games, going 4-1. The last meeting, however, came 17 years ago in Lewisburg, a 31-13 Dartmouth triumph.

Optimism is running high in the Dartmouth camp with so many familiar faces back on the field. Nineteen of the 22 offensive and defensive starters from last year return, not to mention senior receiver and tri-captain Tim McManus who hauled in 60 passes for 637 yards in 2008 but missed last season with a broken leg.

Another featured player on the offensive side of the ball is junior Nick Schwieger, Dartmouth's first All-Ivy first-team tailback in 18 years after leading the league in rushing yards per game. His 242 yards against Columbia briefly gave him the school's single-game record before rookie Greg Patton — switching to tailback from quarterback this year — topped that mark by one yard two weeks later. The duo will make for a great tandem as the Big Green strive to establish the run.

Taking the reins of the offense will be junior quarterback Conner Kempe, already among the top 20 all-time at Dartmouth in career passing yards with 1,686. He also has a 300-yard game to his credit, having amassed 312 against Holy Cross last year. Kempe will be making the ninth start of his career this weekend.

Kempe has numerous targets — not just McManus — at which to throw. Senior Tanner Scott, a preseason All-Ivy pick, burst onto the scene last year to catch 45 passes despite joining the team as a walk-on in the spring of his freshman year. Junior Michael Reilly is a playmaker at wide receiver as well and caught 38 balls a year ago even though he missed two games to injury. At tight end, junior John Gallagher has established himself as perhaps the best tight end in the league, hauling in 30 passes in 2009.

The key to the success of the offense, however, will be the play up front on the line. Junior center Austen Fletcher is the keystone, having started 18 of the 20 games in his career. The rest of the line will be populated with experienced juniors and senior Will Montgomery.

The Big Green's other two captains will line up on the defensive side of the ball in senior defensive end Charles Bay and senior strong safety Pat Scorah. Bay led Dartmouth in sacks last year while Scorah — playing at linebacker most of the year — topped the team with 64 tackles. A trio of juniors will join Bay on the line, including tackle Eddie Smith and nose guard Mark Dwyer, each of whom had a pair of sacks in 2009.

The linebackers feature a sophomore in Garrett Wymore sandwiched between the senior duo of Matt Oh and Luke Hussey. Wymore enjoyed a fine rookie campaign with 63 tackles, just one fewer than Scorah.

Perhaps the most exciting defender is junior cornerback Shawn Abuhoff who has picked off three passes in each of his first two years with the Big Green. He also doubles as a scintillating return man, earning All-New England FCS All-Star status last year in that role.

Dartmouth has one of the most reliable kickers in the Ivy League in junior Foley Schmidt, who has 15 field goals to his credit already. The incumbent at punter, senior Matthew Kelly, will face a healthy competition from freshman Daniel Barstein as both performed well during the preseason.

Schedules