Total of 18 All-Ivy Honors; Eight on First Team

HANOVER, N.H. — The 20th-ranked Dartmouth football team was well represented on the All-Ivy League teams that were announced today by the conference office. No less than 17 Big Green players earned a total of 18 honors, eight of which were on the first team.

Six of the eight first-teamers were defensive players, tying a league record, as Dartmouth led the nation in scoring defense (10.1 points allowed per game) and turnovers gained (32) while finishing in the top 10 in red zone defense, rushing defense, passing efficiency defense and total defense. Defensive tackle A.J. Zuttah, linebacker Will McNamara and cornerback Vernon Harris were all selected unanimously, while defensive end Cody Fulleton, linebacker Folarin Orimolade and free safety David Caldwell also made the first team. On offense, wide receiver Ryan McManus and center Jacob Flores earned a spot on the first team as well.

Harris, a 6-2, 195-pound senior from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, earned a spot on the first team for a second straight year after garnering second-team honors as a sophomore in 2013. The first Big Green player ever to start 40 games in a career, the cornerback tied for fifth in the conference with three interceptions — two in a 34-18 victory at Brown — while recording 50 tackles, the third-most on the Dartmouth defense. One of those stops went for a six-yard loss, and he also broke up three other passes throughout the season. Harris ended the season as the Big Green's active career leader with 190 tackles, 4.5 going for a loss, with six interceptions and 22 others broken up as well as two forced fumbles and another recovered.

A unanimous first-team selection for a second-consecutive year, McNamara led the team in tackles (69) once again while ranking fifth in the league. The Chicago native also ranked second in the Ivy League with four interceptions, two coming against nationally ranked Harvard (earning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors in the process), and broke up four other passes through the season while contributing 3.5 tackles for a loss with one sack. The 6-1, 235-pound senior captain finished his career with 188 tackles, 11.5 for a loss, eight interceptions of which three he returned for a touchdown, two forced fumbles and seven passes broken up.

Zuttah, a 6-2, 295-pound senior from Edison, New Jersey, was named to the first team for the second straight year and played in all 40 games in his career, starting the last 30. He led all Ivy League linemen with 44 tackles, seven of which went for a loss, including 3.5 sacks. The product of Cheshire Academy in Connecticut also batted down five passes at the line of scrimmage, forced one fumble and recovered two others, plus blocked a pair of kicks. His final career numbers include 134 tackles, 11.5 for a loss and 14 passes batted away.

Joining the starting lineup in his senior season, Caldwell was the most opportunistic player in the conference. The 6-0, 205-pound native of Charlotte, North Carolina, led the Ivy League with five interceptions (one of which he returned for a 77-yard touchdown against Sacred Heart) as well as three fumbles recovered, plus ranked second with 11 passes defended. His 57 tackles were second-most on the squad and among the top 20 in the league, and three of those stops went for a loss. Caldwell also added a forced fumble and a block to his ledger and completed his career with 101 tackles in the 32 games he played.

Fulleton, a 6-3, 280-pound senior from Seattle, Washington, was a second-team selection each of the last two years before earning his spot on the first team by recording 37 tackles with nearly a quarter of them (nine) going for a loss, including 4.5 sacks. He forced a pair of fumbles and recovered two as well, and in the season finale he posted a season-high eight tackles with a key fourth-quarter sack to become the first Dartmouth lineman to be chosen as the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week in 24 years. In his career, he played in all 40 games, starting each contest in the last three seasons while recording 154 tackles, 22.5 for a loss of which 12.5 were sacks to go with four forced fumbles and two recoveries.

Orimolade was simply a terror for opposing teams, ranking first in the league and seventh nationally in forced fumbles per game (0.4) and 2nd among Ivy players and 13th in the nation in sacks per game (0.8). The 5-11, 245-pound junior also was second in the conference in tackles for a loss with 12 and finished the season with 36 total tackles, while his eight sacks were the most by a Big Green defender in five years. The native of Burtonsville, Maryland, will enter his senior season in 2016 with 60 career tackles with more than a third of them (20.5) going for a loss.

On the other side of the ball, McManus capped an outstanding career by catching 47 passes for 598 yards and a touchdown despite missing two games early in the season with an injury, bringing home first-team honors for a second-straight year. The native of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, was sixth in the league in both receptions per game (5.9) and receiving yards per game (74.8) and twice went over 100 yards in a game (Yale and Harvard). For his career, the 5-11, 195-pound senior finished third all-time at Dartmouth with 172 catches and fourth with 2,268 yards. In addition, McManus was listed on the All-Ivy Second Team as a return specialist, bringing back 25 punts for 216 yards.

Flores, who was a second-team selection at left tackle a year ago, picked up first-team honors after sliding over the ball as the Big Green center. The 6-4, 290-pound senior was a big part of the line that helped this year's squad score nearly 29 points and gain 410 yards per game. A product of Arlington, Texas, Flores converted to the offensive line before his sophomore season and started every game on the line the last three years as Dartmouth compiled a record of 23-7.

Seven Big Green players earned second-team honors, three on offense, two more on defense and two on special teams, including the aforementioned McManus as return specialist. The three offensive players consisted of senior offensive lineman Niko Mamula who was an anchor at right tackle, starting all 10 games, senior quarterback Dalyn Williams who set numerous Dartmouth career records while completing 219-of-342 passes for 2,592 yards and 17 touchdowns with just five interceptions, and senior wide receiver Victor Williams who led the team with 64 catches and 845 receiving yards while ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, by per game averages in the league.

The defenders on the second team were senior linebacker Zach Slafsky after making 48 tackles with three going for a loss while forcing one fumble and recovering two others, and senior strong safety Troy Donahue who had 26 tackles and an interception before missing the final four games with an injury. Junior punter Ben Kepley was the other special teamer on the second team as he cranked 49 punts at a 37.4-yard average with five or more going at least 50 yards with a long of 60, and 15 of those punts ended up inside the 20.

Three other seniors earned honorable mention — defensive end Sawyer Whalen (29 tackles, 1.5 for a loss), linebacker Eric Wickham (39 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, one interception, one forced fumble) and cornerback Chai Reece (32 tackles, five pass breakups).

The Ivy League also announced the Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year. Harvard's Justice Shelton-Mosley made the All-Ivy Second Team as a receiver and first team as a return specialist, plus was the Ivy League Rookie of the Week four times while ranking fifth in the league in all-purpose yards to take home the Rookie of the Year award. The Coach of the Year was bestowed upon first-year Penn coach Ray Priore for winning his final six Ivy games to force a three-way tie for the title with Dartmouth and Harvard.

The finalists for the Ivy League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year will be unveiled on Tuesday, Dec. 1. The finalists will travel to New York City for the Asa S. Bushnell Cup presentation at a special reception and press conference on Dec. 7 as part of the festivities surrounding the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame Annual Awards Dinner.

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