Di Leo Named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League office announced its football weekly award winners this afternoon with Dartmouth senior Rocco Di Leo selected as the Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Big Green's 28-12 road win at Columbia on Saturday. Later in the day, STATS listed Di Leo as an honorable mention for its FCS National Defensive Player of the Week as well.

Di Leo, a 6-3, 285-pound defensive end from Elmhurst, Illinois, registered a career-high three sacks against the Lions as part of his season- and team-high seven tackles, six of the solo variety. His first sack came on a Columbia third-down play during its first drive at the Big Green 4-yard line, forcing the Lions to settle for a 33-yard field goal. He collected his second on the next Columbia possession after Dartmouth had taken a 7-3 lead, while his third sack proved pivotal early in the third quarter with the Green holding a 14-6 lead. The Lions had pushed into Dartmouth territory but faced a 4th-and-3 only to be denied by Di Leo, who dropped the Columbia QB back 10 yards to allow the Big Green offense to take over.

Dartmouth added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach, remaining as one of the four unbeaten teams in the FCS at 6-0 and tied atop the Ivy League standings with Princeton at 3-0.

Di Leo, who leads the Ancient Eight with 6.0 sacks and 8.5 tackles for a loss this year, is the fifth Big Green player to earn a weekly honor from the league office this year, three of which have been given to defensive players. Cornerback Isiah Swann won the defensive honor after each of the first two weeks of the season, while quarterback Derek Kyler and place kicker Connor Davis earned the offensive and rookie awards, respectively, following the 37-14 victory over Penn on Sept. 29.

Dartmouth will play host to Harvard (3-3, 1-2 Ivy) this week for the homecoming contest on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Big Green have not beaten the Crimson since 2003, and are looking for their first win at home over Harvard in 25 years. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Tyler Murray and Matt Goldstein in the booth. Fans will also be able to listen to the showdown on the radio in the Upper Valley on 94 ESPN Radio (94.3 and 94.5 FM) as well as worldwide online at 945.espn.com with Brett Franklin and Wayne Young '72 calling the action. Tickets are going fast, so call the Dartmouth ticket office at (603) 646-2466 or online at tickets.dartmouth.edu to secure your seat at the game.

Notes: Di Leo was also chosen as the College Sports Madness Ivy League Player of the Week … Dartmouth is tied with Columbia for the most weekly awards this season (5) … the Big Green defense has surrendered a mere 23 points over the first three quarters and has shut out the opposition completely in the third quarter … as a team Dartmouth leads the FCS in total defense (246.5 yards per game), first downs allowed (83), fourth-down conversion rate (10-for-10), completion percentage (74.0), passing efficiency (181.36) and turnover margin (+1.83) … the 9.7 points per game the defense has yielded ranks second nationally behind only Colgate (3.8).

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