Historic Showdown at Princeton on Saturday

Saturday, November 3

Princeton, N.J.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

Photo by: Doug Austin

10/31/2018 10:21:00 AM | Football

November 3, 2018 Princeton Stadium NBC Sports Boston NBC Sports Philadelphia+ESPN+ Broadcast 94 ESPN Radio Live Stats Tickets @DartFootball Dartmouth Notes Princeton Notes Series Record

For just the sixth time in Ivy League history, two undefeated teams meet this late in the season

By: Rick Bender

#20 DARTMOUTH (7-0, 4-0)
at #14 PRINCETON (7-0, 4-0)
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018 | 1:30 PM | NBC Sports Boston and Philadelphia+ / ESPN+
Princeton Stadium | Princeton, N.J.

While the Harvard-Yale game is generally known as "The Game," that historic matchup is going to have to take a backseat to this weekend's showdown between the two unbeaten Ivy League teams — Dartmouth and Princeton.

This is the first meeting this late in the season between two undefeated Ancient Eight squads since Harvard and Penn squared off with 7-0 records in the 2001 season. And this is just the sixth contest in Ivy football history featuring two unbeaten teams at least seven games into a season.

Long-time Ivy fans will remember the epic 1965 meeting between these two teams when the Big Green brought an 8-0 record to New Jersey and knocked off the 8-0 Tigers at Palmer Stadium, 28-14, claiming the Lambert Trophy as the Eastern champion for the first of two times (1970 being the other).

That Princeton team entered the 1965 game with a 17-game winning streak, but this time, Dartmouth enters with the longer streak (10, third longest in the FCS) having defeated the Tigers in the season finale last year in a wild 54-44 finish.

To keep that 10-game win streak alive, the Big Green had to get a big monkey off their back last week — Harvard. The Crimson had won the previous 14 meetings, and Dartmouth had not beaten Harvard at home in a quarter century. By recovering four fumbles in the first half and jumping out to a 21-0 lead, the Green were able to come away victorious after a late Harvard rally, 24-17.

Most of the damage on offense was done on the ground, starting with an 82-yard touchdown run by Rashaad Cooper on Dartmouth's second play from scrimmage. Cooper (117 yards) combined with wildcat QB Jared Gerbino (183) to amass 300 of the Big Green's 320 yards, improving the team's average to 261.4 per game, 12th in the FCS.

The defense did its fair share of the work, particularly in the first half with those four fumble recoveries. The first one turned into a 62-yard return for a touchdown by cornerback DeWayne Terry Jr., the longest for a Big Green player in at least 50 years. Dartmouth also forced a turnover on downs with a fourth-down stop that led to a 74-yard scoring drive with Gerbino accounting for 79 yards on the ground. Yes, you read that right.

The offense hasn't done nearly as much through the air the past couple of weeks, primarily due to the weather with 106 yards at Columbia and just 49 against Harvard. The last time Dartmouth was held to less passing yards was 23 years ago — against Princeton.

But with calmer weather predicted for Saturday, expect Derek Kyler — who leads the nation in pass efficiency (172.5) and completion percentage (73.7) — to be more prominent, even with the vaunted Tiger defense pressuring him.

Speaking of vaunted defense, Dartmouth will do everything it can to slow high-powered Princeton. End Rocco Di Leo is the league leader in sacks with seven, corner Isiah Swann leads the nation in interceptions (1.0 per game) and passes defended (2.14), while the unit has forced 19 turnovers to boost a nation-leading margin to 2.14.

Scouting the Tigers
This Princeton team provides Dartmouth with one of its most difficult tasks this century in trying to slow the top offense in the FCS while breaking through one of the top defenses as well.

The Tigers have shown little mercy with nearly every opponent, winning six of their games by at least 35 points, including last week's 66-0 drubbing of Cornell. The only team to make a game of it was the Big Green's opponent last week, Harvard, which fell short by eight points, 29-21.

Princeton has been very happy to have John Lovett back behind center after missing the 2017 season. He is seventh in the nation with 313.3 total yards per game witih over 100 on the ground and 212 through the air with an efficiency rating that is third in the FCS.

When Lovett does throw the ball, he is most likely going to find one of two big receivers — 6-4, 225-pound Jesper Horsted or 6-4, 230-pound Stephen Carlson. The two are among the top four in the Ivy League in receptions and yardage, combining for 87 catches, 1,310 yards and 14 touchdowns. The rest of the receiving corps has 52 grabs for 514 yards and six TDs.

Lovett isn't the only rushing option as Charlie Volker averages over 80 yards a game and 7.3 per carry while scoring a whopping 13 touchdowns. And Collin Eaddy also picks up more than seven yards every time he takes the handoff, which has been 40 times this year.

The defense features a number of eye-popping statistics, ranking second in the FCS in scoring defense, fourth in pass efficiency defense, seventh in total defense (269.0 ypg), 10th in pass defense and 11th in rush defense. Defense, defense, defense indeed.
Safety T.J. Floyd has six interceptions, end Samuel Wright leads the Tigers with four of the team's 22 sacks and linebacker Mark Fossati has 48 tackles. No less than 16 players have broken up at least one pass and 13 have had a hand in a sack.

The kicking game is handled by Nicolas Ramos, who has converted 40-of-42 PATs and 6-of-7 field goals, though he missed the Harvard game two weeks ago. Punter George Triplett has not been terribly active with just 16 punts in seven games, while Lovett has punted twice as well. The return game features Austin Carbone (24.6 yards on eight KO returns) and Tiger Bech (12.6 on 11 punt returns).

The Tigers are under the care of the Charles W. Caldwell Jr. '25 Head Coach of Football, Bob Surace, in his ninth campaign with the Tigers and a current record of 45-42 with two conference crowns (2013, '16) to his credit. Prior to coming to Princeton, he served as an assistant coach with the Cincinnati Bengals, helping the team to an AFC North title in 2009. His other head coaching experience came at Western Connecticut State where he led the Colonials to an overall record of 18-3 in 2000 and '01. He was an All-Ivy first-team center back in 1989 at Princeton, which won a share of the conference crown.

Last Year's Meeting
These two teams got into a shootout last year that produced the highest combined score in a Big Green game ever (except a lopsided 113-0 game in 1884) with Dartmouth walking away with a 54-44 triumph. Despite the 10-point difference, the Green did not take the lead for good until one second remained when Jared Gerbino picked up the last two of his 202 rushing yards for his fourth touchdown of the game for a 48-44 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Darius George intercepted a lateral and ran it 10 yards into the end zone for the final points, the shortest time between two scores by one team in NCAA history. The Big Green scored 34 points in the fourth quarter to rally for the win, the second-highest scoring quarter for the Big Green in at least 95 years.

Matchup of Ivy Unbeatens
This is just the sixth game in Ivy League history between two teams that were undefeated at least seven games into the season, three of which occurred during the 1960s. The only other time Dartmouth played in one of these games came in 1965, coincidentally at Princeton. The Tigers scored first, but the Big Green put two touchdowns on the board in the second quarter for a 14-7 halftime lead. Dartmouth then put the game away with two more TDs early in the fourth quarter, the last one a 79-yard pass from Mickey Beard to Bill Calhoun. Here are the games between Ivy undefeated teams:

1964 — Princeton (7-0) def. Yale (6-0-1), 35-14
1965 — Dartmouth (8-0) def. Princeton (8-0), 28-14
1968 — Harvard (8-0) and Yale (8-0) tied, 29-29
1993 — Penn (7-0) def. Princeton (7-0), 30-14
2001 — Harvard (7-0) def. Penn (7-0), 28-21

Nationally Ranked
One of the last four undefeated FCS teams left this season, Dartmouth became the last of the four to find its way into the national rankings, debuting at No. 24 on Oct. 15 in the AFCA Coaches' Poll. This week, the Big Green are tied for No. 20, and finally showed up in the STATS FCS poll at No. 24. This is the first time the Big Green have been among the top 25 since the conclusion of the 2015 campaign when they were 23rd in the STATS FCS poll and 24th in the coaches' poll.
This game with Princeton (14th coaches, 18th STATS) is the first game for the Big Green with both teams nationally ranked since the epic 14-13 loss at Harvard three years ago. Dartmouth entered that game 22nd in the rankings while the Crimson were 15th. Harvard scored two touchdowns in the final seven minutes to steal the win from the Green.

Dartmouth-Princeton Fun Fact
The head coaches for this showdown between Dartmouth and Princeton are Buddy Teevens for the Big Green and Bob Surace for the Tigers. They are the only two people who have won an Ivy League football title as a player and a head coach — Teevens for Dartmouth (1978; '90, '91, 2015), and Surace for Princeton (1989; 2013, '16).

Harvard Hex Ends
Dartmouth finally ended its drought against Harvard, defeating the Crimson on Oct. 27, 24-17, to end a 14-game skid in the series. It was also the first home win for the Big Green over Harvard in a quarter century, a 39-34 win on Oct. 30, 1993.

Double-Digit Win Streak
With the 24-17 victory over Harvard, Dartmouth has won 10 straight games dating back to last season. It is the longest winning streak for the Big Green since ripping off 15 in a row during the 1996-97 campaigns. Below are the longest win streaks (not simply unbeaten streaks):

15 — 1924-26
15 — 1961-63
15 — 1970-71
15 — 1996-97
11 — 1964-66
10 — 1907-08
10 — 1920-21
10 — 2017-18

Long Touchdowns
Two of Dartmouth's three touchdowns in the 24-17 win over Harvard were some of the longest in the Dartmouth annals. Senior RB Rashaad Cooper got things started with an 82-yard TD run on the Big Green's second play from scrimmage, the longest in 30 years for Dartmouth and tied for eighth longest in program history. Later in the first quarter, sophomore CB DeWayne Terry Jr. plucked a loose ball out of the air and returned it 62 yards to the end zone, Dartmouth's longest fumble return in at least 50 years. Those make Jared Gerbino's 20-yard TD scamper seem pedestrian, although he did account for 79 yards on six carries during the drive.

No Picks Last Six Games
Dartmouth has been picked off just once all season, and that came in the season opener against Georgetown when a Derek Kyler pass was tipped by a receiver into the arms of a Hoya. But since then, no one has intercepted a Big Green pass, spanning 122 passes, 97 of which have been thrown Kyler. Only once previously in the last 50 years has Dartmouth gone six games without throwing an interception, spanning the 2014 (2 games) and '15 (4) seasons. The school record for consecutive passes thrown without an interception by one quarterback is 237 by Dalyn Williams '16.

TD Pass Streak Ends at 17 Games
When Dartmouth failed to throw a touchdown pass against Harvard, it ended a streak of 17 straight games with at least one, breaking the school record that was set in the 2000-02 seasons. Over their last 44 contests, the Big Green have failed to throw a scoring strike just four times, three of which have come against the Crimson. The other? That came against Brown in 2016 when Dartmouth amassed 440 passing yards, the team's second-most ever.

Dartmouth Went to Jared
With his season-high 183 rushing yards against Harvard, Jared Gerbino topped 180 for the second time in his career, joining an exclusive Big Green club of players, consisting of Al Rosier '92 (4), Nick Schwieger '12 (3) and Dave Clark '90 (2), who have topped the mark more than once. His yardage was also the second most for a Dartmouth player ever against Harvard, behind only Shon Page '90 (222). And should Gerbino run for 98 yards against the Tigers, he would become the 29th Big Green player with 1,000 in a career.

Fumblerooski
OK, this is not about a famous trick play, but rather the four fumbles Dartmouth recovered in the 24-17 win over Harvard on Oct. 27. It was just the 10th time in the last 47 seasons that the Big Green had recovered that many fumbles by their opponent, twice scooping up five (Columbia in 1972, Cornell in 2007). Oddly enough, the last time Dartmouth beat the Crimson at Memorial Field in 1993, the Green recovered four fumbles in that game as well.

Oh Captain My Tri-Captain
Fifth-year senior Kyran McKinney-Crudden became the first Big Green defender this season to have at least 10 tackles in a game, recording 12 in the 24-17 win over Harvard on Oct. 27. That wasn't all the tri-captain did, though, as he added a pass breakup and a forced fumble to his ledger, the latter of which led to the 62-yard return for a touchdown.

Third Quarter Earnings
While coaches love to say that they have to play hard for all four quarters (or 60 minutes), Dartmouth has found a way to make that statement excessive. Through the first seven games, the Big Green have led every game through three quarters, five times by 24 or more points. Of the 75 points allowed, 45 have come in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand. Touchdowns have been hard to come by with just one being scored in each of the first three quarters as well. If you take the combined stats from those first three quarters and extrapolate those out, opponents would average only 204 yards of offense and 12 first downs per game.

Cooper Barreling Through Defenses
In each of the last two games, Rashaad Cooper has averaged more than 10 yards per carry to help Dartmouth defeat Columbia and Harvard. First he ran eight times for 82 yards (10.3 per carry) with a touchdown against the Lions, then performed an encore the next contest with 11 rushes for 117 yards (10.6) and another score.

Dartmouth Takeaway
No team in the FCS has done a better job of taking away the football while also protecting it. Dartmouth has not turned over the ball at all in four of the first seven games and has just four giveaways (one picks, three fumbles) in all. The Big Green have not even turned it over on downs, going a perfect 11-for-11 to lead the FCS. On the flip side, Dartmouth has forced 19 turnovers (12 INTs, seven fumbles), giving the team a turnover margin of plus-2.14, which also leads the nation.

Rocco Socko Lineman
Fifth-year senior Rocco Di Leo has stuffed seven sorry's into a sack to lead the Ivy League with seven sacks. He also ranks 10th nationally in sacks per game (1.0) and is one sack shy of becoming the 13th player to register eight or more in a season. The school record is 12 held by three — George Neos '93, Scott Hapgood '97 and Anthony Gargiulo '06.

10,000 at Home
I'm not talking attendance in this note, but rather points scored. During the 42-0 victory over Sacred Heart, Dartmouth quietly reached a milestone by scoring its 10,000th point at Memorial Field when Jared Gerbino ran for his second touchdown of the game late in the first quarter. After the 24-17 win over Harvard, the Big Green have scored 10,049 points while posting a 263-139-8 record (.651 win pct.) at their home venue, which opened in 1923.

Home and Road Wins
Since the Ivy League formed in 1956, Dartmouth has almost exactly as many wins at home (165) as on the road (166). But don't think the Green have been better outside of Hanover; they have played 37 fewer games at Memorial Field in that span with a 165-112-5 mark at home (.594) compared to 166-145-6 (.533) on the road (and 1-0-1 at neutral sites).

Dartmouth Trails
Yes, the Appalachian Trail runs through the town of Hanover, but the Big Green are not making a habit of trailing in football games this year. Dartmouth has been behind just twice all season for a total of 9:25, and in both instances, scored on its very next possession to reclaim the lead.

Historic Offense
Thus far this season, Dartmouth has averaged 35.3 points. Only once has a Big Green team topped 40 or more points per game over a full season, that coming in the national championship season of 1925 (42.5). The program record for total points scored is 364 set in 1992 with quarterback Jay Fiedler helping to bring home an Ivy League championship.

Slowing the Running Game
The Dartmouth defense has been particularly effective against the run game since the start of last year. Only five opposing players have rushed for even 50 yards in a game in that span (17 games) — three from Harvard and two from Yale — with the highest total by one rusher being 86 courtesy of the Crimson's Charlie Booker last year. The last player to run for 100 or more yards is Princeton's Charlie Volker in the 2016 season finale with 111. The Big Green have allowed just 82.7 yards on the ground per game this year, which ranks fifth in the FCS.