Senior Day Features The Tussle with Brown

Saturday, November 17

Hanover, N.H.

1:30 PM

Dartmouth College

Brown

Tickets

The Class of 2019

Photo by: Gil Talbot

11/15/2018 2:30:00 PM | Football

November 17, 2018 Memorial Field ESPN+ Broadcast 94 ESPN Radio Live Stats Tickets @DartFootball Dartmouth Notes Brown Notes

Dartmouth needs a win over the Bears to keep its Ivy title hopes alive

By: Rick Bender

#20 DARTMOUTH (8-1, 5-1)
vs. BROWN (1-8, 0-6)
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018 | 1:30 PM | ESPN+
Memorial Field | Hanover, N.H.

This is the first year since 1989 that Dartmouth isn't finishing up with Princeton as Brown moves into that slot going forward. Esteemed blogger Bruce Wood is labeling this game as "The Tussle" in honor of Tuss McLaughry, a former head coach for both teams (Brown 1926-40, Dartmouth 1941-54). So let it be known that going forward, that moniker will be used for this game.

And this game has been a tussle for most of the past nine seasons with six of those meetings decided by seven or fewer points. Last year was not one of those contests, however, as the Big Green returned to Fenway Park for the first time in 73 years and muzzled the Bears by a 33-10 final.

Ranked 20th in both polls this week, Dartmouth has an opportunity to become just the eighth team in program history to win at least nine games in one year in the season's final game against Brown.

While the teams' records this year might make fans think the outcome of this year's Tussle is a foregone conclusion, the game is not played on paper. Dartmouth must dispatch of the Bears to have a shot at sharing the Ivy League title. For that to happen, the Big Green will need to get some help from Penn, which kicks off at undefeated Princeton half an hour prior to the start of this game in Hanover.

Last week, Dartmouth jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead before the first quarter ended, then had trouble putting Cornell away as the Big Red answered with 17 points in the second quarter. But Jared Gerbino ran for a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs in the third quarter to help the Big Green earn a 35-24 triumph.

Dartmouth's leading rusher, Gerbino enjoyed his third 100-yard game of the year to surpass 1,000 yards in his career and lead a ground game that produced 242 yards. Rashaad Cooper, meanwhile, provided 73 on 14 rushes with a touchdown, his fifth of the year, and he enters this game with an outside shot of also reaching 1,000 yards for his career.

The passing game was run mostly by Derek Kyler, who completed 12-of-20 throws for 167 yards and a pair of scores. The sophomore ranks second in the country in completion percentage (70.0) and sixth in passing efficency (161.66), which is currently the second-best mark in Dartmouth history, trailing only Jay Fiedler's 169.35 in 1992.

The Big Green have a nice balance among its top receivers, led by WR Drew Estrada with 26 catches, while WR Drew Hunnicutt has the most yards with 373 on 22 receptions. Four tight ends have caught more than half of the 16 TD throws, led by Connor Rempel with four, though it was Jake Guidone and J.J. Jones III hauling in the two scoring strikes last week at Cornell.

Junior LB Nigel Alexander filled the shoes of injured LB Jack Traynor and led the Big Green defense with a career-high 14 tackles last week, while fellow LB David Emanuels made 11 stops. Isiah Swann continued his pilfering ways with his eighth interception, setting a new Dartmouth record and leaving him tied for the nation's lead. As a unit, the defense ranks among the top 10 FCS teams in fewest points, rushing yards and total yards allowed.

Scouting the Bears
Brown enters the final game of the season at 0-6 in the Ivy League and has lost 14 straight conference games dating back to 2016 when they defeated Dartmouth, 24-21, in the penultimate game of that campaign on this very field.

Things were looking up last week against Columbia as Brown led at the end of the first quarter by two touchdowns, 14-0. But the Lions roared back with a pair of touchdowns in each of the final three quarters to come away with a 42-20 victory.

The offense has struggled this season, amassing less than 300 yards per game to rank among the bottom five teams in the FCS. QB Michael McGovern has thrown for 1,931 yards and eight touchdowns by completing 153-of-302 passes. But he has also thrown eight picks and been sacked nearly 40 times.

McGovern will spread the ball around to five receivers, led by Livingstone Harriott and TE Anton Casey who have 26 receptions apiece. WRs Jaleon Blandburg and Jakob Prall also have at least 20 hauls, while Scott Boylan has 19 more. All five have between 235-365 yards and a combined seven TD grabs.

The running game averages only 74.9 yards a game. When available, Allen Smith has had his number called more often than anyone else with a 4.3-yard average on 41 carries, two for touchdowns. A jet sweep or end around to Prall has been effective, including a 90-yard touchdown run last week, his third rushing TD in five carries this season.

The defense has been victimized for close to 500 yards a game, giving up those yards in nearly equal chunks through the air and on the ground. The Bears have the two leading tacklers in the Ivy League in LBs Daniel Aidman (80) and Brendan Pyne (79), plus another in the top 10 in DE Michael Hoecht (64). Pyne leads Brown with eight TFL, while Hoecht is the sack leader with three.

In the secondary, CB Jorquel Condomina has been the Bears' best cover man, breaking up four passes and intercepting two others. Safety Sebastian Dovi also has a pair of picks, and the other corner, B.J. Ubani, has the other INT along with four PBUs.

Place kicking duties are handled by Dylan Brady, who is 7-of-10 on field goals (two misses are from at least 48 yards) and 13-of-14 on PATs. Ryan Kopec averages 38.3 yards on 58 punts with five of at least 50 yards.

Head coach Phil Estes, now in his 21st season guiding the program, is the second winningest coach in Brown football history, entering this game with an overall record of 115-93 and a 76-70 mark in the Ivy League. He has three conference crowns to his name, including the Bears' first-ever outright title in 2005, and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award each of those years. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he grew up in Laconia, New Hampshire, and is a member of the Laconia High School Hall of Fame. He went on to become a first team All-New England and Yankee Conference selection as a senior at UNH before graduating in 1980.

Last Year's Meeting
Playing for the seventh time at Fenway Park, but first in 73 years, Dartmouth cruised to a 33-10 victory over Brown on a frigid Friday evening. Hunter Hagdorn caught two touchdown passes from Jack Heneghan, Ryder Stone ran 10 yards into the end zone and Jarius Brown had a 27-yard pick-six in the victory. David Smith gave the Green a 23-3 halftime lead with a 28-yard field goal as time expired, just 56 seconds after Hagdorn's second TD. Smith added another field goal early in the fourth quarter before the Bears got their lone touchdown with about seven minutes to play. The Dartmouth defense held Brown to just 28 rushing yards and 264 in all.

Coin Toss is the Key
So far this season, whenever Dartmouth has won the coin toss, it has won the game. Only once have the Big Green lost the toss, and that came at Princeton, which Dartmouth lost by a 14-9 final. So pay close attention when the captains and referees meet at midfield prior to the game.

Nine is So Fine
There have only been seven seasons — 1901, '03, '62, '65, '70, '96 and 2015 — in which Dartmouth has won at least nine games, and the Big Green would like to make it eight with a win over Brown.

Head of the Classes
Since freshmen eligibility came to the Ivy League in the 1993 season, no graduating class has won more games for the Dartmouth football team than this year's seniors with 29 victories. That matches the total of two other classes — 1998 and last year's group. A win today would put the seniors at the top of the heap.

Big Milestone Meeting
Dartmouth defeated Cornell on Nov. 10, 35-24, in the 100th consecutive year the two teams have met on the gridiron. No other Ivy League teams can lay claim to such a long succession of showdowns, not even Harvard-Yale, which only dates back to 1945 in succession. Only Lehigh-Lafayette at 129 games this year rates as longer in the FCS.

Speaking of Milestones …
The game against Cornell was the 300th for Buddy Teevens as a Division I head coach. Though that is an impressive number, he only ranks third in the Ivy League in games as a head coach, trailing Tim Murphy at Harvard (326) and Al Bagnoli at Columbia (372). But, only 267 of Bagnoli's games are at the helm of a Division I program.

Grand Gerbino
Junior Jared Gerbino became the 29th player in Dartmouth history to run for 1,000 yards in a career when he amassed 106 in the 35-24 win at Cornell. It was also his third 100-yard game of the season and fourth of his career. He enters the final week of the season with 1,039 yards.

Nationally Ranked
With the 35-24 win at Cornell last week, Dartmouth moved up to 20th in the FCS polls from STATS and the AFCA coaches. Since the start of the FCS (nee I-AA) in 1978, the Big Green have finished in the rankings just three times — 1990 (17th), 1993 (17th again) and 2015 (23rd by STATS, 24th by the coaches).

The game with Princeton (14th coaches, 18th STATS) was 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.

Swann Song
Junior Isiah Swann picked off a pass for the eighth time this season during the 35-24 victory at Cornell, breaking the Dartmouth single-season record set by former San Diego Charger Lloyd Lee '98). With one more interception, Swann would match Lee's career record of 13, originally set by Scott Sims '89. Those eight picks are tied for the FCS lead with Will Warner of Drake, and Swann also leads the country in passes defended per game (1.78).

Jones Keeping Up
Minutes after tight end Jake Guidone, a converted lineman, juggled and secured a 27-yard pass for a touchdown to start the scoring at Cornell, fellow TE J.J. Jones III became the fourth Big Green tight end to score this year by hauling in a 22-yard scoring strike from Derek Kyler for his first career touchdown. The four tight ends have accounted for more than half of the scoring strikes (9 of 16) this season.

Defense! Defense!
Dartmouth boasts one of the best defenses in the FCS, as evidenced by being ranked among the top 10 in scoring defense (12.6 ppg, 4th), rushing defense (91.1 yards per game, 6th) and total defense (284.0 yards per game, 7th). And the Big Green also rank second in turnover margin (+1.89) by virtue of forcing 23 turnovers (9th in the FCS) and losing the ball only six times (3rd).

Kyler Lets It Fly
After completing 58 passes for 655 yards and seven touchdowns over the first three games, QB Derek Kyler managed just 35 completions, 379 yards and three scores in the next five games as the running game blossomed with Jared Gerbino running the wildcat formation. But Derek got his groove back of sorts at Cornell, hitting on 12-of-20 throws for 167 yards and two forays into the end zone. He enters the final game of the season ranked second nationally in completion percentage (70.0) and sixth in passing efficiency (161.66).

Alexander the Great
With senior Jack Traynor sidelined with an injury, Dartmouth turned to junior Nigel Alexander to take over at the weak-side linebacker position against Cornell. And take over he did, leading the Big Green defense with a career-high 14 tackles, which matches the most by anyone on the team this year. That player just happens to be Traynor who had 14 the previous week at Princeton.