Friday Night Prime Time for Big Green Against Columbia

Friday, October 22

Hanover, N.H.

6:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Columbia

Joe Kramer (right) celebrates his TD at UNH with Noah Roper (8), J.P. Flores (64) and Jake Guidone (72).

Photo by: Foley-Photography

Friday Night Prime Time for Big Green Against Columbia

10/20/2021 12:01:00 PM | Football

Gameday Central Friday, Oct. 22 ESPNU Audio Broadcast Live Stats Teevens TeleTeaser @DartFootball Dartmouth Notes Series History

Dartmouth will host the Lions this Friday in a game televised on ESPNU

By: Rick Bender

#25 Dartmouth (5-0, 2-0) vs. Columbia (4-1, 1-1)
Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 | 6 PM | ESPNU
Memorial Field | Hanover, N.H.

Chasing Perfection
Dartmouth has flirted with a perfect record in each of the last three seasons. In 2019, the Big Green won their first eight games before settling for a 9-1 record and a share of the Ivy League title. The year before, they won their first seven then lost an epic battle at undefeated Princeton, ending the season with a 9-1 record as well but a game behind the Tigers in the final standings.

Back in 2017, Dartmouth won its first five contests before getting tripped up by this week's opponent, Columbia, 22-17. The Big Green finished the year with an 8-2 record and once again wound up a game back in the standings.

Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Coach, is stressing to his team not to look past a Lions team that has conference title hopes as well, especially after the Green handed them a 59-24 loss in the most recent meeting. And with this game landing between a 38-21 rivalry win at 23rd-ranked New Hampshire — Dartmouth's first in Durham in 52 years — and a showdown with Harvard (16th in the coaches poll), many people would view this contest as a trap game.

With veteran leadership like QB Derek Kyler, however, the Big Green aren't likely to take the Lions for granted. Last week, Kyler earned the Gold Helmet Award as the top Division I player in New England for completing 18-of-23 passes for a career-high 325 yards and a pair of touchdowns at UNH. His performance helped Dartmouth amass 604 yards of offense, just the fourth time the team has topped 600 since the Ivy League formed in 1956.

The running game was formidable as well with RB Noah Roper stepping up in the absence of starter Zack Bair to plow his way to 108 yards on just 16 carries. And the other half of the Big Green QB tandem Nick Howard added 96 yards and a trio of touchdowns, his fourth straight game with multiple scores on the ground.

The wide receiver positions were mostly an unknown entering the season, but sophomore Paxton Scott has established himself as a go-to receiver, leading the squad with 26 catches, 283 yard and three scores. His latest TD was his most impressive, catching a short pass, navigating the sideline and breaking four tackles to go 52 yards to the end zone at UNH. Classmate Isaac Boston has also emerged the past two weeks with 10 catches for 117 yards and a TD, while TE Joe Kramer hauled in three passes last week, including a 13-yard grab in the end zone above three defenders.

Although the defense was uncharacteristically victimized by three big plays, the Wildcats were otherwise held in check. Senior LB Jalen Mackie earned Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors with a team-high 10 tackles, giving him 41 to lead the conference. And senior NB John Pupel had the game's lone takeaway with his first career interception that set up Kramer's TD.

On special teams, Connor Davis is kicking with confidence. He drilled a career-long 51-yard field goal — one yard shy of the school record — with room to spare plus extended his program-record streak of PATs to 57 consecutive makes.

Scouting the Lions
The Lions come to Memorial Field with designs on crashing the party of the three undefeated teams at the top of the Ivy League standings, entering the game with a 4-1 overall record after defeating Penn last week, 23-14. This is just the third time since the formation of the league that Columbia has won at least four of its first five contests, joining the 1996 and 2017 teams, both of which were 5-0.

The offense, averaging 24.4 points, is getting solid play from quarterback Joe Green. The sophomore transfer from San Diego State has completed 61.3 percent of his passes (73-for-119) for 797 yards and three touchdowns while throwing just one interception. The offensive line has done well protecting Green, yielding a total of only six sacks all year.

The running game has averaged more yards per game (193.8) than the air attack (164.2) thanks to the exploits of Dante Miller. The senior picks up eight yards a carry, third among FCS players, and his 550 yards lead all Ivy backs.

Columbia likes to run a possession-controlled passing game with Marcus Libman hauling in 17 throws for 125 yards. But look for some deeper routes from Ernest Robertson (10 catches, 244 yards) and Wills Meyer (14 for 238) when the Lions want to open up the field.

The defense has been quite good, ranking 27th among FCS schools in total defense and 23rd against the run. Safety Ben Mathiasmeier leads the Lions with 30 tackles, two interceptions and three pass breakups. Linebacker Cam Dillon has a conference-best seven sacks and forced a pair of fumbles, and DE Paul Akere is another pass-rushing threat with four sacks of his own.

Prolific kicker Alex Felkins has gotten plenty of opportunities to show off his leg strength, booting 8-of-14 field goal attempts. But his long is just 36 yards, and he has missed all six of his tries from 38 or further. Punter Drew Schmid has a strong leg, averaging 41.5 yards on his 25 punts, though the Lions have allowed some good-size returns.

Columbia is in its seventh season under the guidance of the dean of Ivy League coaches, Al Bagnoli (CCSU '75), who spent 23 seasons crafting a legacy at Penn by winning nine Ivy League titles. Now in his 38th season as a head coach, Bagnoli sports an overall record of 261-127 with a mark of 26-29 since joining the Lions.

Granite Bowl Trophy Back in Hanover
Back in 2000, a trophy was created to be given to the winner of the game between the only two Division I football teams in the state of New Hampshire, dubbed the Granite Bowl. But after the meeting in 2009, it was forgotten about and gathered dust somewhere in the recesses of the UNH athletics department, even after UNH won in 2014 and Dartmouth won in 2016. The trophy should have been on display in the Big Green football offices for the past five years, but Dartmouth made sure it came back on the bus with a resounding 38-21 victory over the 23rd-ranked Wildcats. The win was the Green's first in Durham since 1969 and gave them back-to-back wins for the first time since '69 and '72 while evening the series at 19-19-2.

Taking Offense
That's the good kind of offense. Dartmouth racked up 604 yards against No. 23 New Hampshire on Oct. 16, topping 600 for just the fourth time in the Ivy League era (since 1956) and first against a non-conference opponent. The 615 yards against Brown in 2016 are the most in that time span, but oddly enough, the Big Green came up short in that contest, 24-21. The other 600-yard games were against Penn in 1969 (614) and Brown again in 1968 (608). But of those four 600-yard efforts, this one was the most balanced with 341 through the air and 263 on the ground. Each of the other three had at least 400 yards on one side of the ledger (one passing, two rushing).

Team of the Week and Ranked
By defeating 23rd-ranked New Hampshire in such convincing fashion, Stats Perform selected Dartmouth as its FCS National Team of the Week. The voters also took notice as the Big Green debuted in the Stats Perform FCS Poll at No. 25 this week. Dartmouth finished both the 2018 (15th) and '19 (21st) campaigns in the national polls after beginning the seasons unranked. The coaches are just a little behind the media this year, however, with the Green the second team listed on the outside looking in. This week's poll results are listed on page eight of these notes.

Let's Go Streaking!
WIth the 38-21 triumph over No. 23 New Hampshire, Dartmouth extended two impressive win streaks. The Big Green have now won 19 straight games against non-conference opponents. It is the longest such win streak for Dartmouth in the Ivy League era. You would have to go back to the 1922-28 seasons to find a longer win streak against teams that did not eventually form the Ivy league (26).
In addition, the victory was the Big Green's ninth in a row on the road, the second longest among all FCS teams. Only Princeton (11) has a longer one, only because the meeting with the Tigers in 2019 — a 27-10 Dartmouth win — was played at Yankee Stadium instead of Hanover.
Finally, the Green have won six consecutive games, the third longest streak in the FCS, trailing only No. 1 Sam Houston (16) and No. 2 Eastern Washington (7).

Kyler Flyers
One game after becoming the 10th QB in Dartmouth history to throw for at least 3,000 yards in a career, Derek Kyler set a personal record with 325 yards through the air at 23rd-ranked New Hampshire on Oct. 16. The fifth-year senior needed just 18 completions in 23 attempts to hit his high-water mark as he was named the Gold Helmet Award winner this week by the New England Football Writers Association. Kyler boosted his career total to 3,395 yards, ninth all-time, and his two touchdown tosses moved him into third on the career list with 34, passing current William & Mary AD Brian Mann '02. Kyler continues to rank among the nation's best in accuracy (72.6 percent, 2nd in the FCS) and efficiency (176.58, 3rd), and is Dartmouth's career leader in both categories by plenty (69.4 percent and 168.99, the latter making him the FCS active career leader as well).

Ivy Defensive Player of the Week
For the second time this season, LB Jalen Mackie has been named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. The senior led a Big Green defense that mostly kept No. 23 UNH in check on Oct. 16, securing 10 tackles, nine of the solo variety. Mackie enters this week as the leading tackler in the Ancient Eight with 41 stops.

Celebrating Perfection from 25 Years Ago
The current Big Green team has a long way to go if they want to match the 1996 Dartmouth squad that posted a perfect 10-0 campaign. That team will be at Memorial Field to be honored at halftime of this game on the 25th anniversary of that season. They outscored their opponents, 276-104, the fewest points allowed since the advent of the 10-game season in 1980, to etch themselves into the Dartmouth annals as one of the best teams in program history.

Howard Running Toward History
Junior QB Nick Howard has played in six games in his collegiate career — one as a freshman in 2019 and the five this fall — but has already etched his name alongside some pretty elite company. Against Penn, he became just the fourth Dartmouth player in the Ivy League era to rush for 100 or more yards and at least two touchdowns in consecutive games. The other three players just happen to be the top three rushers in Big Green history — Al Rosier '91, Nick Schwieger '12 and Dominick Pierre '14. And with two more rushing touchdowns against Yale and three at UNH, he is the first Big Green back ever to score at least two TDs on the ground in four straight games in one season (Schwieger had four straight bridging the 2010 and '11 seasons).

Davis a Chip Kicker Off the Old Block
Senior PK Connor Davis came up big the past two weeks, which undoubtedly made his father — Judd Davis, the 1993 Lou Groza Award winner as college football's top place kicker while at Florida — quite proud. With Dartmouth trailing Yale by three and only 18 seconds showing on the clock in the fourth quarter, Davis calmly booted a 32-yard field goal from the right hash mark, sending the game into overtime. And when the Big Green scored the go-ahead touchdown, he added his 52nd consecutive PAT, breaking the program record that was set by one of the great scorers in NFL history, Nick Lowery '78. Then at No. 23 New Hampshire, Davis booted a career-long 51 yard field goal, one yard shy of the Dartmouth record and just the ninth field goal of 50 or more yards in program history. He is also the career leader with 95 PATs, and his next one will boost him into the Big Green top-10 scorers of all time.

Quick Hitters
• The Big Green have won their last two games against ranked opponents and three of their last four.
• Since the start of the 2017 season, Dartmouth is 31-4 with all four losses by no more than five points.
• Junior RB Noah Roper made his first career start, filling in for an ill Zack Bair at UNH and nearly doubled his career rushing total by pounding his way to 108 yards on just 16 carries. He now has 219 yards to his credit.
• Senior NB John Pupel recorded his first career interception in the second quarter at UNH, returning it 18 yards to the Wildcat 34 to set up a Dartmouth touchdown.
• The Big Green have scored at least one touchdown in 17 of the 20 quarters this season (plus the one overtime period).
• The three rushing touchdowns for junior Nick Howard at UNH were the most for a Big Green player since Jared Gerbino ran for four against Princeton in the 2017 season finale.
• Derek Kyler aired a pass out at UNH that acted like a Lufthansa jet; it soared high into the air and landed softly, right into the waiting arms of freshman Painter Richards-Baker for a 56-yard connection, the longest completion of the year to go with the receiver's longest name on the team (though Nicholas Schwitzgebel matches the letters without needing a hyphen).
• Nick Howard (6.7) and Zack Bair (6.2) rank 13th and 16th in the FCS, respectively, in rushing yards per carry.
• Jamal Cooney leads the FCS in punt return average at 22.2 yards.
• Don't expect to see Dartmouth return any Columbia kickoffs; the Big Green have only attempted two all season, the fewest in the FCS.
• Sophomore Tevita Moimoi became the eighth player to have a rush of at least 10 yards when he galloped for 22 in the waning minutes at UNH, one his first five career carries that day.
• Derek Kyler has thrown 129 consecutive passes without an interception, still 108 shy of the school record held by Dalyn Williams '16.

Mugging for the Cameras
There was a time when Dartmouth did not fare well when appearing on TV, but the Big Green have seemingly overcome their camera shyness. With the 31-7 victory over Penn, Dartmouth has now won nine of its last 10 televised games. That recent success bodes well for this game, which is being televised by ESPNU. The Big Green are 6-0 all-time when featured on the network (including the 31-7 win at Penn earlier this year) with the Princeton game still to come.

Stingy Defense
Dartmouth has made quite the name for itself the past few seasons as staunch defenders. In both 2018 and 2019 when the Big Green ended the season ranked among the FCS top 25, only one other team surrendered fewer points per game each season — Colgate in 2018 and North Dakota State in 2019. And Dartmouth was ranked both years in the top 15 in total defense (4th and 14th) as well. Seems like the Green have picked up after the pandemic right where they left off; entering this game, Dartmouth is fifth in scoring defense (13.2) and sixth in total defense (267.4 yards).