Football Finally Back in Action on Saturday

Saturday, September 18

Valparaiso, Ind. / Brown Field

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Valparaiso

The 2021 Dartmouth Big Green

Photo by: Gil Talbot

9/15/2021 2:31:00 PM | Football

Saturday, September 18 Brown Field ESPN3 Broadcast Audio Broadcast Live Stats Interview with Coach Teevens @DartFootball Dartmouth Notes Valparaiso Notes

The Big Green are anxious to play at Valparaiso

By: Rick Bender

Dartmouth (0-0) at Valparaiso (0-2)
Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021 | 2 PM | ESPN3
Brown Field | Valparaiso, Ind.

140th Anniversary, 139th Season
Dartmouth, celebrating 140 years since its first varsity football game, opens its 139th season by playing a team it has never squared off against previously as the Valparaiso Beacons of the Pioneer Football League host the Big Green this Saturday. The last time Dartmouth played within the borders of Indiana came eight years ago in the season opener at Butler — another PFL school — a game the Big Green won, 30-23.

This will be the seventh new team to grace the Big Green schedule over the past decade, and Dartmouth has not lost to any of those programs. Seven may not seem like a lot, but consider that it is one more than the total of the previous six decades. The last nine first-time opponents have fallen to Dartmouth dating back to 1952, with the most recent loss coming against Fordham in 1951.

The Big Green have a couple of other streaks on the line today as well, having won 10 straight season openers and 16 consecutive non-conference contests. The last team to beat Dartmouth in the first game was Colgate back in 2009, and the last team outside the Ivy to knock off the Green was a nationally ranked New Hampshire squad in 2014.

This year's team, led by Robert L. Blackman Head Coach Buddy Teevens was picked to finish third in the Ivy League in the preseason media poll, which notoriously underrates Dartmouth. In the last 11 seasons, the Big Green have finished higher than the poll prognistication 10 times, including the most recent campaign in 2019 when the Green shared the title with Yale.

To be fair to the voters, Dartmouth did lose a plethora of starters — eight on offense and 10 of the 11 on defense. But Teevens has a strong nucleus of leaders that led him to name four captains for just the fourth time in program history — LB Tanner Cross, QB Derek Kyler, TE Robbie Mangas and SS Niko Mermigas.

Kyler is the most accurate passer ever at Dartmouth having completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 2,437 yards and 25 touchdowns while being picked off just five times. His veteran leadership behind center is sure to pay big dividends with a talented but
mostly inexperienced receiving corps. The current crop of pass catchers has hauled in only 64 passes between them, and none has caught even as many as 10 in a season.

The current career leader in receptions with 15 also happens to be second on the current career rushing charts (trailing only Kyler) as well in RB Zack Bair. He missed the last seven games of 2019 with an injury but is expected to get the bulk of the carries with Keegan McHugh and Noah Roper also seeing action in the backfield.

The defense will have a stout secondary, anchored by Mermigas at strong safety with superb cover men on the corners in Isaiah Johnson and DeWayne Terry Jr. But in order for the defense to come close to repeating its standing as the second-stingiest unit in the FCS each of the past two seasons (12.2 points per game allowed the last 20 games), new faces will have to step up on the defensive line and among the linebackers.

The kicking game starts with PK Connor Davis, who enters the season having converted 45 consecutive PATs, six shy of matching the school record. Cameron Baller has won the punting responsibilities to start the year, though rookie Davis Golick will be in the mix, as will Joe Kramer, who also happens to be one of the Big Green's tight ends. Consistency will be the key in this realm.

Scouting the Beacons
Valparaiso has had a rough start to the 2021 fall season after surprising people by going 4-2 during the COVID-shortened spring season, tying for second in the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League. Following a season-opening loss to NAIA Indiana Wesleyan, 28-10, the Beacons took their lumps at perennial national-title contender, No. 4 North Dakota State, 64-0.

The offense features running back Robert Washington, who was the Spring 2021 PFL Offensive Player of the Year after averaging nearly 130 yards per game on the ground. But the senior was held to just nine yards on 15 carries against the Bison last week,
though most teams have trouble moving the ball against that defense.

Junior Teryn Berry is listed as the starter for Valpo after not playing last week. In the season opener, he completed half of his 30 passes but was also picked off four times. Backup Ben Nimz has performed well behind center thus far, hitting on 10-of-15 throws, mostly underneath, for 67 yards.

Slot receiver Jordan Bingham leads the Beacons with eight receptions and 78 yards, while Ollie Reese has been more of a big-play receiver, averaging 16.5 yards on his four catches to date.

It's difficult to judge a defense after playing NDSU, which ran for 458 yards in the game. Middle linebacker Jaxon Peifer leads the squad with 14 tackles, while safety Kohlton Sherman and corner Keyon Turner have 13 stops apiece.

Four defenders have one sack, including Peifer and safety Austin Chilton, who also is responsible for Valparaiso's lone interception.

On special teams, Brian Bartholomew converted one of his two field goal attempts in the opener, converting a 34-yarder while missing from 38. Punter Ben Neisner has performed quite well, averaging 41.5 yards on his 11 boots with a long of 58 and three landing inside the 20.

The Beacons are coached by Landon Fox (Defiance '00) in his third season at the helm. This past spring he was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, which goes to the FCS Coach of the Year, after guiding the team to its best winning percentage since 2003. The former assistant coach at PFL rival Dayton for 11 years has a record of 5-15 entering the weekend.

Co-Captains
For just the fourth time in the program history, and first since 2007, Dartmouth will feature four captains — LB Tanner Cross, QB Derek Kyler, TE Robbie Mangas and S Niko Mermigas.

16 Straight Non-League Wins
Dartmouth enters the season opener having won its last 16 non-conference games dating back to the 2014 season, beginning with a 24-21 victory over Holy Cross. It is the longest such win streak for the Big Green during the Ivy League era that began in 1956. 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).

715 Wins All-Time
Back in 2018, Dartmouth won its 700th game, becoming just the sixth FCS team to reach the milestone. That win came two games after playing its 1,200th contest as well. Now over 138 seasons and 1,219 games, the Big Green have posted a record of 715-458-46, a winning percentage of .605. Only 21 FCS teams can boast a win percentage of .600 or better.

Coming Off Decade of Success
Dartmouth football returned to prominence throughout the 2010s decade, recording a record of 70-30 (.700) over the 10 years. Only eight teams enjoyed a higher winning percentage in that span, and the Big Green added two more Ivy League titles to boost their conference-record total to 19 crowns since the league first officially formed for the 1956 season.

New Winningest Coach
With the title-clinching, 29-23 victory at Brown in the 2019 season finale, Buddy Teevens improved his record at Dartmouth to 105-93-2. That win also pushed him past the legendary Bob Blackman — whose name graces the endowed coaching position — as the winningest head coach in Big Green history. No other head coach has won more than 60 games at the helm of the program.

Preseason Poll
The Ivy League Preseason Media Poll was revealed last month with Dartmouth pegged to finish third. But if there is one thing Big Green fans have learned, it is that the media have a tendency to underestimate the Hanoverians; Dartmouth has finished higher than its prognosticated place in 10 of the last 11 years, including 2019 when the team ended up sharing the title after being picked second.
Princeton took the top spot with eight of the 16 first-place votes. Yale, who shared the crown with the Big Green, garnered six first-place votes to claim second, and Dartmouth got one of the remaining two votes, edging out Harvard for third by a single point. Bad news for Princeton: Over the past 23 years, the media have correctly picked the champion just four times — Penn in 2003, Harvard in 2008 and 2015, and Yale in 2019. The complete poll can be found on page seven of these notes.

National Polls
The national polls don't generally give Dartmouth much credit in the preseason as well, but the team has ended up ranked in the final polls each of the last two years. In 2018, the Big Green ended the season listed 15th by the AFCA and 18th by STATS. That AFCA ranking was the highest for Dartmouth since the Division I classification split into two subdivisions in 1978. Then in the most recent campaign, the Green managed to be ranked 21st by the AFCA and 22nd by STATS come the end of the year. It marked the fifth time Dartmouth finished the year in the national FCS polls, the other years being 1990 (17th), 1996 (17th) and 2015 (23rd).

Still All-Time Ivy Champs
Since the Ivy League began play in 1956, no other school in the conference has won more football titles than Dartmouth with 19. The last time an Ancient Eight squad had more crowns than the Big Green was in 1961 when Yale had a grand total of two. The next season, Dartmouth equaled that amount and has never looked up at another team since. But Penn is right on the Big Green's heels with 18 titles, while Harvard has 17 and Yale 16.

Returning All-Ivy Performers
Dartmouth had 16 players deservedly earn 17 All-Ivy League honors after the 2019 championship season. But of those 16, only three are back two years later. Evan Hecimovich was the keystone of the offensive line as the team's center, earning a spot on the second team. Niko Mermigas and Jake Guidone took home honorable mention for their performances at strong safety and tight end, respectively. Guidone, who moved to tight end from the offensive line as a sophomore, is going back to his roots and will line up at left guard this fall after putting on 25-30 pounds since last suiting up.

Efficiency the Name of Kyler's Game
Quarterback Derek Kyler enters his final season having completed 193-of-283 (.682) throws during his career, making him the most accurate passer (minimum four attempts) in Dartmouth history. His career passing efficiency of 166.15 is also the highest in Big Green history (minimum 130 attempts) and would rank second among active FCS players, but he falls 42 attempts short of qualification.

Shut-Down Defense
Dartmouth has become known for its stellar defense in recent years, ranking second among FCS teams in fewest points allowed in both 2018 and 2019. The Big Green also ranked among the top 15 in pass efficiency defense (7th), rushing defense (9th) and total defense (14th) in 2019. The offense may not have been as highly ranked, but it did rank second in pass efficiency, third in third-down conversion percentage and 24th in scoring. To top those stats off, Dartmouth was also very disciplined, being penalized for the second fewest yards on average (31.1 per game).

Indiana State of Mind
Pretty sure that's Billy Joel's first draft for his song. This season opener will be a homecoming of sorts for fifth-year senior Nate Boone, the lone member of the Big Green team to hail from Indiana. Mishawaka to be exact, only about 57 miles ESE of Valparaiso, just outside of South Bend. Nine other players are from the Chicago metropolitan area, and downtown is almost exactly the same distance from Valparaiso as Mishawaka, but to the northwest. Overall, Dartmouth has players that hail from 28 states as well as two foreign countries (Canada and Germany). Florida leads the way with 18, followed by Texas (11), Illinois and Pennsylvania (10 each).

Preseason All-Ivy Nods
Phil Steele released its three preseason All-Ivy League teams with six Big Green players listed, led by SS Niko Mermigas on the first team. The lone returning defensive starter from the 2019 title team was fourth on the team with 47 tackles while picking off a pass and breaking up five others. Getting nods on the second team were QB Derek Kyler, OL Evan Hecimovich, OL John Paul Flores and PK Connor Davis. Rounding out the honors was NB John Pupel on the third team.

One of the Last to Kick Off
The Ivy League football schedule always starts a couple of weeks after the rest of Division I. After being the absolute last team to kick off the season in five of the last eight seasons, Dartmouth gets a few hours head start on Penn, which plays at Bucknell at 6 p.m.

Quick Hitters
• Over the last three seasons, Dartmouth has lost just four games, none by more than five points. And eight of the Green's last nine losses have been by eight points or fewer.
• The Big Green earned their first road win over Harvard in 16 years in a thrilling 9-6 victory made possible only on a 43-yard Hail Mary pass as time expired from Derek Kyler to Masaki Aerts, now known as "The Miracle in Cambridge."
• Dartmouth clinched a share of the crown at Brown, rallying from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter and only securing the win when two-time All-American Isiah Swann picked off a pass in the end zone in the final minute.
• Kyler finished the season with a passing efficiency rating of 183.87, the highest in Ivy League history (minimum 10 att. per game). Second on that list is Jared Gerbino '20 from the 2019 season as well (171.24).
• Four players received Division I All-New England recognition — DE Niko Lalos, OL Zach Sammartino, CB Isiah Swann and LB Jack Traynor, the last of whom was also the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year.
• Buddy Teevens was named the Ivy League and New England Coach of the Year, the latter for the second time by the New England Football Writers Association (first time in 2015).
• Two Big Green alums made their NFL debuts in the 2020 season — DE Niko Lalos '20 with the New York Giants and OL Matt Kaskey '19 with the Carolina Panthers. Lalos made quite a name for himself by picking off a pass in his first game and recovering a Russell Wilson fumble in his next contest. Kaskey saw action on the line in the Panther's final game.