Following last Saturday's sloppy 34-14 win over Fordham, questions about the Big Green offense arose as Dartmouth juggled quarterbacks throughout the game.
Football Coach John Lyons summed up the reason for his team's subpar play, "we have to get better, more consistent play out of our quarterback position; both those guys have to be a little more consistent."
During the 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons, this problem was nonexistent since the Big Green were blessed with quarterback Jay Fielder '94, who led Dartmouth to two Ivy League championships and one second-place finish.
In 1994 Fielder left Dartmouth to pursue a professional career with the Philadelphia Eagles, and he left Lyons with a gaping hole to fill.
At the end of the 1993 season the general assumption was that Ren Riley '96 would be given the job of leading Dartmouth's offense. Then in April of 1994 it was announced that Jerry Singleton '96, a quarterback from Colorado State University would transfer to Dartmouth in the fall.
At the time Lyons remarked, "we think he's a pretty good player" and that "we think he has the possibility of being a real good one." With this announcement speculation on which player would be given the starting nod began.
Last fall Riley won the starting job.Then, on Oct. 8 in a game against Lafayette College, Riley went down with a broken arm, an injury which abruptly ended his season.Singleton replaced Riley until, just a few weeks later, he broke his wrist in a game against Harvard ending his season.
The quarterback position was then handed down to Jon Aljancic '97, who finished out the injury plagued season.Dartmouth, the powerhouse which had won three Ivy League championships in the past four years finished at 2-5 in the League. Its first ever last place finish.
Now it is the beginning of the 1995 season.No one can know what to expect from this Dartmouth team.The only thing that is certain is that the quarterback controversy will continue.
The fall of 1995 has once again brought confusion back to the Dartmouth football program.Jerry Singleton, the number two quarterback, quit the team two weeks ago disappointed with his placement on the depth charts.
During the season opener against preseason favorite Pennsylvania, Riley started but was replaced by Aljancic later in the game. The Big Green played well, but suffered when the offense faltered during the second half. Dartmouth lost that game 14-12.
The next week the Big Green won a sloppy game against Fordham.During the game Aljancic was brought in to replace Riley at two different times.At one time, sophomore Pete Sellers '98 was brought in to try and spark the Big Green offense.
"I wanted to go out there and prove myself after last week [at Penn]," Riley said. "Unfortunately I had to come out of the game after that hit.[Later] I thought I was all right to go back in, but I guess I wasn't.Now I'm just going to have to do it in practice this week."
None of the quarterbacks played especially well, and so Lyons is faced with what are now familiar questions going into Dartmouth's home opener on Saturday against Cornell.
"We need to throw with more consistency," Lyons said. "Right now we're completing about 40 percent of our passes, and that won't cut it."
The Big Green coaches are still deciding how to solve the quarterback dilemma.
"I haven't made a decision on who will start," Lyons said."The coaching staff will be watching the two of them during practice, and we'll make a decision later this week. Jon came into the game [against Fordham] as a backup, and he led us to some key scores."
So the question lingers, who will lead the Big Green this season?Will it be the veteran Ren Riley, Fielder's backup for two years and the starter so far this season?Or will it be Jon Aljancic, the run-oriented junior who sparked the Dartmouth offense last weekend?
That question will be answered Saturday by 1:30 p.m. when Dartmouth hosts Ivy League rival Cornell at Memorial Field.
