The Dartmouth football team has had its share of ups and downs this year, but one stabilizing force for the Big Green has been their defense.
While the offense, which has been a mix of different quarterbacks, a new running back and an injured receiver has proven to be inconsistent at times, the Dartmouth defense has undoubtedly led this Big Green squad to a its current winning record.
"There is really good chemistry between everyone," co-Captain Taran Lent '96 said. "We go out there and have a lot of fun which makes it easy for us to get motivated every Saturday. I guess that's what it is all about."
Coming into the season, critics were skeptical of the Big Green defense which had allowed opponents to score too often last year.
But with a host of fresh new faces, the defense has adjusted to a new style of play and has limited opponents to a mere 14.4 points per game."The new defense is a lot more aggressive," Lent said. "It is taking advantage of our speed. This is the fastest defense I've ever been a part of."
Mark Abel '97 and Zach Walz '98 are two defenders who have proven to be formidable forces on the field. These two have stepped up to terrorize league offenses following the graduation of several seniors. They, along with Scott Hapgood '97, have been the stronghold of the Big Green D.
Abel has led the defense with 72 total tackles so far this year. He has risen to become not only a producer of big numbers, but also a team leader.
"We have a lot of young players that have really stepped up," Lent said. "They have filled some big holes and have made great contributions."
As a linebacker, Walz's most impressive performance of the season came last week against Yale. He plagued the Yale offense all afternoon, coming up with five tackles, three of which were for losses, two pass break-ups, two quarterback pressures and a fumble recovery.
Hapgood, who has been menacing quarterbacks all season, continued last week against Yale with two sacks. They bring his team-leading total to seven.
With such a strong line-up, Lent said there has been only one problem -- competition with each other.
"We all are trying to beat each other to the ball," Lent said. "So many people are quick off the ground and fly to the ball. We all want to get there first."
This Big Green defense will look to continue its streak Saturday when Dartmouth battles Colgate at 1:30 p.m. on Memorial Field.
