On Saturday, the Dartmouth football team, straight off a 14-7 win over Lafayette, travels to New Haven, Conn. to take on the Bulldogs of Yale.
If there was ever a time to turn it on for the Dartmouth football team, this weekend is it.
Dartmouth, 2-2 this season, but winless in two games against Ivy League opponents, has its backs squarely against the wall, if it still plans on hanging around longer in the Ivy League Championship title mix.
The Big Green have shown spurts of impressive play in all aspects of the game, but the elusive goal of putting a total effort together has yet to come.
The latest aspect of Dartmouth's game that is under scrutiny is the passing attack, which launched 10 footballs on Saturday for a grand total of two completion's and one interception.
Quarterback John Aljancic '97, who did have to contend with drizzly weather, the loss to injury of Dartmouth's top wide receiver, Will Bergman '97 and a 270-yard rushing day that didn't really need any help, nevertheless looked off-key against a spongy Lafayette secondary.
"What we need to do is be able to throw the ball much better than we have been," Coach John Lyons said. "Teams are going to start putting 10 defenders on the line to stop our running game, daring us to throw the ball."
Dartmouth's defense, on the other hand, has continued to be the binding force, keeping the team close and delivering the offense from trouble a number of times.
The Big Green defense, led by linebacker Mark Abel '97, with 64 tackles, and defensive lineman Scott Hapgood '97, with five sacks, sports the second best rushing defense in the Ivy's, allowing only 91.5 yards a game. This impressive coverage has also placed the Big Green defense 10th in the nation in Division 1-AA teams.
Dartmouth's defense will have to fight off a Bulldog attack sporting one of the best quarterbacks in the Ivy's, Chris Hetherington, who leads the Ivy League in total offense with an average of 269 yards a game.
Last week, the athletic Hetherington rushed 15 times for 87 yards and three touchdowns, while passing for 145 yards in Yale's 28-17 victory over Holy Cross.
Dartmouth does have one thing going for it -- the margin of talent among its Ivy League competitors this season.
With the Pennsylvania, who lost for the first time in 24 games last week against Columbia, slipping as the team to beat, no team has looked invincible this year.
As case in point, Dartmouth's neighbors in the standings cellar, Brown and Harvard, who are also 0-2 in the Ivy's, have lost their four games by an average of less than a field goal.
But before the Big Green think about anyone else, a little housecleaning is in order -- starting with a complete effort and the beginning of a little momentum against the Bulldogs Saturday.
Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. at the Yale Bowl, in New Haven, Conn.
