Dartmouth returns home after a successful road trip to face Patriot League foe Fordham in the first of three straight home games for the Big Green. At 2-0, the Big Green are off to their best start in the five years of Head Coach John Lyons' career, and look to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games when they kickoff against the winless Rams (0-4) at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow at Memorial Field.
Although the Big Green are undefeated, the team has been plagued throughout the first two games by inconsistent play. There have been flashes of brilliance, such as the final minutes of the Pennsylvania game, that have shown the team and its fans why the Big Green are overwhelming favorites to capture the Ivy League title. But if the final minutes were the best of times, last week's fourth quarter against Lehigh, was almost the worst of times as Dartmouth failed to put away the Engineers.
Rarely this season have both the offense and defense found a rhythym at the same time. Fortunately for Dartmouth, this week will give the Big Green an opportunity to find that consistency against a team that isn't playing very well, killing themselves with mistakes in every game.
Dartmouth has been winning, but this is the week they need to prove that they can get ahead early and put a team away by not squandering opportunities in the second half to do so.
"I'm still waiting for us to play a complete football game -- a game where all three units, the offense, defense and special teams, come together and play consistently," Lyons said. "That hasn't happened yet, and even though I have been happy with our play at times, everybody on this team knows we can put it all together."
Fordham has struggled all year on offense, managing only 11 points a game. The Rams' best effort came against Lehigh when they scored 14 points in a 20-14 loss two weeks ago to the team Dartmouth defeated last weekend.
The Rams are averaging a meager 2.2 yards per carry on the ground, but tailback Lance Shaw has put together two solid performances to try and resurrect the rushing attack. The other offensive threat is wide receiver Larry Leith who is also a kick return specialist. Dartmouth's agressive defense should be able to stop the run but is also worried about keeping Leith in check and will try to do that by getting pressure on Ram quarterback Dan Madine, who has thrown only one touchdown as compared to five interceptions.
"Lief, also known as 'White Lightning,' is a dangerous player," defensive end Scott Hapgood '97 said. "Fordham has a strong tendency towards throwing the ball in situations that you would normally expect a run. We have had trouble with getting pressure on our opponent's quarterbacks in past weeks, so we have been trying to concentrate on improving the effectiveness of our pass rushes and our blitzes."
Lyons said, "They are a tricky team because they run a lot of different formations and trick plays and really keep you on your toes defensively. We need to stop the run so we can simplify our game plan and rush the quarterback and force them to make mistakes. They have been hampered by turnovers all year and last week we did a real good job of taking the ball away so hopefully that can continue."
Even though the team is 2-0, there is a feeling that many mistakes need to be ironed out in the next two weeks before Yale comes in to kickoff the remainder of Ivy League play. The team has been winning but both games have been closer than necessary. For this reason, the team isn't overlooking Fordham, even though the Ivy League is 5-1 against Patriot League opponents this year.
"Our goal this year is to go undefeated, so every game is a big game," Hapgood said. "We have yet to play to our potential, so we are looking forward to this game so that we can realize that potential and give us confidence for the rest of our Ivy league schedule, not to mention continue the rivalry that exists between the two leagues."
But Lyons is downplaying talk of an undefeated season.
"We haven't played well enough to talk about an undefeated season, and teams that go undefeated are the teams that just go out every week and focus and don't make mistakes," Lyons said. "We are 2-0 but have made mistakes, so that gives us something to work with every week and concentrate on. Teams that think ahead are the ones that get beat, and all Patriot League teams love to go out and try and upset their Ivy League opponents. We can't let them sneak in and get a victory."
