Reflecting on the greatest season in Big Green history, quarterback Jon Aljancic '97 can't help but to remember the words of the preseason college football previews.
"Every article I read said that Dartmouth's chances to win an Ivy League title hinge on Aljancic getting the job done at quarterback." the 6'1", 185 pound Louisville, native said.
Mission accomplished. Dartmouth's 17th Ivy League championship and a perfect 10-0 season later, there is little speculation on whether or not Aljancic was able to get the job done.
"Jon was the most improved player in the league by far," Head Coach John Lyons said. "There is no doubt that his play was a determining factor in our success this year."
And there is no doubt in Jon's mind where it all began.
"The last few weeks I've sat back and wondered about how much the Penn victory meant to us as a team and to me," Aljancic said. "The confidence that game gave us, especially after driving down in the final seconds and hitting Morty [Eric Morton '97] for the winning touchdown set the tone for the whole season."
For his performance in that game, Aljancic received Ivy League player of the week honors, the first of two times he would receive that award throughout the season. Evidently the game not only dictated the Big Green's fortunes for the year but was an excellent prognosticator of the season Aljancic was to have as well.
Aljancic finished the season completing just over 61 percent of his passes for 1,856 yards and 10 touchdowns, placing him in the top ten in Division I-AA for passing efficiency and moving him into fourth place on the all-time Big Green passing list. But his exploits weren't limited to the air. Jon didn't lose the running game that helps to make him such an offensive threat, finishing the year as the second leading rusher on the team and tied with backfield mate Greg Smith '97 for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with 10.
As the measure for all great quarterbacks though, Aljancic was able to win, in fact like no other quarterback at Dartmouth has ever won before. His 16-3-1 record as a starter makes him the all-time winningest quarterback in Big Green history.
"The statistics are nice, but in 10 or 20 years you are going to have to dig through a media guide or record book to find that Jon Aljancic is the fourth leading passer in Dartmouth history," he said. "But everybody will remember that this team was the first team to go 10-0."
The Ivy League ring and the unblemished season complete a turnaround for Aljancic who struggled mightily at the beginning of last season, and in his opinion, throughout the year.
"I thought we could have won the title last year if I had played better in a couple of games, especially the Princeton game," Aljancic said. "Therefore, coming into this year I decided I wanted to be the guy who was responsible for making the plays to decide whether we won or lost."
"He played throughout the year with such confidence that it just made him and everybody around him so much better," said tri-captain Brian Larsen '97, who protected Aljancic's blind side all year.
Throughout the season, Aljancic was able to make that difference as the Big Green offense was one of the most prolific scoring units in the country. Only against Harvard were Aljancic and the Big Green held under 20 points while they managed to put up 35 points or more in four of their contests, three of those games in league play.
"Looking back, it astonishes me at some of the scores that we've had," Aljancic said. "Rarely in the Ivy League do you see teams scoring 38, 40, 40 points consistently. What's more impressive is that we did it against some good teams like Cornell and Columbia."
"We designed our offense around Jon's abilities and he just ran it flawlessly," Lyons said. "He consistently made the right calls about formations and plays and really enabled us to do whatever we wanted on offense. Our goal coming into the year was to throw the ball better, but I would never have expected to have the kind of success we had."
Even though he decided against playing baseball to concentrate on football, Aljancic is quick to point out that he believes the offensive line is one of the keys to his success.
"They did a great job protecting me all year and as a result I really developed into more of a pocket passer. Last year I never really established myself in the pocket and I would start to scramble early, but this year I only scrambled when necessary and that really helped our passing game."
Looking back on his career and the season though, Jon knows that there is something he would have traded Dartmouth's first 10-0 record for.
"I would have loved to have run out through the tunnel at a place like Ohio State just to feel the excitement," Aljancic said. "I would never trade my experience here or the Ivy title, but one game in front of all those people, wow. That would have added to a very special career.
Now all that's left to do is read next year's preseason preview asking how Dartmouth can possibly replace such a talented leader and quarterback as Jon Aljancic.
