Jaws were frozen in disbelief. Fans stared so hard at the scoreboard in disbelief that the little electronic lights bore into their brains, continuing to blilnd their comprehension. Cornell 24, Dartmouth 19. A game Dartmouth should have won. The belief among the press and fans that the most storied program in Ivy League football was not to be a force in1995 did not matter to the disheartened athletes wearing green and white. As for the next game, "Losing is not an option," quarterback Jon Aljancic '97 said.
Two years and 19 games later, the Big Green can laugh at that quote that sits somewhere in the Dartmouth football office archives. A 19-game unbeaten streak, 12 straight victories and the first 10-0 season in school history have all served as predecessors to that next dreaded loss that seemed so inevitable two season ago. Now, holding on to the nation's longest winning streak, Dartmouth plays host to the last team that put them in the loss column as they try to extend "the streak" to 20 games.
As they have over the past two years, the Big Green continue to defy the odds. The streak was supposed to end in the first game of this year, as Dartmouth traveled to pre-season favorite Penn, and more importantly to Philadelphia, a place they had not won at since 1991. Dartmouth 23, Penn 15. Streak extended. A second win over Holy Cross and now Cornell returns to Hanover for the first time since their last win as Dartmouth looks to extend their celebration to 20 games, two full seasons without a loss. This was supposed to be a rebuliding year, but the only building the Big Green seems intent on doing is adding layer after layer of wins.
"Continuing on the win streak this year after losing so many key players is kind of hard to imagine," linebacker Zach Walz '98 said. "I think the fact that we're up against the odds this year with a young team and other teams gunning to knock us off makes each new win kind of difficult to comprehend but all the while satisfying."
But wait. It gets better. Dartmouth's next three opponents after Cornell should be victories for the Big Green, possibly bringing the streak to 23 games. The 24th game, which would tie Penn's record from 1993-1995, would mythically be against Harvard at Homecoming on Nov. 1.
Certainly, the 19 games have had their share of blowouts. Three times Dartmouth has put up 40 or more points on the board and has recorded dominating wins such as last year's 40-0 blowout of Columbia. But the span of 731 days, which has seen the other seven Ivy League squads lose a combined 52 games just in conference play, has provided plenty of drama.
The Big Green needed a game-winning drive against Penn in the opener last year to seal the victory and two missed field goals by Harvard in Cambridge to preserve a 6-3 victory. 1995 saw Dartmouth fend off a late rally in their 10-7 victory over Brown just one week before their only blemish in the 19 games, a 10-10 tie with Princeton courtesy of Tiger place-kicker Alex Sierk's field goal with 0:03 seconds remaining in the season. Otherwise, Dartmouth would have two Ivy League titles to speak of within the past two years.
"We've been a good team and won a lot of games that we should have won, but we've also been lucky," safety Lloyd Lee '98 said. "All good teams lose one game here or there and we've just really had luck on our side."
While the streak has been impressive and continues to give Dartmouth a toe-hold in the national spotlight, it could have a downside if the team were to lose a game.
"I really don't know how the team would deal with losing the follwing week," Walz said. "I dont think bouncing back would be much of a problem though if we still had a shot at the title"
Most of all, the team tries to pay no attention to the streak for fear of jinxing themselves on the field.
"Other people are always talking tous about how many games we've won, but we try not to pay any attention to it," Lee said. "If we think about the streak, that's going to be the jinx that is going to cause us to lose. We just think about playing on Saturday."
