The preliminaries are all over. After three out-of-conference games Dartmouth (0-4) jumps right into Ivy League play tomorrow with a tough matchup at Yale (3-1).
The Green followed their season-opening loss to Penn with losses to Colgate, Lafayette and Lehigh. By contrast, the Bulldogs rebounded from a last-second defeat against Brown to knock off Valparaiso, UCSD and Holy Cross. Both teams' remaining six games are among Ivy competition.
Things for Dartmouth, considering its winless record, is actually looking up. The Green's offensive output has improved dramatically over the past two weeks, and the defense has consistently played well all year. They should be able to keep pace with Yale on both sides of the ball.
Yale entered the season as an Ivy League favorite, along with Brown, and has not disappointed. Their loss to the Bears resulted from a freak play in which the Bulldogs blocked the potentially game-tying extra point of Brown with 14 seconds left in the game, only to have the Bears pick up the ball and score a two-point conversion.
Yale had held a 17-3 lead at halftime but could ultimately not stop Brown's All-Ivy quarterback James Perry. Perry picked apart the Yale defensive backfield for 379 yards on 38 completions.
This may not happen again tomorrow.
Getting started
Quarterback Brian Mann '02 put in his second straight strong performance against Lehigh last weekend. Although the Green were given little chance to win against the nationally-ranked Mountain Hawks, Mann responded from a spotty first half with two late touchdown passes and only one interception.
"He's making progrees," Dartmouth head coach John Lyons said of Mann. "He's making better decisions."
Mann's progress continued from the Lafayette game in which he threw for 256 yards on 19 completions. The performance was marred, however, by three interceptions and the 20-10 Dartmouth defeat at the hands of the then-winless Leopards.
Still, the Green's youngest starting quarterback in almost three decades is finding open men and hitting them in stride more often every week. The progress cannot come fast enough for a team which has struggled both on the ground and in the air.
The ground game is primarily the domain of tailback and quad-captain Reggie Belhomme '00. A starter for three years, Belhomme had yet to fulfill his potential coming into this season due to injuries. Now, with no injury definitiviely plagueing him, Belhomme has only averaged three yards a carry.
This average has improved with every game, however, and Belhomme has had several long runs on passing plays as well. Belhomme leads the team with 310 total yards in four games.
The wide receivers Matt Davis '03, Matt DeLellis '02 and Damien Roomets '02 as well as tight end Lee Roach '01 have combined for 45 catches and 461 yards of Mann's 69 completions and 695 yards. Mann also has nine interceptions to go with his two touchdown passes.
Lowering the Boom
Yale's offense has shown two faces in its opening four contests. Against UCSD, the Bulldogs escaped with a close 17-6 win. Against Brown, Valparaiso and Holy Cross, Yale put up 116 total points.
Why the discrepancy?
Senior quarterback Joe "Boom" Walland sat out the trip to California with a sprained left shoulder. Two sophomores split the position against UCSD, and Yale rode its running game and defense.
With Walland back and apparently feeling no ill effects from his injury, the Elis routed Holy Cross 34-14, scoring five touchdowns in the first half.
"Joe Walland does a great job at quarterback," Lyons said. "He spreads it around to his receivers."
Walland's completion numbers over three games are comparable to Mann's. The Yale signal-caller has completed 41 of 67 passes, a 61 percent rate, for 602 yards with seven touchdowns and one pickoff. Walland also poses a running threat.
Joining Walland in the backfield is the junior All-Ivy tailback Rahsad Bartholemew, who rushed for 107 yards against the Crusaders last week. Bartholemew averages a mediocre 3.8 yards per carry, but has scored five touchdowns on the year. The 100-yard game was Bartholemew's first of the season.
Walland's receivers include team captain Jake Fuller, who has caught 10 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns. In the final seconds against Brown, Fuller caught a 21-yard throw from Walland that set up a game-winning field goal attempt. The kick fell short.
"They play a lot of three and four wide receiver sets," Lyons said. "They can get open and catch the ball consistently."
Sicking the Dogs
Yale's defense has been pretty ferocious since allowing Brown's second-half comeback. In allowing two, six and 14 points to its next three opponents, the Bulldogs have shown they bite.
"They're playing good defense not giving up a lot of points," Lyons said. "They seemt o be able to pressure the quarterback."
Among Yale's front seven, Peter Mazza and Than Merrill led the way with 57 combined tackles. They also have four interceptions between them.
Yale has managed to hold several subpar offenses to subpar performances. It did give up 22 second-half points to Brown, but that was nearly a month ago and against a much stronger offense than Dartmouth's.
Whether the Green will be able to penetrate the Eli D is anybody's guess.
Strong suit
In last Friday's prediction, I said the defense would do a wonderful job to give up only 30 points to the powerful Lehigh offense. How many points did they give up? 30.
"In the other games we were in it and we kind of fell apart in the second half," Lyons said. "But in this game we played well on defense. We limited a really good offensive team to one score."
Of all the inconsistent play the Green has displayed this season, and all of the mistakes the team has made, the defense has been least responsible.
Although their points allowed numbers are unspectacular, Dartmouth checked the offenses of Penn and Lehigh as well as possible, and played Colgate tough for a half. The defensive backfield, led by Brad Eissler '01 and quad-captain Tom Reusser '00, makes receivers work for their catches.
So what?
It's always tough to call a loss against one's own school in a game that really could go either way. However, I think Dartmouth will have a tough time containing the Bulldog offense with its healthy senior quarterback.
The Green's success against senior quarterbacks such as Colgate's Ryan Vena and Lehigh's Phil Stambaugh has been less than overwhelming.
Yale probably has the best running attack in the Ivy League, and its defense has been very good. The Bulldogs are hungry to avenge last year's close defeat.
I think the Green will continue to improve offensively, and may even break the 20-point barrier for the first time this season. But with Yale contending for the Ivy title, they need this game more than Dartmouth does.
It is feasible the Bulldogs might be looking past the Green at upcoming matchups with Cornell and others but with a home crowd in the historic Yale Bowl the Elis take this one.
Prediction: Yale 27, Green 17
