This is it. There's no room for error. Dartmouth football had its "pre-season" and now the games really count.
True, the first two games of this year -- a 42-24 loss to Colgate in Hanover two weeks ago and a 42-21 defeat at New Hampshire last weekend -- count in the standings. Yes, the players take them very seriously.
But everyone knew those games would be tough and that the Big Green needed to work out some kinks in game situations.
Now, as the team heads to Philadelphia to take on its first Ivy rival of the season, the Penn Quakers, there is no doubt that the games are important. There is, however, some doubt that the kinks are gone.
"We have to play a lot better defensively across the board," said Head Coach John Lyons. "We've given up big plays early in the game and gotten way behind. We can't give up home runs like we've been giving."
Last season, as the team marched to a disappointing 2-8 finish, Dartmouth coaches and players complained about a lack of consistency. For better AND worse, that's not been a problem this year.
The offense has been consistently good. Whether starting quarterback Brian Mann '02 is at the helm or whether his backup, Greg Smith '02 -- who has played five of the team's eight quarters after Mann sustained a concussion against Colgate -- is calling the signals, the offense has moved the ball and scored touchdowns.
If not for costly turnovers in scoring situations, Dartmouth's scoring output might have increased 50 percent.
That still wouldn't mean they would have won a game. Why?
Because the defense has been consistently bad.
"We get flustered," explained defensive lineman Dan Hutchinson '01. "The most important thing for this week is staying composed no matter what they throw at us."
The Dartmouth defense suffers from the temporarily incurable problem of youth. A year from now, these same green defenders will be considered veterans by college standards. For now, they are rookies, and it's showed.
The Green gave up 528 total yards to Colgate and another 567 to UNH. Last weekend, Dartmouth's pass defense nearly allowed Wildcats starter Ryan Day to match his total output from his prior three games. Meanwhile three Colgate running backs compiled 50 yards or more against the Green.
The young defenders have undergone a trial by fire. Naturally, they've been burned.
Happily, fans and commentators will consider the past as prologue if the team wins it's Ivy League contests. Since Penn is the first such squad on the schedule, it would be a great place to start winning.
Penn's offense
The Quakers have had mixed results this season, losing at Lehigh while scoring only 10 points and then blowing out Lafayette, scoring six touchdowns.
In its opening two contests, Penn's offense revolved around record-setting quarterback Gavin Hoffman. Last year Hoffman broke Penn records with 200 completions and 2,322 yards passing. Hoffman completed 59.5 percent of his passes and threw 14 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
In 2000, Hoffman is on pace to shatter all of those marks. He has completed a whopping 70.1 percent of his throws for 657 yards and four touchdowns. He has thrown for 300 yards or better in both games this season and five of his last eight contests.
Hoffman can rely on a deep receiving corps whose top four pass catchers have 45 receptions for 538 yards.
Given these numbers, things seem bleak for the struggling Big Green pass defense. But they're actually worse.
The reason the Quakers had to rely so heavily on Hoffman and the passing attack was that star running back Kris Ryan was out of action with a high ankle sprain suffered in the pre-season. And now, reports out of Philadelphia indicate that Ryan is ready to return to action.
"I think he's the best back in the league," Lyons said. "Obviously it makes them a lot stronger offensively having him back."
While Ryan may not be in mid-season form, his backup, Mike Verille, seemed to be last weekend in rushing for 99 yards against Lafayette.
Dartmouth's defense
The much-maligned defense can point to a few bright spots. For instance, its interior run defense was solid in holding Colgate to just 64 rushing yards in the first half of their contest. And the Green's four sacks against Colgate showed they can generate a pass rush at times.
"The defensive line has to get some pressure on the quarterback to make it easier on the defensive backs," Hutchinson said. "If [Hoffman] has all day to sit back there and throw the ball, he's going to do well."
Another point that might be in the Green's favor is that against a similar Penn team in 1999, the Big Green held the Quakers to just 17 points in a 17-6 defeat. Of course, that was Hoffman's first game for the Red-and-Blue, and Dartmouth's personnel on defense has turned over significantly whereas Penn's hasn't.
Penn should be able to score some points.
"Offensively I expect that they're going to try to spread us out and throw the ball," Lyons said. "New Hampshire had success doing that against us."
Dartmouth's offense
The key questions is, Can Dartmouth keep up with the scoring?
After a week off, Brian Mann returns to run the offense. Early in the first half against Colgate, Mann authored several superb drives only to be thwarted by bad luck. Down 21-0 in the second quarter, Mann responded by leading the Big Green to two touchdowns before the half and one in the third quarter before falling victim to a hard hit.Mann had completed more than 60 percent of his passes and had run for a touchdown. He had used all of his receivers mostly on short pass plays that gained yardage after the catch.
Although Mann said he felt no ill effects of the concussion, team doctors held him out. Smith replaced Mann effectively, finding wideout Damien Roomets a Dartmouth-record 17 times for 201 yards against UNH.
"Particularly after the way Greg played last week, we feel very confident with both guys," Lyons said.
In other words, the pass offense can pick up yards in long drives and can score, barring turnovers.
"Some of the things we've seen on tape about what other offenses have done to them is pretty encouraging," Mann said. "We feel like there are a lot of holes in their secondary."
The running game has had less success. The starting tailback against Colgate and UNH, Reggie Belhomme '00 -- a captain last season and a starter in parts of each of his four seasons -- has faced a challenge from Aaron Pumerantz '02. Pumerantz is averaging seven yards per carry but only has 17 carries. Belhomme's 3.8 yards per carry is near his career average.
Penn's defense
The Quakers' defense has been good but not great in its opening two games. Thus far, the Quakers held Lehigh to a mere 17 points and limited Lafayette to seven points in three quarters, but then gave up 21 more in several minutes.
Having graduated several key interior linemen, defensive backs and an all-Ivy linebacker, Penn entered 2000 with some holes to fill.
But interior linemen Ed and John Galan are good run stoppers, as are linebackers Dan Morris and Travis Belden. Several young defensive backs are beatable.
It appears as if the Big Green will have to use the pass to set up the run, and hope that Mann shows no ill effects from his concussion and subsequent game off.
Is that your final answer?
Unless there is a major natural disaster on Saturday afternoon that slows play, this will be a high-scoring affair. Like Colgate and UNH, the Penn passing game should feast on the Big Green's inexperienced secondary. The Dartmouth offense, too, should be able to pass effectively.
As in most football games, turnovers will be the key. If the Big Green can force, say, three Penn turnovers near the end of long drives -- and if the Green themselves don't return the favor -- they will be in good shape. If Dartmouth instead repeatedly gives the ball back to Penn in good field position and without giving its defense time to rest, there will be trouble.
