Here's how it goes:
Dartmouth beats Holy Cross in Worcester this weekend, spoiling the Crusaders' Homecoming while building some momentum as the season's midpoint approaches. A victory would give the Big Green its first two-game winning streak since 1997.
Then, Dartmouth comes back home to destroy Columbia on Homecoming Saturday in Hanover. The Lions have handed the Big Green some pretty ugly losses the past couple of seasons, so a revenge-fueled victory would be sweet.
After that, riding a seemingly improbable three-game winning streak, the Big Green heads down Interstates 89 and 93 for its toughest test of the season--Harvard. The Crimson, currently 3-0 with wins over cupcakes Lafayette and Northeastern, is considered a frontrunner for the Ivy title. Undeterred, Dartmouth avenges last year's horrifying 49-7 loss to upset the Crimson at Harvard Stadium.
From this point, the rest of Dartmouth's games play to form, as the Big Green sandwiches victories against weak Cornell and Princeton around a close, one-point win over Brown.
Meanwhile, while the Big Green is beating the Bears 33-32 on Nov. 10, Harvard is upending Penn by a last-minute field goal, spoiling the Quakers' unblemished league record and giving three teams--Dartmouth, Harvard and Penn--a single Ivy loss.
And there you have it: The Dartmouth College Big Green--your 2001 Ivy League champions.
OK, so we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. After all, to be fair, Dartmouth has only one win at this point--and that was by five points.
Still, if it's gonna happen, that's how it plays out. And for the first time since 1997, there's legitimate hope pervading the second-floor suite of football offices at Davis Varsity House.
Tomorrow, Dartmouth will battle Holy Cross, a team that has had a tough time with the Ivy League the last couple of weeks. The Crusaders lost a one-point heartbreaker to Yale two weeks ago before getting demolished, 43-7, last Saturday against Penn at Franklin Field in Philly.
The word on the Crusaders is that they're better this year, but I don't see it. If you want a simple way of thinking about it, here goes: a) They lost to Dartmouth last year, when Dartmouth was terrible; and b) so far this season, they've lost to the Yale Bulldogs--whom Dartmouth beat-- and got mutilated by the Penn Quakers--whom Dartmouth almost beat.
So the Big Green will win tomorrow, and get that winning streak going. I'd say the Dartmouth offense is good for at least 35 points, and--let's face it--the defense has been more than respectable lately, beginning with a great second half against Penn.
So my call is 38-21, Dartmouth. Greg Smith '02 throws for four touchdowns--two to Matt DeLellis '02, one to Damien Roomets '02 and another to freshman Bob Murphy. Mike Gratch '02 runs in a two yarder at some point for Dartmouth's fifth TD, and Tyler Lavin '05 boots a 25 yarder to bring the total to 38.
So late afternoon Saturday, if my prediction holds true, Big Green fans can proudly say, in unison: Our team is 2-2--and we didn't miss an extra point for the first time all season!