With new starters at several positions, including quarterback, running back and punter, the Big Green football team would have benefited from an opening game against a mediocre opponent, against whom Dartmouth could work out the kinks, while the new starters could settle into their roles en route to a Big Green victory.
Instead, Dartmouth got a trial by fire against the Colgate Raiders, ranked 25th in Division I-AA and fresh off a 38-15 win over Division I-A Buffalo. As a result, the Big Green, first-time starters and all, got burned, as Dartmouth was held without a touchdown for the first time since 1999 during Colgate's 31-9 victory.
The game served as a rough introduction for Dartmouth's new starters, who had mixed results in their starting lineup debuts. The most auspicious debuts were made by the Big Green's special teams players. Taking over the punting duties after three first-team All-Ivy campaigns by Alex Ware '03, punter Grant Wagner '04 averaged 37.8 yards on five punts, including two that forced the Colgate offense to begin inside its own 20-yard line.
In addition, Ikechi Ogonna '06 averaged 21 yards each on his five kick returns, showing the ability to give the Big Green offense a good running start in the coming weeks.
As for the offense itself, new starting quarterback Scott Wille '04 and running back Pat Risha '05 had their hands full with a Colgate defense that features linebacker Tem Lukabu, the Patriot League's reigning co-defensive player of the year. Lukabu and his mates held Risha to 37 yards on 12 carries in Risha's first game since the 2001 season. With Mike Giles '04, Dartmouth's leading rusher from 2002, sidelined with an injury, Risha will be a key figure in Dartmouth's offense.
Wille, who transferred from the University of Wisconsin before the 2001 season, completed 21 of 40 passes for 180 yards while being intercepted twice and sacked once during his first collegiate start. Wille's Colgate counterpart, junior Chris Brown, put up similar numbers, throwing for 201 yards and one touchdown while being picked twice and sacked once.
While failing to reach the end zone, Wille distributed the ball well among Dartmouth's top receivers. All-American tight end Casey Cramer '04 and All-Ivy fullback Scott Wedum '04 caught seven passes each for 69 and 48 yards, respectively, while All-Ivy wide receiver Jay Barnard '04 caught six passes for 53 yards.
With no Dartmouth players reaching the end zone, responsibility for putting points on the board fell to Tyler Lavin '05. Lavin, whose consistency was called into question last year when he missed five of 23 extra point attempts, appeared to turn a corner against the Raiders, nailing all three of his field goal attempts.
One of Lavin's kicks, a 52-yard blast as the first half ended, broke his own modern-day Dartmouth record of 51 yards, set last year at Columbia (Dartmouth's all-time longest field goal, a 55-yard kick by Jim Robertson in 1919, was kicked off of a tee, which is no longer used).
While Lavin had a memorable day against Colgate, the Big Green as a whole would like to erase the memory of last Saturday's defeat with a win over New Hampshire in this Saturday's Granite Bowl. Dartmouth should not be nearly as challenged on offense in Durham, as the Wildcats have allowed over 40 points per game through their first four contests.
However, Dartmouth will need to take advantage of the weak UNH defense in order to keep up with a Wildcat offense that is averaging 39.3 points per contest, including a 70-point outburst against Central Connecticut State.
In battling a Colgate team that had won 14 of its last 15 games against Ivy League opponents, Dartmouth faced a daunting challenge that eventually proved insurmountable. Against UNH, however, Dartmouth will look to win the Granite Bowl after excruciatingly close losses in the last two years (42-38 in 2001, 29-26 in 2002). To win, Dartmouth will need all of its top players, from veterans like Barnard, Cramer and Wedum to new starters like Wille and Risha, to bounce back hard from the loss to Colgate and put forth a top effort to tame the Wildcats.
