Pay very close attention when the Big Green football team takes on Columbia tomorrow at Memorial Field. You'll be watching Dartmouth history in the making.
With every pass that Big Green wide receiver Jay Barnard '04 catches, the Dartmouth all-time career receptions record will grow by one. With every pass caught by Dartmouth co-captain Casey Cramer '04, the All-American tight end will solidify his hold on the number two slot.
In less than three and a half seasons, the two senior classmates have each caught more passes than any other Dartmouth player has in four. With Dartmouth's all-time top two receivers on the field, the Lion defenders will have their work cut out for them.
For their part, though, Barnard and Cramer have a mission of their own: lead the Big Green to its first Homecoming victory since Dartmouth's 20-17 win over eventual Ivy champion Cornell during the 1999 season. "With the success we've had here in the last few years," Barnard said earlier this week, "all we need is a 'W.' That's something we haven't been able to give a Homecoming crowd here in the last few years."
While Homecoming victories have been hard to come by for Barnard and Cramer during their Dartmouth careers, one thing that certainly has not eluded the senior duo is the football. Through last week's 24-20 victory over Holy Cross, Barnard has caught 193 passes in a Big Green uniform for 2,035 yards, while Cramer has 154 catches and 2,069 yards to his name.
Since climbing the Big Green depth chart together during the 2000 season, Barnard and Cramer have developed a friendly rivalry while etching their names in the Dartmouth record books.
"The first couple of games," said Cramer, "we were fortunate enough to make the traveling squad, and get in the game every now and again, too. Jay started making some big plays, and I was able to get in and make some plays, so that was real fun, just to see two freshman contributors at such an early stage of the game.
"Then, the next step was seeing who could make the bigger impact for the team, and it kind of developed into a friendly competition, where we try to compete with one another and be the go-to guy."
Barnard and Cramer have each enjoyed a season as Dartmouth's "go-to guy," as Cramer was Dartmouth's leading receiver during the 2001 season, and Barnard took that honor last year. Barnard's season as the Big Green's top receiver produced a Dartmouth record, as the 6'2" Texan's 83 catches were the most ever by a Dartmouth player. Cramer was not far behind, hauling in 74 passes, and the duo became the first pair of Ivy receivers to catch 70 passes each since the 1983 season, when Princeton's Kevin Guthrie and Derek Graham accomplished the feat.
The exploits of Barnard and Cramer become even more impressive in light of the virtual revolving door at quarterback that has existed over the last four years. Because of injuries, desertion and other issues, Dartmouth has had six different quarterbacks since the 2000 season.
Barnard said, "We have to go out and do our jobs, no matter who's under center, and we've always had good guys back there, who have been able to consistently get us the ball."
The latest quarterback charged with getting Cramer and Barnard the ball has been Charlie Rittgers '06, who took the starting job earlier this season. While adjusting to his role as Dartmouth's starter, Rittgers has had the comfort of working with Barnard and Cramer, who have been eager to prepare Rittgers to lead the Big Green.
"You always learn your best football from older guys," Barnard said. "When I came in here, and I was a young kid, I wouldn't have been able to make anything if I didn't have older quarterbacks who could teach me the offense.
"They made it really easy for me, so for me and Casey to have the experience that we do, and to pretty much always be in the right spot for him to throw the ball, he's getting a lot of experience and he's playing well very early in his career, and he should have a lot of success here."
Over the final five games of their Dartmouth careers, Barnard and Cramer will be looking to help create some of that success, and bring a sweet end to the Class of 2004's time on the gridiron.
"We definitely want to turn our season around," Cramer said. "We had a real rough start, but we've got this mentality: 'Hey, we're going to do it. This is our time.'
"This is my last year, so it's huge that we get together and accomplish what we want to. Our biggest goal this whole year, as a team, is to turn this program around, and that can still be accomplished in the second half of the season."
According to Barnard, the Big Green seniors certainly have the heart to lead that turnaround.
"We've had a lot of tough times, no doubt about it," Barnard said. "But, the fact that we've had so many guys stick through it... there's no guys that I'd rather go into battle with than the seniors I have on my team right now."
Tomorrow, Barnard, Cramer and the rest of the senior class will lead Dartmouth into battle against Columbia at 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Field.