Members of the Dartmouth Big Green Football team, invoking their 2006 motto "Bringing it Back," hope to defeat Holy Cross at the Homecoming game Saturday.
Seniors on the team want their final Homecoming game to end with a victory.
"Really, we just want a win," Joe Gibalski '07, a linebacker for Big Green, said.
Football games, now a staple of Homecoming weekend at Dartmouth, once had a less prominent role. Although football at Dartmouth began in 1881, the sport did not become closely tied to homecoming until the dedication of Memorial Field in 1923 and the spectacle of Dartmouth Night. That year, according to One Hundred Years of Dartmouth by David Shribman. Dartmouth played Cornell and was defeated 32--7. Despite this loss, Dartmouth went on to finish the season with an 8--1 record, and by 1936 football was solidified as a homecoming tradition.
While the College held football games inconsistently throughout World War II, the tradition returned to campus during the mid 1940s and has been a vital part of Homecoming weekend ever since.
Recent Homecoming games have been more successful. Last year the Big Green defeated Columbia 17-- 6 after having lost to the Lions only the year before, according to Head Football Coach Buddy Teevens '79.
"Columbia was a rainy afternoon, but a nice win," Teevens said.
In preparing for this Saturday's game versus Holy Cross, Teevens highlighted that the team is simply hoping to practice well so that they can play well.
"We prepare for this game as we prepare for every opponent," he said. "There is a little more impetus, though, which does have an impact."
The last time Dartmouth played Holy Cross in 2004, however, the Big Green was shut out 24--0.
"Holy Cross is a good team, but we're just hoping to bring our A-game and to focus on our execution of the plays," Gibalski said.
Teevens explained that in practices he is calling for players to be individually responsible and to do what they are told to do.
"There are five or six key plays per game," Teevens said. "Players just need to play their best when they're in."
For the coach, however, the game is only part of the attraction of Homecoming weekend.
"As an [alumnus] and as an individual, it was the center of activity to see the bonfire, the parade, and the game, and it's a great way to bring people together whether or not they are a supporter for athletics," Teevens said.
Teevens hopes that the entire community will come and support the game and the tradition.
"Last year we didn't see as many students involved and so I'd certainly like to see more people come out," he said. "The players are true student-athletes and as an athlete you appreciate the people coming out. We take pride in what we do on and off the field."
