Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens put it perfectly after his team's loss to Colgate in week one: "Obviously we are disappointed with the end result today. I felt we played hard and we're a different football team -- I hope people saw that."
So what gives us reason to hope?
Dartmouth's offense is looking like it will be one of the most productive in recent memory. The 31 points the Big Green racked up last Saturday was the highest total since the beginning of the Teevens era.
Even more important is the newfound balance the Big Green attack displayed in its first two contests -- the Big Green's air and ground attacks have both been integral parts of the team's success thus far.
Junior tailback Milan Williams '09 leads a dangerous ground attack, and has already accumulated 250 yards rushing -- his efforts highlighted by a 179-yard, one-TD performance vs. 1-AA powerhouse Colgate.
Senior quarterback Tom Bennewitz '08 has made the most of his first opportunity to take on full-time duty as the Big Green's signal caller, tossing five touchdown passes. Eric Paul '09 and Brian Evans '08 are pacing Dartmouth's air attack.
Paul has snagged 10 passes for 94 yards, and Evans, one of the league's fastest players, has six catches for 112 yards including a 60-yard strike against Colgate.
The benefits of the Big Green's newfound offensive prowess extend beyond its gaudy stat line. Having a dangerous, balanced offense will give Teevens' squad a chance to establish leads early in ball games, and not have to constantly play from behind -- a disadvantage that invariably compromises a coach's flexibility in play calling and a team's rhythm on offense.
Teeven's noted that Dartmouth's first loss was particularly disconcerting in light of the fact that his squad had jumped out to an early lead, pouncing on Colgate's defense for 14 first-quarter points and scoring two more touchdowns to take a 28-0 lead early in the third quarter.
"For the first time in a long time we weren't playing catch up and we were in a position to do the things we'd talked about doing", Teevens said.
Regardless of the game's end result, however, Big Green fans should be encouraged by the potency of the Big Green offense, and the advantages it will afford the team in finding success in Ivy play.
The Big Green defense has allowed 83 points in two games, but there are reasons for optimism.
In Saturday's loss to UNH, the Dartmouth defense forced the Wildcats into three drives of 10 plays or more.
As head coach Buddy Teevens said after last Saturday's loss to UNH, the defense, despite allowing 52 points, was effective in stalling the UNH attack.
Defensive statistics from the first two games reflect the improvement the defense has made, as the Big Green is only allowing 6.3 yards per play this year, a marked difference over last year's 7.7 average through the first two games against the same opponents.
Whether this reserved optimism is substantiated in the win column, the tools for success are readily apparent. The Big Green may be on its way to another losing season -- but it doesn't have to be that way.
