The Dartmouth football team, coming off of a lopsided 38-7 loss against Yale, will travel to Worcester, Mass., this Saturday to take on Holy Cross.
The Big Green (0-4, 0-2 Ivy), seeking its first win of the season, will have its hands full against the Crusaders (4-1, 1-0 Patriot League) who currently stand at No. 24 in the FCS media poll and defeated Ivy League preseason favorite Harvard earlier in the season.
Holy Cross features a potent offense that averages 450 yards per game. The keystone to the Crusaders' offensive success is quarterback Dominic Randolph, the two-time reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.
Randolph has put up big numbers this season, averaging 339 passing yards per game while also leading the team in rushing with 37.8 yards per game.
Although it will be almost impossible to completely stop Randolph, Dartmouth will still have to limit the amount of damage he can do on the field in order to keep the game close.
"You can't stop an offense like that," head coach Buddy Teevens said. "You try to slow him down. The biggest thing is, if you control the football and they're on the side, [they have] less opportunities, and their rhythm is disrupted. The critical thing this weekend is to really do a great job offensively and control the football."
In order to keep Randolph off the field, the Dartmouth offense will have to have perform better than last week and execute on third downs.
In the loss to Yale, Dartmouth managed only 127 yards of offense and converted on only five out of 12 third downs.
The offense will have a new look this week, as Conner Kempe '12 will get the start at quarterback for the Big Green. Usual starter Alex Jenny '10 dislocated his elbow against Yale and will be unavailable for several weeks, according to Teevens.
Kempe will have to play well in order to compensate for the loss of such an important piece of the Big Green's offense.
Last week, Kempe came into the game after Jenny's elbow injury and immediately threw an interception on a long throw, but adjusted as the game went on and completed six of 12 passes with one touchdown.
Kempe will have to improve from last week's performance in order to give the Big Green a chance at winning.
"I was pleased that [Kempe] came off the bench cold," Teevens said. "It was an adjustment from an offensive standpoint and for the team. [Kempe] stepped up, and I thought he performed well. We are going to need more from him, and certainly I expect to get more this weekend."
Kempe said that he is more than ready to take on his new role, and has been following Jenny's example and watching extra film in order to prepare for next week's game.
"My job was to stay ready for whenever [Jenny] went down," Kempe said. "My duty was to step in, and this is what I'm doing now. I've watched a lot more film than I usually watch, and I'm basically trying to step into his shoes."
The team will need a seamless transition in order to reestablish an offensive presence to help keep the Holy Cross offense off the field.
"I don't think there is a hard transition," Kempe said. "The team has been preparing and is ready for anything coming at them."
Defensively, Dartmouth will have to try and stop Holy Cross's aerial attack.
Last week against Yale, Dartmouth showed an improvement in its ability to defend against the run, but was unable to contain the Bulldogs' passing game, as quarterback Brook Hart had a career day and threw for 390 yards.
The secondary will have to limit the effectiveness of the passing game this week and prevent big plays.
Despite going winless so far this season and facing a challenging opponent this week, Kempe said Dartmouth remains confident and will look to put together a complete performance and play hard until the final whistle.
"We have to learn from our mistakes and not live in the past," Kempe said. "We have to move forward, and this is a good team. Against [the University of New Hampshire], we put up a solid game, so we're not counting this one out and we're sure not look to throw it away. We're looking to go out fighting."
The Big Green's game against Holy Cross kicks off at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Worcester, Mass.
