Coming off its best performance of the season, the Dartmouth football team will travel to Cambridge, Mass., this weekend to take on the reigining Ivy League champion, Harvard, and attempt to string two wins together for the first time since 2003.
The game will be the 112th meeting between the two teams, with Harvard leading the all-time series, 62-45-5.
Dartmouth and Harvard squared off in a closed scrimmage earlier this year on Sept. 11. The Big Green kept the game close in the first half, but was ultimately overpowered by big plays in the second half.
Since the scrimmage, the Big Green has improved and matured as a team. Last week, Dartmouth put together its most complete performance in recent memory in a 28-6 victory over Columbia.
Harvard, however, will be a much tougher opponent than the Lions. The Crimson (4-2, 3-0 Ivy) is traditionally one of the strongest teams in the Ancient Eight and was picked to finish first in the league in the preseason media poll this year. The Crimson is currently tied for first place in the league with the University of Pennsylvania.
The Crimson boasts one of the most impressive and balanced offenses in the conference, averaging 26 points per game. Much of Harvard's success can be attributed to its offensive line, which features NFL prospect James Williams.
Harvard's line has been extremely effective this season in providing protection for quarterback Collie Winters. Its run blocking has also been strong, as Harvard's core of three running backs has averaged a combined 172 yards per game.
In order to contain the run, Dartmouth's defensive linemen must penetrate the bigger and more physical Harvard front. Although containing the run has been one Achilles' heel among many for the Big Green this season, the team did step up last week to limit the effectiveness of Columbia's touted ground attack.
Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens attributed this turnaround to a new defensive scheme, rotating several different players into the linebacker position throughout the game. This strategy allows for the development of several players at the position, including Garrett Wymore '13 and Alex Johns '11.
"We played 10 guys on the defensive front last game, spinning them through," Teevens said. "We were able to maintain our freshness through the course of the ball game. [Harvard] has one of, if not the best, offensive lines in the league. So we'll play a lot of guys, and we've got to play our responsibilities."
In addition to its rushing game, the Crimson's aerial attack is also a potent weapon.
Harvard has passed the ball effectively this season, and its three-pronged receiving core, featuring preseason All-American Matt Luft, boasts a significant advantage in both height and athleticism.
The Dartmouth secondary showed its ability to defend well against Columbia's passing game last week, breaking up numerous passes.
Safeties Pete Pidermann '10 and Anthony Diblasi '12 will need to have another strong outing this weekend to limit Luft's effectiveness.
On offense, Dartmouth will need to pick up where it left off last week and establish a running game early.
Nick Schwieger '12, who was named FCS Offensive Player of the Week by The Sports Network last week, will have to break through the Harvard line with the same consistency he showed against Columbia.
Much of Schwieger's success can be attributed to the Big Green offensive line, which was also impressive last weekend. Against Columbia, the line consistently made holes for Schwieger and protected quarterback Conner Kempe '12.
"Last game, I got touched twice and one was my fault," Kempe said. "Any time you can walk away from a game and not have any hurries or sacks, that's a perfect offensive line game. They open up a lot of options for our offense."
The performance of the offensive line will once again be critical this week if Schwieger is going to run well. If Dartmouth can establish the run early, the offense may try to utilize play action passing and have Kempe use his arm to pick up yards.
Dartmouth will try to carry the momentum from last week's win into this week's game.
Teevens said that he believes the win on Saturday has helped the morale of the team and will help the team to put together a solid performance against Harvard
"Having a victory on Saturday helped the mental state of our team," Teevens said. "Now, [the team] realizes that if you play well, play together and play as a team, good stuff will happen. We played a physical football game and we won by a decent margin. That's something that we can take with us and build on."
Kick-off for Dartmouth's contest against the Ivy League co-leader is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Saturday in Cambridge, Mass.
