"Winning is necessary to get the conference schedule off to a good start," head coach Buddy Teevens said. "Penn was ranked number one in the preseason after they were conference champions last year."
Both teams enter Saturday's game after losing the previous week.
Dartmouth (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) lost a close game 31-28 when the team fumbled the kick-off following the College of the Holy Cross' game-winning field goal with 51 seconds left. Penn (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) enters having been blown out by Villanova University 35-6, snapping Penn's five-game winning streak dating back to last season.
Villanova scored 21 points against Penn in the first half and never looked back. Penn was held to 20 yards rushing on 30 attempts and was forced to abandon the run and throw the ball to get back in the game.
Dartmouth's defense may catch a break, since Penn's offense is averaging 320 yards per game, almost 200 less than what Dartmouth has allowed per game.
Senior Billy Ragone commands Penn's passing attack, but he was held to 18 completions out of 35 attempts for 192 yards against Villanova, along with a touchdown and interception each. Ragone's touchdown pass gave him his 50th career touchdown, and extended his streak to eight consecutive starts with a passing touchdown.
"He's a championship-winning quarterback that can hurt you with his arm and his legs," Big Green free safety and co-captain Garrett Waggoner '13 said.
Neither Ragone nor his backup, senior Ryan Becker, have displayed dual-threat capabilities this season, combining for negative-five yards, after taking into account three sacks for 23 yards. Last season, however, Ragone ran 476 yards on 114 carries and four touchdowns, making him second on the team.
"They played well the first game," Penn head coach Al Bagnoli said during a press conference. "I think we need to be careful about how we ask them to run the football. Physically is one thing, psychologically's another thing, who you're playing against. So I think with more games under their belt, we'll let Billy be himself."
Ragone was pulled out when the game was out of reach, giving Becker time under center. Becker faired even worse against Villanova's defense, going 5-of-10 for 87 yards and two interceptions.
Villanova capitalized on four game-crippling turnovers and a poor showing from the run game by Penn. So far, Penn is averaging 60 yards per game and 1.7 yards per carry, down from last year's average of four yards per carry and 149 yards per game.
Dartmouth fields an explosive offense led by Dalyn Williams '16 and Dominick Pierre '14, capable of keeping up with any team in the Ivy League.
Pierre leads Dartmouth in rushing with 217 yards and four touchdowns, followed closely by Williams with 206 yards and a single touchdown. Penn allowed two Villanova running backs to run for over 100 yards each, which means Pierre and Williams should have plenty of opportunity to surpass 100 yards.
Williams' strength at running the read-option has opened up plenty of opportunities in the passing game. On the year, Williams is 43-of-70 for 501 yards passing and three touchdowns, spreading the ball to 11 different receivers.
"Dalyn is a dual-threat QB who has hurt people with his legs and he's hurt people with his arm," Bagnoli said. "He's playing with some confidence on the road. I suspect we'll have our hands full."
Williams has yet to throw an interception in his collegiate career, but an ill-advised fumble last week was one of the many big plays that allowed Holy Cross to retake the momentum and win.
The past two games, Dartmouth outscored its opponents 55 to 31 through the first three quarters. Dartmouth's weakness this season has been its inability to finish games, allowing the other team back in the game in the fourth quarter, being outscored 23-3.
"Defense has definitely been a focus this week," Teevens said. "Last week, Holy Cross had the big 60-yard run in the second half, and we can't allow big plays like that. We need to limit them and put our offense in a position to score."
Penn has been just as bad at scoring in the fourth quarter, allowing 21 points while failing to score a single point.
Penn is averaging 2.5 giveaways per game, which means Dartmouth's defense may have the opportunity to capitalize on opportunities and put the offense back on the field.
"We just have to focus on taking the game one play at a time, not the whole game itself," Waggoner said. "They have a strong offensive line, a great quarterback, a stable of running backs. They're the defending Ivy championship, which means we need to take advantage and win every play of the time."
Penn possesses an excellent pass rush, which has generated 3.5 sacks per game and should put more pressure on Williams than he has faced so far. If Dartmouth's offensive line is unable to prevent the pass rush from hitting Williams, Penn may force Williams into committing an uncharacteristic mistake.
"Dartmouth is kind of an anomaly," Bagnoli said. "They've won their last seven or so on the road but lost their last five at home. This makes them Road Warriors,' and they run the same kind of offense Villanova does."
Dartmouth's showdown with Penn will kick-off at 1 p.m. and will be streamed online.
