Gridders to Welcome Green Today

A green-clad Dartmouth horde will run onto the Stadium turf this afternoon to the jeers of partisan Harvard fans.

The Hanoverians with the numbered jerseys won't be players, however. They'll be Dartmouth freshmen, prancing around the field at halftime in one of those nutty rituals that only frigid places like Hanover can spawn.

It is difficult for most Harvard students to understand how important today's game is to the Big Green. Dartmouth students consider the Harvard game almost as significant as a fraternity pinning.

Those northerners must be desperate for fun, because Dartmouth enters the game with a 0-4 record (0-1 Ivy), little chance to challenge for the Ancient Eight crown, and a defense that has been unfavorably compared to a turnstile.

But let's start at the beginning of their problems.

Dartmouth's quarterback situation is a mess, as first-year starter and mediocre signalcaller Brian Stretch was injured last week. He will be replaced by junior David Gabianelli, who is still an unproven entity despite a decent outing last week.

Gabianelli will look to All-Ivy split end Scott Truitt for help, and may get some. But the Big Green backfield is weak, and the line, despite some frightening size in guys like tackle Slade Scuster (6-4, 270-lbs.), may not stack up against Harvard in the trenches.

For the third year in a row Dartmouth will enter the game with an unblemished 0-4 mark. However, the Big Green has won two of the past three Harvard games (and five of the last six). The Crimson has not beaten the Hanoverians at the Stadium since 1978.

"Dartmouth will come down storming," Harvard Coach Joe Restic predicted earlier this week. "They're a good football team."

Dartmouth is certainly better than its winless slate might indicate. Coach Joe Yukica annually deflates his squad's early-season record by playing perhaps the toughest non-league schedule in the Ivies.

In fact, the Big Green hasn't beaten a non-league opponent in its past 22 tries--and this year Dartmouth lost its non-Ivy games by getting outscored at a 2-1 clip.

"Those losses hurt us," former Boston College mentor Yukica said, noting that the lopsided losses frustrated his players and accentuated weakenesses. But he added, "We don't have a win to show for it, but that doesn't mean we're not playing hard or well."

And now Dartmouth, according to Yukica, is ready to bust out. The Greenies may be in for a let down, however, because Harvard (3-1, 2-0 Ivy), despite some minor disappointments, has looked very tough this season.

Led by quarterback Brian White--who had an outstanding outing last week against Cornell--and the always-dangerous Robert Santiago in the backfield, the Crimson has established itself as the highest-scoring team in the league.

Coach Joe Restic's famed Multiflex offense today will miss versatile tailback Rufus Jones, who twisted his knee last week and will watch the game from the sidelines. Nonetheless, a slew of capable runners--including Joe Pusateri, Terry Denson, and George Sorbara--will hungrily attack a Big Green defense that has given up almost six yards per rush.

The Crimson defense, inspired by leading tackler Brent Wilkinson, has been rock-solid in pressure situations this year. Linebacker Scott Collins and strong safety Cecil Cox--last week's ECAC Division I-AA player of the week--are the Gibraltars of Harvard's swarming 5-2.

Wilkinson, White & Crew won't be in the mood for any crazy college hijinks from the Big Green today. So Harvard will try to confine its antics to the gridiron, where the squad goes up against a team that always plays well in this traditional rivalry.