Around the Ivies: Hanover in the Spotlight

I apologize in advance for going a little off-script here. This space is normally reserved for getting you up to speed on the state of Ivy League football outside the Harvard bubble. But doing that just doesn’t make sense this week.

To explain why, here is a quick quiz. Below are the records for each of the four Saturday matchups. Which do you think is the most interesting?

A) 6-0 vs. 5-1

B) 5-1 vs. 0-6

C) 3-3 vs 0-6

D) 3-3 vs 1-5

English concentrators, I’ll wait. Ok, got an answer? Yes, 6-0, 3-0 Ivy Harvard’s trip to 5-1, 3-0 Ivy Dartmouth this weekend is the only meaningful contest on paper, so that’s the game I will talk about first. Predictions for the other games will come after (Plus, this is the first time in the history of ever that Hanover was the center of anything, so it deserves recognition.).

Concerning the meaningfulness of this week’s game, the Big Green Athletic Department agrees.

“Dartmouth football hosts #18 Harvard on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in the biggest game at Memorial Field in 17 years,” the school’s athletics website reported this week.

For Harvard, this is the biggest game since last Saturday. That says a lot about the recent history of these two programs.

Wondering why Dartmouth was so specific about the “17 years?” Well that’s when Harvard coach Tim Murphy killed Big Green football. In 1997, Dartmouth was coming off an undefeated 10-0 season and had beaten the Crimson in five of the seven previous matchups. But Harvard routed the Big Green that day, 24-0, en route to Murphy’s first conference title. Since then, the Crimson has won a share of six more championships and beaten Dartmouth in 15 of 16 contests. The Big Green meanwhile went from 8-2 in ‘97 to 2-8 each of the next three seasons. It has not registered a seven-win season since.

Given all of that, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens has been watching Terminator for some tips on a project he’s been working on in his garage.

But maybe he’ll be able to finally let it go this weekend. The Big Green is back. It is 5-1 after handing Yale its only loss three weeks ago and skating by Columbia last Saturday.

Some of the most exciting players in the league wear green again.

Dual-threat quarterback Dalyn Williams has a big arm and a big propensity for breaking big plays. At 6’0”, 210 lbs., he’s also flat-out big.

Then there is explosive wideout Ryan McManus and linebacker Will McNamara, who is averaging two more tackles per game than anyone else in the league.

Murphy said it’s the most athletic, talented team he has seen in Hanover in a long, long time. And it will be the biggest test for Harvard before The Game—only matchups with 1-5 Penn and 0-6 Columbia stand in between.

So will the Crimson get to Week 10 with a chance of going undefeated for the first time in 10 years? I think so.

Dartmouth’s record and star players are eye-catching, but there are concerns too. The Big Green only beat Holy Cross by three at home and Columbia by 20 (that sounds like a lot, but it is the closest game the Lions have played this year). Harvard has posted better offensive and defensive numbers in terms of yards, and with quarterback Conner Hempel back healthy behind a still-dominant offensive line, expect that gap to grow wider Saturday.

Dartmouth has relied on a bend-but-don’t-break defense. Saturday, the Crimson will break them, and Teevens will head back to Terminator for more clues about how to go back in time to wipe out the last 15 years.

Prediction: Harvard 41, Dartmouth 27

Now for those other games…

PRINCETON AT CORNELL

After last week’s 49-7 loss to Harvard, Princeton (3-3, 2-1 Ivy) would probably fall to No. 4 in the Ivy Power Rankings, but it is far from out of contention with games against Yale and Dartmouth remaining. Look for the Tigers to lick their wounds this week and lick Cornell (0-6, 0-3 Ivy) in the process.

Prediction: Princeton 45, Cornell 6

YALE AT COLUMBIA

The battle of the Blues will probably end with the Lions (0-6, 0-3 Ivy) singing the Blues, again. The much more competitive contest will take place on The Daily Spectator’s website afterwards, where the comment section is always a treat. Here are a couple from last week after a 27-7 loss to Dartmouth:

Anonymous: “Horace Mann could beat this Mangurian coached team. Please wake up alumni and demand change immediately!” (I assume he is referencing the K-12 independent school, but I’m also not sure Columbia could score on the 19th-century education reformer. Despite graduating from Brown in 1819, I bet Mann still has a couple years of eligibility left.)

They weren’t all negative though.

Rich Forzani ’66: “Whatever the reason, I was finally able to see passes caught, interceptions made, and runs stopped. It looked like a football game and I hope it continues.”

Some even complimented the opponents too.

Anonymous: “Classy of Dartmouth not to run up the score”

There is also a 610-word rant that I considered pasting instead of writing anything this week, but i’ll let you enjoy it in context. I suppose it makes sense that the fans have gotten so good at commenting after so much losing. They’ll get another week of practice this week.

Prediction: Yale 55, Columbia 10

BROWN AT PENNSYLVANIA

Somehow, this battle is the second best of the week. The Bears (3-3, 1-2 Ivy) have given up 20 points in regulation just once (22 to Harvard), and they shutout Penn (1-5, 1-2 Ivy) last year, 27-0. Another performance like that one would cement Brown as the fifth-best team in the league. That’s as much intrigue as I can provide here.

Prediction: Brown 21, Penn 13