Gridders Will Face Hurting Big Green

Both Harvard and Dartmouth enter this Saturday's Ivy League game in Hanover with identical records, 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Ivy League. That, however, is where the similarities between the two football teams begin and end.

The Big Green and the Crimson are about as different as their nicknames.

Dartmouth entered the season expecting to challenge Penn for the Ivy crown. Harvard entered with a new coach, hoping merely to regain a spot in the league's upper echelon.

Dartmouth has lost its three games by a total of nine points. Harvard has lost a close one to Cornell, but has also suffered an 11-point defeat to Princeton and a 19-point thrashing from Bucknell.

Dartmouth comes into Saturday's game with the third-best defense and worst offense in the Ivy League. Harvard features the third-best offense and the worst defense in the Ancient Eight.

Today, Dartmouth students will have no classes, a bonfire and a peprally to get fired up for the match with the Crimson. Here at Harvard, few people know or care where Dartmouth is.

All of this said, Saturday's game promises to be exciting. It is crucial for both teams in salvaging a spot in the Ivy top four.

For Dartmouth the game is especially important. With a loss, the Big Green could find themselves in the league cellar. For a team that has won the Ivy League title three out of the last four years, that position is unthinkable.

A win for the Big Green might be very tough to come by, as Dartmouth, looking like a particularly messy episode of ER: it has been plagued with myriad injuries this season.

Most notable of the Big Green's ailments is the twisted knee of running back Pete Oberle. Oberle was the Ivy League's second-ranked rusher and was having a remarkable season before going down against Cornell last weekend. Oberle is out for an indefinite period of time.

Dartmouth's other key injuries have come to quarterback Ren Riley, who broke his wrist, and offensive lineman Brian Larsen, who fractured an ankle. Neither will play Saturday.

The Big Green have forged on despite these setbacks, receiving key contributions from younger players to help fill the holes.

At quarterback, Jerry Singleton has done a more-than-adequate job filling in for Riley. Against Cornell, his second career start, Singleton completed 24 of 30 passes for 259 and two touchdowns.

The gap in Dartmouth's rushing game will be filled by a committee of rushers led by sophomore Ambrose Garcia and freshman Zach Ellis. Garcia and Ellis have combined for over two hundred yards on the ground in limited action so far this season.

The Big Green receiving corps is led by seniors David Shearer and Andre Grant, who have combined for 35 catches and almost 600 yards this season.

The Dartmouth's defense, though questionable coming into the game, has been the bright spot for the Big Green this season.

Dartmouth's defenders have allowed 20 points only once this season and are allowing less than 260 total yards a game.

The Big Green rushing defense, which is ranked 13th in Division 1-AA, has been especially tough, giving up just 106 yards a game.

Despite its consistency all season, the Dartmouth defense faltered on the ground last weekend, as it gave up 249 yards to Cornell as a team and 172 to Big Red star Chad Levitt.

Dartmouth has also shut down teams through the air, holding opponents to a 47 percent completion average and intercepting ten passes.

Standouts on the Big Green defense include linebacker Josh Bloom, who leads the team in tackles, and pass defenders Chris Boran, who has caught two interceptions and broken up five passes, and Brian White, who has garnered four interceptions and broken up five passes.

The Dartmouth kicking game is also solid, with Geoffrey Willison and Dave Regular sharing the place kicking duties and Willison also handling punts.

Willison has hit four of seven field goals on the season and punted the ball 39 yards on average.

For Harvard to succeed against Dartmouth, it must pound away at the Big Green defense as Cornell did last Saturday. If Levitt's performance for Cornell is any indication, the Crimson's Eion Hu could be in for a big Saturday.