Football Looks to Rebound Against Dartmouth

Last week, the Harvard football team suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of Princeton in triple overtime. It may not get much easier for the Crimson this Saturday when Dartmouth comes to town.

Although Harvard cruised to a 31-14 victory in the matchup last year, the Big Green (3-3, 2-1 Ivy) has proven its mettle against Ancient Eight foes so far this season and is currently tied with the Crimson for third place in the conference.

With each remaining game a must-win for Harvard’s hopes of an Ivy League championship, the Crimson (5-1, 2-1) will need to reset and defeat a Dartmouth squad that has potent playmakers on both sides of the ball.

“I think you’re going to learn just how resilient we are,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “Our kids have a tremendous amount of pride. Some years you lose a tough game like this, and you’ve got a maybe average opponent. We don’t have that luxury.”

Indeed, if the Crimson is looking to have a rebound game, it will have to earn it  –  by no means will the Big Green hand over a victory on a platter.

Dartmouth’s only conference loss has come in early October, when last year’s champion Penn finally punched the ball into the end zone in the fourth overtime period to end the longest game in Ivy League history.

The Big Green will roll into Cambridge with plenty of momentum, making matters even more difficult for a Harvard squad looking to regain its footing. Last week, Dartmouth cruised to a thumping, 56-0 victory over Columbia.

“[The Big Green] is a really great team,” said senior wide receiver Ricky Zorn. “We scrimmaged them in the preseason, so we know what to expect. We know it’s going to be a hard fought game, and we’re going to have to be playing our best football to beat them.”

Much of Dartmouth’s success this year can be attributed to its performance when it doesn’t have the ball, as the Big Green ranks number one in the Ivy League in both total defense and scoring defense. Last week, Dartmouth held the Lions to only five first downs, and it limited a capable Yale offense to just 264 yards in a 20-13 victory three weeks ago.

The losses of two key players to injury against Princeton will not help the Harvard offense this Saturday. Senior center David Leopard suffered a broken ankle, significantly weakening the ability of the offensive line to protect junior quarterback Conner Hempel. And sophomore receiver Andrew Fischer, whose speed gave the Crimson a potent deep threat, is out with a torn hamstring.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Dartmouth attack is fueled by its running game. Senior running back Dominick Pierre is averaging nearly 130 yards on the ground, highlighted by a 167-yard performance in the win over Yale. Harvard will look to ensure that Pierre does not have a repeat performance come Saturday.

“Our number one focus entering any game is stopping the run,” said senior defensive back D.J. Monroe. “That’s one of our goals for victories, is under 100 yards rushing for any running back. I’m sure the d-line will be getting after those guys down low in the gaps and making it harder to find lanes to run through.”

The Big Green boasts another playmaker in sophomore quarterback Dalyn Williams, who is a threat to run and pass and has accounted for 11 touchdowns in the team’s six games so far. One key of this weekend’s game will be the ability of the Crimson defense to keep the Big Green inside the hash marks.

“In a league that’s got a lot of really great quarterbacks, Dalyn Williams is probably the most athletic of all of them,” Murphy said. “Ivy League Rookie of the Year as a freshman, lightening quick, and we have to account for him on every single play.”

When Princeton quarterback Quinn Epperly found his receiver Roman Wilson in the corner of the end zone last Saturday, many Harvard players undoubtedly experienced a sick sense of déjà vu.

But if the Crimson has any intentions of keeping its goal of an Ancient Eight championship alive, it will need to temporarily discard that defeat from memory and fully focus on the tough task at hand this week.

“We’ve got four games left,” Zorn said. “Right now though, we’re focused on beating Dartmouth. We know that we might not be able to afford another loss. But to be able to win out we’ve got to win every single game, and that starts with the first game we have to play on Saturday versus Dartmouth.”

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at david.steinbach@college.harvard.edu.