Dartmouth Football

Legendary Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens died Tuesday at the age of 66.

The school announced he died approximately six months after he suffered significant injuries from a bicycle accident in March.

"Our family is heartbroken to inform you that our beloved 'coach' has peacefully passed away surrounded by family," the Teevens family said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the injuries he sustained proved too challenging for even him to overcome. Throughout this journey, we consistently relayed the thoughts, memories, and love sent his way. Your kindness and letters of encouragement did not go unnoticed and were greatly appreciated by both Buddy and our family.

"We are confident and take comfort in the fact that he passed away knowing how much he was loved and admired."

We are saddened to share the passing of legendary Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach Buddy Teevens ’79. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones.

Community Letter 🔗:https://t.co/0yJD61QyGX
Story 🔗: https://t.co/qwS3FdBDZc pic.twitter.com/ak3XppOg2D

— Dartmouth Athletics (@dartmouthsports) September 20, 2023

The school's announcement explained he was riding his bike in Florida when he was struck by a pickup truck. In addition to spinal cord injuries he suffered, his right leg was amputated.

Teevens was already a Dartmouth legend even before he became the school's all-time winningest football coach at 117-101-2.

He played quarterback and led the Big Green to the conference title as the Ivy League Player of the Year in 1978. He also lettered in hockey as a multi-sport athlete.

He first became the school's football coach from 1987 through 1991 before taking opportunities elsewhere but eventually returned to his alma mater as coach in 2005. Teevens led the Big Green to a share of the Ivy League championship in 1990 and an outright conference title in 1991 during his first stint and then a share of the conference championship in 2015, 2019 and 2021 during his second stint.

Yet he was known for more than just winning on the field.

Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic noted he was the first collegiate coach to eliminate live tackling at practices in an effort to keep players safer. He also helped develop the Mobile Virtual Player, which is a remote-controlled tackling dummy that has become more widespread at the collegiate and NFL levels.

What's more, he became the first college football coach to hire women as full-time staff members and participated in the NFL Women's Careers in Football Forum every year at the NFL scouting combine.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recognized his impact on the game during the most recent NFL draft:

NFL and college coaches honor Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens at the NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/f8TFgASo7g

— NFL (@NFL) April 27, 2023

Sammy McCorkle has served as the team's interim coach this season.

Dartmouth president Sian Leah Beilock and athletic director Mike Harrity said the team will still play Saturday's game against Lehigh because that is what Teevens would have wanted.

Teevens is survived by his wife, Kirsten, their children Lindsay and Buddy Jr., and their four grandchildren.

Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens had his right leg amputated and suffered a spinal cord injury when he was hit by a car while riding a bike last month.

Kirsten Teevens, Buddy's wife, announced the injuries her husband sustained in an update about his recovery posted on Dartmouth's athletic website:

"We would like to thank everyone for the incredible outpouring of love and support for Buddy. It has been nothing short of amazing and we are so grateful. As Buddy navigates through the healing of his injuries, he is experiencing many positive improvements. Unfortunately, as a result of the accident, Buddy's right leg was amputated due to the severity of the injury. He is alert and communicating with us and ready for transfer to a premier rehab facility to continue healing. Spinal cord injuries are challenging, and if anybody is up for the challenge, it is Buddy. We appreciate your continued respect of our privacy as we navigate this ongoing recovery process as a family."

Kirsten previously told Tris Wykes of the Valley News on March 20 the incident occurred as the couple were biking home from a restaurant after having dinner in St. Augustine, Florida.

"He has sustained serious injuries and is currently hospitalized," Kirsten Teevens wrote in a text message. "He is a healthy man and hopefully he will have a full recovery. We are very appreciative of all the support and the outpouring of love."

According to Wykes, a preliminary crash report from the Florida Highway Patrol described Buddy's injuries were described as "critical" and it occurred around 8:40 p.m. local time as he was attempting to cross the main beach thoroughfare along the Atlantic coast.

Any additional updates on Teevens' condition will be provided by the family and included on Dartmouth's athletic website.

Teevens, 66, is in his second stint as Dartmouth's head football coach. He returned to the program in 2005 after previously coaching the Big Green from 1987 to 1991.

In addition to his work at Dartmouth, Teevens had stints as a head coach at Maine, Tulane and Stanford. He has a 151-178-2 career record with five Ivy League championships.

Teevens also played quarterback at Dartmouth from 1975 to 1978. He led the program to a conference title in his final season with a 6-1 record in Ivy League play.

How did the nation's first female coach in Division I football land a job? Has the Notre Dame playoff push already started? What are the must-watch games for Week 6? Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer has the answers to those questions and more in his weekly college football notebook, the Thursday Tailgate.

                    

The original intent was not to make history. In fact, Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens had no idea his decision to hire a woman as a full-time coach would be historic at all.

When he first met Callie Brownson in summer 2017 at the Manning Passing Academy, where she worked alongside 15 other female coaches at the camp's first women's coaching clinic, he was impressed. Then he was curious—enough to offer her a summer 2018 internship at Dartmouth.

A few months later, Brownson is still at Dartmouth. Not as an intern, a label she has since shed, but as an offensive quality control coach and the first full-time female coach in Division I football.

"It really became a no-brainer," Teevens says. "It was her personality, her confidence in meetings and her heart. I didn't know she was the first one. I just knew she was a quality hire that would make our program better. Callie fit exactly what we're looking for."

For Brownson, the path to Hanover, New Hampshire, began in Alexandria, Virginia, where she played youth football as a 10-year-old and developed a love for the sport. But nurturing that love proved to be difficult at Mount Vernon High School, as her attempts to play were routinely denied.

"The last week of junior year, I came to the coach and told him I was going to try out as a senior," Brownson recalls of her last attempt. "I didn't care if you ever put me on the field, but I was going to be on the football team. I didn't want to be the kicker. I wanted to play. And he laughed at me; it was a no."

Eventually Brownson secured a roster spot on the D.C. Divas of the Women's Football Alliance, playing for them from 2010 through 2017 as a safety and running back. She was a five-time captain and four-time WFA All-American. She also won two gold medals for Team USA.

Throughout her time as a player for the national team, Brownson worked at various football camps, and that sparked her love for coaching. Entering her late 20s, she knew her playing career wouldn't last much longer. So in summer 2017, she interned in the New York Jets scouting department.

The following summer, after getting a taste of NFL life, she landed with Teevens. Players benefited from her influence so much that near the end of her two-week internship, they encouraged the Dartmouth coach to bring her on full time, which he did.

"People will say, 'Oh, you hired a woman.' No. I hired a coach, and I think that's important," Teevens says. "My responsibility is to bring in the best people to help put our team in a position to have success, and there's a variety of characteristics and traits you look for. She had every one of them."

Although most coaches in her position have months to acclimate to the system, terminology and routine, Brownson had less than a week. And still, there was comfort in the grind.

"I was fully submersed in everything," Brownson says. "It wasn't decorative, and this wasn't some sort of publicity stunt. I was there to work and learn and be a part of Dartmouth football."

From film study to recruiting to game-planning in meetings, Brownson has become an asset for Dartmouth, which is hoping to go 4-0 with a critical matchup against Yale this week.

While leagues such as the NBA and NFL have started to welcome women to the coaching ranks, Brownson's hire marks the continuation of a movement in Division I college football that began with the hiring of women to fill part-time coaching roles.

As for where this could lead, Brownson, 28, isn't thinking about what her life will look like in five years. She's focused on the present. "I want that ring," she says on the possibility of winning an Ivy League title in her first season as a coach.

And yet, she can't help but wonder if her presence and influence will help pave the way for something more, which is a responsibility she does not take lightly.

"People ask me all the time," Brownson says, "Do I feel pressure to do a good job? Of course; it's my job. And there are others out there like me that want to do this, and I want to make sure I leave no doubt that it's a good decision to hire women and to bring them on board."

          

The Notre Dame College Football Playoff Push Is Upon Us

The takes are coming. In fact, they are already here. Tell me if you've already heard this five weeks into the season: Notre Dame is this close to the College Football Playoff. Might as well write it down in pen. Screw the pencil.

Indeed, Notre Dame has a playoff-friendly schedule. Barring injury or the unforeseen, Brian Kelly's bunch should be favored in all its remaining games. The biggest obstacle could come this week at Virginia Tech, which recovered nicely Saturday against Duke after a stunning upset loss to Old Dominion the previous week.

The hardest game after that is…maybe the finale at USC? At home against Syracuse or Florida State? Maybe at Northwestern?

Just by assessing the schedule—and the lack of a conference championship game—it's easy to see why so many have started to connect Notre Dame to the postseason.

The Irish are a fine team. Ian Book has looked fabulous at quarterback since he took over starting duties in Week 4. The defense, anchored by lineman Jerry Tillery, who leads the nation in sacks with seven, has played well.

But this sport rarely conforms to the blueprint. You should know this by now. We see, we react, we overreact, we adjust and then we eventually overreact again.

Love you, college football.

             

Let's Talk About When It Would Be Appropriate to Rank Football Teams

Preseason polls are bad. Unnecessary. Manipulative. But they impact the way we rank and evaluate teams during the season, as certain programs and previously ranked squads have a much easier time moving into or higher in the Top 25.

Consider a team like Colorado. The No. 21 Buffaloes are ranked for the first time this season and are the only undefeated team in the Pac-12.

The Buffaloes aren't higher than No. 20 Michigan State, which has looked utterly average, and No. 18 Oregon, which has a loss, because they weren't ranked to start the season.

There's a reason we do preseason polls, of course. It's the same reason we put out the Top 25 each weekend. They create controversy and interest, and that's good for business. But to be fair, we shouldn't even consider ranking football teams until after four weeks.

That's still a small sample size, which is why the College Football Playoff committee doesn't meet for another month. There's no point to the rankings before then—other than the whole money-making component, which is, you guessed it: important.

          

Five Games to Watch This Weekend

Here's what you should watch this weekend, summarized in tweet-length form (all times Eastern):

No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 19 Texas (Saturday, noon): Will we be able to finally write "Texas is back" and mean it come Saturday afternoon? Regardless of the outcome, a lot of food will be fried outside the Cotton Bowl at the Texas State Fair, and we can all celebrate this rare, glorious early start.

No. 5 LSU at No. 22 Florida (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.): If the Tigers can pull this off, Ed Orgeron's squad will have beaten three top 25 teams in the first six weeks, with two of those wins coming on the road. But if LSU loses to a surprising, surging Florida team, some will want him fired. Coaching college football is hard.

No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 24 Virginia Tech (Saturday, 8:00 p.m.): The Hokies, a few weeks removed from a loss to Old Dominion—a team that lost to Liberty by roughly 600 points—will attempt to run Notre Dame's College Football Playoff RV off the road. It sounds crazy enough that it just might work.

No. 13 Kentucky at Texas A&M (Saturday, 7:00 p.m.): The No. 13 next to Kentucky's name is unnerving and lovely all at once. As is the fact that the Wildcats have the nation's No. 3 scoring defense, which is better than Alabama's No. 5 unit. If we are dreaming this football tomfoolery, I hope we stay asleep awhile longer.

No. 23 NC State vs. Boston College (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.): Is North Carolina State good? What about Boston College? These questions may not interest you, but we'll gain intel on them in what probably is the most interesting, non-interesting game set for Saturday.

                

What Else to Watch This Weekend

First: Laviska Shenault Jr., The Best-Kept Secret in College Football

Outside the football surgery Tua Tagovailoa is performing for Alabama, I'm not sure a football player has been more enjoyable to watch than Laviska Shenault Jr., Colorado's phenomenal sophomore wideout.

Yes, it's a Colorado-heavy week. But Shenault has double-digit catches in three of the Buffaloes' first four contests and leads the nation in receiving yards per game.

He's a deep threat. He's deadly on screens. He can also run the ball every now and then.

The Buffs draw Arizona State at home this week, which is enough reason to tune in. But do yourself a favor and take in the full Shenault experience. He's special.

          

Second: Will Washington State Finish a Game With Rushing Yards?

Mike Leach did it again, as he added the latest in a long line of quirky achievements to his coaching mantle. His Washington State Cougars won a conference game last Saturday over Utah by rushing for a grand total of zero yards.

Not one. Not negative yardage. Zero. And, again, his team won, 28-24.

For the season, Washington State is ranked No. 129 in total rushing yards, ahead of only San Jose State. This week, the Cougars draw Oregon State, which is No. 128 in rushing defense and allowing 6.9 yards per carry.

Something's gotta give. You'd like to think this will result in a big rushing output for Wazzu.

Leach, though, usually has other plans.

            

Third: Cole McDonald Stat-Watching Continues

I tried to tell you a few weeks ago to watch the 2-star Hawaii quarterback with dreadlocks who was posting huge numbers. Since then, Hawaii starter Cole McDonald has continued to be awesome—throwing for 24 touchdowns, rushing for two more and tossing only two interceptions in six games.

This week, McDonald is playing Wyoming, the nation's No. 100 passing defense.

Prediction: There will be (more) points.

          

Gambling Locks of the Week

Last Week: 2-4 

Season to date: 13-15

We were trending toward an average 3-3 reboot week when Arizona's kicker botched what would've been a spread-covering extra point in the final moments against USC with a slice that looked like one of my tee shots. That was a suboptimal way to lose against the spread, though I've since had enough time and therapy to recover.

I've emotionally turned my attention toward Week 6, which has plenty of lovely wager potential. Here are the picks, using lines provided by the Westgate odds on OddsShark.

Virginia Tech (+6) vs. Notre Dame: For the second week in a row, let's take the team playing its backup quarterback that lost to Old Dominion not long ago. The Hokies are live.

Texas A&M (-6) vs. Kentucky: This line feels…odd. Kentucky is on fire and getting points. Looks too good to be true, yes? It usually is.

Mississippi State (+3.5) vs. Auburn: This game could be ugly—perhaps decided by a field goal either way. Give me the points. The under doesn't sound bad, either.

Florida (+2) vs. LSU: Florida suddenly looks like one of college football's better teams, which is as weird to type as it probably is to read.

Pittsburgh (+4.5) vs. Syracuse: Behold the ol' "So You Just Blew What Would've Been a Remarkable Upset and Now You're Going to Lose to a Bad Team on the Road" special.

Utah (+5.5) vs. Stanford: This is an spot for Stanford, which seems like a tired football team after an eventful couple of weekends. Utah will keep it close enough.

                      

Adam Kramer covers college football for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @KegsnEggs.

Rapp, Williams, and Dete...all gone in 2009.

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Dartmouth begins its spring football season today, and that makes this day as good as any to begin my quick look back/quick look ahead assessment of the Ivy football teams.

Note that this is not the kind of in-depth preseason predictions and analyses I usually work up every August. This is more of a "where are they right now?" type of thing.

I'll do these in reverse order based on the 2008 standings. So again, let's start with Dartmouth.


1. Looking back, did Dartmouth deserve to go 0-10?

At this time last year, I was super impressed with then rising-senior RB Milan Williams. I thought he could lift the Big Green into the middle of the pack in the Ivies. But he was banged up, (again), a bit this past year, and the offensive line was just obliterated by injury.

Of course, it's hard to say anyone "deserves" to go winless for an entire season. We Columbia fans know how hard that is, and it doesn't get any easier no matter how often it happens to your team.

But for a proud program like Dartmouth to literally hit rock bottom, it must be especially difficult. The Big Green still have the most Ivy titles under their belt since the league was formed in 1956.

However, this is not about what going 0-10 feels like. It's about whether Dartmouth was really that much worse than all of its opponents in 2008.

The rough answer is: yes.

The numbers don't lie. Dartmouth's points allowed total was almost three times as much as the Big Green scored all season. That's something very reminiscent of the losing streak years at Columbia when the Lions' opponents tripled, or almost tripled the Columbia output in '85, '86, and '87—those were all 0-10 seasons.

Compare that to the last 0-10 team in Ivy history, the 1992 Brown Bears, who were "only" outscored by a little more than double their offensive output that year. In other words, this was just a very overmatched Big Green team week in and week out.

Dartmouth's two best chances for 2008 wins actually came on the road. They had a good chance to beat the Lions in Columbia's eventual 21-13 win, (that 8-point final deficit would be the closest loss of the year for the Big Green), and they tested Penn at Franklin Field in what turned out to be a 23-10 defeat to the Quakers.

Other than that, it wasn't even close. And don't bother looking at the stats pages for relief, you won't find it there.

The worst stat? The Big Green averaged less than 44 yards rushing per game. I don't care if you have Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, John Jefferson and Kellen Winslow in your passing attack, you can't win with running like that.

The defense wasn't much better, allowing a whopping 231 rushing yards and 220 passing yards per game.


2. Is there good reason for some optimism?

Some of the freshmen pressed into emergency duty did pretty well last year and they should provide some needed experience for 2009. Rising sophomores Connor Kempe at QB, Austen Fletcher on the O-line, Nick Schwieger at RB, and corner Shawn Abuhoff will be seasoned nicely for 2009.

The incoming freshmen recruits look to be at least a good-sized bunch. Pushing Dartmouth around on the line of scrimmage won't be so easy this year or at least by 2010.

Also, the two opponents Dartmouth came closest to beating in 2008, Columbia and Penn, will both be visiting Hanover in 2009 where home field advantage could tip the scales in the Big Green's favor.

And finally, it does seem like Head Coach Buddy Teevens is fighting for his job. Another 0-10 or 1-9 record and he's probably gone. Teevens is not the kind of guy who takes things lying down. He's a doer, and his enthusiasm should boil over to the rest of the team somehow.


3. Is there a reason to be pessimistic?

There are quite a few.

Freshmen experience is nice, but it doesn't always translate into solid improvements in the following years. If I had to guess, guys like Fletcher and Abuhoff will get better, but I'm not so sure about Schwieger and Kempe, (but I would put Kempe as a better bet than Schwieger right now).

One good thing about youth is that it brings a lot of healthy enthusiasm to the table. The problem is, with the Big Green's murderous early season schedule, the team seems to run out of emotional gas after going 0-5 or 1-4 year after year in the 1st half. Colgate, UNH, Penn, Holy Cross and Yale are still the first five games of the year on 2009 calendar.

While Penn is an early home game, the Quakers seem to be a much better team than they were in early 2008. As for the Lions, they could have easily lost last year's game at home against Dartmouth, but in retrospect it should have been more of a rout. The Big Green's only TD came after a terrible call that should have resulted in a Dartmouth turnover. The battle on the line of scrimmage was really controlled by Columbia, and a gimme field goal attempt or two by the Lions was botched. That 21-13 final score could have easily been more like 27-6.

But more troubling than the schedule is the dearth of real stars at the key positions right now. Rising junior WR/QB Tim McManus, (he's probably going to stay at WR this year for the most part), is the big exception, but none of the other receivers, running backs, QB's, or defenders grab much recognition. Pete Piederman at safety looks like their best returning defender, while guys like Ian Wilson, Andrew Dete, Joe Battaglia, and even Ryan Muttalib are lost to graduation.

I just don't see how 2009 can be anything but another rebuilding year in Hanover.

We'll check back again in August to see if anything's changed.

Tomorrow's "Quick Review/Preview": CORNELL

The talented Milan Williams hasn't had the blocking this year (CREDIT: Dartmouth Sports/Mark Washburn)


Lots of Ivy watchers are talking about how Columbia's 0-5 record is deceiving, and because every loss has been so close it's hard to get a real handle on the Lions.

But I would say getting a handle on Dartmouth is actually harder to do. Because even though most of the Big Green's losses have been by realtively large margins, the level of competition has been so high it's confusing when you try to pick out what this team's strengths and weaknesses truly are.

One number that jumps out at you is rushing defense, where Dartmouth is yielding 203 yards per game. But that's misleading, because the Big Green has faced a number of top-notch rushing attacks, including Yale, (with Mike McLeod having his best game of the season so far), Colgate, (with superstar runner Jordan Scott), and Penn, (with a healthy Mike DiMaggio who was out against Columbia).

By contrast, the Lions have faced really only two teams with dangerous runners

—Fordham and Princeton—and they had mixed results by giving up too much yardage to the Rams' Xavier Martin while shutting down the Tigers' Jordan Culbreath. Towson's relatively weak running attack was surprisingly potent against Columbia in week two, while Lafayette's great rusher Maurice White went out with an injury early in the game at Wien Stadium.

Dartmouth is also giving up a hefty 255 yards passing per game, but that number is skewed by the fact that the Big Green have already had to face two excellent passing attacks in UNH and Holy Cross. Strip out those two games and the average passing yards allowed is a much more decent 208 yards per contest.

So I don't think the Dartmouth defense is as weak as the stats would indicate. But because the Big Green did give up a hefty 286 passing yards to Penn and it surrendered the most yards this season on the ground to Mike McLeod.

I'm also not convinced it's the kind of unit that will shut down the Lions offense anywhere near as well as Lafayette and Penn have the last two weeks. If Columbia's "O" is able to get the kinks out and play more like it did in the first three weeks of the season, there's a chance for a big day here.

Offensively, the number that jumps out at you is Dartmouth's paltry 57 yards per game rushing. That stat is not as deceiving as the Big Green came into 2008 with a young offensive line and a spate of injuries up front has made things even worse. But mitigating that stat somewhat is the fact that Dartmouth has faced some tough run defenses in Penn (although Columbia had little trouble running against the Quakers in the first half), and Yale (which is playing very well on defense overall this season).

Strip out those two games and the Big Green is averaging a more decent, but still awful, 81 yards per game on the ground.

But that's a little deceiving too. He isn't getting great blocking, but Milan Williams is still one of the best runners in the Ivies, and he only needs one or two good plays to hurt you. If he's healthy, you can't sleep on the Dartmouth running game.

Speaking of deceiving, Buddy Teevens has his offense spreading out the ball and using trickery in the passing game. Quarterback Alex Jenny is doing a decent job as the starter, but the real good news in Hanover is that last year's starting QB is tearing it up as a wide receiver this year.

Tim McManus has 28 receptions for 309 yards and three TD's even though he still takes a few snaps from center now and then. He can also go in motion and suddenly turn up in the backfield ready to take a snap. I don't envy the guys in the Columbia secondary who will have to cover him.

On the negative side, Jenny hasn't been able to get much going with his veteran receivers Phillip Galligan and Eric Paul, who is back after losing 2007 to injury. He has dumped off a number of passes to Williams coming out of the backfield, and that's potentially dangerous, but I'm sure Teevens wishes he had more deep threats.

The gutted offensive line has also allowed more sacks that they'd like to see with 12 opponent sacks so far this season. Columbia's defense seems to be doing a better job of getting to the QB lately, and that could be a key to the game.


Ike says: "Don't gripe about the rain, get in there and fight!"


Meanwhile, the weather forecast for Saturday is getting worse by the hour. Rain and wind could be a factor, and it was in the heavy rain at Towson that Columbia had its worst game against the run, (considering the relative competition), this season. I would say the bad weather might kill whatever advantages the Lions might have, but after getting through the monsoon at Towson I think this team is ready for anything.

Again, the real "X" factor is Teevens, from whom I expect the unexpected. The defense and special teams need to be especially prepared for everything including the kitchen sink.

For those of you who are thinking this game is a dud because both teams are 0-5, think again. After being dominated for decades by the Big Green, Columbia finally started a winning streak against Dartmouth in 1998.

Lately, things have broken the other way, and the Lions still have oodles of history to make up. I don't care if the Big Green come into Wien Stadium with a team recruited from the local Girl Scout troop, there is a lot of painful history to make up Saturday.

And I don't care if it's raining. Show up to the game and make sure you wave at the Versus cameras!

Offense

Critics will point to Dartmouth's question marks at QB and the offensive line, and they are a big concern. But Dartmouth has something that just about every other Ivy team doesn't, a gamer at tailback in Milan Williams.

Is Milan Williams going to make people forget about Mike McLeod at Yale? No. But I think he has a real shot at a 1,000-yard season. Columbia was lucky enough to play the Big Green last year during one of the two weeks Williams was out of the lineup.

As for the QB position, I think Alex Jenny, who played well in the Columbia game last year, will win the starting job and he has enough talent to lead.

The wide receiver corps does not instill the most confidence with a lot of new faces, but there is hope that Eric Paul will be back at 100 percent and challenge for All-Ivy status. Paul was out with an injury most of 2007. Phillip Galligan is the most experienced receiver back from last year.

Only one real starter is back on the offensive line, but he's a good one: Alex Rapp. This is a major concern, though, and this problem more than any other will probably keep the Big Green out of the top three in the final standings.

Defense

Another top player who missed 2007 due to injury is a key to Dartmouth's hopes on defense. Safety Ian Wilson should help the Big Green improve on the 266 yards passing allowed per game (seventh in the league) last season.

Like just about every other Ivy, there isn't a lot of star power on the defensive line, but I like Max Copello, who certainly had a nice game against the Lions last year.

Andrew Dete leads the linebackers along with Joe Battaglia, who is the top returning tackler on the team.

Special Teams

Senior Brian Scullin is a solid punter and Phil Galligan does a good job returning kickoffs (not so much on punts).

But the real question is at placekicker, where the Big Green needs to fill an open slot due to graduation. Frankly, Dartmouth has not been strong kicking the ball since Tyler Lavin graduated a few years back. Getting lucky here with a new kicker could help the Big Green in a big way...or vice versa.

Intangibles

Buddy Teevens is in the fourth year of his second stint at Dartmouth, and the team seems to be generally improving in a tough environment. I say tough because of the resurgence of Harvard as a power, and that always seems to take something away from Big Green when it comes to regional recruiting and support.

The Teevens factor should loom large though, as he is someone who has already seen the "big time" college football world and come back. Any fears that he will bolt again or leave this program in general are probably more unfounded here than any other Ivy.

Jake's Overall Take

Perhaps I am overrating Milan Williams, or perhaps I'm overrating the value of a potential 1,000-yard rusher. But it just seems like Dartmouth has something so many other Ivies don't, and I think Williams will step it up this year because he has something to prove.

But like every other team in this league other than Harvard, there are too many questions about the offensive and defensive lines to feel confident about picking the Big Green to do better than 5-5.

Game of the Day (Day 81)—December 1, 1935

Columbia 13, Dartmouth 7

Most Columbia fans know the name Al Barabas and its significance.  He was the back who scored the lone touchdown in Columbia's 7-0 win over Stanford in the 1934 Rose Bowl.

Barabas was just a sophomore then, and by his 1935 senior campaign he was a senior quarterback.  But by that season most of the Rose Bowl stars were gone, and the Lions stumbled to a 3-4-1 record before the final game of his career against another team known as the "Indians," Dartmouth.

Still, 20,000 people showed up to Baker Field to watch the Lions finish a year that had already featured thrilling games against the likes of Michigan, Syracuse, and Navy.

Columbia struck first in the opening quarter with a one-yard QB sneak by Barabas into the end zone on fourth and goal.  Barabas then kicked the PAT himself for the 7-0 lead.

Dartmouth knotted the score at seven early in the second quarter, and it remained that way until early in the fourth, when backup Lion junior halfback Joe Vollmer made a thrilling 63-yard dash for a touchdown that New York Times writer Joseph C. Nichols described in superb detail:

"(Vollmer) started around his own right end, apparently heading into a herd of Dartmouth tacklers.  Just as a number of eager arms reached out to grab him, the nimble Columbia back reversed himself, stepped inside his own tackle, and crossed into Dartmouth's zone.  There Vollmer was immediately surrounded by the Green secondaries and appeared to be stopped completely.  But Nick Pistolas came to his rescue with a herculean effort that took two men out and left the path to the goal clear for the ball-carrier, except for the safety man, Joe Kiernan.

Vollmer had to take his chance with the safety and he went to it.  He raced along the middle of the field as fast as his legs could carry him and Kiernan ran too, setting himself to gauge a tackle.  Near the Dartmouth 10-yard line Kiernan lunged at Vollmer, got his hands on one arm, but could not hold him.  Vollmer pulled away, still in stride, and raced to the goal line standing up."

I doubt even a major play in the Super Bowl would be described in so much detail nowadays.

Vollmer's run gave the Lions a 13-7 lead, but they fumbled the snap on the PAT try, and the Green fans had plenty of reasons for hope.  The Lions defense stepped up, however, and the lead held.

Columbia finished a respectable 4-4-1 with wins over VMI, Rutgers, Brown, and this most impressive win of all against the Indians.

For Barabas, it was a great way to finish his football career.  But his time at Columbia was not over...not by a long shot.  He still was a big star on the baseball team, and he had a strong senior campaign in the spring.

After graduation, he spent three years playing football with the old Brooklyn Dodgers and baseball with the Red Sox triple-A farm team in Little Rock, Arkansas.

He was a naval officer in World War II, and in 1960 returned to Columbia as executive director of the college's fund-raising office.  He retired in 1977 as one of the most successful fundraisers in school history (can you imagine asking alums for money after 1968?).

Al Barabas died in January, 1988.

The College Sporting News is out with its preseason football picks for the Ivy League.

Here's how it looks:

1. Harvard

2. Yale
3. Brown
4. Penn
5. Dartmouth
6. Cornell
7. Princeton
8. Columbia


Should I be worried that this prediction doesn't look all that bad to me?

 

I'll get to the Lions being picked last in a moment, but I too plan on picking Harvard, Yale, Brown and Penn as my top four when I release my detailed picks later this summer.

Unless something changes, Harvard looks like the team to beat with a great offensive line, experienced QB and overall strong defense.

Yale has a shot, because of star running back Mike McLeod, but the Elis have lost a lot of stars on the offensive and defensive lines.

Brown is everyone's favorite to surprise after last season's offensive explosion.

I am surprised by how low they placed Princeton and how high Dartmouth ended up, but you don’t know how hard these guys work on picking the Ivies after the first 2-3 teams.

As far as Columbia's last place prediction, well, you have to expect that after going 0-7 last year.

 

Any team starting a new QB is always a little suspect and Columbia will need to do that this season.

 

Of course, it's always nice to surprise people and the Lions certainly have the opportunity to do that in 2008.


Game of the Day

November 4, 1951

Columbia 21, Cornell 20


Yesterday, I highlighted Columbia's thrilling one-point upset win over Cornell in 1950. The Lions did it again a year later in Ithaca.

 

This time the final score was 21-20.

Once again, an extra point that wasn't the biggest role in Columbia's victory.

 

Big Red kicker, Bill Kirk, simply missed the PAT after Cornell had stormed back from a 21-7, fourth quarter deficit to make it 21-20.

But Columbia still needed an interception by Ben Mione a few minutes later to truly ice the game in front of 21,000 very cold fans at Schoelkopf Field.

Other of the other Lion stars were Wes Bomm, who broke Bill Swiacki's career receptions record with seven grabs on the day.

The Lions won despite being out gained 383-273 from scrimmage.

 

Columbia also lost two fumbles, but made up for it with three interceptions, including the game-clincher.

And the unsung heroes were the snow removal crews from “gorges” Ithaca.

 

The entire field and most of the stands were covered in heavy snow before the game, but the snow plows quickly made the field playable.