Hanover
That setback left Dartmouth 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Ivy League play. Undefeated Columbia has yet to meet Yale or Harvard, while the Big Green closes with the Crimson, Cornell, Brown and Princeton. Bottom line: Claiming a share of the Ancient Eight crown doesn’t seem at all out of reach.
“We can only control what we control, but we’ve got to come out swinging,” said Dartmouth cornerback Danny McManus, whose team has experienced first-half troubles all fall. “We still have a chance to run the table.”
Two years ago, Dartmouth lost at Harvard in a clash of unbeatens. However, the Crimson were upset by Pennsylvania on the season’s penultimate weekend, which eventually allowed the Big Green and Quakers to edge into a three-way tie for the title.
“I hope we’ll be singing the alma mater Saturday when we find out that Yale beat Columbia,” McManus said with a smile.
Dartmouth was while doing just that at Brown in 2015 that word reached the Big Green that Harvard had stumbled.
Upon further review, Buddy Teevens is a little more miffed. The Dartmouth head coach had a rather muted reaction to the closing seconds of the Columbia game, when the game officials’ ineptitude at spotting the football meant the final 13 seconds leaked off the clock with the hosts waiting to run a final play from the Lions’ 17-yard line.
“Thirteen seconds to set the ball is ridiculous,” Teevens said. “It was a comedy of errors that didn’t have to happen. The (referee) should have stopped the (clock), and we should have had one more play.”
Teevens said he’s heard from plenty of folks who want to know how to complain to league administrators and why the Ivies don’t use instant replay for football games. The answer seems to be that several schools insist they can’t afford the technology upgrades required.
Teevens said he sent video of the chaos to the Ivy League office but never heard back and doesn’t expect to.
“It was mishandled, but not by intent,” the coach said. “The officials are good guys, and they’re not trying to (work) anyone over. But after I watched the tape, it was clearly mishandled, and I was a little more upset.”
Teevens noted that the Ivy League consistently loses its best officials to higher leagues, requiring others to be hired and become used to the speed of play and thought in their new positions.
“The cream of the crop goes off to the ACC or the SEC or the Big Ten every year,” he said. “I don’t think anyone’s ever completely satisfied.”
This week’s rain has highlighted yet again Dartmouth’s lack of a modern indoor practice facility. The football team remained on Memorial Field during repeated downpours on Tuesday while Leverone Field House hosted other athletic teams. Even if the gridiron boys work out in Leverone, its limited turf space alters which drills can be run.
“Try as you might, on a day like this you can’t throw the ball well,” Teevens said. “Guys were dropping balls. Exchanges were a little problematic … your ability to execute your techniques is off. We will keep our fingers crossed that we’ll get the new facility.”
Dartmouth wants to construct such a building on an open field next to the Boss Tennis Center. However, the issue is tangled in a legal battle involving the college, neighbors and the town of Hanover.
Numerous NFL scouts have found their way to Dartmouth practices the past few years, resulting in graduates like Nick Schwieger, Vernon Harris, Folarin Orimolade and Charlie Miller spending time with pro teams. Miller recently was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad.
A new wrinkle in the genre appeared this week, however, when a bird dog from the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts arrived. Big Green senior running back Ryder Stone is from Alberta, and classmate and placekicker David Smith is from Quebec.
Stone “has said it has been one of his life’s goals to play professional football,” Teevens said. “From what we have heard … he stands a very good chance. He’s a good fit for that game. He can catch, he can run, he can block. He’s a tough guy, and he stays healthy.”
Notes: Saturday’s noon game can be viewed on NESN. … McManus is playing with two pins that were surgically inserted into a finger after it was broken two weeks ago at Sacred Heart. He’ll have another surgery after the season to remove them. … Neither receiver Drew Hunnicutt nor guard John Kilcommons are expected to play Saturday. The juniors are battling knee injuries. … It’s not looking like Cameron Skaff, the Big Green’s starting tight end last season, will make it onto the field this fall. The senior, who has six touchdowns among his 23 career receptions, suffered a concussion last spring and hasn’t suited up since. … Harvard (3-3) began the season with senior Joe Viviano at quarterback, but he’s been replaced by freshman Jake Smith, a product of Phillips Exeter (N.H.) Academy who previously helped his Michigan high school team win 69 consecutive games. He’s the first rookie to start under center for the Crimson since 2001. … Former Dartmouth quarterback and 2016 graduate Ernest Evans is continuing rehabilitation at a hospital in his native Houston after suffering a skull fracture and brain injury in Santa Monica, Calif., in June. It’s unknown how Evans was injured late at night near that city’s famous pier. He has limited motion and is scheduled for a Nov. 6 surgery to close two openings in his skull that were created to relieve pressure on his brain. A site for donations to help Evans’ family can be accessed by typing his name at gofundme.com.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.