Hanover
Of course, No. 20 Dartmouth isn’t the only Ivy League team on the outside looking in. Should Princeton beat visiting Pennsylvania as expected today, the No. 11 Tigers will finish 10-0 but can’t play in the postseason. That’s because the Ivy League continues to prevent its gridiron champion from accepting a bid to the 24-team dance and also bans at-large berths.
The league makes an argument about missing class and/or exam time if football teams were eligible for the playoffs. But as Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens points out, his team misses fewer academic commitments than virtually any other program on campus. Those other squads all are allowed to compete in the national postseason.
No, the real reason is that the Ivy League presidents don’t want to send the message that they’ve abandoned age-old principle. After all, the league was founded in 1956 as a way to remove its members from big-time football.
The current football coaches are unanimous in supporting postseason opportunity but their bosses seem to have no appetite for such a change.
“We haven’t talked about the (football) postseason in any meeting in years,” Ivy League director Robin Harris told SBNation.com in August. “Look at when the championship is happening. It’s happening right when our student-athletes are taking their exams.
“To have 100 football players have to put a pause on their academics to focus on the championship, or to receive accommodations, it’s a lot.”
Count Teevens firmly in the opposing camp. Especially as the competitive level of Ivy football has cleary risen relative to other conferences in recent years.
“It’s completely irrational,” he said on Tuesday. “If every other sport in the league on campus has the opportunity … why (not) the football team? We’ve banged our heads against the wall for a long time and nothing has changed.”
Dartmouth’s Hunter Hagdorn was the Ivy League’s rookie of the year in 2016 and caught a combined 100 passes for 1,247 yards and seven touchdowns during his first two collegiate seasons. However, Hagdorn has caught just 17 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns this fall.
The Big Green is on track to throw roughly 60 fewer passes this season. Its first five games were routs during which backups were often on the field by the third quarter, and the running attack, led by an all-senior line, is strong.
Dartmouth didn’t return a tight end with any game experience for the 2018 campaign and completed only 22 passes to that position last year. This season, junior tight end Connor Rempel has 20 catches for 244 yards and four touchdowns by himself. Freshman Robbie Mangas and sophomore J.J. Jefferies have combined for another 11 grabs.
Hagdorn, who was suspended for this year’s opener because of unspecified misbehavior, caught 44 passes for 541 yards and six touchdowns last season. The next-closest receiver was Drew Estrada, with 32 receptions. This season, Estrada is Dartmouth’s leading pass-catcher with 26 for 265 yards and a touchdown, followed by Drew Hunnicutt at 22 catches for 273 yards and two scores.
Hagdorn’s not the only target whose numbers are down. Senior Dylan Mellor had 22 catches for 301 yards and a touchdown last season. He’s returned punts this fall and played in every game but has yet to catch a pass.
The area along Southern California’s U.S. 101 freeway where Los Angeles and Ventura counties meet has been the site of sudden and ferocious wildfires during the past week. Dartmouth linebacker Arthur Kaslow is a product of Calabasas, a city that was entirely under mandatory evacuation during one point in the blaze.
Although his parents now live in neighboring Woodland Hills and their house was not in danger, Kaslow said he’s kept a worried eye on his home region. He recalled how an earlier fire burned up to the edge of Calabasas High School during his senior year and said he has numerous friends and former classmates whose lives are currently disrupted.
“I’ve just been trying to support my family members, because it’s traumatic for them,” said Kaslow, who will soon be home with the impending arrival of final exams. “It’s hard to fully grasp, but I’m sure I will when I’m back.”
Kaslow said Calabasas High classes for his younger brother, Jonathan, are canceled until after Thanksgiving. He’s spoken regularly with his mother, Vivian, trying to alleviate some of her stress.
“My close friends are all OK, but I’ve heard of other people I went to high school with who have lost homes,” said Kaslow, adding that he plans on returning to California upon graduation. “It’s really sad.”
Notes: One player who might go to the FCS playoffs this season is Sacred Heart graduate student Charles Mack, a receiver who graduated from Dartmouth earlier this year with a year of eligibility remaining. His Pioneers were routed at Dartmouth earlier this year, but with a victory this weekend and a Duquesne loss, they will share the Northeast Conference title and claim its automatic playoff bid. Mack played in all 10 SHU games and caught six passes for 78 yards. … Michael Bruno, who oversaw Dartmouth’s nickel backs after rising from a quality control coach, is finishing his first season as a quality control coach at the University of California-Berkeley. He’s also had stops at Mississippi State and Louisville in similar roles. … Brown is 1-8 and 0-6 in Ivy play, and there are calls for 21st-year coach Phil Estes to be replaced. The New Hampshire native has won three titles, but the last was 2008, and the Bears haven’t won a league game since 2016. A Providence Journal columnist last week called for Estes and his program to receive more admissions support from the school. … Speaking of Brown coaches on the hot seat, men’s hockey boss Brendan Whittet’s team has started 1-5-1, and he’s 54-118-32 during 10 seasons with the Bears. Whittet was previously a Dartmouth assistant.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.