HANOVER — The stakes are clear for the Dartmouth College football team.
Win Saturday’s season finale against Brown (2-7, 1-5 Ivy League), and the Big Green (8-1, 5-1) clinch at least a share of the Ivy League championship. The game kicks off at noon.
Dartmouth would be outright champs with a win and a Princeton (8-1, 5-1) loss at Penn (3-6, 1-5). If the Big Green and Tigers both win or lose, they will share the title. If Dartmouth loses and Princeton wins, the Tigers will be outright champs.
Dartmouth was in the same position in 2019, needing to win at Brown to secure the title. Big Green head coach Buddy Teevens, his staff and his players are fully aware of what’s on the line. He said it’s been helpful to have veteran leadership who have been in this position before.
“There’s a comfort level, a been-there-done-that type of thing,” Teevens said on this week’s episode of the Inside The Woods podcast. “But there’s also the excitement and the anticipation. You have to control your emotions. It’s obviously a big game. I told the guys on Sunday (the day after Dartmouth’s win over Cornell) it’s a championship Saturday.”
Brown’s offense is third in the Ivy League in scoring, and the Bears have had big games against two of the remaining top four teams in the standings, besides Dartmouth. They scored 42 points against Princeton, and they put up 38 against Yale.
Brown quarterback E.J. Perry is seventh in the Football Championship Subdivision in passing yards this season, throwing for more than 308 per game. That’s the highest mark in the Ivy League.
Perry transferred to Brown from Boston College before the 2019 season. He appeared in six games over two seasons for the Eagles.
Teevens knows Perry will pose a challenge for his team Saturday. He called the quarterback a Football Bowl Subdivision-caliber player.
“He’s one of those guys that could do it with his feet and with his arm,” Teevens said. “He’s a very competitive kid. He’s an FBS talent. Accurate passer and a tremendous competitor. You can see that down there. He is — to the end — scratching, clawing, fighting, trying to make an extra yard.”
Though Dartmouth’s defense has hit its stride of late, the group will have its hands full with the Bears. However, it’s Dartmouth’s offense that will be the key to this matchup.
Brown’s defense is tied with Yale for the fewest turnovers created in the Ivy League at eight — just three FCS teams have lower numbers. Meanwhile, Dartmouth has committed only seven turnovers all season, which is second in the Ivy League to Columbia and fourth in the FCS. Continuing to avoid mistakes and easy turnovers is critical in a game of this magnitude.
And Dartmouth’s style of offense could help its defense. The Big Green prefer to chip away at opposing defenses through run plays and the short pass game. They’ve had plenty of big gainers throughout the season, but many were drawn up as those same small plays and turned into something bigger.
Dartmouth has leaned on ball control all season. And given the potency of the Bears’ offense, Teevens would rather keep them on the sideline.
“Consuming the clock (and) being progressive, as we’ve done fairly effectively most of the year, that’s gonna be important, because if you go three and out, you give them a short field and time. They put points on the board against everybody,” Teevens said. “You want to make them earn everything that they are going to get. You don’t shut them down. They’re experienced enough to put points up and gain yards. But we gotta minimize the number of opportunities they have.”
Seth Tow can be contacted at stow@vnews.com.