HANOVER — Perhaps the best lesson Dartmouth football’s offense could have learned so far this season came from watching what Sacred Heart did to the Big Green’s defense two weeks ago.
The Pioneers threw one quick-hitting screen pass after another, getting the ball out in space to their athletic receivers who had not made much of an impact before that afternoon. The result was a 31-for-36 performance from quarterback Marquez McCray in Sacred Heart’s come-from-behind overtime win.
Three games in, Dartmouth (1-2, 0-1 Ivy League) is still trying to get its own experienced receiving corps going. The Big Green returned four of their top five wideouts from a year ago — junior Isaac Boston, out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle, is the exception — but they still rank 122nd out of 123 FCS teams with 94.3 receiving yards per game, ahead of only The Citadel and its triple-option offense that hardly ever throws the ball.
“We were one-dimensional. We do have to throw the ball productively,” said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, speaking of last Friday’s double-overtime loss to Penn. “The passes we threw were kind of short-gainers, screens and so forth. There’s a place for them, but we do need to broaden the offense a little bit.”
Senior quarterback Nick Howard, the full-time starter after attempting just 18 passes in 2021, did not throw the ball downfield once against the Quakers. His line — just 78 yards on 12 completions — looks bad enough, but 43 of those 78 yards came after the catch. Junior Paxton Scott, far and away the Big Green’s leading receiver last year with 505 yards, had three catches for 32 yards last week, all on screens.
As Dartmouth’s defense knows full well, screens and short passes can be effective, but with every conference game now essentially a must-win, the Big Green will have to stretch the field sooner or later.
“We want to make sure we’re perfect in our alignments, route running, assignments,” Scott said. “We’re just trying to be the best versions of ourselves within the system. We have full faith in our abilities, and we know at some point it’s going to click. We’re a dangerous group. It’s just a matter of time.”
The rest of last year’s receiving stars, seniors Dale Chesson, Jamal Cooney and Jonny Barrett, have shown up in the box score only in spurts. Cooney’s three catches against Penn, totaling 22 yards, all came in a five-play span on Dartmouth’s final drive of the first half, the last of which was a 13-yard pickup thrown 10 yards down the field and represented Howard’s longest throw of the night.
Barrett hauled in Howard’s best downfield throw of the year for a 35-yard touchdown against Sacred Heart, but that’s his only reception of the year. Chesson missed the season opener against Valparaiso and has gone without a catch the last two weeks. The Big Green’s third-leading receiver is actually junior tight end Jace Henry, whose only catch came on a play action pass around 20 yards downfield in the Valparaiso game that he turned into a 42-yard gain.
“We view the short passes to the outside as like the outside running game, and we’re getting the ball in the hands of some talented guys, so that’s a good way to get started,” wide receivers coach Dave Shula said. “Hopefully this Saturday, we’ll get some chances to throw down the field, and if we do, we’ve got to execute.”
Shula, Scott and Barrett all said frustration has yet to boil over in the receivers’ room despite the group’s limited opportunities. Dartmouth’s 6.33 yards per rushing attempt rank second in the FCS, and Shula said the receivers are a big part of that, blocking along the sidelines and down the field to help extend plays.
The Big Green may need to make more plays in the passing game this week to keep up with Yale (2-1, 1-0), which leads the Ivy League in total offense but ranks middle of the pack in most defensive categories.
“We’ve got guys who can do things when they catch the ball, so we’re going to give them the opportunity to catch it, carry it, pitch it, take a snap with it,” Teevens said.
“They’re unselfish players and they want what’s best for the team, but certainly they like to feel like a contributing part of it.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.