Dartmouth Preview

The Yale Bulldogs host the Dartmouth Big Green on Saturday at the Bowl.  Kickoff is slated for noon and the game will air on ESPN+.

The Big Green enter the contest with a 1-2 overall record (0-1 Ivy) following surprising back-to-back overtime losses to Sacred Heart and Penn. Keep in mind that Dartmouth is just plays away from a 3-0 record and will be playing with a do-or-die attitude to stay in the hunt for the Ivy League title.

The Dartmouth offense is led by bruising senior QB Nick Howard (6’2”, 225 lbs.). Howard is Dartmouth’s top rusher with 351 yards (5.6 YPC) and 6 touchdowns on the season. Yale defenders will need to stay low and wrap up Howard to have any chance of slowing the Big Green’s rushing attack. Supplementing Howard in the ground game is senior RB Zack Bair (5’10”, 205 lbs.) who is a talented all-purpose back. Bair left the Penn contest with an injury, but we’ll certainly need to plan for his participation. Howard has struggled through the air averaging 94.3 yards per game with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions overall. With Dartmouth’s strength in the run game, if Howard can get on the same page as his receivers, this will be a dangerous offense. Dartmouth’s offensive line is very technically sound and held their own versus a stout Penn defensive front. The Big Green’s offensive line is one of the smaller units we will face this season averaging 284 lbs. across the board, but they make up for it with quickness and tenacity. The receiving corps is a talented bunch that just have not been given opportunities to shine. Senior WR Jamal Cooney (5’9”, 155 lbs.) is a very explosive wideout who is tied for the lead in reception yards for the Big Green with 5 catches for 49 yards. Junior WR Paxton Scott (6’1”, 190 lbs.) leads the team in overall receptions with 6 for 49 yards. Senior WR Jonny Barrett (6’3”, 200 lbs.) is the lone receiver with a touchdown reception. Senior TE Joe Kramer (6’5”, 245 lbs.) is a large physical player that the Big Green will likely try to utilize much more moving forward. Dartmouth’s offensive philosophy to keep defenses off balance remains largely unchanged. The Big Green want defenses to commit defenders to stopping the QB runs up the middle and then hit them with jet sweeps and reverses to the outside. Once defenses have adjusted to the varied rushing attack, they then seek to take deep shots down the field. Look for Teevens to utilize trick plays that are subtle variations to the base offensive plays. The announcers during the Penn-Dartmouth contest referenced a play that they had seen in practice with the running back pitching the ball to a streaking wideout for a reverse (or reverse pass).

While the Dartmouth defense lacks the star-studded lineup of years past, they are a very strong unit that does not make many mistakes. Senior OLB/DE Marques White (6’2”, 235 lbs.) stood out on the Penn film with his physicality and was a 2^nd Team All-Ivy selection a year ago. Senior DL Shane Cokes (6’3”, 275 lbs.) was also a 2^nd Team All-Ivy selection in 2021 and has had a stellar start to the season with 22 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Senior DL Luca Di Leo (6’2”, 295 lbs.) has seen varsity action since his freshman season and is brother to former All-American Rocco Di Leo. Junior LB Macklin Ayers (6’3”, 230 lbs.) is a tackling machine for the Big Green with 35 tackles and 1 tackle for loss. Senior CB Tyron Herring (6’1”, 200 lbs.) is a feisty athlete that had an interception versus Sacred Heart and an impressive pass breakup versus Penn. Senior S Quinten Arello (6’1”, 210 lbs.) has started since his freshman year and has racked up 18 tackles and a forced fumble on the season. With the Big Green’s defensive line posing more issues than we’ve faced over the last two weeks limiting rushers to 3.4 yards per carry, our most favorable matchups will be against Dartmouth’s linebackers, safeties, and corners in the passing game. Protecting Grooms this week will be vital to unleashing Tipton, Pantelis, Hawes and Yates.

Dartmouth’s woes in the kicking game were a huge factor in the loss to Penn. Senior K Ryan Bloch (5’9”, 200 lbs.) had one kick that was so ugly that the referees assumed it was no good and had to utilize replay to overturn the call. Teevens tested freshman WR Ivan Hoyt (6’1”, 190 lbs.) at kicker in the 4^th quarter but Hoyt missed by a wide margin on his first ever collegiate attempt. Bloch’s blocked field goal in the second overtime gave Penn the opportunity to closeout the contest with a score. Sophomore P Davis Golick (6’1”, 205 lbs.) is averaging just 35.7 yards per punt. Our punt team will need to be sharp to contain Cooney from breaking loose on punt returns.

Go Bulldogs! Beat the Big Green!