Football
We conferred with Coach Bob Blackman on Saturday, September 12, immediately after his squad had completed a full-game intrasquad scrimmage. Some seventy players had been at work for two full weeks, were scheduled to meet Boston University in a scrimmage on Saturday, September 19, and then to kick off the 1959 season by playing host to Holy Cross in Hanover on September 26.
"It was a good scrimmage," reported Blackman, "but we'll know a lot more after we scrimmage B.U. In this sort of intrasquad scrimmage you have mixed emotions. For every one of your players who makes a good move there's bound to be another player who does something wrong. If the offensive team starts to move well you worry about the defense. If the defense holds well you start wondering what's wrong with the offense!"
Blackman and his coaching staff realize full well that they are on the spot this fall. Most pre-season reports pick the Indians to lead the Ivy League again, but Blackman is cautious. "We've lost more lettermen than any other Ivy team," he says, "and most of the Ivy teams, especially Penn and Princeton, should be much stronger than last year." But while neither Blackman nor his assistants will openly admit it, there's a feeling that all of them are reasonably confident that, barring major injuries, the Dartmouth team can repeat its success of last year.
There are three major factors behind this optimism—first, the introduction of a "three-platoon" system; secondly, the expansion of the traditional Blackman Vsystem of offense into a more diversified attack which will include greater use of a slot man or wingback plus a "doubleslot" or "double-wing" formation together with some major changes in defensive alignments; and thirdly, the fact that despite the loss of many key lettermen, the Dartmouth team has strong personnel including such standouts as All-American Jake Crouthamel at halfback, Captain and quarterback Bill Gundy, and line standouts such as Bob Boye, Sam Bowlby, and Lee Horschman.
The rather revolutionary "three-platoon" system was tried last year by Louisiana State University. Here's how Blackman explained it in a bulletin issued to the squad in August:
"The idea is to select the best eleven all-around players for the starting unit and to then pick two other teams, one of them entirely on the basis of their offensive ability, the other selected on the merits of their defensive ability. The starting unit would play approximately the first half of each quarter. The other two teams would then alternate during the remainder of each quarter with the offensive unit being in when we have the ball and the defensive team being in whenever our opponents have the ball. The rules now allow a player to go in and out twice during each period, and that is usually all that will be necessary during half of the quarter. In the event that the ball changed hands more than this number of times during the latter part of the period, the offensive team could stay in during one defensive series, or vice-versa, or if necessary, the starting team could always come back in to finish up the quarter."
Blackman explains that once the offensive and defensive units are chosen they can concentrate a major portion of practice time on their specialty and hence can improve more rapidly in perfecting either their defensive or offensive play. He points out that in recent past years there has been a great difference between Dartmouth's first and second teams. Under the new three-platoon system he feels that the offensive team will be much stronger on offense than the usual second team, and the same will be true for the defensive unit. Blackman also points out that this could be a great morale booster for the Indians. Thirty-three men, at least, will be playing and each player will have particular pride in the unit with which he is associated.
There are, of course, many "bugs" to be ironed out and Blackman candidly admits that he may well drop the threeplatoon system as the season goes along if he finds that it is not working well or that he does not have the personnel to operate it efficiently. The Dartmouth coach also points out that it might appear to some observers to be an indication of great depth. He feels, to the contrary, that the system in part overcomes lack of depth and enables "average" players who might not be able to go two ways effectively to concentrate and perform more efficiently going only one way.
Complicating the three-platoon system has been the introduction over the summer and into the fall of a varied new offense and defense. The basic V-system will still be the Big Green's "trademark," but the Indians will operate a more wideopen offense from the V by employing the slot and double-slot, running more to the outside, with probably a more diversified passing attack. The Dartmouth defenses will also be more varied. All of this means that the squad members are studying overtime to learn the offensive and defensive intricacies involved in these radical additions.
There have been five major rule changes in collegiate football this fall, some of which will be helpful to the Dartmouth system. The most controversial is the widening of the goal posts which theoretically could put more emphasis on kicking for the point after and for attempts at field goals. Coach Blackman does not think this will make much difference. Blackman does welcome the rule increasing the "time out" periods from four to five per game, which helps in the unit substitutions. Another rule, allowing free substitution of one player for each team when the clock is stopped, will also help Dartmouth. This would enable Blackman to send in an offensive quarterback, for example, if the defensive unit suddenly got possession of the ball and he could not substitute the entire offensive unit. Two other rule changes permit an extra attempt at conversion if the team is fouled on a successful conversion attempt, while another rule places a limit on distance penalties to half the distance to the defender's goal line.
In the final analysis, though, Dartmouth's retention of the Ivy Championship rests largely on the players who put the systems into play. If Blackman had to name his starting lineup today it would be an all-letterman unit. At left end, Roger Hanlon; left tackle, Sam Bowlby; left guard, Bob Boye; center, Ken DeHaven; right guard, Jim Graham; right tackle, Lee Horschman; and right end, Seth Strickland. In the starting backfield would be Captain Bill Gundy at quarterback, Jake Crouthamel at left half, Al Rozycki at right half and Bill Hibbs, a converted left end, at fullback.
In this first unit are certain key players who if injured or forced out of action for any length of time would create serious problems. Captain and quarterback Bill Gundy and Dartmouth's ace ball carrier, Jake Crouthamel, are the spark plugs of any Dartmouth offense. The guard combination of Bob Boye and Jim Graham and the tackle combination of Sam Bowlby and Lee Horschman are keys to both Dartmouth's offense and defense. At the moment Gundy is out of action with a sprained ankle while end Roger Hanlon and halfback Al Rozycki missed the most recent scrimmage due to temporary ailments. Nothing serious so far, but the season is young.
Dartmouth's second unit, on offense under the thTee-platoon system, would probably have sophomore John Mussman at left end, with Art Kola at left tackle, and Chuck Chapman at left guard. Jim McElhinney would go at center with Steve Lasch or Phil Clark at right guard. Sophomore Mike Mooney, a good prospect, would be at right tackle with the right end post still unsettled between John Henry, out with mononucleosis, and Steve Perlin, currently on the injured list. In the backfield it's a toss-up between Seth Moger and Jack Kinderdine at quarterback with one expected to go on offense, the other on defense. Sophomore Tom King has looked most promising and may start at left halfback on offense behind Crouthamel, while Bob Johnson has been switched to right halfback on offense. The fullback spot is a question mark at the moment. Bob Marriott and Mike Mooney, both reserves, are sidelined temporarily and sophomore Dave Evans looks like the starter on offense.
The starting lineup for the second defensive unit is expected to have Connie Persels at left end, either Dick Hofmann or Walt Grudi, both sophomores, at left tackle, Hank Gerfen, a letterman, at left guard, and sophomore Chuck Hegeman at center. Phil Clark, a senior, will go at right guard, while sophomore Ben Urban, a top-notch prospect, is at right tackle and the right end post on defense is still wide open. In the backfield it will be either Moger or Kinderdine at defensive quarterback, with Lennie DiSavino, a junior, at left halfback and either Gary Spiess or Tom Conger, both sophomores, going at right halfback. The second-team defensive fullback is expected to be Bob Van Dam.
These are the three teams as they shape up in mid-September. Changes may be expected on the basis of other scrimmages and as some other reserves and sophomores develop.
Dartmouth's chances in the Ivy League may also depend on how the Indians make out against the teams they face early in the schedule. The opener with Holy Cross, one of the top independent teams in the East, shapes up as a real battle, while the Dartmouth-Pennsylvania clash on the following Saturday will also be close. The clash with Boston College, another highly regarded independent team, also will -be rough. If the Indians can get past these games with a minimum of injuries to key personnel, the Big Green could go all the way and the finale with Princeton might again determine the Ivy League title.
Each fall we traditionally climb out on the limb in predicting the outcome of games on the Dartmouth schedule. This year we'll go all the way in choosing the Big Green to go through undefeated, but we will admit that the Pennsylvania, Boston College and Princeton games could well go the other way.
Coach Bob Blackman and his backfield lettermen photographed on the opening day of practice. tice The players are (front row, I to r) Dick lettermen, fullback; Capt. Bill Gundy, quarterback; back; Bill Hibbs, fullback; Jake Crouthamel, halfback; (back row) Al Rozycki, halfback; and Seth Moger, quarterback.
Lettermen returning to the Big Green line, with Coach Blackman on opening day include (front row, 1 to r) Lee Horschman, tackle; Jim Graham, guard; Sam Bowlby, tackle; Art Kola, tackle; Ken DeHaven, tackle; (back row) Chuck Chapman, guard; Con Persels, end; Seth Strickland, end; Roger Hanlon, end; and Hank Gerfen, guard.
