With the Big Green Teams

THE surest bet in college football is that Dartmouth won't be involved in a scoreless tie this season.

Big Green fans better do their neck exercises before kickoff. Once the whistle blows, that football will go up and down the field and it will be like watching a tennis match.

Early impression of the current Bob Blackman product is that Dartmouth can score against anybody ... and anybody can score against Dartmouth.

Platoon football is back. The players are going only one way ... over the goal line. Close your eyes when the opposition gets the ball.

Possibly, hopefully, this assessment will be proven wrong by the time the league campaign opens against Penn in Hanover October 9. Blackman has built a national reputation with his defensive genius. In his first eight Ivy League seasons Dartmouth ranked first five times and second twice on total defense.

But last year Dartmouth dropped to fifth in that department and finished fourth in the league despite a 6-3 overall record.

During the first two weeks of practice it looked like more of the same. The coaches smiled when they watched the offensive platoon operate; they frowned at the defensive unit. On the very first play of the very first scrimmage quarterback Mickey Beard ran 65 yards for a touchdown and that seemed to establish the theme of the team.

Last season Dartmouth easily ranked first on total offense in the Ivy League. It was fourth nationally in this category and there is little question that the current football squad has better and more backs. In fact, Blackman has been talking about a "five-man backfield" and eventually a "six-man backfield."

"I don't mean all on the field at once," he smiled. "But we have a situation at fullback where Mike Urbanic and Pete Walton are very close in ability. I don't want to differentiate between them as to first or second team. And I'll also play Urbanic at right halfback on occasion.

"Later on when sophomore Gene Ryzewicz is back in top form (he injured his left leg during the second week) we'll have a six-man backfield. Gene will alternate between quarterback and left half."

Senior Urbanic from Lorain, Ohio, and junior Walton from Johnstown, Pa., are among the biggest men on the squad. Urbanic stands 6-1 and reported at 222 pounds. Walton is only 5-11 but he reported at 228 and, amazingly, was up to 230 after a torrid week of double sessions. Walton has exceptionally big legs and is very hard to tackle in orthodox style. During an early scrimmage he went through a hole at right guard and squarely into the path of sophomore linebacker Randy McElrath of Syracuse. Randy goes over 200 pounds and is regarded as one of the most promising defensive players. But he hit Walton with his best shot and Pete just rumbled over him like a locomotive, gaining an extra 10 yards before a platoon of tacklers hauled him down. In the final intra-squad scrimmage Walton found the same hole and this time did not stop till he crossed the goal line 63 yards away. Urbanic, not to be outdone, later took a screen pass from quarterback Mickey Beard and ran 66 yards to a touchdown.

Beard has probably commanded the most attention in training camp. Although his early passing was a bit rusty, the Newton, Mass., junior always seemed to get the ball to his receiver. His extraordinary grasp of the intricate Blackman offense enables him to pick apart almost any defense. Veteran football writer Arthur Sampson witnessed the first scrimmage in which Beard ran for one touchdown and passed for another. "Beard's offensive team was on the field for only 11 plays and yet he ran the team from nine different offensive sets," marveled Sammy later. "This is hard to do in the last month of the season, let alone the fourth day of practice."

Mickey reminds one very much of Bill King, the 1962 captain and All-East quarterback. Frankly he has had much more offensive experience at this point than did Billy who played defense almost entirely as a sophomore. But they both run alike (Dartmouth again will be using much of the quarterback roll-out series which has been in discard since '62), take firm command of the team while on the field, and have an outspoken confidence at all times. It was King who began predicting an undefeated season long before the first game in 1962. On September 7 Beard was being questioned by a flock of Boston writers in Hanover. They asked him how he regarded Dartmouth's title chances. Mickey did not pause two seconds. "Oh, I think we'll win it all right," he said. He went on to point out the conditions which he thought would have to prevail to bring the championship back to Hanover but there was no question in anyone's mind that Mickey firmly believed those conditions would prevail. And the rest of the team believes in Beard. Said Bob O'Brien, the All-New England halfback from Northboro, Mass., "I have complete confidence in Mickey. He can call and throw a touchdown pass from any place on the field."

There' is another quarterback on this Dartmouth squad who ordinarily would be creating quite a stir. He is little Ryzewicz, the 5-10 sophomore dynamo from Springfield, Mass. Gene is one of the most exciting players of modern Dartmouth football. His size (he weighs about 170 pounds) adds to the dramatic impact when Ryzewicz breaks away on one of his patented broken-field runs. Gene is a great improviser. He is very quick and able to keep his feet well. And he has absorbed the Dartmouth offense as well as any sophomore quarterback in the Blackman regime. "Gene really did his homework this summer," commented Bob on the second day of practice. There had been some speculation that Ryzewicz would be shifted permanently to halfback. "No, we'll use him on our kickoff and punt return team and occasionally at halfback, but he's too valuable as Beard's relief man to move out of quarterback," said Blackman.

For halfbacks Dartmouth has O'Brien and Paul Klungness, the latter a junior from Thief River Falls, Minn. Neither is especially imposing in a sweatshirt, having somewhat rounded shoulders and a lack of strong chest development. But on the field both have wonderful, natural moves and a desire to play football. O'Brien is the son of a high school coach and has been around the game since he was four years old. Klungness is the youngest of four brothers and has spent hours and hours playing touch football on the farm in Minnesota.

Much more space could be devoted to Dartmouth's backfield squad. There are six quarterbacks but none a senior, a healthy sign for the future. Andy Danver of Darien, Conn., wearing Tom Spangenberg's old number 23, developed into a strong defensive back and has won the safetyman's job. There are several promising rookies such as Steve Luxford of McLean, Va., Randy McElrath of Syracuse, Noel Augustyn of New Castle, Pa., George Spivey of Mizpah, N. J., quarterback Paul Kiely of Plainfield, N. J., John McNamara of Fayville, Mass., and Dennis McNeely of Santa Cruz, Calif. But their development will be reported after some game action has been experienced.

To get back to the defensive problem, let's examine the defensive line. The key men here are Captain Tom Clarke at end and tackle Gerry LaMontagne of Southington, Conn. Clarke, whose family just moved back from Ridgewood, N. J., to Wellesley, Mass., and LaMontagne play side by side on the left flank. Both are big men, Clarke going 6-3 and weighing about 222, LaMontagne at 6-2 and 234. At top speed they would be unequalled by any defensive pair in the league or the East for that matter. But both suffered fractures last season, Clarke an ankle and LaMontagne a leg, and had subsequent healing troubles. So far in practice the legs have held up all right but neither has quite regained his old form yet. In addition, Clarke has had a variety of minor ailments to slow his progress. It is expected that both will be at full speed for the October 9 league opener, however, and their continued good health will be the most important single factor in Dartmouth's title chase.

LaMontagne is especially important. While there are some fairly good end prospects in the wings behind Clarke and Ed Long of Batavia, Ill., the other starting defensive end, the Dartmouth tackle squad is very thin and inexperienced. Except for Jon Colby, a converted guard from Oyster Bay, L. I., there is not a letterman tackle in contention for a defensive berth. Junior Roy (Corky) Johnson, a jayvee graduate, and sophomore Jim Eldridge, one of three '68s from Marquette University High in Milwaukee, are fighting for the other defensive tackle slot, while junior Bill Eggeling of Oklahoma City is relieving LaMontagne.

An even more drastic situation pertains at middle guard on defense. Junior Mike Westfall of Wantagh, L. I., the only letterman in contention at this position, contracted mononucleosis during the summer and at press time was still awaiting clearance from his family doctor to report to camp. Another junior, Hal Maskiell of Canonsburg, Pa., withdrew from football. This left only Mike Machan, one of the Milwaukee trio, and Dave Reichgott, a 170-pounder from Stewart Manor, N. Y. And when the 215-pound Machan injured his right knee in the final intrasquad scrimmage, Blackmsn & Co. rated the middle guard slot as the most troublesome problem on the squad.

The defensive backfield coach is Jake Crouthamel '60 and all Dartmouth men who know Jake will appreciate the delight with which this tremendous competitor has undertaken this job. During the daily pass-game skirmishes Crouthamel stands in the midst of his defensive unit, exhorting, encouraging, needling. If one of his rookie backs makes an exceptionally good play against Bob MacLeod Jr. or O'Brien, Jake practically jumps up and down with joy. In the early sessions Crouthamel wasn't doing too much jumping because he had only one experienced defensive halfback (Wynn Mabry '67 of Enid, Okla.) and Beard and Ryzewicz were on target. But as the opening game with New Hampshire neared, some of the boys like Andy Danver, junior Billy Robb of Columbus, O., and sophomores Augustyn and Rule began to pick off errant tosses and the Crouthamel cap began to bob up and down. The success of the later Dartmouth season probably can be determined by the movement of Crouthamel's cap. Increased efficiency by his young defensive backfield (again there isn't a senior involved) is essential to the team's progress.

Incidentally, with the return to twoplatoon football at Dartmouth there will be no players going both ways as at a few colleges. Blackman had the boys specialize after all had practiced both ways for the first week. Captain Clarke's position on the defensive line is a morale boost to that generally more inexperienced squad. And the offensive team, moving the ball the way it has been, doesn't need any morale lifters.

It is interesting that most of the Dartmouth players feel the two-platoon system will help the team. "With all this time to spend specializing on defense we should be able to cook up even more alignments and switches to confuse the offense," points out tackle LaMontagne. "We have 30 sophomores on the squad," added rookie center Machan, "and with 44 players getting into action regularly under the new rule, we should develop more rapidly."

However, as individuals most of the Dartmouth players would prefer to play the old-fashioned, two-way game. "I know I'll be fresher and better prepared mentally by working only on offense," explained quarterback Beard. "But it still is not fun sitting on that bench during any part of a football game."

Traveling squads will be larger, the Ivy League okaying a squad of 46 for road games. Of course, the demand for more men for the varsity game may cut down a bit on the number of players available for junior varsity action. The Dartmouth players are being taught to play both sides of the line; for instance, an offensive guard will learn both right and left assignments. This will give more flexibility to the jayvee squads and to the substituting during a varsity game.

The coaching assignments this year have Jack Musick handling the defensive line, John Anderson the offensive line, Crouthamel the defensive backfield, Blackman the offensive backfield, and Joe Yukica the ends both ways.

There is another new look at Memorial Field this fall. The old press box has been replaced by a handsome brick edifice which rises three levels. This was brought about partly by the fact that NBC wanted to telecast the Dartmouth-Cornell game here on November 13 (the 25th anniversary of the Fifth-Down Game) and the old facility simply was not adequate for modern television demands. The game will be a color telecast with six cameras in action. The TV crew itself will be on the top level of the new press box with Lindsay Nelson and Terry Brennan doing the announcing. Unfortunately the game will be telecast only in the Eastern section of the country. In the November issue we'll list the TV stations carrying the telecast.

Fall Schedule

FOOTBALL - Sept. 25, New Hampshire; Oct. 2, Holy Cross at Worcester; 9, Pennsylvania; 16, Brown at Providence; 23, Harvard at Cambridge; 30, Yale at New Haven; Nov. 6, Columbia at New York; 13, Cornell; 20, Princeton at Princeton.

J.V. FOOTBALL — Oct. 1, Army at West Point; 11, Boston College; 22, Harvard at Cambridge; 29, Yale at New Haven.

FRESHMAN FOOTBALL — Oct. 9, Holy Cross at Worcester; 15, Brown at Providence; Norwich (B); 22, Harvard; 30, Yale at New Haven; Nov. 12, Boston College at Chestnut Hill.

SOCCER — Sept. 24, Middlebury; Oct. 9, Pennsylvania; 13, Amherst; 16, Brown at Providence; 22, Harvard at Cambridge; 27, Williams at Williamstown; 30, Yale at New Haven; Nov. 6, Columbia at New York; 13, Cornell; 20, Princeton at Princeton.

FRESHMAN SOCCER — Oct. 2, Kimball Union at Meriden; 9, Andover; 13, Middlebury; 15. Norwich; 22, Harvard at Cambridge; 25, Kimball Union; 27, Williams at Williamstown; Nov. 6, Exeter at Exeter; 10, St. Paul's at Concord.

CROSS COUNTRY — Oct. 2, Manhattan at New York; 8, Columbia-Yale at New York; 15, Brown; 22, Harvard; Nov. 5, Heptagonal Games at New York; 15, ICAAAA at New York.

FRESHMAN CROSS COUNTRY — Oct. 8, Columbia-Yale at New York; 15, Brown; 22, Harvard; Nov. 5, Columbia Inv. at New York.

Peeking through the blocking sled are two of the Big Green's toughest defensive men,Captain Tom Clarke (l), 222-lb. end, and Gerry LaMontagne, 232-lb. tackle.

Quarterback Mickey Beard and his loyalrooter, Jean Roberts, 6, daughter ofDartmouth's sports publicity director.

End Bob MacLeod (left) and center ChuckMatuszak carry on famed gridiron names.Bob MacLeod '39 was All-Americanhalfback and Walt Matuszak captainedCornell in the 1940 "5th-down game."

Halfbacks Bob O'Brien (left) and PaulKlungness are expected to be offensivestandouts for the Big Green this fall.

Sophomore quarterback Gene Ryzewiczgets a pointer from Jake Crouthamel '60,new backfteld coach. Jake, All-East halfback on the '58 Ivy champions, still holdsthe career rushing record at Dartmouth.