Big Green Teams

This is not your standard report on the activities of Dartmouth's athletic legions. Then, again, this has not been what you'd call a standard fall term on the Dartmouth sports scene. Especially the football scene. In fact, if your name is Jake Crouthamel you're probably in the midst of writing another chapter in your new novel, "It's Not That Easy Being Green." At this writing, and for the first time in more than a decade, the season is one-third complete and Dartmouth is still looking for its first victory. What makes it all the more conspicuous and difficult to bear is the memory of the past four years - one of the most successful periods in all of Dartmouth's football history.

So, dear reader, perhaps you sit beside the fire and try to subdue the feelings that have been so familiar to the folks who have walked away from the field on the short end of a Dartmouth football score so frequently during the past few years. Jake Crouthamel feels the same way. His staff feels the same way. His players feel the same way. Like you, they have no patience for this sort of thing. But it had to happen sometime and this, it appears, is the year.

After three games, a few things are pretty obvious. The defense is just about as good as ever. The offense, which relies on the precise timing that has been Dartmouth's trademark, is learning. You learn to play defense faster than offense in football. Defense, the coaches will tell you, is. in many ways instinctive. Sure, there's an element of finesse involved but it doesn't get quite so intricate as the business of backfield fakes, blocking rules, and such things that make an attack work. These are the things that Crouthamel's offense is learning. In the process, the Green is paying a price.

Add in one more significant ingredient: the opposition. Every year, when Dartmouth has been winning and now when the wins are slow in coming, each team on the schedule points toward the Green. In other years it's been stated that everybody gets "up" to play Dartmouth. It's a coup to beat the champ. This fall they're still getting "up" to beat Dartmouth. The reasons are no different. Until someone takes it away, Dartmouth is defending the Ivy League championship.

However, while this is a comparatively young Dartmouth team, it has the same basic ingredient that others have shown - pride. It is also a team that, despite an 0-3 record, is improving. It won't be a great team, but it won't embarrass anyone, either.

Let's look at what's happened so far. New Hampshire, a team that has been trying without success since 1901 to swipe a football win from Dartmouth, finally did it in the opener at Durham. After 16 tries and 72 years (get the feeling that others have been frustrated, too?), it took a 108yard kickoff return and a wind-aided field goal in the final period to give UNH its 109 victory. That "wind-aided" reference has a point to it. The game was scoreless at halftime after two of Tom Snickenberger's passes that had touchdown written all over them, slipped through the fingers of half-back Doug Lind and split end Tom Fleming. Crouthamel felt his team could take advantage of the wind that was blowing from the west and get the points it needed in the third period. As things turned out, the Green got nine during the ensuing 15 minutes. They came on Snickenberger's one-yard wedge plus Ted Perry's 28-yard field goal. "We felt we were in pretty good shape at that point," said Crouthamel. "We had the lead and we were in control."

Well, almost. After Perry's field goal, the senior from Weston, Mass., kicked off to a UNH sophomore named Dan Losano who fielded the ball two yards short of the end line. The UNH coach, Bill Bowes, screamed, "Don't go!" But, after hesitating an instant, Losano went. He was surrounded at the UNH 25, but somehow broke through the traffic, came up off one hand and by midfield needed only to work out of Perry's bearhug and cover the remaining distance untouched. Then came another break for the Wildcats. The extra point was no good, but Dartmouth was ruled offside. Given the second chance, Dan Teggert made good.

It was 9-7 as the final period began and Dartmouth's lead was tenuous. The Green was also moving into the wind and reached the UNH 14 where Perry was called on for a 31-yard field goal attempt. He knew he needed a flat kick to counteract the wind. He had the range but the low kick was blocked as it crossed the line of scrimmage. It rolled to the UNH five where the safety, Brad Yurek, retrieved it and began a runback that reached Dartmouth's 40 before Lind stopped him. Aided by another penalty, worth 15 yards, UNH advanced to Dartmouth's 13. On fourth down, Teggert booted the 30-yard field goal that ended the Wildcat famine.

"You can think of a thousand plays that can turn a one-point game around," said Crouthamel afterward. "We gave them the opportunities and they took them. It's the last time, given the choice, that we'll not take the wind for the final period. You can play in rain and it's the same for both teams. When you play in the wind, it's a different game if you don't have the wind with you." The wind was part of Dartmouth's problems that day. Another was the 10 penalties charged to the Green. They served to cut the offensive momentum of a team that wound up with a statistical advantage in every area except the final score.

It was also a game that produced the one injury that the Green could least afford. When the season began, the positions that seemed to be Dartmouth's deepest in terms of experience were the running backs. During preseason, three players went down - fullback Ellis Rowe strained a knee and didn't play against UNH, sophomore fullback Rob Swenson (the best of the new faces in the backfield) also injured a knee and has been lost for the season, and senior Ben Bridges missed all of preseason with a knee sprain. He's since given up the sport. That left only Rick Klupchak, the All-Ivy halfback, and Lind as the experienced hands in the backfield. It was late in the third period when Klupchak took Snickenberger's 15-yard pass near the UNH sideline. As he turned upheld, he was hit solidly in the shoulder. It was solid enough to cause a separation that has kepi him from action ever since. His absence has been conspicuous because without him most of Dartmouth's outside running game has dissolved. When the season began, just about everyone figured that a healthy Klupchak would move past Crouthamel's record as the all-time Danmouth rushing leader by the third or fourth game. Now there's a question if Klupchak will get the record at all.

The Holy Cross game at Memorial Field the following week was one that will be remembered for a long time - by the Crusaders. It was a day when an assortment of Dartmouth streaks went down the drain despite a superb defensive effort thai limited Holy Cross, a team averaging 33 points per game, to 10. The hooker here was that Dartmouth didn't get any points, something that hadn't happened in the preceding 109 games. It also marked the first time in 18 games that Dartmouth lost on the home sod.

Again, it was a case of penalties cutting into the offensive momentum. There were 10 assessments against the Green. "In two games we've been penalized 196 yards." said Crouthamel. "I can only think about what we could have done with a similar amount of additional offensive yardage."

It was a great day for Dartmouth's defense. The Green recovered three Holy Cross fumbles and intercepted a pass. It created opportunities but the offense, given the ball eight times in Crusader territory, could not get on the board.

At halftime the score was 3-0, but the game was really decided in the fourth period when Holy Cross used more than six precious minutes to run the 15 plays that consumed 80 yards and provided the game's only touchdown.

What also helped stop the Green were the "abnormal yardage" situations that the offense had to contend with. "Working with young quarterbacks [Snickenberger and sophomore Mike Brait both began the season untested], it's hard to get any kind of offense moving consistently when you're always faced with first-and-15, second-and-25, or third-and-30 situations," said Crouthamel. "In our first two games, we were in abnormal yardage situations on an average of one in three plays."

The offensive discipline that was missing in the first two weeks began to show itself in the Ivy League opener against Penn. At least, for one half. Penn entered the season ranked with Cornell and Yale as a team most likely to take the Ivy title away from Hanover. That fourth straight crown, earned in 1972, was clinched with a 31-17 win at Franklin Field. On paper, Penn's experience and depth of personnel made the Quakers at least two touchdowns better than Dartmouth.

The unexpected, the big play - that Dartmouth trademark so often in the past - became the weapon again for the Green. The crowd of nearly 18,000 was still finding its seats when Dartmouth got its first touchdown of the game. "We figured to go with the long pass on our first play," said Crouthamel. "The best we could do was score. The worst would be second-and-10." It was the best. The Green had good field position at the Penn 45, and Snickenberger flicked on target to Fleming who split the Penn safeties and was alone at the Quaker five as the ball arrived. Perry kicked, the clock had not yet ticked off 90 seconds, and Dartmouth led, 7-0.

Then the defense did more good things. Don Smith, the senior from Seattle, Wash., who is the only player with experience to return to the secondary this fall, picked off two Penn passes. The first killed a Penn scoring bid. The second, near midfield, set up Dartmouth's second touchdown. The score came late in the first period when John Souba, the junior who has replaced Klupchak, took an option pitch around left end, used fine blocks by Lind and tight end Bill Carpenter, and galloped 33 yards.

Penn got one touchdown back but a tremendous 75-yard punt return by Fleming (who is really something to watch) set up Perry's field goal late in the second period. That made it 16-7, but it was apparent that it might not be enough.

It wasn't. In the second half, Penn got two more touchdowns and spent much of the afternoon in Dartmouth territory. The defense tried again and again to stop the tide but it worked most of the day with its back to the wall. There simply wasn't enough offense left to get the Green out of danger, and when it was over Penn had held the ball for 86 plays (Dartmouth had 54) and gradually ground out a 22-16 win. It was still anyone's game until the final minute. The Green nearly got the marbles when Ken Bald, the Penn safety who had been beaten by Fleming on the first play, managed to bat Snickenberger's pass out of Fleming's hands. The sophomore from Brookline, Mass., had a clear field but no baggage.

"You played a fine game today," Crouthamel told his squad in the locker room afterwards. "You improved today and you'll continue to improve."

So, where do we stand? With a young team that is finding its way. For the first time in ages, the quarterbacks are tasting trial by fire. There is no proven hand in camp to carry the load. Snickenberger and Brait are learning as they go, and the lessons are tough. They are working behind an offensive line that, outside of guard Herb Hopkins and center Bob Funk, is also being rebuilt with youth.

What has held things together so far has been the defense. Tom Csatari, the two-time All-Ivy end, has turned back everything that comes his way while the linebackers - senior Rick Gerardi and Pat Stone, plus sophomores like Reggie Williams, Kevin Downing and Skip Cummins - have been typically tough. The secondary - Smith and Frank Turner, the halfbacks, plus Rocky Whitaker at safety - have met the challenge. In three games, they've given up an average of 14 points. In the past five years, Dartmouth's offense has been averaging between 25 and 30 points per game. At the moment, the offensive yield is barely eight points per game.

Presuming the offense gets going and the defense continues, things will pick up. As Crouthamel noted after the Penn game, "We put a great deal of stock into Dartmouth's winning spirit. That spirit is still strong, but I'd sure like to reinforce it with a good win."

And, as Don Smith said, "We've got six games to play and we're improving."

SOCCER

George Beim waited a long time for it to happen.

His Dartmouth soccer team has been waiting to erupt for two years, but for the first four games of this season there was nary a sign that it would happen. Least of all against Pennsylvania, the two-time defending Ivy League champion.

But it did. The Green brought an 0-3-1 record, built against non-Ivy teams from around New England, into the league opener on Chase Field. Penn, a team that ripped Dartmouth 5-0 last year, figured it had nothing to worry about. When it ended, Dartmouth had a 3-1 victory over the previously peerless Quakers, snapping Penn's 18-game Ivy win streak and scoring more goals against the Philadelphians than anyone had managed in 40 games.

The hero? Clearly, it was Frank Gallo, the junior from St. Louis, Mo., who scored two of Dartmouth's goals and assisted on the other that was banged home by Keith Mierez. While Gallo controlled the attack, Beim unveiled a modified defense that provided greater protection for goalie Mark Porto and also gave the Green improved ability to break onto the attack quicker than before.

The victory, brightest for Dartmouth soccer since the 1-0 upset of Brown in 1970, more than made up for the frustration of earlier performances this season. For the fourth straight year. Dartmouth played to a tie with Williams in the opener, then looked less than impressive in losses to Springfield, Middlebury and Amherst. "We're still a young team," said Captain Jeff Badmington, one of only two seniors on the squad. "It's taken some time to put things together, but the sophomores are starting to come and I think we have the ability to be a good team."

That may be an understatement after the win over the nation's third-ranked team.

CROSS COUNTRY

"It's nice to see the work pay off," said Ken Weinbel.

Dartmouth's cross country coach worked his team into the first week of October before it began competition. When it started, though, it got off with a bang.

The season began at Northeastern, a team ranked first in New England in the preseason polls (they even have such things in cross country these days). The Green, led by the junior captain, Chris Peisch, came away from the Boston course with a 22-34 win over the highly regarded Huskies and three days later came up with another biggie.

The opposition, at Hanover Country Club, was Columbia and Yale. The Lions, normally not much in the running game, have a gang of freshman aces who shocked the Ivy cross country scene a week earlier by beating Harvard. "They were sky high after beating Harvard," said Weinbel. "I've felt that we have consistent runners this fall. There's no one who stands out but if we can keep in the pack we can surprise some people." Which is what transpired on the 4.8-mile home course. With Peisch leading from the outset, Dartmouth tripped Columbia, 26-29, and had less difficulty with Yale, 23-36. There was a span of 42 seconds between Peisch, the winner, and Dartmouth's fifth finisher, Ed Spinney. In between them were freshman Rich Axtell, junior Bruce Carlson and sophomore Andy Walker.

GREEN JOTTINGS

For the first time since 1955, Harvard and Dartmouth will play football at Hanover. That's the major change on the 1974 football schedule that also finds the Green playing Massachusetts, Princeton and Columbia on Memorial Field.

Here is Dartmouth's 1974 schedule:

Sept. 28 Massachusetts. Oct. 5 at Holy Cross; 12 Princeton; 19 at Brown; 26 Harvard. Nov. 2 at Yale; 9 Columbia; 16 at Cornell; 23 at Pennsylvania.

Crouthamel, after successive defeats: "Ican think of a thousand plays...."

Beim, after the soccer upset of Penn: "Itwas one tremendous effort...."

Sophomore split end Tom Fleming starts on his 75-yard punt return against Penn.Fleming's 74-yard touchdown return the next Saturday helped beat Brown, 28-16