Seeing Double

BEFORE THE FOOTBALL season began, coach Buddy Teevens '79 predicted that quarterback Matt Brzica '93, last year's Sophomore of the Year, would open up Dartmouth's passing game in 1991. He was right about the passing game: right from the start, Dartmouth succeeded in going airborne. But Brzica wasn't doing all the throwing.

Against Penn the first game Brzica threw for one touchdown and ran for another. But he suffered a back injury that sidelined him for most of the following game, against Bucknell. Jay Fiedler '94 stepped off the bench in the second quarter and completed nine of 15 passes for 128 yards. Fiedler started the following week in a squeaker loss to Lehigh. Guess who was a star receiver? None other than fellow quarterback Matt Brzica, who caught a 42-yard bomb that led to a touchdown.

So now Teevens has two renaissance men as quarterbacks one with a bazooka arm who can kick, and a proven playmaker who can catch.

Teevens is not the only Ivy coach with quarterback decisions. In fact, every Ivy team except Dartmouth began the season without an established signal-caller. Most successful are Yale's Nick Crawford, a senior who has rushed for over 212 yards in two Eli victories, and Harvard sophomore Mike Giardi, who threw for 449 yards and three touchdowns in the first two weeks. Another senior, Princetonian Chad Roghair, led the Tigers to an 18-0 upset of Cornell.

Still, all the Ivies should have Dartmouth's problem. Said Teevens early in the season: "Right now, we have two quarterbacks who can win for us." Kind of makes you want to cry, doesn't it?

Brzica now isn'tthe only passer.