The Optimist And The Pessimist Between Columbia And Harvard

(BGA Oct. 29) – The Optimist is sitting at the usual table making small talk with the server when The Pessimist walks in wearing a smiling mask. While the other guy looks on in amazement, The Pessimist sits down and removes the mask to reveal another underneath. This one appears to be in agony.

The Optimist: Halloween isn’t for another couple of days. S’plain Lucy.

The Pessimist: Nice I Love Lucy reference. These are the masks of Thalia and Melpomene, one the Muse of Festivity and the other the Muse of tragedy.

The Optimist: I'm guessing you'd be more familiar with Thelma and Louise. You’ve been messing around with artificial intelligence again, haven’t you?

The Pessimist: Yes, but you have to admit Dartmouth fans watching the Columbia game were making real-life Thal and Mel faces on Saturday afternoon.

The Optimist: Thal and Mel it is now, huh? OK, I’ll admit it was an up-and-down game, but the bottom line is we won a road showdown for the Ivy League lead and are in control of out destiny with four games to go.

The Pessimist: Speaking of which, you were in total control of Saturday’s game until you lost control. I mean, seriously lost control. Eight penalties for 77 yards in the second half? Nine for 82 in the game? Unsportsmanlike, unnecessary roughness, and roughing the passer not once, but twice in the final quarter-and-a-half not only let Columbia climb back into the game but very nearly gave it to the Lions.

The Optimist: I’m not going to disagree that some of that was inexcusable, but let me make two points. First, there was a lot of exuberance and OK, some of that maybe crossed the line. I can promise you it won't happen again. And second, while the penalties helped the Lions, they didn’t “very nearly” win the game. The final score is misleading.

The Pessimist: The final score is what it says it was. While I’ll agree it wasn’t likely, Columbia really could have won that game at the end. You know full well what can happen when a team recovers an onside kick because that was the turning point in your win at Yale.

The Optimist: I hate it when you talk in italics. Anyway, enough Columbia. My focus is on going 1-0 this week against Harvard.

The Pessimist: Is there a coach in the country who isn’t preaching the “1-0 this week” mantra? I hear it everywhere and I’m sure they are hearing the same thing down in Cambridge when they show up for practice.

The Optimist: Allston.

The Pessimist: Excuse me?

The Optimist: Harvard’s athletic facilities are across the Charles from Cambridge, in Allston.

The Pessimist: OK, they are hearing “1-0” in Allston.

The Optimist: I’m feeling pretty good about this one. We’ve won three of the last five against those guys.

The Pessimist: You ought to run for office. Sure, you’ve won three of five, but they’ve won the last two and 16 of the last 19. Oh, and by the way, they are 5-1 overall, which is nothing to sneeze at.

The Optimist: Seriously, who have they beaten? Their five wins have come against teams with a combined 14-22 record. Not one team they’ve played has a winning record, and that includes 3-3 Brown, which actually beat them.

The Pessimist: Their opponents have a combined 14-22 record, which works out to .389. Not great, I’ll admit. But your opponents have a combined record of 17-25, which is .405. That’s not great either. If I remember my college statistics class, the difference is not statistically meaningful.

The Optimist: Maybe not, but we’ve beaten two Ivy League teams with winning records in 4-2 Yale and 4-2 Columbia. Harvard lost to 3-3 Brown and its Ivy wins have come against 2-4 Cornell and 2-4 Princeton.

The Pessimist: You keep bringing up that Brown game, so I might as well address it. Only an unbelievably fluke play in Harvard's opener kept this Saturday’s game from being a battle of the unbeatens.

The Optimist: This is one of the better games of the year and it might have gotten the attention it deserves if Harvard were undefeated. It's kind of a shame they aren't.

The Pessimist: They should be. That fluke play I was talking about happened in the final 30 seconds of that game with Harvard leading Brown, 28-23. On a fourth down at the Bears' nine, the Crimson lined up for a chip-shot field goal that would give them a safe eight-point lead. The snap was high and got past not only the holder but also the kicker. A Brown player scooped it up, raced across midfield, fumbled the ball but managed to get it back and carry it 13 more yards. On the next play, Brown hit a touchdown pass for the winning points with 21 seconds left.

The Optimist: OK, so Harvard was that close to being undefeated, but if I read the box score correctly, the Crimson twice had 18-point leads in that game and managed to lose. I’m not sure that’s the sign of a good team.

The Pessimist: You led Columbia by 17 points. Good thing you managed to hold on and win, or you would be singing a different tune.

The Optimist: Don’t forget, it’s our Homecoming game on Saturday. We’re not going to lose on Homecoming.

The Pessimist: I’m going to guess Merrimack and Columbia said the same thing before they played you.

The Optimist: After we beat Harvard, it’s clear sailing the rest of the way. Like I said earlier, Princeton and Cornell are both 2-4 and both lost to the Crimson, so we should be fine there. And I have no doubt if we get to the final Saturday at 9-0 – as I expect – we’re not going to stumble against Brown.

The Pessimist: Take care of Harvard, and then we’ll talk. But if I were you, I wouldn’t take those long back-to-back road trips to Princeton and Ithaca for granted. Beating you guys would go a long way toward salvaging disappointing seasons for both of those teams. As for Brown, that’s a team on the rise.

The Optimist: We'll see. Like I said earlier, my focus right now is on going 1-0 this week. We’ll talk about the next one after that.

The Pessimist: We’ll talk about the next one whether you go 1-0 or go 0-1. That’s how we roll. Which is what I have to do right now. Thalia, Melpomene and I wish you a happy Halloween and two of us will see you next week. The question is which two?

Six Pack After Columbia

 (BGA Oct. 28) – You know the drill, so without further ado . . .

1) The question before last week’s game was whether the upstart Columbia Lions were ready for their first star turn on the big stage near the corner of Broadway and 218th Street. Even head coach Jon Poppe admitted afterward to wondering about that as his team fell behind, 10-0, in the opening half. As for the Big Green, it had just one first down until the midway point of the second quarter – that the result of a 15-yard hands-to-the-face penalty – but the moment never seemed too big for Dartmouth. The Big Green looked like a team that had been there before, maintaining its poise while methodically building 17-0 and 24-7 leads.

But then the tables turned. Dartmouth showed a surprising lack of composure down the stretch, allowing Columbia to close within three points and possibly force overtime or steal the win if it could recover an onside kick. That has to be a one-off  if the Big Green is to win another title.

2) With Grayson Saunier playing at an All-Ivy League level while filling in for injured starting quarterback Jackson Proctor the BGA Overtime mailbag has been flooded with inquiries wondering what is happening at that critical position. The general rule is that you don’t lose your job because of an injury but given how Saunier has played since taking over as starter, the curiosity about what’s going to happen if and when Proctor is ready to go is understandable. How the situation will play out is yet to be seen, but wouldn’t it be interesting to have both QBs on the field at the same time on occasion? Both have a completion percentage in the neighborhood of 65 percent, neither throws interceptions and both can tuck it and run. Good luck to defenders trying to figure out what is going to happen if we do ever see the two of them in the backfield at the same time.

3) While playing two QBs at the same time might be a useful gimmick, the last thing you want to do is take the ball out of the hands of the Dartmouth running backs. With his 182 yards last week Q Jones now has 556 yards on the season (second in the Ivy League) and a 5.1-yard average. Desmin Jackson has 177 yards and a 4.5 average while DJ Crowther has 152 yards and a 6.0 average. And in case you are wondering, Saunier has 222 yards, a 6.0 average and a team-high five touchdowns on the ground. As a team, the Big Green is averaging a league-best 187.5 yards per game on the ground. Coach Sammy McCorkle talked in August about Dartmouth’s talent and depth at the position and the Big Green running back “room” is living up to its preseason billing.

4) While a case can be made that last Saturday was not a three-point game, the scoreboard at the end said it was. If you toss out the season-opening victory over still winless Fordham, Dartmouth’s other five wins have come by 1, 2, 3, 3 and 4 points. Finding a way to win close games is the sign of a championship team, but there’s been a little bit of a “playing with fire” aspect to the season to date. You can be sure McCorkle would like nothing more than to have an occasional breather, starting this week against Harvard.

5) The Big Green has not proven to be a particularly high scoring team. Again discounting the game against Fordham (which was missing its best players both on offense and defense), Dartmouth has tallied between 16 and 24 points in four of its other five wins. The 44-43 victory over Yale is a bit of an outlier with one touchdown the result of an onside kick and another coming in overtime. As terrific as the defense has been outside of the Yale game, at some point before the season is over the offense is probably going to have to put a few more points on the scoreboard to avoid a stumble.

6) How important were the three interceptions Dartmouth recorded Saturday at Columbia? The easy answer is very. Zach Farris’s pick put the Big Green in field position for its first points of the afternoon. Even without gaining any yardage, it enable the Big Green to take a 3-0 lead on Owen Zalc’s field goal. Tyson Grimm’s interception stopped a Columbia drive on the plus-37 in the final minute of the first half that not only might have allowed the Lions to pull within 10-7 at the break, but could have given them game-changing momentum when they took the second-half kickoff. And Danny Cronin’s interception early in the fourth quarter at the plus-34 didn’t seem all that important at the time, but not giving up points on that drive proved to be critical given that it was a three-point game at the end.

And the bonus you knew was headed your way . . .

7) How cool would it be for Saturday’s game against Harvard to be the first sellout since the dedication of Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field? The five-day forecast is calling for 50 degrees and partly sunny weather Saturday It doesn’t hurt that it’s Homecoming. Dartmouth is trying to do its part with this posting on social media:

Your #22 Dartmouth Big Green remain undefeated (6-0) and we’re celebrating by offering $6.00 off each Homecoming ticket purchased for the next 48 hours! Join us by visiting http://dartmouthsports.com/tickets and using promo code: UNDEFEATED

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Ejike Adele led Dartmouth with nine tackles including 3.5 for a loss, with two going as sacks. Danny Cronin added nine stops, an interception and a forced fumble. Patrick Campbell added eight tackles and Tyson Grimm seven. Braden Mullen had six stops, with two sacks and a pass breakup.

Paxton Scott had four catches for 42 yards but was the only Big Green player with multiple receptions as the run game put the passing attack in the cooler for the second half. Davis Golick averaged 39.6 yards per punt with a long of 48 and three of his boots being of the inside-20 variety. And Matisse Weaver had all five of his kickoffs go for touchbacks.

Among team stats, Columbia actually had a 20-14 advantage in first downs, with six coming via penalty. Dartmouth outrushed the Lions, 271 yards to 84. Thanks to a 252-70 advantage in passing, Columbia nearly matched the Big Green in total offense. Dartmouth finished with 341 yards to the Lions’ 336. Even possession time was pretty even with the Columbia having the ball for 30:30 and Dartmouth 29:30.

The Big Green’s lone possession reaching double figures in number of plays was a 12-play, 81-yard drive in the second quarter. Columbia had four double-figure marches, starting with an 11-play, 83-yarder for a touchdown in the third quarter followed by fourth-quarter drives of 11-for-41 yards (interception), 12-for-66 (touchdown) and 10-for-58 (touchdown).

QUOTABLE

Gently edited thoughts from players and coaches . . .

Columbia coach Jon Poppe on why the Big Green run game was so successful: “They were just running power. And power probably went for 150 rushing yards. If you can't stop that, you've got other issues. That's what we have to really evaluate. … To me it came down to block destruction and tackling and reading your keys the right way.”

Q Jones on the importance of the run game: “I think it means a lot. I mean, in the game of football, the one thing you want to establish is the run. And for you to be able to do that, it just opens up the rest of the offense. It gets a defense on their heels. You have 10, 11 guys looking in the backfield. And that's when big plays happen.”

Tyson Grimm on his interception: “We knew we had to get a stop going into halftime because we knew they were getting the ball coming out of halftime. We know they're a great team. And we just had to make the plays that come to us. It just came to me and we just made the play.”

Grimm on the Big Green getting three interceptions on the day when it had just one on the season coming in: “We've been waiting on these turnovers all season long. We had a great week of practice harping on the fact that we need the ball, we need the turnover ball. So finally getting it going and putting together some turnovers was great for our defense.”

Sammy McCorkle: “Playing Columbia with their coaching staff and their players, every play was going to be important. And you knew that every yard was going to be big, and every point that you got was going to be big. … Every time we were out there, offensively, defensively, special teams, we wanted to execute. We knew that they weren't always going to be pretty. But we couldn't panic. You've got to stay the course. And I felt like our offense, defense, and special teams did that.”

McCorkle on the key forcing turnovers, in this case interceptions: “Coming off the ball, playing hard, playing fast, being aggressive, doing a good job (knowing) it's not just the ones that you get the sacks on (that are important). It's that breathing on the neck of the quarterback. Making that quarterback have to make a little bit quicker decisions than he normally would want to.”

McCorkle on the penalties that turned a breather into something else: “When you play hard, you play fast, but you've got to be in control. Our guys were pinning their ears back and putting pressure. But we just have to do a better job. We have to clean that up. … Those are the things that give a team a chance to come back. Hats off to Columbia. They battled back and put themselves in a situation to potentially tie the game there at the end. Those are the little things that will matter and that will catch up to you.”

Win Over Columbia Has Dartmouth Alone At The Top

(BGA Oct. 27) – Columbia came into Saturday’s showdown for the Ivy League lead ranked ninth in the nation in run defense and first in the conference in rushing offense.

Dartmouth began the day ranked dead last in the country in turnover margin.

In no small part because each of those things changed dramatically the most noteworthy ranking for either team could change as well.

That would be the Big Green’s No. 22 national ranking.

Spurred by a career-high 182 yards from senior tailback Q Jones, Dartmouth ran for 271 yards while limiting the Lions to 84 and picking off three passes in a 24-21 win that was nowhere near that close.

“It was a good win for our football team,” said Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle. “The guys prepared well this week. … They came ready to play and beat a good football team."

With the win Dartmouth improves to 6-0 for the first time since starting 8-0 in 2019 on the way to claiming a share of the Ivy League title. More importantly, the Big Green is 3-0 in conference and alone atop the standings heading into Saturday’s Homecoming matchup with Harvard (5-1, 2-1).

Columbia, which lost promising sophomore quarterback Chase Goodwin to injury in the closing seconds of the first half, fell to 4-2 and 2-1 in conference in front of a Homecoming crowd of 12,642 on a windy afternoon on the northern tip of Manhattan.

The Lions entered the contest allowing opponents just 103.4 yards rushing per game only to see the Big Green more than double that as Jones bested his previous career high of 158 yards. With the veteran Dartmouth offensive line dominating, Jones spinning and juking past would-be tacklers and DJ Crowther pounding his way to 52 yards on eight carries, the Big Green grew a 10-0 halftime lead into a 24-7 advantage through three quarters.

Dartmouth was cruising along with that same 17-point cushion until a flurry of penalties fueled a 14-point Columbia comeback in the final 2:05, forcing the Big Green to recover an onside kick with 33 seconds remaining to finally ice a win that had seemingly been in hand just minutes before.

Jon Poppe, Columbia’s first-year head coach, admitted afterward that the way his upstart team opened its first all-the-marbles showdown against a seasoned opponent had him wondering.

“I thought that maybe we're not ready for this moment in the first half,” he said. “In the second half we relaxed a little bit and just got back to being who we are and doing what we do. (It’s) my fault as a coach how we came out in this game and maybe let the moment get too big. …But I'm really proud with how the guys finished.”

Dartmouth, which had just one interception in the first five games of the season, got a boost after a scoreless first quarter when Zach Farris picked off a pass standout Columbia receiver Bryson Canty couldn’t bring in and returned it 28 yards to the Lions’ 14 early in the second. After the Columbia defense held, Owen Zalc came on to boot a 35-yard field goal for a 3-0 Dartmouth lead.

Although the Big Green was kept out of the end zone, Farris’s interception on a pass play that could have fired up Columbia did just the opposite according to the Lions' coach. 

“(We had) a guy wide open and unfortunately he doesn't secure the catch and it falls right into the Dartmouth defenders' hands,” said Poppe. “If we hit that play he might still be running with what was shown on tape. So that was a big one in terms of a momentum booster for them.

“And we never really recovered, I think, even though our defense did a great job holding to a field goal there. I just think that the psyche there was a little bit shook.”

A Columbia three-and-out on the ensuing possession led to a Big Green drive that called to mind the march that sewed up the win over Penn three weeks ago. This time the drive went 81 yards in 12 plays, and unlike the marathon march against the Quakers, this one ended with a touchdown as Grayson Saunier hit tight end Chris Corbo slanting across the end zone for a 10-0 lead with Zalc’s kick.

Saunier would finish the day 10-of-15 for 70 yards and throw just one pass in the second half as the Big Green stuck with what was working – the overpowering run game. They ran for 214 yards in the second half alone.

"I just think we ran into a buzzsaw a little bit with how they're coached and how their running backs played, how their O-line played," said Poppe. "I mean, that running back is talented and all the credit to (offensive line coach Keith) Clark and (offensive coordinator Kevin) Daft for designing their run game today. And we just didn't execute the right way and we probably didn't put our guys in the right positions."

Trailing, 10-0, the Lions had a chance to cut into the lead at the end of the first half and if they did, perhaps take the lead after receiving the second-half kickoff. Instead they suffered a double-disaster.

Facing a third-and-five at the Dartmouth 37 with 38 seconds left in the opening half, Goodwin rolled out under pressure and took a big hit getting off a pass. Tyson Grimm ended the Columbia bid by making the Big Green’s second interception of the half, and the hit ended the afternoon for Goodwin, who spent the second half on crutches.

Although the chance to double-up disappeared with the pick, Columbia still had the opportunity to make it a one-possession game with a scoring drive to open the third period. But Dartmouth forced a quick three-and-out and then made it hurt with an all-Q, all-the-time touchdown drive. On consecutive carries the senior tailback ran for 27, 6, 1 and 35 yards, the last for the touchdown that made it 17-0 with the kick.

Jones was quick to credit the Dartmouth offensive line for his big afternoon.

“Like I always say, my one job is just to hit the hole,” he said. “Today, in the trenches, they were handling their business. I was seeing the hole and I was hitting it."

Columbia finally got on the board with an 11-play, 83-yard drive that saw Dartmouth whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct and twice for unnecessary roughness. Aided by the help from the Big Green defense, backup quarterback Cole Freeman got the points on a one-yard run to make it 17-7 with 1:40 left in the third quarter.

But the third-quarter scoring wasn’t over.

The Big Green needed just three plays to go 75 yards – without benefit of a pass – in response to the Lions' first score.

This time it was Jones getting things started by taking a handoff from the 25 and breaking tackles on a 39-yard run to the Columbia 36. After a three-yard Jones run it was Crowther’s turn to get in on the fun and sprint 33 yards for the touchdown on the final play of the third quarter, making it 24-7 with the Zalc kick.

Knowing full well a 17-point, fourth-quarter lead isn’t safe after the Big Green erased a 21-point Yale lead with just over seven minutes remaining two weeks ago, the Dartmouth defense bowed up after Columbia drove from its own 25 to the 22 on the first possession of the final period. First Braden Mullen sacked the Lions’ QB for a loss of seven yards, and on the next play Danny Cronin recorded Dartmouth’s third interception of the afternoon, collecting his own tipped ball.

But it wasn’t all a stroll in Central Park as things did get a little uncomfortable for the Big Green down the stretch and it had itself largely to blame.

Taking over at its 34 after a fourth-down stop with 6:10 left, Columbia benefited from two roughing-the-passer penalties to march to the 6-yard line before second-team QB Cole Freeman found Canty in the back of the end zone. That made it 24-14 with 2:04 remaining and brought about an onside kick recovered by Jordan Washington.

And still the game wasn't over.

Hampered by a false start penalty, Dartmouth ran three plays interspersed by Columbia timeouts before Crowther was stopped on a fourth-and-one at the Columbia 41 with 1:41 remaining.

Aided yet again by a personal foul penalty, Columbia drove 58 yards in 10 plays, the last a seven-yard Freeman pass to Canty to make it a three-point game with 34 seconds remaining.

Two weeks ago it was an onside kick that helped Dartmouth beat Yale.

On this day it was Sean Williams cleanly fielding and falling on the final onside kick that sealed the win that left the Big Green perched alone atop the Ivy League standings heading into this week's Homecoming showdown against Harvard.

The Game Within The Game

 (BGA Oct. 25) – When Dartmouth and Columbia squared off for the Ivy League lead in 1996, there were future NFL draft picks on both teams, another player who would spend a year in the league and a fourth who signed a free agent contract. All four players were on the defensive side of the ball.

   While the odds are against any future NFL draft picks being on the field Saturday when the 5-0 Big Green and 4-1 Lions collide, it’s not as if the Ivy Leaguers will be playing chess against each other with the undisputed conference lead at stake, right?

Actually, to listen to the coaches of the 2-0 Ivy teams, there will indeed be an element of The Game of Kings at play, in no small part because of the talent both teams have at quarterback, running back, receiver and well, all over the board. Err, field.

“They have very good players and make big plays,” said Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle. “They're a very disciplined, well-coached team. We need to have our players in the right position and be assignment sound.  

“It's going to be a chess match, and we've got to be prepared at all times and in all phases.”

In his weekly coach’s show Columbia coach Jon Poppe echoed McCorkle’s sentiments while discussing the challenge of defending the moves made by Dartmouth offensive coordinator Kevin Daft. 

“He does a great job of game planning and says, If you're going to take this away, I'm going to do this. He has the counter. If you're taking away Q. Jones, OK, here comes a quarterback run game. Or you're taking away Paxton Scott, well here comes Painter Richards-Baker. Here comes Nick Lemon, who's come on the scene, and here comes Daniel Haughton, right? And Chris Corbo . . . 

“I mean, they have weapons and they have people they trust to be in the right places at the right time to make the plays. Why it’s tough to defend them is (because) they execute.”

As does Columbia, which kicked off the season with an eye-opening 31-20 win over then No. 14/19 Lafayette. The Lions stumbled at Georgetown a week later, losing 17-14, without starting quarterback Chase Goodwin, but have bounced back with wins over Princeton (34-17), at Wagner (24-6) and at Penn (23-17). The win at Franklin Field was there first since 1996.

Like the multifaceted Dartmouth offense Columbia coach Poppe spoke about, the Lions have the ability to move the ball and score in different ways. That’s thanks in no small part to the emergence of Goodwin as starting quarterback. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore who won the job over Northwestern transfer Cole Freeman – himself a spot starter while in the Big Ten – completed the only two passes he threw last year. Ironically, both were against Dartmouth.

Last week Goodwin completed 28-of-39 throws (71.8 percent) for 334 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. That was the first 300-yard game for Columbia since 2017. On the year he’s hitting 67.3 percent of his attempts for 800 yards with six touchdowns and one interception. He can throw on the run and has shown good escapability although Freeman will step in on occasion in running situations. But playing Freeman for the run can be a mistake because he has four touchdown passes among his 20 completions.

Fifth-year running back Joey Giorgi doesn’t have the flash of the Merrimack standout who cause Dartmouth problems and he didn’t make the kind of early career splash Penn’s Malachi Hosley did in winning Ivy League rookie of the year last fall. But Giorgi has been incredibly consistent ever since. After working with the scout team in his first season, he led the Lions with 624 yards in 2022 and ran for 628 a year ago. The 5-10, 210 fifth-year senior punished Princeton with 157 yards two weeks ago and is second in the Ivy League this fall with 91.0. yards rushing per game. He’s averaging 6.2 yards per carry, second only to Princeton  speedster John Volker’s 6.6.

Add in Navy transfer Malcolm Terry’s 62.6 yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry and Columbia is leading the Ivy League with 191.6 yards per game on the ground. Dartmouth is second at 170.8.

The third member of Columbia’s offensive troika is wide receiver Bryson Canty, who last week torched Penn with eight catches for 137 yards. Limited because of injury to three games last year, the 6-2 senior was a member of the All-Ivy League first team as a sophomore. He’s third in the Ivies this year with 74.3 yards per game with four touchdowns on 20 catches in four appearances.

While Dartmouth won last year’s game against Columbia in Hanover, 20-9, neither Canty nor Giorgi played. Joined by Goodwin in the backfield and with a veteran line up front, the talented receiver and hard-running tailback present a stiff challenge for the Dartmouth defense.

“You’ve got to do your best to limit the big plays by those guys,” said McCorkle. “We need our D-line to do a heck of a job putting pressure on them and not allowing big gaps. Our linebackers have to do a good job with their reads and our secondary has to be able to help with run support.

“We can’t allow their quarterback to sit back and go through his reads. We want to be as disruptive as possible to make him feel uncomfortable and have to do things he’s not used to doing.”

On the other side of the equation, Columbia has a ballhawking defense that has turned opponents over nine times with an Ivy League best seven interception and two fumble recoveries. (Dartmouth has a league low one interception and a league-low one fumble recovery.)

While Columbia has had occasional busts in the secondary, McCorkle is wary of the Lions’ nose for the ball.

“First, we have got to do a good job of taking care of the ball,” he said. “The big thing is, if they do give us opportunities we’ve got to capitalize on them. That’s going to be the key.”

Another key: Not letting what figures to be a large and loud crowd drawn to Wien Stadium both because of Columbia Homecoming and the Lions’ strong start have an impact.

“It’s a great atmosphere down there and it’s fun,” said McCorkle. “I told the guys, These are the kind of games you want to play in. Embrace it and enjoy it. But when we kick off, it’s just go play. Focus on each snap.

“Don’t let the outside noise bother you. Just worry about what’s going on between the lines.”

Or on the chess board, if you will.

NOTES

While Dartmouth comes into the game at No. 22 in both FCS rankings, the Lions have also drawn national attention, receiving five votes in the Coaches Poll. … Columbia leads the Ivies in total offense, rushing offense, red zone offense and third down conversions. They also leads the Ivies in scoring defense, rushing defense and interceptions.

Columbia coach Jon Poppe was defensive backs coach for the Lions from 2015-17, then DB coach at Harvard from 2018-22. He then went on to Union College where he helped the Garnet Chargers go 10-2 in his only season. He’s a Williams College graduate. … Columbia’s offensive coordinator is Seitu Smith, who spent the 2018 season as director of player personnel at Dartmouth. A former Harvard standout, he’s also been on staff at Brown and Yale.

The Lions have a whopping 12 fifth-year seniors with 11 of them on the two-deep last fall. … Free safety Hayden McDonald leads the team with 36 tackles and three interceptions. Middle linebacker Anthony Roussos has 34 stops and outside backer Rocco Milia 33. Corner Carter McFadden has 27 tackles, three interceptions and seven breakups.

Dartmouth is bidding for its first 6-0 start since going 8-0 out of the gate in 2019, a streak stopped by Cornell. The Big Green finished 9-1 that fall. … Dartmouth has won four of the last five in the series, the exception being a 19-0 Columbia win in 2021, the Big Green’s only loss that fall. The Green has won 11 of the last 14 meetings and leads the all-time series, 72-20-1.

Dartmouth offensive line coach Keith Clark was on the staff at Columbia from 1992 through the 1996 season – the last time an undefeated Big Green took on a one-loss Columbia team. Dartmouth won that game, 40-0, piling up 471 yards while holding the visitors to 229. Jon Aljancic completed 17-of-24 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns and Greg Smith ran for 91 yards and a touchdown to lead the Big Green offense. Linebacker Zack Walz led the defense with seven tackles.

Walz was one of the two NFL draft picks in that game, going to the Arizona Cardinals early in the sixth round. Chosen by the Buffalo Bills in the second round was Columbia edge rusher Marcellus Wiley, who had nine tackles in the loss to Dartmouth. Big Green safety Lloyd Lee had three tackles in that game and went on to play one year for the San Diego Chargers. The fourth pro in the '96 contest was Columbia linebacker Rory Wilfork, who had 14 tackles and went on to sign with the Cardinals.  

The Optimist-The Pessimist Before Columbia

 BGA (Oct. 22) – The Optimist arrives at the usual place at the usual time carrying an iPad of all things. The Pessimist’s curiosity is piqued.

The Optimist: We’re famous.

The Pessimist: I give up.

The Optimist: Give me a second to boot this thing up.

The Pessimist: Boot it up? You sound like you have a clue what you are talking about.

The Optimist: OK, I want you to read this Ivy League message board posting I’ve highlighted from someone who goes by the nom de plume Go Green.

The Pessimist: Go Green sounds kind of sickly, if you know what I’m saying. But OK, here goes, and I quote: “I agree that this team has been manna from heaven for BGA’s “The Optimist and The Pessimist.”

The Optimist: Can you believe someone actually wrote that?

The Pessimist: Yeah, well, I think whoever wrote that nailed it. It’s true you guys are 5-0 but holy cow, you are living life on the edge. You could just as easily be 1-4.

The Optimist: I think you are getting a little carried away. Even if we split the four games that went down to the wire we’d be 3-2. But we didn’t split them and I’d argue that winning the way we have won tells me a lot about the character of our team.

The Pessimist: What it tells me is you are vulnerable. If you check, each of your four last-minute wins came against teams with a losing record.

The Optimist: Wrong on two counts. First, Yale is 3-2.

The Pessimist: Sorry. I should have said your four close calls came against teams with a losing record overall – or in their conference. And your second thing?

The Optimist: Second, it’s a little misleading to include the loss to us in the records of the teams we beat because we are supposed to beat them. Take their losses to Dartmouth out of the equation and Merrimack, Central Connecticut and Penn are all .500 teams while Yale is 3-1.

The Pessimist: Not exactly a murder’s row of opposition. Add in Fordham’s 0-7 record and your five wins have come against teams with a combined 11-20 record. I’d say the jury is still out on you guys. We’ll learn a lot more this week when you play a Columbia team that not only has a winning record, but a good one at 4-1.

The Optimist: Two can play your game. Columbia’s only victory over a team with a winning record was against 4-3 Lafayette. And the Lions lost to Georgetown. I mean, Georgetown!

The Pessimist: You may have noticed Georgetown is 4-3. Oh, and I did the math. Columbia’s opponents this fall are 16-16 and if you take out the Lions’ wins over the four they beat their opponents are 16-12 with no one worse than a .500 record.

The Optimist: This is getting silly. Time for a history lesson. The last time these two teams met when Dartmouth was unbeaten and Columbia had one loss was back in 1996. Remember what happened that fall? The Big Green absolutely destroyed Columbia, 40-0, on its way to an undefeated season.

The Pessimist: That Columbia team had squeaked past Harvard and Penn in overtime and had a three-point win against Yale. This year’s Lions have a 34-17 win over Princeton and a pretty solid 23-17 win at Penn. The new coach down there said it best. “It’s not your father’s Columbia anymore.”

The Optimist: I’ll buy that they are better than they were while we were going 34-1-1 against them between 1962 and 1997 but there’s a reason why the media picked them last in the Ivy League in the preseason poll.

The Pessimist: Media, schmedia. Where did they pick you? Oh yeah, fourth. All I know is the Columbia defense has given up the fewest points in the Ivy League this fall. And offensively the Lions have a big three at quarterback, running back and wide receiver that’s as good as any in the Ivy League.

The Optimist: I’d venture to say most would take the Penn trio of quarterback Aidan Sayin, receiver Jared Richardson and running back Malachi Hosley. By the way, how did those three do against Don Dobes’ defense? I’ll tell you. Sayin was a woeful 11-for-27 for 123 yards with no TDs. Richardson caught two passes for 18 yards. Hosley got his, running for 82 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, but that’s still 35 yards less than his average.

The Pessimist: Just so you know, Hosley ran 19 times for 50 yards against Columbia. Sayin? He got picked off twice. And Richardson caught six balls for 62 yards but no touchdowns. Now compare that to Columbia’s big three last week. QB Chase Goodwin threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns against Penn, completing 28-of-39 throws. Receiver Bryson Canty caught eight balls for 137 yards and a touchdown. And with the pass game so effective, Joe Giorgi needed to carry just eight times for 49 yards after running for 268 yards over the previous two weeks.

The Optimist: I don’t seem to recall those guys exactly tearing us up last year.

The Pessimist: You wouldn’t. Goodwin was the backup and completed the only two passes he threw. The other two missed the game with injuries.

The Optimist: All I know is we won the game, 20-9, running off the last 20 points spurred on by a chilled and wet Homecoming crowd.

The Pessimist: Glad you brought that up. It’s Homecoming down on the northern tip of Manhattan Saturday and I'm here to tell you Columbia does Homecoming right. It is an absolute party around the stadium. Oh, and with their team winning they are really promoting the game. I don’t know how much that will help them but it sure won’t hurt.

The Optimist: We could go on and on but it’s time we go on . . . to the rest of the schedule. After Columbia we’ve got Harvard and that’s our Homecoming. We’ve beaten them three out of the last five years and the last I checked their quarterback play has been miserable.

The Pessimist: The last I checked the Crimson improved to 4-1 with Jaden Craig completing 20-of-25 passes with three touchdowns in a win over Holy Cross last week.

The Optimist: Then we close out with games at struggling Princeton, long-suffering Cornell and a Brown team we’ve beaten six years in a row and nine times in the last 10 meetings.

The Pessimist: A few words of warning. That’s two long back-to-back trips. Princeton just handed Brown its first Ivy League loss and the Tigers would like nothing better than to rain on your parade. As for Cornell, I seem to recall the Big Red beating you on your last trip to Ithaca and coming out on top in three of your last four meetings. When it comes to Brown, that win over Harvard should have your attention. And you may have noticed the Bears had a 21-17 lead in the fourth quarter of their game against No. 15 Rhode Island before a late touchdown turned a three-point deficit into a 10-point loss.

The Optimist: Say what you will, and I know that you will . . .  Oops, sorry for that beeping sound. I’ve got to get going. My iPad calendar app just reminded me I need to pick up some Alka-Seltzer.

The Pessimist: No problem. I think you are going to need it. See you next week.