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.
