NEW YORK CITY – During Thursday’s practice, Dartmouth sophomore Santino Cicarella wasn’t in his usual No. 34 jersey.
The 6-foot-3, 178-pound defensive back was wearing a red No. 4 and lining up at wide receiver, where he was charged with impersonating 6-4 standout Columbia freshman Bryce Coleman, who is fourth in the nation with eight touchdown catches already in five games this fall.
While Cicarella was doing a pretty fair Coleman impression – and maybe giving the coaches something to think about? – down in New York City, the Lions may well have had a player in a special No. 16 jersey.
Or maybe a No. 18 jersey?
The No. 16 belongs of course to Dartmouth starting quarterback Grayson Saunier, whose ability to both pass and run makes him a special challenge and a player opponents need to scheme against.
The No. 18 belongs to backup quarterback Noah Trigueros, who saw his first real action over the final 2½ quarters in Dartmouth’s win over Merrimack and is probably still something of a mystery to opposing coaches. He can run, but can he run like Saunier? Columbia may, or may not, find out Saturday.
Trigueros was pressed into action a week ago because of an injury to Saunier, whose status for Saturday McCorkle said Thursday, is the infamous “game-time decision,” leaving Columbia (4-1, 1-1 Ivy League) to prepare for both QBs.
Dartmouth (2-3, 1-1), meanwhile, knows exactly what it is preparing for in Coleman, who has caught at least one touchdown pass in every college game in which he's played. He pulled in three scoring passes in last week’s win over Penn. He comes into Saturday second in the Ivy League with 453 receiving yards, and eighth in the nation with 90.6 yards per game.
“He’s really good. He’s a heck of a player,” McCorkle said. “He’s a long guy who has gone against a lot of good guys and done really well. He’s got good hands and is someone who can stretch it vertically and cause issues, for sure.”
Directing the Columbia offense is quarterback Chase Goodwin, who has completed 57.5 percent of his passes for 297.8 yards per game with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. He leads the league in passing yards, but the senior can blow hot and cold. In the opener this fall, he was 25-for-39 (64.1 percent) for 367 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. A week later, he was 23-for-50 (46 percent) for 277 yards, two TDs, and two interceptions.
He can even blow hot and cold in one game. Against Penn last week, he missed seven-of-eight passes to open the second quarter and completed just 42.5 percent (17-of-40) but he also had three touchdown passes against two interceptions.
Goodwin missed last year’s 49-3 loss to Dartmouth because of injury. Against the Big Green two years ago, he was 6-of-11 for 79 yards with two interceptions before leaving the game and being lost for the season to injury.
“He’s a good quarterback with a strong arm,” said McCorkle. “We can’t let him sit back there and take his time to pick and choose where he wants to go with the ball. We’ve got to be in the right spots and can’t give him open windows. We need to make him make mistakes and then take advantage.”
In addition to Coleman, Goodwin will be looking to 6-1 junior Hutch Crow, who has 28 catches for 348 yards and one touchdown this fall. Beckett Robinson has just 12 catches, but two have gone for touchdowns, and he’s averaging 21.0 yards per catch.
Heading up the Columbia run game is Griffin Johnson, a nails-tough, 5-11, 200-pound senior. He’s third in the Ivy League with 486 yards this fall, an average of 97.2 yards per game.
“He runs hard and has good vision,” said McCorkle. “He’s a downhill guy who gets yards after contact and can bounce it outside and get the edge on you.
“You can’t arm tackle him. You have to be sure you’re fundamentally sound against him. We’ve got to swarm to him and gang tackle.”
Defensively, the Lions are allowing a league-high 6.1 yards per play and are seventh in the conference in rushing yards allowed at 152.8. Only Dartmouth has allowed more at 185.0, playing a much more challenging schedule.
The Lions are middle-of-the-pack in terms of completion percentage allowed but are second in interceptions with six. They are seventh in TD passes allowed at eight. Corner MD Awe leads the team with 2.0 passes defended per game.
“They play hard,” McCorkle said of the Columbia defense. “They are well-coached and disciplined. We know it’s going to be a physical game.”
Columbia won its first two games in overtime (40-34 vs. Lafayette, 20-17 vs. Georgetown) before falling to Princeton, 35-7. They’ve rebounded with wins at Marist (41-28) and last week at Penn (28-27).
Until a stunning run to a share of the Ivy League championship two years ago, Columbia had a way of letting wins like Lafayette and Georgetown, and most recently Penn, slip away. But 4-1 is 4-1 the way McCorkle sees it.
“That’s what they are,” he said. “You need to put yourself in a situation where you can finish those games and win, and they’ve done that.”
Dartmouth is the Homecoming opponent for Columbia, which does as good a job as anyone in the Ivy League in turning the annual game into a party.
“It’s a cool atmosphere down there,” McCorkle said. “When I asked out guys how many had been down there, about a dozen raised their hands. We know they’re going to be playing with a lot of energy, and we’ve got to come out ready, match that energy, and be consistent in all three phases.”
NOTES
Columbia has lost its last four Homecoming games and four games in a row to Dartmouth. The Big Green hasn’t lost in Wien Stadium since 2016.
The Lions recorded four of their six interceptions on the season in last week’s win at Penn. They trailed the Quakers at one point by 17.
Dartmouth leads the all-time series with Columbia, 74-20. The Lions’ last win over the Big Green was by a 19-0 score in the 2021 game at Memorial Field. … Dartmouth wide receivers coach Todd Gilcrist coached the receivers at Columbia under Al Bagnoli from 2015-19. Lions offensive coordinator Seitu Smith spent 2018 as director of player personnel at Dartmouth.