Football Set For Dartmouth Saturday

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By Craig Sachson
PrincetonTigersFootball.com

Calling 7-0 "familiar territory" would have been unthinkable for a Princeton football player five years ago. Consider this: between 1964-2017, 43 years of highs and lows for the nation's oldest college football program, Princeton started a season 7-0 only three times.

Since 2018, when the fifth-year seniors on this team were newcomers to the program, Princeton has started 7-0 all four times. Unfamiliar territory is what Princeton seeks this weekend.

And they'll do it against a very familiar opponent — Dartmouth.

Princeton and Dartmouth will play for the 101st time Saturday at 1 pm, and once again there will be massive stakes on the line. The 17th-ranked Princeton Tigers (7-0, 4-0 Ivy) hold a one-game edge in league play over Penn, Harvard and Yale, and would like nothing more than to retain sole possession of that spot going into the final two weeks.

Dartmouth (2-5, 1-3 Ivy), co-winners of the last two Ivy League championships, officially fell out of championship contention last weekend, but the Big Green record hardly tells the story of a hard-luck season so far. They have lost twice in overtime (Penn, Sacred Heart), once to a Top-20 team (New Hampshire), and by a field goal at Yale. Dartmouth was tight with Harvard for much of last weekend before the Crimson pulled away in the second half.

Let's face it, though. Even if Dartmouth was 0-7, it would still command the full respect of the Princeton locker room. After all, the last two times Princeton tried for 8-0, Dartmouth was the team that turned the Tigers away.

Dartmouth has clear strengths entering the weekend. The Big Green possesses the Ivy League's top-ranked pass defense (196.7 yards per game), and the league's second-ranked rushing offense (154.7 yards/game). Their top two backs, Nick Howard and Zack Bair, combine for more than 138 rushing yards per game.

"Dartmouth continues to be a team that is physical, has explosive speed and is exceptionally well coached," Princeton head coach Bob Surace said. "They have three of the top 11 rushers in our league, with two running backs and a returning All-Ivy quarterback in that group. They not only stress a defense vertically but use the entire width of the field. They are again strong in the box on defense, they don't give up long plays and are a terrific tackling team."

It will be strength against strength this weekend, as the Dartmouth pass defense will face the Ivy's second-ranked passing offense (265.6 yards/game), while the Dartmouth rush offense will face the Ivy's second-ranked rushing defense (70.0 yards/game).

Princeton players don't care whether this one is high-scoring, like many of the battles with the Big Green over the middle part of the last decade, or a low-scoring thriller like the memorable 2018 showdown between unbeaten and FCS Top-20 teams. They just want to experience the feeling of 8-0, either for the first time ever, or for the first time in quite a while.

Week 8 Game Notes
History Lesson • Dartmouth leads the all-time rivalry 51-45-4 in a series that dates back to Oct. 30, 1897, when Princeton earned a 30-0 home win. The Tigers are 7-4 in the series at Princeton Stadium, including a 14-9 home win in 2018 when the Tigers were ranked #14 and Dartmouth was ranked #20.

Elite Eight • Princeton has started a season 8-0 two times since 1965 (1995, 2018); the Tigers got to 7-0 each of the previous two seasons, but they lost to Dartmouth in Week 8 both times.

Crazy Eights • Besides the undefeated 2018 season, Princeton has only had one other eight game win streak in the last quarter century, a run between the opener and the finale of the 2013 Ivy League championship season. That stretch ended at the hands of Dartmouth in a 28-24 thriller on a snowy Memorial Field.

Class Rank • Princeton's win over Cornell last weekend helped the Tigers move up five spots in the latest AFCA Coaches poll. Princeton is now ranked #17 and is one of four undefeated teams in the Top 25. The Tigers also made their debut inside the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, where they currently rank #25.

Senior Citizen • Senior wide receiver Andrei Iosivas was named the Reese's Senior Bowl Offensive Player of the Week following a 10-catch, 155-yard, two-touchdown performance in last week's win over Cornell. Iosivas has been named to the 2023 Senior Bowl Watchlist, FCS Walter Payton Award Watchlist and was selected as the East-West Shrine Bowl Outbreak Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 10.

Andrei The Giant • Andrei Iosivas became the 17th player in Princeton history to record at least 100 career catches last weekend, and he enters Week 8 with 109 career receptions for 1,744 yards and 15 touchdowns. He leads the Ivy League this season in catches (50), yards (778), and touchdown catches (6). His 778 yards is 180 more than any other player in the Ivy League.

Climbing The Charts • While Iosivas has the best receiving numbers in the league this season, his career numbers aren't even the best on his team. Dylan Classi enters the weekend with 111 catches for 1,787 yards and 10 touchdowns. Both Classi and Iosivas have an opportunity to reach the 2,000-yard career mark, which has only been accomplished by four other Princeton receivers: Derek Graham (2,798), Jesper Horsted (2,703), Kevin Guthrie (2,646), and Chisom Opara (2,198).

The Butler Did It (Again) • Freshman running back Ryan Butler earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors following another strong performance in the win over Cornell. Butler, who leads the Ivy League with 10 rushing touchdowns this season, has won the Ivy League Rookie of the Week award five times this season, one short of the Ivy record. That mark was set by three players, including Princeton running back Chuck Dibilio (2011).

Toss It Around • Junior quarterback Blake Stenstrom leads the Ivy League with 1,859 passing yards and a 68.3 completion percentage this season, and he ranks second in the league with 12 touchdown passes. In the last three weeks, all Ivy League wins, Stenstrom has thrown for eight touchdowns, zero interceptions, and has averaged 255 passing yards per game.

Tackling The Issue • Three of the four leading tacklers in the Ivy League will meet on Powers Field this weekend. Dartmouth's Macklin Ayers (12.0 per game) and Joe Heffernan (9.1) rank 1-2 in the Ivy League, while Princeton junior Liam Johnson ranks fourth with 8.3 stops per game.

I'm Honored • Liam Johnson earned his first Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week Award following last weekend's home win over Cornell. He had a team-best eight tackles and added an 89-yard interception return for a touchdown, Princeton's longest since Trocon Davis went for 100 yards in a 2012 game at Yale.

Set The Pick • Senior safety Michael Ruttlen Jr. leads the Ivy League with three interceptions on the season. Ruttlen has 28 tackles on the season, fourth most on the team. Liam Johnson leads the team with 58, followed by Ozzie Nicholas (40) and Will Perez (29).

The Defense Doesn't Rest • Princeton enters the weekend with the top-ranked scoring (11.0 points/game) and total (294.9 yards/game). Over the last five weeks, Princeton has allowed multiple touchdowns in only one game, a 35-19 home win over Brown.

Point, Counterpoint • Princeton's scoring defense is the second-best in the nation, trailing only Jackson State, and it is allowing only 11.0 points per Ivy game (as well as all games). It is also among the best in the last decade of Ivy League history. Since 2010, only one Ivy League team has allowed fewer than 11 points per league game, the 2016 Princeton Tigers.

Conversion Chart • Princeton has the Ivy League's stingiest third-down defense, allowing a league-best 34.0% conversion rate this season.

Coming Up Next • Princeton will play its final road game of the season next weekend when it travels to the historic Yale Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 12, for a 12 pm game at Yale. The Bulldogs are currently 3-1 in the league and play a home game against Brown this weekend. Yale leads the all-time series 78-55-10, but Princeton has won each of the last two road games at Yale, both during Ivy League championship seasons (2016, 2018).

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