Hanover
In recent years, Columbia football endured social media ugliness, allegations of its former head coach verbally abusing his players and losses by the bushel. However, all that’s out the window now that former Pennsylvania head coach Al Bagnoli has seemingly resurrected the Lions. The university and its boosters have poured money into the program and Bagnoli, who oversaw nine league titles at Penn, is awash in national media interview requests.
The Lions and Big Green kick off at 12:30 p.m., and whichever team prevails will have the clear inside track to the league championship with four games remaining. Dartmouth shared the 2015 crown with Penn and Harvard, its first piece of the prize since 1996, but crash-landed in the Ivy basement last fall.
“I’m happy for our players because they’ve worked hard to be in this situation,” said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, whose squad is 5-0 overall and 2-0 in Ivy play, the same as Columbia. “It’s supposed to be beautiful weather, and we’re expecting a big turnout.”
Saturday’s game marks just the 11th time since the Ivy League was formed in 1956 that two of its undefeated football teams have met at least five games into the season. Dartmouth closes the current campaign by visiting Harvard, hosting Cornell, playing Brown at Boston’s Fenway Park and entertaining Princeton.
Dartmouth will regain the services of some injured competitors this week, presumably including Jared Gerbino, who plays quarterback in something similar to the wildcat formation, but who was one of nine hurt players to miss last week’s victory at Sacred Heart. Leading receiver Hunter Hagdorn is also expected to return. Overall, however, the Big Green has been battered by injuries.
The latest to go down include receiving star Drew Hunnicutt and starting cornerback and punt returner Danny McManus. The former has a knee injury he’s hoping to overcome in time to play in the season finale.
The latter suffered a broken finger but was practicing at full speed on Thursday.
“It’s a finger; he’s got nine more of them,” Teevens jokingly said of the senior.
He went on to add, however, that the increasing ranks of the wounded are troublesome.
“It’s been strange,” said Teevens, who’s hoping to get five or six players back for Saturday. “It has been freaky things, to have one after another after another go out. But if somebody is out, somebody else steps up. Then, if he goes out, somebody else comes back from injury.”
The Dartmouth careers of receivers Charles Mack and Zack Hawkins appear over. The former tore an Achilles tendon while blocking on a kick return, and the latter has been so plagued with back woes that he hasn’t practiced since last fall.
Mack, a senior who missed a preseason scrimmage and the opener because of soreness in his other Achilles tendon, said that because he only played in three games this fall, he can claim a fifth year of NCAA eligibility. However, it can’t be at Dartmouth, because he’s set to graduate after the current term. Beginning graduate school elsewhere and playing that final football season might be an option for the Virginian, who had 17 receptions for 203 yards and three touchdowns in 19 career games.
“I have to do my research on teams and schools, but it’s happened so fast,” Mack said on Tuesday, kneeling on the manual scooter he uses to get around. “I’ve got to make sure the academic part is something I want to do and that will help me, and I don’t have a lot of game video for coaches to see.”
Hawkins never played in a game, but he was opening eyes in practices last fall. The Maryland product said he’s battled back issues since junior high and at one point underwent surgery. As he’s grown and gained weight, the problem has worsened.
“I’m basically in pain all the time,” Hawkins said glumly while watching Tuesday’s drills. “Lying down isn’t any better than standing. I’ve got an appointment with a neurosurgeon when I go home for break, and I’m hoping I can still contribute to the team by tutoring younger players.”
Hawkins, who’s thinking about a double major in computer science and economics, said he plans to go to law school after his Dartmouth graduation.
Notes: Drew Galbraith, a Dartmouth senior athletic director who’s been with the department since 2008, was announced on Thursday as the new athletic director at Connecticut’s Trinity College, which has an NCAA Division III athletics program. Galbraith has recently been the main connection between the Big Green sports administration and its football team. He has also overseen the Peak Performance program, which incorporates areas such as nutrition, academics, strength and conditioning and leadership training for Dartmouth athletes. … Columbia quarterbacks coach Ricky Santos is a former University of New Hampshire star who once threw five touchdown passes against the Big Green. … Columbia has beaten Princeton and Pennsylvania in the closing minutes this fall and beat visiting Dartmouth last season by booting three field goals for a 9-7 victory on a blustery day. … The game will be televised on something called the Eleven Sports Network and simulcast online via the Ivy League Network. … Dartmouth has been outscored, 75-54, during the first half but has outscored its opponents, 77-18, after intermission this season. … Dartmouth quarterback Jack Heneghan last week became the eighth Big Green signal-caller to throw for at least 4,000 yards. He needs 216 more to climb to fifth on that list. … Dartmouth offensive line coach Keith Clark and tight ends coach Cheston Blackshear each previously worked at Columbia, though not at the same time. … The Big Green will wear its traditional white helmets and pants, along with a green jersey, for Saturday’s game.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.