On Yale's Quarterback Situation

For the second game in a row, Dartmouth will be facing a team with an uncertain quarterback situation when it visits Yale Saturday. (Penn may be down to its fourth quarterback this week as the Daily Pennsylvanian reports.)

Nebraska transfer Patrick Witt started the first three games for Yale but after going 7-for-13 for just 60 yards in last week's loss to Lafayette gave way to holdover Brook Hart, who a year ago set the school record for completion percentage. Hart came off the bench to complete 13-of-17 passes for 154 yards against the Leopards.

Through three games Witt has completed 50-of-94 passes (53.2 percent) for 456 yards with four touchdowns, three interceptions and a 59.5 rating.

Hart has completed 14-of-19 passes (73.7 percent) for 154 yards with one touchdown, no interceptions and a 114.8 rating.

The New Haven Register quotes Yale coach Tom Williams on his quarterback situation:

“Obviously Brook came in and did a great job. I think he did provide a spark. Patrick did some good things as well. The good news for our football team is we have two good quarterbacks, two guys who can win football games for us.

“As far as who the first guy out there is, we will have to determine that but I think both are capable of moving our team down the field and winning games for us.”

Another outtake from the writer hosting yesterday's New Haven Register chat (italics are mine):

I think this Dartmouth team is better than last year's but it is not as good as the Lafayette squad so I think the lessons learned against Lafayette could serve Yale well. Of course they don't want to go 0-3 on the home stand and be the team which breaks Dartmouth's losing streak.

Just how bad has that kind of talk gotten? This line from a Columbia Spectator story might be the last straw for many (again, the italics are mine):

Dartmouth is the most automatic win in the Ivy League year in and year out, and all you need to know about Penn is that the Quakers only beat Big Green by six.

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said this week he received an apology from the league after a video review of a critical non-interference call (on an interception) with 5:24 left in Saturday's game against Penn, and a non-fumble call that would have given Dartmouth the ball inside the Penn 30. The Daily Dartmouth has a column that says of the phantom interference call:

I’ve never seen a Dartmouth crowd show as much emotion as it did after watching that play. The student section was obviously booing — but it looked like everyone else was too. From the seven year olds to the 70 year olds, everyone was letting this referee have it.

The Dartmouth press release for the game at Yale is available here. Dartmouth's official game notes can be found in PDF form here. From the notes:

... (T)he Green did stifle the Penn passing attack by holding the Quakers to just 69 yards in 20 pass attempts. The last opponent to throw for fewer yards was 11 years ago to the day when Dartmouth held Lafayette to 51 yards.

The Ivy League weekend actually begins tonight with Princeton playing host to Colgate in a game to be carried on ESPNU. (The Big Green Alert premium's Fearful Forecast will be posted this afternoon.)

A column out of Syracuse reminds us just how dominant Dartmouth's season-opening opponent has been. From the column:

... (A) two-way attack ... has allowed Colgate to generate three times as many rushing yards as its foes (1,385-459), more than twice as many touchdowns as the opposition (22-10) and a fairly staggering average time-of-possession advantage over the other side (36:51-23:09).

And if you are wondering what drives Colgate coach Dick Biddle, consider what he told the columnist:

“I go into every season worrying about losing every game. It’s frightening to me. When we win the first game, I say, ‘All right, at least we’re not going to go 0-11.’ And then, we win the second game and I’m thinking, ‘OK, we can’t do any worse than 2-9.’ I don’t know. That’s just the way I am.”

Should have mentioned this yesterday, but Brown special teams standout Buddy Farnham has been named the national special teams player of the week by The Sports Network for his performance in the Bears' win over Rhode Island. He finished the game with 274 all-purpose yards.

And finally, the Daily Pennsylvanian has a follow story on legendary "Coach Lake," the Quakers' truly inspirational leader who could miss the entire season for health reasons.