Penn opens up with Big Green

Quakers have tough test on the road as theyQuakers have tough test on the road as theylook to upend Ivy favorite Dartmouth Penn or Princeton. That usually sounds like a safe bet when trying to predict the winner of the Ivy League football race. But it may come as a surprise that since the Ivy Group formed 40 years ago, Dartmouth's 16 championships are more than any other of the Ancient Eight schools. This year, the Ivy media pundits are calling for the Big Green to purchase their 17th set of rings. The Quakers invade Hanover's Memorial Field tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. to try to keep their three-year win streak over Dartmouth alive and to make a powerful statement to the League that the Red and Blue are true contenders. Even during the Quakers unbeaten streak, the Big Green has always put up a challenge, with last year's eight-point come-from-behind win being the largest margin of victory. And facing what Penn coach Al Bagnoli calls the most experienced Ivy squad on its home turf, the task only looks to be tougher. On offense, Dartmouth returns four out of five offensive linemen and its entire corps of wide receivers. Meanwhile, everybody who ran the ball last year returns to take more handoffs. Senior Pete Oberle, after knee surgery in 1994, returns and drops further backfield to play fullback. This is an added advantage, as it creates an opportunity to use the option. On the defensive end, all the Big Green linebackers return, but all the defensive backs and three of the four linemen (in their 4-3 scheme) graduated. Picked to finish at the bottom of the Ivy heap last year, Dartmouth surged to went undefeated in its final seven games -- with the seventh game being the 10-10 tie with Princeton that sealed the Tigers' championship. Although one game does not determine a championship, this week also features Princeton at Cornell -- putting all four of the predicted Ivy contenders against each other. But with Dartmouth and Penn picked 1-2, respectively, this game will give the winner a head start into the season, and the loser a hole to dig out of. Bagnoli feels his team is ready for battle, despite the fact that he was unhappy with his squad's play last week. "Hopefully we can run our offense -- it's not going to be a situation where personell-wise were totally outmatched," Bagnoli said. "It's hard when everybody else has been playing for three weeks, and we haven't even opened up yet. I think our kids are real tired of turning on Thursday night ESPN and watching the games on ABC or CBS on Saturday -- I think they're itching to play." The question on the minds of the Quaker faithful is whether or not senior Steve Teodecki can step up as the starting quarterback. Although the entire team and coaching staff has complete confidence in him, he still needs to stand the test of game-time battle. "We don't expect anything less if anybody else was quarterbacking," Bagnoli said. "He is fully capable of being an excellent football player, and we totally expect him to be an excellent football player." Dartmouth may not be new to winning Ivy championships, but in the past three years, beating Penn would have been a welcomed change. And if the Big Green can accomplish just that, the 1996 Ivy League race could have people muttering "Dartmouth" among "Penn and Princeton."