Big Green invades the Yale Bowl!

Unbeaten Dartmouth (3-0, 1-0 Ivy League) will invade the Yale Bowl Friday evening for an important Ivy League showdown between the Big Green and the Elis (2-1, 1-0).

The matchup will be in the national spotlight as it will be broadcast live as part of the Ivy League Friday night television package with ESPNU (6 p.m. kickoff).

At stake tonight for the winner will be a leg up in the chase for the 2018 Ivy League title.

For the host Bulldogs there is some extra incentive on the line as Coach Buddy Teevens Big Green dealt the Elis their only loss in last year’s championship season.

Tony Reno’s Bulldogs enter the contest having soundly defeated No. 16 Maine (2-2) last week, 34-14. Yale quarterback Kurt Rawlings had his best outing of the 2018 season passing for 306 yards and three TDs (1 rush TD) in the win.

Most encouraging for Reno and staff was the play of the Bulldogs young defensive eleven which limited a highly-regarded Black Bears offense to a pair of touchdowns.

The Yale defense will face a huge challenge in Dartmouth’s quarterback Derek Kyler who was named Ivy League Co-Player of the Week in leading the Big Green in last week’s impressive 37-14 win over the Penn Quakers. Kyler passed for 221 yards (18-of-21, 3 TDs) and rushed for 18 yards in the win over Penn.

Yale leads the series 54-41-6, but the Big Green has taken five of the last six. The Bulldogs prevailed the last time the teams met in the Yale Bowl, 21-13 (2016). Last year, Yale squandered an early lead and lost to Dartmouth 28-27 in Hanover, NH.

The game will air live on AM (960 WELI or 1300 ESPN) with Ron Vaccaro ‘04 and Jack Siedlecki providing the call. It can also be seen on the Patriot League Network.

PREDICTION:

It’s the Elis in a classic Ivy League barn burner!

FINAL: Yale 31 Dartmouth 30

BULLDOG BITES

Rawlings earned the New England Football Writers Gold Helmet Award for week ending Sept. 29.

Harvard (2-1, 1-0) will look to remain unbeaten in the Ivy League when it heads to Ithaca to face the Big Red (1-2, 0-1) on Saturday (1 p.m.).

Dartmouth made a historic hiring decision when they announced that Callie Brownson was brought on board as the offensive quality control coach. Brownson became the first known, full-time female football coach at the NCAA Division I level.

The Ivy League released what appears to be a game-changing report with results from its decision in 2016 to adjust kickoff and touchback rules by five yards. The rate of concussions per 1,000 kickoff plays dropped from 11 to 2, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Douglas Wiebe (Penn Injury Center) was the lead author of the report.

Yale will celebrate the life of legendary Hall of Fame Coach Carm Cozza, who passed away earlier this year, on Nov. 10 at the Yale Bowl before the Princeton game.

Looking way ahead to a game that may have Ivy League title implications, Yale and Harvard will play the 135^th meeting of THE GAME on Nov. 17 in Fenway Park. If you are looking for tickets you are out of luck as the game sold out within days of the announcement!

Follow Bob for all the Yale football game highlights, features and more: @WhitneyBob