| Dartmouth Big Green football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1881 | ||
| Athletic director | Mike Harrity | ||
| Head coach | Sammy McCorkle 1st season, 6–4 (.600) | ||
| Stadium | Memorial Field (capacity: 15,600) | ||
| Field surface | Field Turf | ||
| Location | Hanover, New Hampshire | ||
| Conference | Ivy League | ||
| Past conferences | Triangular Football League (1887–1898) | ||
| All-time record | 733–470–46 (.605) | ||
| Claimed national titles | 1 (1925) | ||
| Conference titles | 28 (1888, 1889, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1996, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2023) | ||
| Rivalries | Cornell (rivalry) Harvard (rivalry) New Hampshire (rivalry) | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 15 | ||
| Current uniform | |||
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| Colors | Dartmouth green and white[1] | ||
| Fight song | As the Backs Go Tearing By | ||
| Mascot | Keggy the Keg[2][a] | ||
| Website | DartmouthSports.com | ||
The Dartmouth Big Green football team represents Dartmouth College in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) college football competition as a member of the Ivy League. The team possesses a storied tradition that includes a national championship, and holds a record 21 Ivy League Football Championships with 11 College Football Hall of Fame inductees.
After Dartmouth formally entered the Ivy League in 1956, head coach Bob Blackman led the 1962 team to the program's first undefeated season since the 1925 national championship team. Blackman also had his first All-American player in Donald McKinnon, class of 1963, who anchored a strong defense that allowed only six points in its first five games.
The sport of football, in its embryonic form, was played on the campus as early as 1876. Goalposts were erected on the green where they stood for several months, before being removed for the 1877 commencement. The first intercollegiate game occurred on November 17, 1881, when Amherst traveled to Dartmouth.[3] The Green won with a score of 1–0. On November 24, the teams met in Springfield, Massachusetts for a rematch on Thanksgiving Day, and the scoreless game ended prematurely in a tie because of snow.[4] In the following years, Dartmouth played games against some of the best teams in the nation.[5] In 1882, Dartmouth played Harvard for the first time and lost, 53–0. In 1884, Yale visited Dartmouth and routed the Green, 113–0.[5][6] The Elis teams did not return to Hanover until 1971.[5]
From 1887 to 1898,[citation needed] Dartmouth competed against schools such as MIT, Amherst, and Williams as a member of the Triangular Football League. During that period, the Big Green secured eight conference championships, all of them outright except one shared with MIT in 1888.[7]
From 1901 to 1909, Dartmouth compiled a 58–9–7 record under several different head coaches. In 1901, Dartmouth played their first game against their intrastate rivals, UNH.[8] In 1903, Dartmouth traveled to Harvard for the dedication game of their opponents' stadium. The Green, who had lost the first 18 meetings by a combined margin of 552 points to 18, upset the Crimson, 11–0. From 1911 to 1916, Frank "the Iron Major" Cavanaugh, led the Green to a 42–9–3 record.[5] He volunteered for World War I at the age of 41, and was replaced as coach by one of his former players, Clarence Spears. Spears attained a 21–9–1 record with the Green, and went on to further success at West Virginia and Minnesota, among others.
Before the 1922 game against Harvard, the media began referring to Dartmouth as "the Indians", in addition to their preexisting nickname of the Big Green.[9] In 1923, Jesse Hawley took over as head coach. In 1925, the Green finished 8–0, and two of that team's players, Swede Oberlander and Myles Lane, were later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. One, Nathan Parker, became a Rhodes Scholar. The Indians were named 1925 national champions by Parke H. Davis and the Dickinson system.[10]
Earl "Red" Blaik became head coach in 1934 and posted a 45–15–4 mark in his seven seasons. In 1935, he led them to their first victory over Yale, 14–6. Between 1936 and 1938, the Green compiled a 22-game unbeaten streak, but declined an invitation to the 1937 Rose Bowl. Against Cornell, in 1940, they played the infamous Fifth Down Game. In 1941, Blaik left to coach the Army team at West Point, whom he led to two consecutive national championships.[5] The 1970 Dartmouth football team was undefeated (9-0; 7-0 Ivy) and won the Lambert Trophy, symbolizing the best Division 1 football team in the Northeast. They scored 311 points, while only giving up 42 points, with 6 shutouts. The team finished the season ranked 14 nationally by the AP. [11][12]
Dartmouth played its first season of football as a member of the Ivy League in 1956. Future Hall of Fame inductee Bob Blackman took over as head coach and went on to compile a 104–37–3 record and seven Ivy League titles. Jake Crouthamel, from 1971 to 1977, and Joe Yukica, from 1978 to 1986, each coached the Green to three more Ivy League championships. Following the 1981 season, the Ivy League was reclassified to Division I-AA, today known as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Dartmouth moved to Division I-AA play with the rest of the league.[13]
The 1978 Ivy League Player of the Year, Buddy Teevens, succeeded Yukica in 1987. Teevens spent five years at Dartmouth and captured two conference championships. John Lyons led the Green to two more titles and another 22-game unbeaten streak. Teevens returned in 2005 and remains head coach.[5] Beginning in 2018 Dartmouth will play New England Ivy League rival Brown in their final game.
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In March 2020, the Ivy League shut down all athletic competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including football.[14] The league announced in a May 2021 joint statement that "regular athletic competition" would resume "across all sports" in fall 2021.[15]
Upon the return of football, Dartmouth finished the 2021 season with a record of 9-1 and shared the Ivy League title with the Princeton Tigers.[16] The Big Green failed to claim their third consecutive Ivy League title in 2022, posting a 3-7 record which saw them finish 6th in the Ivy League, their worst record since 2009.[17][18]
Dartmouth won its only national championship in 1925.[19] Dartmouth claims this championship.[20]
| Year | Selectors | Coach | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Dickinson System, Parke H. Davis | Jesse Hawley | 8–0 |
Dartmouth has won 28 conference championships in over a century of play, with 21 in the Ivy League, the most in the league's history.
| Year | Conference | Coach | Overall record | Conference record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1888 | Eastern Intercollegiate Football Association | – | 3–4 | 3–1 |
| 1889 | – | 7–1 | 4–0 | |
| 1893 | Triangular Football League | Wallace Moyle | 4–3 | 2–0 |
| 1894 | 5–4 | 2–0 | ||
| 1895 | William Wurtenburg | 7–5–1 | 2–0 | |
| 1896 | 5–2–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 1897 | 4–3 | 2–0 | ||
| 1898 | 5–6 | 2–0 | ||
| 1958 | Ivy League | Bob Blackman | 7–2 | 6–1 |
| 1962 | 9–0 | 7–0 | ||
| 1963 | 7–2 | 5–2 | ||
| 1965 | 9–0 | 7–0 | ||
| 1966 | 7–2 | 6–1 | ||
| 1969 | 8–1 | 6–1 | ||
| 1970 | 9–0 | 7–0 | ||
| 1971 | Jake Crouthamel | 8–1 | 6–1 | |
| 1972 | 7–1–1 | 5–1–1 | ||
| 1973 | 6–3 | 6–1 | ||
| 1978 | Joe Yukica | 6–3 | 6–1 | |
| 1981 | 6–4 | 6–1 | ||
| 1982 | 5–5 | 5–2 | ||
| 1990 | Buddy Teevens | 7–2–1 | 6–1 | |
| 1991 | 7–2–1 | 6–0–1 | ||
| 1992 | John Lyons | 8–2 | 6–1 | |
| 1996 | 10–0 | 7–0 | ||
| 2015 | Buddy Teevens | 9–1 | 6–1 | |
| 2019 | 9–1 | 6–1 | ||
| 2021 | 9–1 | 6–1 | ||
| 2023 | Sammy McCorkle | 6–4 | 5–2 |
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Main article: Cornell–Dartmouth football rivalry |
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Main article: Dartmouth–Harvard football rivalry |
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Main article: Dartmouth–New Hampshire football rivalry |
For a full list of former players, see Category:Dartmouth Big Green football players.
One alumnus has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
Including Healey, ten alumni have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame:
