Penn will likely be challenged by experienced Dartmouth team

The two-time defending Ivy League football champion Penn will open play in the Ancient Eight on Saturday night by visiting Dartmouth, where the Big Green will play under the lights at Memorial Field for the first time ever.

The 6 p.m. contest is a happening in Hanover, N.H., but mostly because the Big Green faithful believes its team is ready to challenge for the title. The optimism stems from a 6-4 finish last fall, the program's first winning season in 13 years, and the fact that Dartmouth returned nine starters on both sides of the ball.

What's more, the Big Green took the Quakers into overtime last year before losing, 30-24, at Franklin Field.

What better way for Dartmouth to make a statement this year than by knocking off the league's standard-bearer? Penn is riding a 15-game winning streak in the Ivies that's the longest active conference run in the Football Championship Subdivision?

"This is the season they were really trying to play to," said Penn coach Al Bagnoli. "They have 25 or 30 seniors who are first or second on the depth chart. They are a little like we were last year. They have an exceptionally large senior class. They've got maturity and experience, and they've got some playmakers."

Penn, which is 0-2 after losing nonleague outings to Lafayette and Villanova on its home turf, has defeated Dartmouth 12 times in the last 13 years. The blemish on that record came when the host Big Green handed the Quakers a 21-13 loss in 2007.

Dartmouth, which has not claimed an Ivy League championship since 1996, is 1-1 after defeating Colgate, 37-20, and losing to Sacred Heart, 24-21, in nonleague games. In the loss, the Big Green had a field goal blocked as time expired.

"Now you have to wipe the slate clean, and you go into playoff mode in our league," Bagnoli said.

For Dartmouth, the running back tandem of Nick Schwieger and Dominick Pierre is leading the way. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound Schwieger has produced 100-yard rushing efforts in both of the Big Green's games. The 6-0, 200-pound Pierre is averaging 4.2 yards per carry.

Dartmouth is second in the league in scoring defense and third in total defense. And the Big Green's special teams have been special, with punter Daniel Barstein's 41.6 yards per kick leading the league and kicker Foley Schmidt atop the scoring list with 16 points. Preseason all-American defensive back Shawn Abuhoff returned a punt 90 yards for a score last week.

Penn received 92 yards on the ground from running back Brandon Colavita against 'Nova and 250 yards in the air from quarterback Billy Ragone. The junior quarterback completed 15 of 26 passes with an interception and a fourth-quarter touchdown throw that pulled the Quakers within two points of the Wildcats.

"The interesting thing about Penn is their consistency over time," said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens. "You know what you're going to get."