Date & Time: Saturday, October 12, 2019 – 1:30 p.m. ET
Location: Hanover, N.H.
Stadium: Memorial Field (11,000)
Tickets: Buy Now
Series: Yale leads, 47-43-5
Last Meeting: Yale 18, Dartmouth 41 – 10/5/18
Video: ESPN+
Radio: WELI 960 AM, Ron Vaccaro (play-by-play), Jack Siedlecki (color)
Live Stats: Click here
Game Notes: YALE – DARTMOUTH – IVY LEAGUE
 
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Saturday sets up for a pivotal Ivy League battle in Hanover, N.H., as Yale football faces Dartmouth in a battle of unbeatens. Both the Bulldogs and Big Green are 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Ivy play. Additionally, each school is receiving votes in the both the AFCA Poll and STATS FCS Polls, with a win potentially pushing the victor into the top-25.
 
The Series
Saturday's matchup is the 96th all-time meeting as Yale leads the series 47-43-5. While Dartmouth was able to come away with a victory at the Yale Bowl last season (41-18), the previous two matchups were split between the two teams. The Elis were edged by a single point on the road in 2017 (28-27) and earned a home win (21-13) in 2016. Saturday's matchup also pits the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the 2019 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll (Yale, No. 1 - 119 points; Dartmouth, No. 2 – 11 points)
 
Receiving Recognition
Yale continues to receive votes in both the STATS FCS and the American Football Coaches (AFCA) Top-25 poll. The Bulldogs have 88 votes in in STATS's rankings along with Princeton (No. 21, 775) and Dartmouth (281). Yale has 30 votes in the AFCA poll which gives them the 28th-most votes in the nation.
 
Ivy Accolades
A week after Rodney Thomas II earned Yale's first Ivy League weekly honor as the conference's top defensive player, Kurt Rawlings was recognized as the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week, leading the Elis to a 48-24 win over Fordham. Rawlings threw for 301 yards and accounted for four total touchdowns. With two passing scores, he is now fifth all-time in Yale's record book with 37 touchdown passes. This week, senior kicker Sam Tuckerman, sophomore defensive back Kyle Ellis and freshman wideout Mason Tipton were selected to the Ivy League Honor Roll.
 
Bulldog Breakdown
For the fifth time in eight years under head football coach Tony Reno, the Yale Bulldogs are 3-0. The Elis used a blistering first half last Saturday in which they scored 45 points to run past Fordham. After three-straight games at the Yale Bowl, the Elis will play their first road game of 2019.
 
Senior QB Kurt Rawlings, the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, accounted for four touchdowns, two on the ground and two in the air, while piling up 301 passing yards. Rawlings was able to connect with his classmate receiver duo of JP Shohfi and Reed Klubnik 10 times for 235 yards. Shohfi went for 139 yards and a touchdown while Klubnik went for 96 and added a three-yard rush for a touchdown. Both wideouts caught five balls.
 
The Bulldog offense enjoyed its best offensive showing of the season with 495 yards of offense as they averaged 7.3 yards per play.
 
The Yale defense has also stepped up in 2019 as the Bulldogs lead the Ivy League with five interceptions and have returned a pick for a touchdown in back-to-back week. Junior linebacker Rodney Thomas II, who was last week's Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, continued his strong play against with 11 total tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Sophomore defensive back Kyle Ellis followed Thomas' lead and returned an interception 23 yards for a score to go along with six tackles in the win over the Rams. Thomas and sophomore safety Dathan Hickey are the only players in the Ivy League this season with multiple interceptions.
 
Scouting Dartmouth
For the fourth-straight time in Hanover, the Bulldogs will play against Dartmouth on its Homecoming. Additionally, Big Green head coach Buddy Teevens aims for his 100th career win.
 
The Dartmouth offense is led by dual-threat quarterback Jared Gerbino. While he continues to split time with Derek Kyler behind center, he was the one who guided Dartmouth down the field for each of its three offensive touchdowns last week in a 28-15 win at Penn. For the season, Gerbino has completed 29-of-39 passes (74.4 percent) for 351 yards and six touchdowns without an interception. He also leads the team with 140 rushing yards on 23 carries (6.0 average). Although the Big Green gobble up nearly 200 yards per game on the ground, not a single player provides more than 46 as Teevens shuttles players in and out to keep them fresh.
 
For the second time in his career, LB Jack Traynor has been named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after his performance in the victory over Penn. He also picked up the honor from College Sports Madness and earned honorable mention from STATS for its National Defensive Player of the Week award. The co-captain posted a season-high 10 tackles, but his big play came in the first quarter when he scooped up a fumble and rumbled 17 yards into the end zone, giving Dartmouth a 14-0 lead. It was the first touchdown of his career and extended the Big Green streak of seasons with a fumble return for a TD to five.
 
After three games, Dartmouth leads the FCS in fewest points allowed (8.0 per game), a year after finishing second in the category (12.0). The Big Green also rank in the top 10 in passing yards allowed (154.0, fourth), red zone defense (60.0 percent, sixth), team passing efficiency defense (111.24, ninth) and total defense (298.7, 10th).