Football faces Dartmouth in final game

Two and six. Next to the bottom of a weak league going into the last game of the season. But for anyone who wants to be optimistic, the Tigers are playing the one team below them in the Ancient Eight - Dartmouth.

It has been a rough, heart-wrenching year. From the highs against Columbia and Yale to the lows of Harvard, Penn, et. al., the team has worked to overcome injury after injury just to hit the top of the crossbar and fall short in game, after game, after game.

In a campaign where the team has had as many season-ending injuries to starters as victories, the Tigers should be able to end it all on a happy note tomorrow afternoon in Hanover, N.H. With a win, the team could end the season with its first two-game winning streak in over three years.

While the Tigers have struggled, this final game in Hanover could give the team a little encouragement going into the offseason.

Actually, though, a win might not be an encouragement. After all, the Tigers have shown that they can beat the teams they are supposed to beat but have been unable to pull out a victory against the better teams.

And Dartmouth, a team that is 1-7 and has been outscored 176-98 in its last five games, is one of those teams Princeton should easily beat.

The Tigers' strength throughout the season has varied from game to game. At times, the passing game has been hot, sometimes not. If the passing game has been off, the Tigers have been able to rely on the rush or the defense to keep the team in the game. Sometimes, though, the defense has given up big numbers and the ground game has been slowed by injuries.

Thus, if the gridders cannot use the game as encouragement for next year, perhaps they can use it as a preliminary indication of what the team is going to hope to do next year.

For all useful purposes, this is almost a preseason game for 2002. In it, the Tiger coaches could possibly try to experiment with the underclassmen - maybe throw freshman wide receiver B.J. Szymanski in to see if he can repeat last week's four-catch, 120-yard performance.

The senior starters, who will be making their final appearance on Saturday, will be All-America candidate kicker Taylor Northrop, right guard Matt Peluse, defensive end Phil Jackman, holder Gary Baumwoll, and linebackers Chris Roser-Jones and Bob Farrell.

The seniors are limited in number, but definitely not in quality.

To graduation, the team will be losing one of the best special teams players in I-AA history, another player just a yard off the interception return average record in I-AA history, a team captain, its leader in sacks, a leading tormentor at Cap bicker and the only senior on an improving offensive line.