In the 118th rendition of one of the oldest rivalries in collegiate football, Dartmouth will travel to Cambridge, Mass., this Saturday to take on the Harvard Crimson.
The Big Green currently have a 48-64-5 record against the Crimson with their last win a result of a last-minute field goal in a 20-17 thriller during the 2021 season.
Dartmouth is hoping to carry their momentum from a 49-3 blowout win over Columbia last Friday into the weekend. The win moved Dartmouth to 5-1 on the season and 2-1 in the Ivy League, seeding them second in the Ivy league conference. Despite the strong start, the team knows that there are always aspects of the game to be improved.
“We were pumped,” defensive back Tyson Grimm ’26 said. “But we knew what was ahead, we knew we had Harvard coming up … we’re just hoping to carry that momentum into Harvard. We’ve played a lot of games this year where … we’ve left a lot on the table in terms of what we’re capable of.”
Quarterback Grayson Saunier ’27 applauded the performance against the Lions, but also said he believes the team can “always build on” their performances.
“I think we played a really good game,” Saunier said. “We were sound in a lot of ways — guys doing their job, guys in their right spots — but there were a lot of mistakes as well. There’s always more you can correct.”
Harvard presents the biggest challenge Dartmouth has faced so far this season. They are ranked no. 12 by the Stats Perform poll and no. 15 by the coaches’ poll in the Football Championship Subdivision, the highest in the Ivy League. They have not opened a season 6-0 since 2015, when they shared the Ivy League football championship title with Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania.
“They’re very disciplined,” head coach Sammy McCorkle said. “They’re very well coached. They’re going to be in the right space, and I think turnovers are the big thing. They’ll make you pay if you turn the ball over.”
Grimm and the defense will also be tasked with limiting the explosiveness of quarterback Jaden Craig who leads the Ivy League with over 250 passing yards per game.
“He’s a great player,” Grimm said. “But at the end of the day, it’s gonna come down to what we do … as long as we’re just assignment-sound and do everything we’re coached to do, we follow our Dartmouth values on defense.”
Grimm is coming off an electric performance against Columbia, which included a field-flipping pick-six on the Lions’ first drive to give Dartmouth an early lead. He credits much of his recent success to his connection with the rest of the secondary, including defensive backs Sean Williams ’26, Harrison Keith ’26, Patrick Campbell ’26 and Jamal Cooper ’26.
“It definitely pays dividends being best friends with everyone you’re on the field with,” Grimm said. “It shows on Saturdays for sure.”
Offensively, the Big Green are not intimidated. The preparation for this game has been consistent with the approach that has earned them much success so far this season.
“The approach stays the same, they’re a great team, we respect them,” said Saunier. “We’re still gonna be a Dartmouth offense, we just got to do it better than they defend it.”
For current seniors, the matchup is personal.
“The seniors have yet to beat Harvard,” Grimm said. “We’re 0-3 in the past few years, so that’s definitely something we’ve been thinking about. Going down to Boston, [the] stadium’s gonna be rocking, we know a whole bunch of alumni are gonna be there. It’s just super exciting.”
This game will have major implications for the first season where the FCS will include the Ivy League champion in the playoffs. As the top two seeds in the league, the winner of this matchup will move closer to being that team.
Saturday’s matchup will be one for the books. As McCorkle said, two historic rivals, going head-to-head when the stakes are high, is what college football is all about. Grimm ended with a message for all the Big Green fans coming out to the game at 3 p.m. Saturday.
“We need to hear you. It’s gonna be an electric game,” Grimm said. “As loud as you can, save your voices … we’re gonna need all the Big Green to get hyped!”
