Football Receives 17 All-Ivy Honors; School-Record 10 on First Team

HANOVER, N.H. — Only five times in the first 58 years of Ivy League football had a team earned 10 first-team all-league honors. Dartmouth made it six teams in 59 years today as the Big Green placed a school-record 10 on the first team and received a total of 17 All-Ivy honors across the board. No school had more first-team selections, and only the league champion, Harvard, garnered more honors with 19.

The 10 first-team selections for Dartmouth were comprised of nine players with senior Ryan McManus being chosen as both a wide receiver and a return specialist. Joining him from the offensive side of the ball were junior quarterback Dalyn Williams, and senior offensive linemen Sean Ronan and Scotty Whitmore. The Big Green had five defensive players named to the first team as well in senior defensive end Evan Chrustic, senior strong safety Troy Donahue, junior cornerback Vernon Harris, junior linebacker Will McNamara — the lone unanimous selection for Dartmouth — and junior defensive tackle A.J. Zuttah.

Guiding the offense to 31.3 points per game and Dartmouth's best record in 17 years, Williams led the Ivy League in completion percentage (.675) and passing efficiency (157.57) while throwing for 2,119 yards and 21 touchdowns with just three interceptions, the best ratio in Big Green history. Three times the 6-0, 210-pound native of Corinth, Texas, topped 300 yards in a game, including a career-best 388 in a 38-31 come-from-behind victory at Yale. Williams also led the Ancient Eight quarterbacks with 444 yards rushing plus ran for six scores, and his average of 49.3 yards per game ranked seventh in the league overall. In addition, the three-time Ivy Offensive Player of the Week set a Dartmouth record with 443 total yards in a 42-7 triumph at Cornell and currently ranks third in both career passing yards (4,866) and total yards (6,135) in the Big Green annals.

McManus, a 5-11, 195-pound native of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, became just the second Dartmouth player to earn first-team honors at two positions in the same season, joining Shawn Abuhoff '12 in that exclusive group. As a wide receiver, McManus ranked fourth in the league in both receptions (68) and receiving yards (879) — with both per game averages ranking among the top 20 in the FCS — while leading the loop with eight touchdown catches. Three times he racked up at least 100 yards in a game with a high of 188 at Yale, and three times he caught at least 10 passes with a career-best 13 in a 44-21 win over Brown. A two-time Ivy Offensive Player of the Week, he was the only punt returner in the league to bring a punt back for a touchdown, going 60 yards at Yale, and his 10.9-yard average not only led the league, but also ranked 14th nationally.

The two senior offensive linemen on the first team, Ronan and Whitmore, were key figures in Dartmouth ranking third in the league in scoring and total offense with 416.6 yards per game. The Big Green center and co-captain from Boca Raton, Florida, Ronan started every game over the ball and was the keystone of the offensive line. Whitmore, a native of Spring, Texas, was a first-team selection last year at right tackle as well. The duo protected Williams to help allow him to become the sixth quarterback in Dartmouth history to throw for 2,000 yards and the second with 20 or more touchdown tosses. They also were key components in the Big Green posting their second best average per rush (4.47) over the last 23 seasons.

On the defensive side, Chrustic started nine of the 10 games and recorded 3.5 tackles for a loss, two of which were sacks, batted down two passes at the line and blocked a pair of kicks. A second-team selection last year, the 6-4, 285-pound end from Andover, New Jersey, had his finest game of the season in the Ivy opener against Penn against which he had two tackles for a loss with 1.5 sacks.

Zuttah, a 6-2, 285-pound tackle from Edison, New Jersey, ranked third among the league's defensive linemen with 48 tackles with three going for a loss and one sack as he started every game. Against Harvard, he recorded a career-high 10 tackles, and he posted eight on two other occasions. With Chrustic and Zuttah in the trenches, Dartmouth ranked third in the league in yards allowed and second in points allowed.

The league's leading tackler was the Big Green's weak-side linebacker in McNamara. After missing the first game of the year with an injury, he still had 87 tackles (9.7 per game), four of which went for a loss. The 6-0, 235-pound native of Chicago, Illinois, recorded at least 10 tackles in six of the nine games that he appeared in with a career-high 15 in the thrilling win at Yale. He also picked off passes in wins over Columbia — earning Ivy Defensive Player of the Week honors — and Brown, plus broke up two other passes during the season.

Donahue, a 6-1, 195-pound native of Greenwood Village, Colorado, tied for the Ivy League lead with four interceptions to anchor the defensive backfield. He finished the season with 46 tackles with a career-high 14 coming in the season-opening win over Central Connecticut State and eight more against Harvard. Three of his picks came in consecutive victories against Penn, Yale and Holy Cross, and his final interception was against the Crimson.

One of the league's best defensive backs, Harris not only tied for third on the team with 50 tackles, but he also had three interceptions and broke up five other passes. A native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the 6-2, 195-pound corner also had two tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Twice Harris made nine tackles in a game, and his picks came against Yale, Columbia and Cornell. The four turnovers he was involved in causing directly led to 24 Big Green points.

Six Big Green players earned second-team honors, a total only Yale could match. Those six consisted of: junior running back Kyle Bramble who ran for 655 yards and caught 31 passes for another 307 while scoring a total of 10 touchdowns; junior offensive lineman Jacob Flores who started every game at left tackle covering Williams' blind side; junior defensive end Cody Fulleton for a second consecutive year by making 41 tackles while ranking second on the team with 5.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks; sophomore placekicker Alex Gakenheimer who converted 12-of-15 field goals and ranked second among the league's kickers with 73 points; sophomore punter Ben Kepley who was second in the league with a 38.9-yard average per kick; and senior free safety and co-captain Stephen Dazzo who earned the honor for a second straight year by recording 36 tackles, an interception and two pass breakups. Junior linebacker Zach Slafsky garnered honorable mention as well as Dartmouth's second-leading tackler (61).

The Ivy League also announced the Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year, the latter of which was awarded for the first time this year. Cornell safety Nick Gesualdi tied Donahue for the league lead with four interceptions and was the Ivy League Rookie of the Week four times to give the Big Red the conference's top honor for rookies for a second straight year. The Coach of the Year was revealed as Tim Murphy, who guided the Crimson to a perfect 10-0 record and their third Ivy League title in the last four years.

The finalists for the Ivy League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year will be unveiled on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The finalists will travel to New York City for the Asa S. Bushnell Cup presentation at a special reception and press conference on Dec. 8 as part of the festivities surrounding the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame Annual Awards Dinner.

For the complete list of All-Ivy selections, visit the Ivy League website.

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