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The Yale Bulldogs take on the Dartmouth Big Green in New Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday, Oct. 10. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Yale is favored by -6.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -250. The total is set at 53.5 points.
Here's my Dartmouth vs Yale predictionand college football pick for Saturday, October 10.
Dartmouth vs Yale Pick: Yale -6.5 (-113)
My Yale vs. Dartmouth best bet is on the Bulldogs to cover the spread. Find the best line available on our live NCAAF odds page .
Dartmouth vs Yale point spread: Dartmouth +6.5 (-113), Yale -6.5 (-113)
Dartmouth vs Yale over/under: 53.5 (-113o / -113u)
Dartmouth vs Yale moneyline: Dartmouth +190, Yale -250
Dartmouth is much better than its 1-2 record, which featured close losses to Lehigh and Monmouth, two very solid FCS programs.
The Big Green are considered one of the top three contenders in the Ivy League this season, along with its next opponent, Yale, and Harvard, which comes up later in the schedule.
The Mean Green avoided a scare last week, as Penn hung in there for four quarters in a game Dartmouth could have won by a larger margin.
The offense is paced by quarterback Grayson Saunier, who has thrown for 583 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Saunier has displayed mobility in the pocket, the ability to wiggle out of trouble and even pick up yards with his legs. In fact, he's the team's second-leading rusher with 120 yards on the ground.
Myles Craddock had big shoes to fill stepping up as the primary tailback, and he has run for 258 yards for Dartmouth, which runs a slower-paced, ball-control offense.
Receivers Ky'dric Fisher and Nick Lemon are consistent pass-catchers, but the explosiveness hasn't been there for the Big Green.
The defense is down a notch this season, as Dartmouth has surrendered big plays in each of its first three contests.
Lehigh ran the ball efficiently against the Big Green, while Monmouth did so through the air. Penn had more success than anticipated last week, racking up 360 total yards.
The most glaring deficiency for this Dartmouth defense has been its inability to get off the field on third down.
An eye-popping 59% of opponents' third-down attempts have been converted, and now the task for this defense will be to get Yale, equipped with the best quarterback in the Ivy League, off the field regularly.
Yale has already had a wildly tumultuous season, having played just three games. The biggest story has been the tragic death of former head coach Tony Reno, who was incredibly successful during his tenure on the Yale sidelines.
Reno had been battling an undisclosed health issue, which provoked his resignation last year. The most heartbreaking part of the story is that Reno's son, Dante, is the Bulldogs' starting quarterback and one of the best players in the Ivy League.
Dante missed the Bulldogs' road loss against Cornell while caring for his ailing father but played just one day after Tony's death, leading the Bulldogs to a victory over Merrimack.
The team has already suffered a conference loss, and there's zero margin for error if Yale is to take home the Ivy League crown this season. I expect a fully focused effort here.
Dante Reno has thrown for 752 yards and nine touchdowns in just two games this season. Reno is mobile, can create on the move, and rarely makes mistakes. He's far and away the best quarterback Dartmouth will face all season.
The Bulldogs have a pair of explosive receivers in Jaxton Santiago and Lucius Anderson, who have combined to catch 43 passes for 702 yards and seven touchdowns.
Tight end Graham Smith is a great complementary weapon and also has three touchdowns to his credit.
The ground attack isn't as strong as it was over the last couple of seasons, but Hugo Djeumeni Kemeni has rounded into a nice back who can register yards after contact.
The defense has played decent football this season despite the high point totals given up. Holy Cross had a pair of short touchdown drives set up by special-teams miscues in the season opener, and Cornell posted three touchdown drives of 43, 34 and six yards.
Even Merrimack benefited from a 79-yard touchdown on a blown coverage, which was immediately followed by an interception returned for a touchdown. Yale has given up points this season, but the defense has also been put in tougher situations.
The stop unit has been excellent on third down, and if Yale can cut down on explosive plays allowed, this defense could end up as one of the top units in Ivy League play.
This line opened with Yale listed as a 5.5-point favorite in the contest with a total of 53.5. I'm going to lay the number with the Bulldogs here.
Dartmouth has been a problem for Yale over the years, but this is a weaker Big Green team than in prior seasons, and its offense features fewer athletic players and less explosiveness.
The Big Green move the ball methodically, and the offense has avoided catastrophic mistakes up to this point, but there are significant concerns that need to be addressed.
The offense has fumbled seven times this season. Fortunately for Dartmouth, only one of those cough-ups resulted in a turnover.
The lack of explosiveness means Dartmouth will have to execute in situations nearly to perfection. Yale has had some tough situations go against them defensively, many of them fluky. I don't see it happening again in this game.
Yale will throw the ball a ton against the Dartmouth secondary. Lehigh was unequipped to do so because it was playing with an inexperienced backup quarterback, but the lack of pass coverage against Monmouth and Penn was very concerning.
Yale has explosiveness out of the receiver position, and the line has surrendered sacks on just 2% of quarterback dropbacks this season. Dartmouth has just one sack and eight tackles for loss this season and won't be able to contain the Yale offense.
Reno went out and played one day after his father's death. Current Yale head coach Kevin Cahill coached with Reno's father at Yale and talked about all he has learned about building a program, creating a winning culture, and how much his time with Reno meant to him.
Cahill will have this Yale team focused and ready to go on Saturday afternoon, and I fully expect the Bulldogs to have their most complete performance of the season.
Pick: Yale -6.5 (-113)
