Dartmouth Big Green Football The Dartmouth Big Green football team represents Dartmouth College in National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) college football competition as a member of the Ivy League . The team possesses a storied tradition that includes a national championship , seventeen Ivy League championships , and eleven College Football Hall of Fame inductees . History . The sport of football , in its embryonic form , was played on the campus as early as 1876 . Goalposts were erected on the green where they stood for several months , before being removed for the 1877 commencement . The first intercollegiate game occurred on November 16 , 1881 , when Amherst traveled to Dartmouth . The Green won with a score of one goal to none . On November 21 , the teams met in Amherst , Massachusetts for a rematch on Thanksgiving Day , and the scoreless game ended prematurely in a tie because of snow . In the following years , Dartmouth played games against some of the best teams in the nation . In 1882 , Dartmouth played Harvard for the first time and lost , 53 – 0 . In 1884 , Yale visited Dartmouth and routed the Green , 113 – 0 . The Elis teams did not return to Hanover until 1971 . From 1887 to 1898 , Dartmouth competed against schools such as MIT , Amherst , and Williams as a member of the Triangular Football League . During that period , the Big Green secured eight conference championships , all of them outright except one shared with MIT in 1888 . From 1901 to 1909 , Darmouth compiled a 58 – 9 – 7 record under several different head coaches . In 1901 , Dartmouth played their first game against their intrastate rivals , UNH . In 1903 , Dartmouth traveled to Harvard for the dedication game of their opponents ' stadium . The Green , who had lost the first 18 meetings by a combined margin of 552 points to 18 , upset the Crimson , 11 – 0 . From 1911 to 1916 , Frank " the Iron Major " Cavanaugh , led the Green to a 42 – 9 – 3 record . He volunteered for World War I at the age of 41 , and was replaced as coach by one of his former players , Clarence Spears . Spears attained a 21 – 9 – 1 record with the Green , and went onto further success at West Virginia and Minnesota , among others . Before the 1922 game against Harvard , the media began referring to Dartmouth as " the Indians " , in addition to their preexisting nickname of the Big Green . In 1923 , Jesse Hawley took over as head coach . In 1925 , the Green finished 8 – 0 , and two of that team ' s players , Swede Oberlander and Myles Lane , were later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . One , Nathan Parker , became a Rhodes Scholar . The Indians were named 1925 national champions by Parke H . Davis and the Dickinson system . Earl " Red " Blaik became head coach in 1934 and posted a 45 – 15 – 4 mark in his seven seasons . In 1935 , he led them to their first victory over Yale , 14 – 6 . Between 1936 and 1938 , the Green compiled a 22 - game unbeaten streak , but declined an invitation to the 1937 Rose Bowl . Against Cornell , in 1940 , they played the infamous Fifth Down Game . In 1941 , Blaik left to coach the Army team at West Point , whom he led to two consecutive national championships . Dartmouth played its first season of football as a member of the Ivy League in 1956 . Future Hall of Fame inductee Bob Blackman took over as head coach and went on to compile a 104 – 37 – 3 record and seven Ivy League titles . Jake Crouthamel , from 1971 to 1977 , and Joe Yukica , from 1978 to 1986 , each coached the Green to three more Ivy League championships . The 1978 Ivy League Player of the Year , Buddy Teevens , succeeded Yukica in 1987 . Teevens spent five years at Dartmouth and captured two conference championships . John Lyons led the Green to two more titles and another 22 - game unbeaten streak . Teevens returned in 2005 and currently remains head coach .