Dartmouth College senior linebacker Braden Mullen can’t bring himself to root for Yale. After a four-year stint in the Ivy League, a stretch that included going 2-2 against the Bulldogs, it’s just too tough.

But Mullen and the Big Green’s Ivy title hopes — for the second year in a row — are banking on Yale to beat Harvard in “The Game.”

Mullen remembers how the situation unfolded last year after a 38-13 loss to Brown in Providence, R.I., with players and staff holding up their phones and tuning in to the events in New Haven, Conn. They watched the Bulldogs blow an 11-point lead in the game. the fourth quarter, regain their advantage and ultimately hold off the Crimson in a 23-18 victory.

Dartmouth celebrated twice that day, Mullen said, as it secured the program’s third conference title in four seasons.

The 6-foot-4 Illinois native acknowledged that the team has taken a different route to get here this season, a campaign that started with a six-game winning streak before a 1-2 record in the last three games of the team brought down the Big Green. from first place in the Ivies. Now, ahead of Saturday’s regular-season finale with Brown at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field, Dartmouth obviously needs some help from the Bulldogs and a win over the Bears to secure its fourth tied conference crown in five seasons.

Unlike last season, however, Yale is not in the hunt for the title. Is playing for nothing more than pride against his most bitter rival enough? We’ll have to see. Dartmouth also won’t have the luxury of sending a few players to Cambridge, Massachusetts to help with Bulldogs coach Tony Reno’s cause.

“Unfortunately, we cannot send players to add to Yale’s roster,” Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle said with a laugh as he spoke to reporters during a Zoom call on Wednesday. “We can only play Brown, and that is our complete focus. … We have to prepare this week to go out and do what we have to do, and then you let the chips fall where they may.

For Mullen, applying the proven method of controlling what you can control is crucial to any success this weekend, Ivy League title or not.

“I told the guys before the elevator the other day, ‘I don’t really care what happens in Cambridge this weekend,’” said Mullen, one of 27 seniors, along with three fifth-years, who will be honored on Senior Day. “Let’s play our game. Let’s win a football match, and then you can check the score once you get back to the locker room.

Here are a few storylines to follow ahead of kickoff Saturday at noon:

The Big Green run game tries to regain its position: Dartmouth was credited with 60 rushing yards on 25 carries in its 39-22 loss to Cornell last weekend, more than half of which came from quarterbacks Jackson Proctor and Grayson Saunier. However, five of the credited quarterback carries were sacks, for a total loss of 23 yards.

That said, the Big Green’s 60 rushing yards were their lowest production of the season. Junior DJ Crowther and senior Q Jones, Dartmouth’s two running backs who got carries last Saturday, combined for 16 rushing yards on 12 carries.

The Big Green, who are still a run-first team, have been held to 118 yards or less on the ground in each of their last three games. Jones, the team’s leading rusher with 647 rushing yards this season, is averaging 30.3 rushing yards on 14 carries per game in that stretch.

The Colorado native will be looking to recapture some of his early-season magic — or even a repeat of his 19-carry, 182-yard, one-touchdown performance against Columbia in late October — on senior day.

The sales battle: It’s hard to win a game if you turn the ball over four times. McCorkle made that clear on Wednesday.

One of the biggest storylines of Dartmouth’s first five games was the defense’s inability to force turnovers. That problem has been resolved in recent weeks. Defensive coordinator Don Dobes’ unit has forced eight goals in its last four games, including three interceptions against Cornell last week. Still, the offense’s three interceptions and a scoop-and-score from the Big Red defense played a major role in Cornell’s win.

“That’s one of the main reasons we’ve had success this year,” McCorkle said of the Big Green offense limiting turnovers. “That’s something that cost us at certain points in the game last week. Right when we were getting momentum, (the defense) made a turnover, and then all of a sudden we go back out and you turn the ball right back over.

McCorkle added that keeping drives alive has been a particular focus for Dartmouth’s offense, which ranks sixth in the conference in third-down conversion rate (43.2%) and possession struggles against Cornell lost by almost 10 minutes. The defense, meanwhile, will look to take advantage of Brown quarterback Jake Willcox’s habit of turning the ball over himself. His 12 interceptions, 10 of which have come in his last five games, are the second-most in the conference.

Brown’s distributed wealth receiving corps: There may not be a Cooper Barkate, Bryson Canty or Samuel Musungu facing Dartmouth’s secondary this week, but Brown’s receiving corps poses its own unique challenges.

Eight Bears receivers have hauled in 18 or more catches this season, and four have recorded 300 or more receiving yards this season. Mark Mahoney, the 6-foot-10 fifth-year prospect, is Willcox’s favorite target. He leads the team in receptions (44), receiving yards (539) and receiving touchdowns (five).

While assessing the challenge of preparing a receiving room that uses so many different pass catchers, McCorkle acknowledged that Brown is “going to get it done.” After all, Willcox has aired the ball 40.3 times per game this season.

McCorkle’s primary goal remains limiting explosive plays and not giving the Bears “easy completions.”

“You have to make (Brown) work for everything,” McCorkle said. “Force them to make a bad decision, make the wrong decision, and then when that happens, you should be able to take advantage of that.” … So everyone has to be on their toes on every play. If that’s 70 times or 105 times, you have to be consistent and disciplined throughout the match.”

Alex Cervantes can be reached at [email protected] or 603-727-7302.