In that series--and the next two to follow--Giardi combined with his backs for two more touchdowns to create exciting football.
On each misdirection or fake, Giardi showed the aggressiveness and will to score that has rejuvenated the Crimson offense this year.
Giardi, moreover, has an innate ability to see the field around him--and, no one improvised pitch to Colby Maher, even the field behind him.
Heading into the second half, with the Crimson up 24-7, Giardi had 108 yards receiving (7-for-11 passing) and 45 yards rushing. Not bad for one half.
Dartmouth Coach Buddy Teevens was impressed.
"Does he do any one thing outstanding? No. He does everything well. He runs, dodges, twirls. I just wish he stuck to baseball," Teevens said.
Fiedler Strikes Back
But as the Crimson offense sputtered in the second half, Dartmouth came alive behind a star of its own. Down by 17 heading into the second half, the Big Green knew it needed a spark. It got a fire.
Fiedler--who beat out last year's Ivy Rookie of the Year Matt Brzica for the Starting QB job--showed the Harvard audience what Darmouth's three other Ivy victims already know: the sophomore has a gun.
Play after play, Fiedler found the open man and delivered the ball hard and on target, which doesn't include the numerous times Dartmouth receivers dropped the ball.
"I had great confidenence in our Fiedler," Teevens said. "He came on strong. The ball was on the money, and the kids made the catches."
Certainly. Fiedler had a little help: his offensive line paralyzed the Crimson defense; and the secondary, keying on Mike Bobo, was torched by wide receiver Jerome Gilbert.
But credit Fiedler for his excellent vision and impeccable delivery, his ability to find openings even between double coverage.
On the final drive of the third quarter, Fiedler punished the Crimson secondary with six completions on nine plays, including a picture-perfect pass to Mike Bobo in the left endzone to complete Darmouth's 17-point comeback.
"I thought he did a real fine job," Restic said. "He optioned well, picked up critical yardage, threw well."
Who Won?
On Saturday, Fiedler showed his ability to, quite simply, get the job done: to find the open man and deliver that ball. Giardi, in contrast, lights up the game more with his instinct, emotion and sheer athleticism.
So who's better? In Saturday, it was a tie. But there's no doubt we'll get an answer sometime in the future. We get a chance to see these two fine quarterbacks for two more years. For that, at least, we can all be grateful.