Hanover
The Big Green athletic department promoted Friday’s Ivy League opener with that phrase this week, imploring fans to dress darkly to match the players’ all-black uniforms against visiting Pennsylvania. But instead of a lights-out performance, the hosts instead delivered one their fans, in an announced crowd of 5,932, could be forgiven for trying to forget.
Don’t let the 37-24 score deceive you. This night belonged to the Quakers (1-2), who didn’t punt until midway through the third quarter and dealt a blow to Dartmouth’s hopes for a second consecutive Ivy title. Only twice in the Ancient Eight’s 60-year history have teams with two league losses claimed a share of the crown, and the last occurrence was in 1982.
Penn led, 28-3, midway through the second quarter and the rest of the game was mostly a formality. The Big Green (2-1) showed late life with a pair of touchdowns during the final nine minutes, but must quickly figure out how to stop its upcoming opponents from duplicating Penn’s 207 rushing yards, much of it gained between the tackles.
“They played physically and up front they did a real good job of moving our people,” said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, whose team was installed as a 13.5-point, pregame favorite by one online site. “They had the ball a whole quarter longer than we did and a good portion of that was in the first half.”
Dartmouth’s Jack Heneghan completed 27-of-43 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns and had two tosses intercepted. Miles Smith carried five times for 93 yards and freshman Hunter Hagdorn caught nine passes for 86 yards. Sophomore Drew Hunnicutt had eight receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown.
Penn’s Alek Torgersen completed 18 of 24 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown, and Tre Solomon carried a career-high 29 times for 107 yards and two scores. Justin Watson caught nine passes for 67 yards.
“We wanted it really bad, and we had a chip on our shoulder coming into this one,” said Torgersen, a 2015 All-Ivy honoree who didn’t play during the second half of last year’s matchup because of a concussion. “Last year, I didn’t play my best football. This week, we were pumped up to get some payback.”
Penn received the opening kickoff and needed only six plays to reach the end zone. Key to the 66-yard drive was a 25-yard run up the right side by Torgersen, who capped it with a 28-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Christian Pearson in the left corner. Jimmy Gammill added the first of his five conversion kicks for a 7-0 lead fewer than three minutes into the game.
Dartmouth went three-and-out on its first possession and the Quakers again embarked on a scoring drive, this one boosted by a 32-yard punt return from Lonnie Tuff. Penn moved 61 yards in 11 plays, including a successful fourth-down conversion from the Dartmouth 37-yard line. Solomon ran 7 yards for a touchdown and the visitors led, 14-0, in the 11th minute.
“It’s just our mentality,” Priore said of gambling on fourth down. “Last week we were 4-of-6 in those situations and we’re not afraid of going for it.”
The Big Green answered with a 27-yard field goal by David Smith two minutes before the first quarter’s end. The eight-play, 67-yard drive was highlighted by Smith’s 41-yard run up the right sideline to the Quakers’ 11-yard line.
The second quarter started with more Dartmouth defensive woes, the Big Green continuing to surrender positive-yardage runs up the middle, including a 4-yard Torgersen burst for a touchdown. The Quakers upped their lead to 21-3 with 11 minutes remaining in the half, their drive covering 77 yards in 12 plays and 5 minutes, 29 seconds of clock time.
Events continued to spiral downward for the hosts, who ended another three-and-out possession with a shanked 13-yard punt by Ben Kepley. That gaffe set the Quakers up at the Big Green’s 36-yard line, and they needed seven plays to score on a 1-yard Solomon run. A pass interference call on cornerback Danny McManus was crucial to the Quakers’ success.
The Big Green cut the deficit to 28-10 just 49 seconds before intermission. Ryder Stone bowled over a defender at the goal line to score on a 2-yard touchdown run, and David Smith added the first of his three extra points to cap an 80-yard, 15-play drive that ate up six minutes.
The second half’s opening possession loomed large, and Dartmouth drove 54 yards in six plays to the Quakers’ 26-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-4 there, however, the hosts turned the ball over on downs when Charles Mack dropped a Heneghan pass that hit him in the chest.
Another Heneghan pass hit another chest late in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the junior, this one belonged to Penn’s Jyron Walker, who intercepted the toss at the Dartmouth 17-yard line. Torgersen dove into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown four plays later, and the visitors went up, 35-10, with a minute remaining in the third quarter.
“I thought our kids came out and played with great emotion,” Priore said. “We played with the most emotion we’ve showed in a long time tonight.”
Another nail in the coffin was delivered on Dartmouth’s next play from scrimmage, a Heneghan bomb that overshot Mack and was intercepted near midfield by Mason Williams. Insult was added to injury 14 seconds into the fourth quarter when Heneghan was sacked in the end zone for a safety.
Heneghan threw to Hunnicutt for a 23-yard touchdown with nine minutes remaining, and Dartmouth pulled within 37-17. He also found Mack for a 18-yard touchdown catch with three minutes remaining. Penn recovered the Big Green’s onside kick attempt.
“Too little, too late,” said Teevens, whose team visits Yale next week. “When you play good people, they force you to make mistakes. They’re a good team, and they played better than we did tonight.”
Notes: Penn racked up 10 first downs and 170 yards of offense during the first quarter. … Dartmouth’s flimsy run defense wasn’t helped by the absence of stout sophomore Jackson Perry, who’s out with a knee injury, possibly for the season. Exiting injured during the second quarter was starting defensive tackle Zach Husain, who did not return. … Kickoffs were made from the 40-yard line, as they will be all season during games between Ivy League games. It’s part of an effort to increase touchbacks and reduce violent collisions that statistics say lead to more concussions than any other type of play. Touchbacks under such circumstances result in the ball being placed at the 20-yard line, not the 25 as done for nonleague games. … Game-time temperature was 56 degrees with a 4-mph wind out of the northwest, which was apparently chilly for Heneghan, a Californian who played with a hard-warmer pouch around his waist. … The last safety suffered by Dartmouth came in 2014 against New Hampshire. … Caught in the press box bathroom immediately after Friday’s safety was Penn offensive coordinator John Reagan. A fellow assistant coach shouted through the door to get a play call for the Quakers once they received Dartmouth’s ensuing punt.