FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Buddy Teevens had the perfect word to sum up the Dartmouth College football team’s 38-31 overtime loss at Sacred Heart on Saturday, a game in which the Big Green squandered leads of 21-3 and 31-17 and fell despite rushing for 393 yards.
Disjointed.
“We had clock issues, communication issues, TV timeout issues,” Teevens said. “It was tough to get any momentum going. We had it, and we just gave it right back to them.”
In front of a Homecoming crowd of 6,293 at Campus Field — nearly 3,000 more than the venue’s listed capacity — Dartmouth (1-1) wore down on both sides of the ball, allowing the Pioneers (2-2) to score the tying touchdown with just over two minutes left and failing to muster any offense down the stretch. Sacred Heart came in having scored a total of 23 points through its first three games.
Compounding matters, the Big Green’s headsets were malfunctioning for most of the game, and Teevens said Dartmouth struggled to make adjustments without them.
After the Pioneers scored a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, senior quarterback Nick Howard ran the ball on six consecutive plays to set up a fourth-and-2 at the Sacred Heart 5-yard line. The Big Green tried to catch the defense off guard with a play-action pass, but the Pioneers were not fooled, and linebacker Ernest Howard came up with the game-ending interception.
“I’m not exactly sure what kind of technical difficulties we were having, but there’s really no excuse either way,” Nick Howard said. “We need to execute better; I need to take care of the ball better. We know what we’re supposed to do; we know what’s expected of us. It sucks that we were having issues, but that’s something we’ve got to be prepared for. Stuff happens sometimes.”
Dartmouth could not have drawn up a better start — the visitors scored three touchdowns in the first quarter, all on drives of no more than four plays. Sophomore running back Q Jones raced through a gaping hole on the right side of the line and scampered 68 yards for a score. Jones, whose given first name is Alexisius, was playing in place of the injured Noah Roper and rushed for a career-high 158 yards on 12 carries.
“He’s electric. He’s fun to watch,” Teevens said. “He’s got good feet, and he’s fearless. He breaks a lot of tackles and just makes people miss. He’s really tough to pin down.”
Following an interception by senior safety Tyron Herring on the very next play, Howard burst into the open field for a 31-yard touchdown. Sacred Heart answered with a field goal, but Jones ripped off a 40-yard gain on a sweep to the left, and one play later, Howard went deep middle to a wide-open senior Jonny Barrett for a 35-yard score and an 18-point lead.
The Big Green did not score again in the first half. Sacred Heart quarterback Marquez McCray, who completed 31 of 36 passes for 274 yards, scored on a three-yard bootleg early in the second quarter, and in the final two minutes of the half, McCray found top receiver Rob DiNota for a touchdown to bring the Pioneers within one score.
Sacred Heart used a bevy of screen passes, getting the ball out quickly to its backs and receivers, and Dartmouth struggled to make tackles all afternoon long.
“We had to get guys off blocks, and we didn’t do a very good job,” Teevens said. “It’s a very simple scheme, and we’re getting tied up and pushed back, and now they’re running for 10 or 12 yards. That was the go-to thing, we knew it, but we didn’t have the ability to close it down.”
The Big Green opened the second half much the same way as they did the first, scoring on a 20-yard run by Howard straight up the middle. They added a short field goal later in the third quarter — the first of Ryan Bloch’s Dartmouth career — to bring the lead back to two touchdowns.
But Sacred Heart held the ball for the remainder of the quarter, driving 69 yards in 12 plays, and running back Malik Grant scored from 10 yards out on the final play of the third.
The Pioneers could not take advantage of Howard’s first interception of the year on the next drive, missing a 37-yard field goal, but after a holding penalty derailed Dartmouth near midfield, Sacred Heart drove 88 yards in four minutes to tie the game on another run by Grant.
“We’re certainly disappointed with our inability to get them off the field,” Teevens said. “The screens on the perimeter hurt us.”
Howard’s 27-yard run on the Big Green’s shot at a two-minute drill gave Dartmouth life, but they stalled from there, and Grant’s third rushing touchdown was the difference in overtime.
Howard rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries for Dartmouth but was just 8-for-16 throwing the ball for 120 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Fifth-year Zack Bair, who had 169 yards in the season opener against Valparaiso, was limited to 65 yards on 12 carries.
The Big Green now have a short week, returning to Memorial Field for the Ivy League opener against Penn on Friday night.
“We can be sad and pout tonight, and then tomorrow morning we’re back at it,” Howard said. “There’s no time to wallow. Our goals are still ahead of us, and we have the guys to do it.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.