PHILADELPHIA—The “Corbo Crew” and the rest of the Dartmouth College faithful were having a blast when the Big Green rolled to a quick 11-point lead Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field.
But a series of turnovers on defense and special teams miscues derailed Dartmouth’s Ivy League opener and set the stage for what figured to be a long ride home following their 36-24 loss to Penn.
“It’s very disappointing; not the outcome we were wanting,” said Dartmouth third-year coach Sammy McCorkle, whose club fell to 2-1. “They outplayed us.
“They took advantage of their opportunities and we just didn’t make enough plays. … So we’ve got to learn from this. You’ve got to face adversity. It hurts.
“Unfortunately, it happens. Learn from this and wipe it and get ready for next week.”
He’s confident the sting of blowing a 14-3 second quarter lead will have worn off by the time they take on Yale next Saturday in Hanover. So are his players, who attributed the loss to a combination of poor decision-making and poor execution.
“We just made more mistakes,” said Grayson Saunier, who threw for 147 yards and rushed for 50 more, including those two touchdowns, but was victimized by a pair of Quaker interceptions. “We were more fundamentally sound in the first half. The second half things didn’t go our way.”
The turning point actually came midway through the second quarter. Punt returner Sean Williams couldn’t handle a booming Penn kick, and the Quakers recovered the ball at the Dartmouth 19. Three plays later — aided by a pass interference penalty in the end zone — Penn quarterback Liam O’Brien took it in from the two to make it a 14-10 ballgame.
Suddenly, a game that had seemed a potential rout was up for grabs. “That took momentum away from us,” conceded McCorkle, though Dartmouth did respond with a long drive that resulted in Owen Zalc’s 26-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-10. “But that’s part of the game and not the play that cost us the game.
“We had some momentum going. We were feeling good on offense and had stopped them on defense.”
The botched punt and a subsequent late first-half interception on a ball Saunier forced into coverage didn’t faze the Big Green. But it surely revitalized the Quakers, who tied the score up right before halftime.
Penn forced a Dartmouth punt on the first possession of the second half. After an initial kick was called back on a penalty, the ensuing snap sailed well over the head of Big Green punter Luke Armstead, forcing him to retreat into the end zone for a safety, giving the Quakers their first lead, 19-17.
“Those were definitely two big plays,” said McCorkle, referring to the special teams turnover. “We start the second half with a nice punt but can’t line up correctly.
“That’s very frustrating.”
That frustration grew when Penn took the ensuing free kick and finished off a six-play 48 yard drive with O’Brien’s 12 yard touchdown pass to Cadin Olsen to make it a two-score game, 26-17.
Then again after D.J. Crowther’s 12-yard run cut it to 26-24 late in the third and the defense answered the call by getting a stop and forcing a field goal attempt, which sailed wide.
Dartmouth had the opportunity to retake control of the game.
That surely would’ve made the day for the Corbo Crew, the family and friends of senior tight end Chris Corbo, who chartered a bus for the occasion and trekked here from North Jersey.
“Last year we took a bus full of people to Yale and this year it’s Penn,” said Chris’ mother Suzanne, who had some 35 people wearing “Corbo Crew” hats alongside her. “We all get fired up and the coaches and the kids love it.”
Unfortunately, their faith went unrewarded when Saunier got picked off three plays after the missed field goal. Penn quickly converted that into another O’Brien touchdown, then tacked on a late field goal to push it to 36-24.
“We didn’t play up to par to win this game,” conceded McCorkle. “but we’re not going to let this game beat us the next time. There are a lot of corrections we can make.”
The Corbo Crew and the rest of the Big Green faithful sure hope so.