Hanover
The No. 20 Big Green pinned a 24-17 defeat on its archrival, whom it had not bested since 2003 and not in Hanover since 1993. Nonstop rain and temperatures in the 30s didn’t dampen the enthusiasm with which the victory was received by those remaining in an announced Memorial Field crowd of 5,814.
Particularly raucous were a group of recently graduated former players who gathered at the West stands’ front rail, shouting, waving their arms and leaning forward and down to slap hands with the current competitors. It being homecoming weekend, that graduated group was bigger than usual, and several Dartmouth players climbed into the seats to celebrate among it.
Hold up a minute, though, boys. Despite a 7-0 overall record and a 4-0 Ivy mark, major work remains. Did you hear the Princeton score? The No. 17 Tigers won, 66-0, against visiting Cornell and sport an identical record to the Big Green. Next week’s clash between Dartmouth and Princeton in New Jersey will be the first time two undefeated Ivy League teams have met in November since 1993.
“That’s great,” Dartmouth linebacker Jack Traynor said when informed of Princeton’s dismantling of the Big Red. He then sat silently in front of the assembled media and video cameras, a faint smirk on his bearded face.
Said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens: “(Princeton) is on a roll, and they’re certainly a great challenge for us. We’ll look at that tomorrow afternoon, but for today, we’ll enjoy this along with the crowd.”
Big Green wildcat-formation quarterback Jared Gerbino rushed for a season-high 183 yards and a touchdown in 24 carries and completed one of three passes for 30 yards. Senior Rashaad Cooper carried 11 times for a career-high 117 yards and a score, and Derek Kyler completed three of eight passes for 19 yards. Kyran McKinney-Crudden posted a game-best 11 tackles.
Dartmouth forced Harvard (3-4, 1-3) to punt during the game’s opening possession and needed only two plays itself to take a 7-0 lead. While Kyler faked as if to carry the ball off-tackle, Cooper went the other way with the rock, racing for an 82-yard touchdown, the eighth-longest scoring run in Big Green history. Connor Davis kicked the first of his three extra points for a 7-0 lead.
Dartmouth doubled its lead with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Charlie Booker swept left for Harvard but lost the ball after cutting back and being hit by linebacker Jake Moen. The ball popped into the hands of cornerback D.J. Terry, who caught it in stride and returned it 62 yards up the sideline for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Harvard fumbled again on its next possession, B.J. Watson catching a pass and running into an upright pile of bodies and churning legs before having the ball stripped from him and recovered by Traynor on the Dartmouth 8-yard line.
The game’s turning point might have come late in the second quarter after Dartmouth forced Harvard to turn the ball over on downs. The hosts then constructed a 74-yard, seven-play drive during which Gerbino carried six times for 79 yards and ran 20 yards untouched into the end zone’s left side.
Now up, 21-0, with two minutes remaining in the second half, Dartmouth kicked off and Harvard lost the fourth of its five first-half fumbles. Connor Rempel recovered for the Big Green, which struggled with clock management and allowed time to expire.
The hosts’ problems continued after intermission, when they received the kickoff but had to punt. Harvard then drove 69 yards in 11 plays and scored on Aaron Shampklin’s 7-yard run up the middle. The score moved to 21-7 midway through the third quarter.
Momentum seemed to shift toward the Crimson when it denied Dartmouth on its ensuing drive. The Big Green again used Gerbino to push to the edge of the red zone, but Davis was wide left on a 39-yard field-goal attempt and is 6-of-13 this season.
The freshman did manage a 28-yard field goal five minutes into the fourth quarter, increasing his team’s lead to 24-7. Those points seemed even more important when Harvard drove 67 yards in eight plays and pulled within 24-14 on quarterback Tom Stewart’s 22-yard touchdown scramble.
Dartmouth went three-and-out and punted away with 5 minutes remaining, leading to a Crimson drive capped by Jake McIntyre’s 28-yard field goal and a 24-17 score with 1:36 to play. Harvard attempted an onside kick, but the boot shot off the side of the field and handed the hosts possession.
“It’s hard to overcome turning over the ball five times, but they almost did,” Teevens said of Harvard. “Our passing game was almost nonexistent, and we had trouble getting them off the field on third down.”
None of that mattered to his troops immediately after the final horn.
The last Dartmouth football players to have beaten the Crimson have their 40th birthdays in sight, and there will be plenty of Monday bragging around the proverbial water coolers at investment banks, real estate companies and law firms throughout the Northeast.
“We didn’t play a perfect game today, but we found a way to win, and I think that’s the mark of this team,” Traynor said. The losing streak “is something that’s hung over this program’s head for a while, and breaking it is kind of tough to put into words.”
Nothing will be said this week. Not with the league title on the line. Dartmouth follows that clash with a visit to Cornell (3-4, 2-2) and by hosting Brown (1-6, 0-4). Princeton finishes with a visit to Yale (4-3, 2-2) and by hosting Pennsylvania (5-2, 2-2).
Notes: Dartmouth and Princeton last staged an undefeated showdown in 1935, when a fan rushed onto the snowy field and briefly got into action on the Big Green’s defensive line late in the game. … Among former Dartmouth players who returned for homecoming were onetime cornerback and return man Shawn Abuhoff and running back Nick Schwieger, both in town to be inducted into the Big Green’s athletic hall of fame. Abuhoff is a Miami prosecutor, and Schwieger works in construction management in Los Angeles. … Abuhoff noted that Terry was once the water boy for Abuhoff’s Florida high school team. … Harvard sophomore cornerback Bennett Bay is the younger brother of former Dartmouth defensive lineman Charles Bay. … Saturday was the first time since 1995 that Harvard had allowed two opponents to each rush for 100 yards in a game — and that was accomplished by halftime.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.