Dartmouth Wins One For The Ages
BGA (Oct. 12) – You can't make this stuff up for one simple reason.
No one would believe it.
With starting quarterback Jackson Proctor sidelined by an undisclosed injury and Woods Ray struggling, Dartmouth turns to third QB Grayson Saunier and the sophomore whose resumé entering the game consisted of exactly zero career pass attempts rallies the Big Green from a 30-7 second-half deficit to a back-from-the-dead, 44-43, overtime victory in the biggest comeback win in school history.
“We never stopped having confidence in ourselves," said Saunier, who looked like a savvy veteran while completing 20-of-34 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns and running for 84 yards and two more scores. “We were going to give it our all until the end of the game."
Where to begin to try to explain a win straight out of Ripley’s? How about we start with what it looked like you would be reading after a Yale touchdown with 7:33 left in the third quarter put the Big Green in a 23-point hole that felt deeper. A lot deeper.
Flush it.
That's about all Dartmouth can and should do after Saturday's disastrous trip to Yale Bowl . . .
• saw a defense that prides itself on not allowing big plays give up 71- and 62-yard touchdown passes on back-to-back Yale possessions in the second quarter.
• saw a team that excels on special teams play give up a safety on a snap over punter's head, surrender field position that leads to a touchdown on a botched punt snap, and waste a gimme field goal when the here-to-fore perfect kicking operation break down.
• saw a team that has struggled this fall with penalties shoot itself in the foot time and again with 11 costly flags.
But somehow, some way, four hours and one minute after it started, Dartmouth walked off with a win to improve to 4-0 overall and more importantly, 2-0 in the Ivy League. Yale is now 2-2 overall with its back against the wall after Saturday’s meltdown dropped the Bulldogs to 0-2 in the conference. No three-loss team has ever won even a share of the Ivy title.
"Super proud of the guys, just the way they battled," said coach Sammy McCorkle. “We came out, didn't play our game early, made a lot of mistakes early in that game and put ourselves in a really, really tough situation."
The biggest comeback in the FCS so far this fall started in the fourth quarter after Yale quarterback Grant Jordan’s 10-yard touchdown pass gave the Bulldogs a seemingly invincible 37-16 lead with 11:02 remaining.
From then on it was “boom goes the dynamite” for Dartmouth.
Taking over at its own 25 after the Yale score the Big Green marched 75 yards in 12 plays, the last a had-to-have-it, seven-yard pass from Saunier to Paxton Scott (six catches for 100 yards) for a touchdown on fourth-and-five. Owen Zalc tacked on the PAT to make it 37-23 with 7:30 showing on the clock.
Then came arguably the most pivotal play of the game until the final one.
With kickers Zalc and Matisse Weaver lining up on either side of the ball and crisscrossing each other to offer uncertainty as to who would actually kick it, Zalc got the call. His kick to the right took the requisite big hop Dartmouth was hoping for and landed in the welcome arms of Chris Corbo, the 6-foot-4 tight end who unaccountably had no Yale player within 10 feet of him. The Big Green had the ball and life at the plus-43.
Once again, the Saunier-Scott connection paid dividends for Dartmouth as the young quarterback found the fifth-year senior with a 38-yard strike on a second-and-12 play to bring a first down at the Yale seven. After an incompletion it was Daniel Haughton collecting a seven-yard pass from Saunier for the score.
Two touchdowns just 56 seconds part had the Big Green off the ledge and within seven points.
“They felt like they had the confidence that we could put points up,” said McCorkle. “We needed those points. We needed them to do it in a fast way and I thought tempo wise, they did a great job of moving fast, putting those points up and getting us back in the game."
With 6:34 remaining, it was game on. But to have a chance, Dartmouth needed a stop and still another score.
Bending but not breaking the way it did earlier in the contest, the Big Green saw Yale respond with a drive all the way to the plus-26 before Tyson Grimm brought Jordan down for a three-yard loss on a third-and-two run. With that, Yale coach Tony Reno sent kicker Nick Conforti out to try to make it a 10-point game with 3:26 remaining.
Yale had the advantage of a strong wind at its back for the fourth quarter and whether it was swirling a little or not, the potential game-winning 47-yard field goal sailed wide left. Dartmouth still had a pulse but no timeouts to work with because McCorkle had used them all stopping the clock on the Yale drive.
Taking over at his own 29 after the miss and benefiting from great protection up front, Saunier hit three quick passes to give the Big Green a first down at its own 42. On the next play a coverage mixup allowed Painter Richards-Baker to come free down the middle only to see Saunier miss him with what would have been a sure touchdown pass.
The disappointment would be short-lived.
After Saunier was stopped for no gain scrambling on second down, his third-and-10 throw toward Corbo (who had a 32-yard TD reception in the second quarter) down the right sideline was broken up. The Big Green seemed to be facing a fourth-and-10 but a late flag resulted in Yale’s Abu Kamara being whistled for pass interference on the play. The penalty brought Dartmouth a first down at the home team's 43.
A holding call one snap later put the Big Green in a first-and-20 hole, but having come this far back, nothing was going to stop Dartmouth from tying the game.
After a 10-yard run by Saunier and an incompletion, the QB just barely got off a pass that went to Haughton for an 11-yard gain and a first down at the 32.
Then came perhaps the best call of the game, a QB draw that resulted in Saunier splitting the middle of the defense, and with a terrific downfield block from Kyle Brown, sprinting the rest of the way virtually untouched. With Zalc’s kick the contest was tied.
But with 1:22 remaining and the Bulldogs still having two timeouts, it wasn't over. Not even close.
Yale fought right back with Jordan completing back-to-back throws of 17 and 10 yards. When two runs brought 16 more yards the Bulldogs had a first down at the Dartmouth 32 with 25 seconds left.
After two plays gained four yards it was kicker Conforti coming back on with the strong wind at his back and the chance to atone for his earlier miss with a 45-yarder.
Instead he yanked his potential gamewinner wide left again it was on to overtime, where more drama awaited after Yale won the coin toss and deferred.
After a holding call cost Dartmouth an apparent touchdown in the top half of the extra period to put the Big Green in a second-and-27 hole, the Bulldogs helped the visitors out with one of their 10 penalties on the day. The roughing the passer flag resulted in a Dartmouth first down at the eight.
Then it was a six-yard run by Q Jones (18 carries for 84 yards) pushing the ball to the two. One play later good fortune shone on the Big Green. Saunier just managed to control a bobbled snap in time to hand it to Jones, who ran behind left tackle Delby Lemiux for the touchdown that with the extra point gave Dartmouth a seven-point lead, its first of the game.
Facing a critical fourth-and-five in the bottom of the frame, Yale got a completion at the sticks for a first down at the 15. After a seven-yard run, Grant hit Chase Nenad with a 10-yard touchdown pass to pull the Bulldogs within one.
That left Yale coach Tony Reno with a decision.
Go for a two-point conversion and the win.
Or extend the contest with a PAT, hope for a touchdown in the second OT, and pray that if the Bulldogs come up empty his team would get a stop. Or that the ever-dependable Zalc – who kicked a 48-yarder late in the third quarter to make it a two-score game at 30-16 – would miss a field goal.
Perhaps fearing the Zalc factor, Reno opted to try for the win and very nearly had it. Split to the right, Yale receiver David Pantellis started in motion to the left before pivoting at the snap and running back toward the right sideline. He had a full step on two Dartmouth defenders only to have Jordan overthrow him in the end zone.
With that, the Big Green had its comeback-for-the-ages. Or, depending on who you root for, Yale’s historic meltdown was complete.
“That game was incredible, one of the best games I've ever been a part of," Saunier said in what had to be a masterful understatement. "Not about myself, but as a team. I have never seen a team fight back like that before.”
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