Six Pack (And More) After Penn

 HANOVER (Oct. 7 BGA) – It’s that time of the week. Here are six thoughts coming out of the workman-like win over Penn:

1) The final score doesn’t show it but the win over a strong Penn team was a complete effort all the way around: offense, defense and special teams. Only a few mistakes and costly penalties kept the Big Green from what might have been a significantly larger margin of victory. Doubts that might have been creeping in after the narrow win over Merrimack that saw Dartmouth manage just one touchdown were erased by a win that suggests this team could be special when all is said and done. If all the open receivers against Fordham led to questions about the Ram defense in the opener, for much of the afternoon the Penn defense had similar trouble decoding what Kevin Daft's offense was doing. It really did look at times like the Quaker "D" was playing whack-a-mole. 

2) A story out of Philadelphia during the week suggested the Quakers were in good shape for dealing with the two-quarterback system. Perhaps they are, but they never really saw that Saturday, and for good reason. A more traditional ground game ate up the usually stiff Penn run defense. Sammy McCorkle said in the preseason Dartmouth’s stable of running backs was ready to prove it could handle the load and that certainly proved to be the case in the Ivy League opener. Q Jones carried 22 times for 101 yards. Desmin Jackson showed tremendous explosive capability in a breakout game stepping in for DJ Crowther, averaging 7.0 yards per carry on 14 attempts for 98 yards. Now factor in Crowther and the backfield is as deep as it has been in years. A big nod to coach Keith Clark and his offensive line for giving those backs holes to run through.

3) How about the receiving corps? Paxton Scott had 10 catches but here’s something you may not realize. No fewer than seven of his catches were for first downs. Four of the six completions on Dartmouth’s final drive went to the fifth-year receiver. Counting tight end Chris Corbo, six different receivers had catches, none better than the one Grayson O’Bara had on a tipped pass. That one belonged on ESPN’s top plays and was another indication that a player who has patiently waited his turn is becoming a factor. One other note on the receivers: Give them credit for the blocking they did downfield to help the run game pile up 207 yards on a team that had allowed undefeated Delaware just 66 yards in the opener and had given up just 180 yards in its first two games combined.

4) As was the case a week earlier at Merrimack, quarterback Jackson Proctor was at his absolute best with the game on the line. He was 6-for-6 passing on the drive that sewed up the win, helping the Big Green convert five consecutive third downs. After an uncharacteristic completion percentage a week earlier he completed 24-of-31 throws (77.4 percent) for 232 yards and two touchdowns against the Quakers. Just as importantly, his command and composure were obvious even from the grandstand. Ditto for placekicker Owen Zalc who confidently stroked kicks of 39 and 42 yards on a day when the wind was blowing pretty much throughout. Fortunately for the kickers, it was not a cross wind.

5) All-Ivy League wide receiver Jared Richardson told the Penn student newspaper during the week leading up to the game, “We plan to put them away …and put them away early.” McCorkle was asked postgame if Dartmouth players were “made aware of the outside noise.” While noting the the players “did a good job of understanding and hearing that,” McCorkle was guilty of a bit of understatement. The truth is, they didn’t have much of a choice. They couldn’t have helped hearing it when he addressed the team at the 50-yard line after Wednesday’s practice. In case you were wondering, passersby on Lebanon Street might have heard it as well.

6) In the lead-up to the Penn game media attention was rightly placed on the Quakers’ trio of offensive standouts: Richardson, quarterback Aidan Sayin and tailback Malachi Hosley. But it wasn’t just the media who paid attention to those three. Dartmouth defensive coordinator Don Dobes was focused on them as well. And not surprisingly, Dobes once again drew up a defense that either took away the other team’s best weapons or limited their production. Read on and maybe you can tell me why Princeton ever let Dobes go.

Sayin, who was completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 274 yards per game, finished 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) for 123 yards.

Richardson, who had 17 catches in a game against Yale last year and had 11 catches in the first two games this fall, managed just two for 18 yards against the Big Green. Interestingly, those are the exact same number of catches and yards he had in last year’s loss to Dartmouth, statistics that led him to tell his school paper: “For me, it’s more personal. ... Last year they held me to two receptions for 18 yards, so I gotta get my get back.” 

Doing the most damage of the three Penn stars was Hosley, but his 15 carries for 83 yards still left him 70.5 yards below his season average coming in. To his credit, he did score both of the Quaker touchdowns once they got in close, with one coming from two yards and one from one.

And the one you knew was coming:

7) While I’m not sure I’ve agreed with everything that has happened in Dartmouth athletics over the past year or so, the Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field weekend was perfectly imagined and flawlessly executed. The Friday night dedication on the lawn outside the main entrance to the stadium hit all the right notes, from the speeches to the new signage to the tasty “bites.” The Teevens Stadium miniatures were a nice touch on Saturday as was the Teevens speed painting at halftime. But by far the best touch was having Kirsten Teevens and her beautiful grandchildren honor the team, the school and the man the little ones called “Coach” as honorary captains at midfield for the coin toss. There we surely tears in the stands.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

We’ll get to the individual numbers in a bit but the most eye-catching revelation in the stats package is time of possession. In the first half it favored Dartmouth by the relatively slim margin of 15:54 to 14:06. In the second half? Dartmouth had the ball for 21:33 to Penn’s 8:27. … The Big Green ran 42 plays over the final two quarters while the Quakers had it for just 19. In fact, Penn had just two possessions in the second half before getting the ball back with 11 seconds remaining.

Headlining the defense for the Big Green was corner Zach Farris, with eight tackles and two pass breakups, including one on a big hit on Penn’s opening possession. Jamal Cooper also was credited with two PBU’s. … Helping set the tone for the day early in the game was Braden Mullen coming in from his linebacker slot for a five-yard sack on Sayin that put the Quakers in a hole on their three-and-out second possession. … Ejike Adele had a nine-yard sack to force another three-and-out later in the opening period.

Dartmouth outgained Penn on the afternoon, 439 yards to 211. … The Green ran 73 plays to Penn’s 52 on the day and averaged 6.0 yards per snap to Penn’s 4.1. … On the down side, Dartmouth had nine penalties for 103 yards to five for 55 yards for the Quakers. The Green has been penalized 71.3 yards per game this fall. That compares to 49.8 last year and 42.3 the year previous.

Aided by the five consecutive third-down conversions, Dartmouth was 11-for-18 in that statistic against Penn overall. The Quarters were just 3-of-10.

QUOTABLE

Dartmouth quarterback Jackson Proctor on rebounding back from an uneven performance at Merrimack: “Last week was last week. We learned from it. We grew from it. And we just took it a day at a time. Come today, we were ready, we were prepared.”

Big Green tailback Desmin Jackson on his big day: “It’s really just trusting the dudes, trusting the people up front (to) open up holes for us and then just hitting it with all you got. So big shout outs to the O-Line, big shout outs to the coaching staff putting us in a position that we need to be in.”

Defensive back Jordan Washington on how to respond after dropping an interception: “That's just the art of being a defensive back. You've got to move on to the next play. There are going to be some good ones, going to be some bad ones. And the great players know how to move on from the bad ones really good. So that's all part of it.”

McCorkle on dealing with talented Penn quarterback Aidan Sayin: "We were in attack mode from the very get-go. And I thought our defense did a very good job early on, putting some pressure on their quarterback and causing him to make quicker decisions than he normally did earlier in the season. The last thing we wanted him to be able to do was to sit back in that pocket and find his targets and get the ball to where he wants to. So I felt like he felt the heat early, causing him making some quick decisions."

McCorkle on limiting Penn’s big three in general: “When you scout a team, you're going to find their best players. You want to make somebody else beat you. … When the game's over, you don't want their best player to be the one to beat you.

“You’ve got to do whatever you can to to make sure that doesn't happen. And I thought Coach (Don) Dobes and Coach Lark (Aashon Larkins) and Coach (Duane) Brooks and Coach (Joe) Castellitto did a great job on defense of preparing our guys. And our guys did a really good job of being assignment sound. Because Penn will hurt you if you're if you're not in the right spot or if you're bad with your eyes or you make a mistake. They're going to make you pay for it. And so we had to be assignment sound every snap.”

McCorkle on the offensive approach: “Coach (Kevin) Daft and offensive staff did a phenomenal job all week. The whole thing is just keeping them off balance. You want to mix it up, mix it around. … The key was to keep the sticks moving, keep the chains moving, control the ball, keep their offense off the field as much as we possibly can.”

McCorkle on how kicker Owen Zalc’s impact is felt even when he’s not on the field: “It really does help with your calls. We communicate that. We talk about that all the time. And our special teams unit is prepared. The offense understands, Hey, this is a spot we’ve got to get to.

“Obviously, it was a little bit of a wind today, going each direction. So that changed a little bit. But he does a great job of being honest and telling you, Hey, this is my range. This is where I can do it. And that helps us offensively because it does allow you to manage the game at that time.”

McCorkle on an important couple of days on and off the field: "It was a phenomenal, phenomenal weekend with the dedication on Friday and the opportunity for our team to be able to be there and witness that. It was (a credit to) the college, the athletic department, and all those that were involved with doing that. ...

"A lot of alums were back. You could just sense the energy throughout the entire campus. And I really just want to hats off to athletic director Mike Harrity and Claire VeNard (chief of staff) and the athletic department for the atmosphere that they are creating on game day. ... The energy level is phenomenal. I've been here a long time and I've never experienced that during the time I've been here. And it really does make a difference. You can tell with our players, just the energy level when they step onto the field to kick it off. It's electrifying."