The Post-Princeton Six-Pack

 (BGA – Nov. 10) Six-pack unpacked. Enough said.

1) Yes, Dartmouth was coming off a big game against a traditional rival. But Princeton didn’t feel like a trap game simply because the games to follow, important as they might be, didn’t have the juice that comes with playing a Harvard or a Yale or yes, a Princeton. That said, it was exactly the kind of game against a struggling-but-hungry team that in back-to-back seasons cost the Big Green an undefeated season (2019 against Cornell and 2021 against Columbia).While perfection wasn’t on the line this time, winning by two scores on a night when Dartmouth didn’t necessarily have its good fastball says something about this team.

2) Braden Mullen’s stat line from Princeton: 2-3–5, 0.5/2, 1, 1, 0. Translated, that's two solo tackles and three assists for five total tackles, half a tackle for a loss of two yards, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup.

So what's with the 0 at the end? That’s the number of mistakes he made as the emergency long snapper with starter Andy Belles out. In a game where special teams really did make the difference, Mullen was a perfect 10-for-10 snapping on six punts, three extra points and one field goal. Next man up, even when he's already a captain, is championship-level stuff.

3) It almost feels as if coach Sammy McCorkle has to fiddle with the intensity thermostat on this team from game to game. After penalties nearly cost the Big Green the Columbia contest,  they turned the heat down and weren’t flagged even once in the loss to Harvard. So what happened at Princeton? The thermostat was turned up with four penalties in the first quarter contributing to the Tigers’ 7-0 lead after one quarter. On the night Dartmouth finished with eight penalties for 58 yards, both numbers that McCorkle surely would like to see come down.

4) As the season has gone on, Harvard has found a way to get former starting quarterback Charles DePrima more involved in the Crimson’s offense as a wildcat QB, a running back and as a receiver. That’s all about getting your best athletes on the field. With a touchdown pass last week against the Crimson and two easy TD runs against Princeton, Dartmouth is finding a way to make use of Grayson Saunier’s talent now that Jackson Proctor is back. It would be interesting to see the Big Green tear a page out of Harvard’s playbook and find ways to take even more advantage of Saunier’s athletic abilities.

5) With Paxton Scott sidelined again, tight end Chris Corbo’s role in the passing game is growing. Thanks to eight catches for 42 yards and a touchdown at Princeton, he now has 11 receptions for 74 yards and two scores in the past two games. His five-yard TD grab in the back, left corner of the end zone that gave Dartmouth a 21-7 lead with 15 seconds left in the first half Friday night was huge given that Princeton was getting the ball to start the third quarter. With 28 catches this fall – second only to Scott – and a team-high sixth TD receptions (no one else on the team has more than two), the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Corbo is playing at an All-Ivy League level.

6) In a world of, “We want to go 1-0 this week,” you won’t be hearing anything out of Hanover about how the rest of the Ivy League schedule shapes up for Dartmouth. But those rules don’t apply here in Vermont, so take this to the bank: The schedule could not have worked out any more favorably for the Big Green. While Dartmouth is playing against the two teams that gave up an unbelievable 123 combined points on Saturday, Harvard is playing the two teams that scored those unbelievable123 points.  

And just because . . .

7) Watch Notre Dame or Georgia or Penn State play, and when there’s video review, out comes the box with the monitor for the officials to study the play. You have to wonder quite how much Ivy League officials can see when they look at replays on a cell phone. Or are they just using the phone to talk to the replay official? ;-)

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Micah Green had 12 tackles, including one for a loss, and Ejike Adele had 10 stops, with half a sack, to lead the Big Green. Josiah Green had seven tackles and teamed up with his twin for the other half of that sack. Thaddeus Gianaris was credited with just one tackle but it was a big one, a second-quarter sack for a loss of eight yards that contributed to the three-and-out that set up Dartmouth’s go-ahead touchdown.

Following Corbo in the receiving department were Daniel Haughton with three catches for 41 yards and Grayson O’Bara with three for 39. Freshman Luke Rives caught three balls for 10 yards.

Davis Golick’s six kicks averaged out at 46.5 yards with the first of the fourth quarter from his own 13 covering 62 yards and being fumbled away by AJ Barber with a little help from Jackson Namian. Braden Mullen recovered for the Big Green, which parlayed the play into a field goal and a 24-14 lead. Golick followed up with a 59-yard punt when Dartmouth’s next series stalled. That one died at the Princeton two and ultimately led to the safety that locked up the win.

It took until the fourth quarter but Owen Zalc’s 34-yard field goal ran his streak of games with at least one FG to 17 – all but his first collegiate game a year ago. That demolishes the old Ivy record of 11 consecutive games with a three-pointer set by Brown’s Steve Morgan almost 20 years ago.

Dartmouth limited Princeton to 43 yards rushing on 32 carries, a 1.3-yard average. The Big Green finished with 118 yards on 41 carries, a 2.9-yard average. … Princeton managed just 180 yards of total offense, running just 50 plays to the Big Green’s 71. Dartmouth had 303 yards of offense and about 12 extra minutes of possession time.

The Big Green’s longest drive was an eight-play, 68-yard march that consumed 3 minutes, 38 seconds and culminated with Saunier’s one-yard run and a 7-7 score. … Dartmouth went three-and-out three times. … Princeton’s longest drive was a nine-play, 66-yarder that led to its fourth-quarter field goal. The Tigers had three drives that finished with negative yardage.

QUOTABLE

Dartmouth’s Ejeke Adele: "We just did a great job of doing what we had to do to win. Coming into it, we knew with one loss that we have to win out. There's no other option, and that's what we did. We simply got it done and I'm really proud of what we did tonight."

Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle on the play of his special teams: “You see it year in, year out. And at every level, special teams make a difference. Luckily, we made two plays today, and that was the difference in this game. We talk about it all the time, three phases. And special teams are just as important when you come out on game day.”

McCorkle summing up the overall game: “Our guys did a good job of doing their jobs. That was huge for us, especially on special teams, to make those plays — block a punt, get a fumble recovery. That helped us no doubt."

McCorkle on whether the Big Green is thinking big picture with two games remaining: “We just focus on the next game. As we say, it's playoff time. That's the great thing about Ivy League. Every weekend's a playoff game. And we're still in the playoffs. But no, we're going to obviously enjoy this win, and we're going to watch it. And then we're going to prepare for Cornell. And prepare ourself this week to go down to Ithaca and do what we've got to do to keep it rolling.”