Dartmouth-Yale: Another Classic Ahead?
HANOVER – There won’t be any documentaries made about last year’s wild Dartmouth-Yale game, but the way it played out was almost as improbable as the 1968 game immortalized in the film Harvard Beats Yale 29–29.
In that game, the Bulldogs sprinted out to a 22-0 lead and were up 29-13 until the Crimson scored 16 points in the final 42 seconds to win everywhere but on the scoreboard.
Last October at Yale Bowl, the Bulldogs led, 30-7, midway through the third quarter and 37-16 midway through the fourth. But two Grayson Saunier touchdown passes and a 32-yard Saunier TD gallop with 1:22 left tied the game, and the Big Green won on a touchdown in overtime, 44-43, when a Yale conversion pass to steal the game back after a TD of its own was incomplete.
Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle remembers well what happened a year ago in New Haven, and he knows the Bulldogs would like nothing more than to return the favor. But not because of how the game 12 months ago played out.
“I’m sure it’s come up down there,” he said, “but they’re probably thinking, ‘Last year was last year. It’s a new year.’ They are worried about this year.
“Last year’s game is not going to have anything to do with this year’s game.”
Maybe not, but one player who was on the field for last year’s game, and another who was about 800 miles south of Yale Bowl in the fall, will have something to say about how the game turns out this time around.
Josh Pitsenberger, the 6-foot, 220-pound Yale tailback who ran for 71 yards and caught five passes in last year’s game against Dartmouth, leads the Ivy League this fall with 110.7 yards per game rushing and six touchdowns. The 2022 Ivy League rookie of the year and two-time All-Ivy League selection reminds McCorkle of both a former Yale back and one who starred at Dartmouth.
“He’s kind of like (Tyler) Varga,” the Big Green coach said, referencing the former Yale back who went on to a short stint with the Indianapolis Colts. “And he's a little like Nick Schwieger ’12, who played for us. He’s a big, physical guy who gets his shoulders square. But at the same time, he’ll out-run you. We've got to be very disciplined and make sure we're in the right spots to keep him contained as much as we can.”
The player who was hundreds of miles away during last year’s Yale meltdown may have heard a lot about it over the dinner table. Starting quarterback Dante Reno was a backup freshman quarterback at South Carolina last year before transferring home – almost literally – to play for his father, Tony.
“He's a good quarterback,” said McCorkle. “He’s got a strong arm and can really spin it. There's a reason why he was recruited by South Carolina. He's a smart quarterback who does a real good job with his reads.”
Reno – fils – has completed 65.8 percent of his throws for 184 yards per game this fall with four touchdowns and two interceptions. What he hasn’t done, so far at least, is pull the ball down and run with it the way Penn’s Liam O’Brien did while piling up 98 yards in the win over Dartmouth last week.
“He’s more of a guy that sits back there and does a good job of getting the ball out,” said McCorkle. “When he has to, he’ll run, but their game is not based on that at all.”
Reno has run 16 times for a net of zero yards and a long of 10. His forte is getting the ball to still another solid group of Yale receivers led by Nico Brown. The senior wideout has 12 grabs for 204 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 17.0 yards per catch to date. Mason Shipp, who had five receptions against Dartmouth last year, has 11 in two games this fall, and 6-3 Jaxton Santiago has nine catches.
“They’ve got guys with speed who can get down the field fast,” McCorkle warned. “We’ve got to be disciplined and have the right leverage because Reno does a good job getting them the ball in space, and those guys are fast and quick enough to make you miss.”
Defense has been an occasional thorn in Yale’s side since Reno père took over the program in 2012. Pass defense, in particular, has been an Achilles heel. In the first significant action of his career last fall, Dartmouth quarterback Grayson Saunier finished 20-of-34 for 276 yards and three touchdowns against the Bulldogs.
In victories over still-winless Holy Cross (28-10) and Cornell (41-24) and a loss last week at No. 8 Lehigh (31-13), Yale held opposing quarterbacks to 47.0 percent passing with four interceptions. Leading the way are NFL prospect Abu Kamara, a nickel with two interceptions, four pass breakups, and three tackles for loss, and linebacker Inumidun Ayo-Durojaiye, who leads the Ivies with 40 tackles. Strong safety Osize Daniyan is second on the team with 23 tackles to go with three breakups and a forced fumble.
Yale may not have that fear-inspiring force on the defensive line this fall, but McCorkle isn’t fooled.
“Their second- and third-level guys play fast, and they have two or three of the better defenders in the league,” he said. “The job of the guys up front is to take up some space and let the linebackers run downhill, and they do a good job with it.”
The Bulldogs, like Penn last week, have a weapon in the turn game in Joshua Tarver, who has a 65-yard kickoff return to his credit already this year.
Tightening up special teams is just one of the charges McCorkle had this week after a big punt return, two interceptions, a muffed punt, and a snap for a safety doomed the Big Green last week at Penn.
“Details and little things matter,” said McCorkle. “We saw that last week when critical mistakes cost us. We came out this week with a little fire that, hey, we’re going to make sure we don’t allow that to happen again.
“We had a good week of practice. We couldn’t waste a day sulking, and we came out here ready to go on Sunday. With each practice we kept the momentum going.”
Given a good weather forecast and perhaps the biggest Memorial Field crowd of the season expected, McCorkle had an important reminder for the team at the end of Thursday’s final full practice of the week.
“The message really was to have fun,” he said. “Sometimes you forget, especially after a loss, why you play the game. It’s because you love it, and it’s fun.
“I really, truly believe the guys worked hard this week but enjoyed it as they were doing it. They were loose and had good energy. I think as long as we don’t hurt ourselves and are assignment sound, I feel like we’re in a situation where we can be where we need to be to try to close the game out.”
NOTES
During Thursday’s practice, the speakers blaring music that might not appeal to most player parents was replaced by a very different selection of songs, including Margaritaville, a favorite of Buddy Teevens.
“It’s 'Island Thursday,' ” said McCorkle with a smile. “That was Coach T’s thing. This was us on our island playing some Jimmy Buffet.” . . .
Yale was picked third in the Ivy League preseason poll, just behind Dartmouth. The Big Green finished with 105 points and four firsts, while Yale had 103 points and three firsts. Harvard was the top choice with 118 points and nine firsts.
Since Dartmouth won eight of nine meetings with Yale between 2012 and 2021, the Bulldogs won two of the last three. The Big Green’s last two wins in the series both came in overtime: 44-43 last year and 24-17 in 2021.
