What They Did & What They Said After Yale

 HANOVER – It was a throwaway question near the end of the press conference following Dartmouth’s latest cardiac-kids win.

Coach Sammy McCorkle had already spoken about how proud he was of his players during the 17-16 win over Yale. 

Quarterback Grayson Saunier had explained a little of the how-and-why the Big Green was able to drive down the field for the winning field goal after getting the ball back with just 37 seconds remaining.

Kicker Owen Zalc had talked about the support he got from his teammates before his 51-yard kick with no time left delivered Dartmouth the win.

And linebacker Nico Schwikal had addressed the challenge of slowing down Yale’s 220-pound tailback, and why winning on Homecoming is so meaningful.

Then came the five-word question for Schwikal that brought smiles to the faces of McCorkle, Zalc and Saunier, who knew the answer to the question and were clearly happy for the hard-working player who is tied for the team lead in tackles after four games.

Nico Schwikal

“Nico, is your family here?”

Schwikal, a senior from Schönefeld, Germany, a suburb of Berlin, had left his parents and two sisters behind when he moved 4,000-plus miles across the Atlantic first to Texas, then Connecticut and finally to Hanover as he chased his dream of playing American football.

“Yes sir,” a beaming Schwikal as Saunier fondly tapped him on his shoulder pads. “My family flew in from Germany Thursday, and it means the world to me.

“It’s probably the last football game they’ll ever see from me in person. It just makes me unbelievably happy to have my family here alongside my Dartmouth family.”

The game may still be at least a little strange to them, but you can be sure Thomas and Claudia Schwikal were proud parents listening to the roars of the nearly 8,000 in attendance while watching their son help lead Dartmouth to the dramatic victory with a game- and career-high 12 tackles.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Grayson Saunier led Dartmouth in rushing with a season high 95 yards, including touchdowns of six and 37 yards. He completed 15-of-22 passes (68.2 percent) for 158 yards without an interception. He now has five running touchdowns this fall, one fewer than team-leader D.J. Crowther, who ran for 63 yards on 18 carries against Yale. Desmin Jackson added 51 yards on 11 attempts, two more than he had in the first three games combined.

Grayson O’Bara topped the Dartmouth receivers with five catches for 69 yards, Luke Rivers had three for 28 and Ky’Dric Fisher two for 28, including the critical 22-yarder in the final minute that set up the winning kick.

Punter Luke Armistead once again didn’t get much work, but he still averaged a healthy 42.0 yards on two boots. He’s averaging 41.9 yards on just seven kicks in four games.

Yale offensive leaders were Josh Pitsenberger with 34 carries for 138 yards. His long was just 10 and he was never tackled for a loss. Dante Reno completed 19-of-32 throws (59.4 percent) for 196 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The thorn in the Big Green’s side was receiver Nico Brown, who had eight catches for 113 yards, with 50 yards after the catch.

Defensively, Schwikal had one quarterback hurry to go with his dozen tackles. Zyion Freer-Brown had 10 stops, Dakota Quiñonez nine and Teddy Gianaris eight. Sean Williams had the Big Green interception. Dartmouth was not credited with any sacks or tackles for loss.

Dartmouth drives in order (plays/ yards/result): 13/67/missed field goal; 3/7/punt; 15/72/downs; 4/28/punt; 3/2/fumble; 7/37/missed field goal/ 11/92/touchdown/ 5/75/touchdown; 7/42/field goal.

Yale drives in order (plays/ yards/result): 12/36/punt; 7/32/punt/ 10/39/field goal/ 4/20/halftime; 12/88/downs/ 1/6/touchdown; 6/23/punt/7/40/interception; 12/70/touchdown.

THEY SAID IT (lightly edited for clarity and brevity)

Yale coach Tony Reno (via athletic communications): “Great atmosphere at Dartmouth today and congratulations to them on a hard-fought win. It was an intense Ivy League battle played to the very end. We’ll stay the course together and keep pressing forward through the season.”

Quarterback Grayson Saunier on his big day running the ball: “They run certain coverages and sometimes everything's not open and you’ve just gotta make plays and get out of the pocket. The offensive line did a great job and the skill guys did a great job blocking downfield for me. A lot of those plays don't happen without their blocks in the first place. I'm just a product of my teammates around me.”

Saunier on the Big Green’s persistence: “It really just comes down to keeping at it. It's not always going to work out. We got in the red zone what, two, three times in the first half and we came up with a goose egg. That's not how we draw it up. That's not how we want it. It's really just about battling through.

“We knew this was going to be a four-quarter game before we even got in it. They're a great football team, but we've got dudes as well. We knew as long as we just kept at it, if it doesn't happen in the first half or third quarter in fact, we would step up in the fourth quarter. That’s the kind of football team we are.”

Kicker Owen Zalc on Yale missing the critical extra point on its final touchdown and Dartmouth getting a final chance with the ball:  I'm like, OK, great, we're going to win the ballgame. And I fully trust in Grayson and the offense to get down the field. I fully trusted that they would get me in range. … It was an incredible game. I'm super-stoked that we all got this opportunity to do it as one. And I mean, I can truly say I never realized how heavy linemen are until they were all on top of me.” 

Linebacker Nico Schwikal on winning on Homecoming: “It means a lot. We appreciate the support from the alumni and the whole school showing out today. I mean it was packed. It means the world to us. We had a great week of practice. We had to bounce back after that loss against Penn last week. But I think everybody was bought in this week. The support staff, coaches, players, we came to work every single day. And I think we knew we were going to come out with the win today because we were going to fight till the end.”

Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle on the dramatic come-from-behind win: "Unbelievable. I’m just so proud of this team, proud of our staff. They just keep battling to the end. Everything didn't go our way, but we didn't we didn't flinch, we didn't blink, and we believed. Our guys believed the entire time. Every time we went out there, and every time we huddled on the sideline to go out there on the field offensively, defensively and special teams, you could tell our guys just wanted one more shot to get out there and make it happen."