What They Did & What They Said After Fordham

In the recruiting roundup that appeared in the December 2021 edition of The Green Line newsletter, then coach Buddy Teevens has this to say about Grayson O’Bara:

“Another talented wide receiver with real speed and athleticism. … We have had good success playing younger wideouts and develop them well.”

Younger wideouts like Hunter Hagdorn ’20 have seen the field and enjoyed success as freshmen, but O’Bara did not. His bio heading into his sophomore season read simply, “Provided depth at wide receiver.”

Grayson O'Bara

But that wasn’t quite accurate. Wide receiver coach David Shula cleared that up before the 2022 season. In a BGA story he said, “Grayson’s got electric speed and it’s good to have him (back) after he missed all of last year with a thumb injury.”

Finally healthy after missing his entire freshman year, O’Bara still appeared in only three games as a sophomore, catching just one pass for five yards in the early season loss at Colgate. 

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound O’Bara was stuck on the second line of the depth chart for most of last year. Through the first six games he had just three receptions, and after eight weeks he was averaging one catch per game.

But with Paxton Scott sidelined by injury, O’Bara caught five passes in the week nine loss at Cornell before enjoying his breakout game in the finale against Brown. In the Ivy League title-clinching win at Memorial Field he caught four passes for 124 yards – more yards than he had in his first three years in Hanover combined – to go with two touchdowns.

Flash forward to this fall and O’Bara picked up right where he left off against Brown with seven catches for 106 yards in the opener against New Hampshire, and seven for 128 yards the next week against Central Connecticut, his third straight game of 100 or more yards.

O’Bara was held to two catches for 16 yards against Penn but bounced back with five for 69 yards in the win over Yale and then seven for 104 yards and a 33-yard touchdown Saturday against Fordham.

On the season he has 27 receptions for 423 yards and is averaging 15.7 yards per catch. He’s second in the Ivy League in both catches and yards.

Not bad for a someone whose football career nearly ended before it started:

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Ky’Dric Fisher caught just one pass at Fordham but it went for 50 yards. The sophomore has just receptions so far but they’ve gone for 159 yards, a terrific 22.7 yards per catch. … Luke Rives added four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown Saturday while tight end Chris Corbo caught four balls for 41 yards.

Grayson Saunier completed 21-of-29 throws (72.4 percent) for 281 yards and two touchdowns without an interception.

DJ Crowther continues to carry a heavy load for the Big Green with 18 rushes for 91 yards and one touchdown. He’s second in the Ivy League to Yale’s Josh Pitsenberger in carries (97), yards (469) and touchdowns (seven). ... Saunier added 45 yards on eight carries and is fifth in the league in rushing with 248 yards. ... Desmin Jackson added eight carries for 44 yards.

Luke Armistead, whose eight punts are the fewest for any Ivy League starting punter this fall, had just one opportunity against Fordham but made it count with a 53-yard boot. He’s averaging 43.3 yards this year, second in the conference.

Defensively for the Big Green, linebacker Zyion Freer-Brown had a team-high eight tackles with one sack and two tackles for a loss. Safety Harrison Keith made seven stops while linebacker Nico Schwikal and nickel Tyson Grimm each had six. Dartmouth finished with six tackles for a loss and three sacks.

Fordham linebacker James Conway, who will finish his career as the leading tackler in FCS history barring an injury, had 17 tackles with nine solos.

The Big Green line once again did not allow a sack and has allowed just three through five games this season.

Dartmouth had a 461-328 advantage in total offense against Fordham and converted 6-of-13 third-down opportunities. The Big Green came into the game converting 57.4 percent of its third-down chances, tops in the nation.

Dartmouth drives in order (plays/yards/result): 14/87/downs; 7/36/FG; 12/60/FG; 5/42/TD; 3/-3/punt; 8/64/FG; 6/30/missed FG; 1/3/fumble; 5/75/TD; 5/60/TD; 2/7/end of game

Fordham drives in order (plays/yards/result): 7/25/punt; 8/23/punt; 15/76/FG; 3/5/punt; 3/23/FG; 6/58/interception; 3/-1/punt; 3/0/punt; 3/3/punt; 2/36/TD; 3/-13/punt; 12/56/downs.

THEY SAID IT (gently edited for clarity)

Running back DJ Crowther on finally breaking open what had been another close game: “We're going to keep fighting. We’ve got to play all four quarters and no matter what the circumstances are in the game, we have to continue with our business. “

Crowther: “It was really important to come out here and get a win. … But it’s over with now. We’ve got to get our minds ready for next week. It's quick turnaround. Get our bodies right, and get ready to go get to Columbia. “

Safety Sean Williams on the first half: “We started out very slow, not where we wanted to be at in the first half. The important part about it is, we came back and battled. We didn't let that first half define us, so we came out and found a way to win.”

Williams on running his interception out of the end zone: “I didn't have too good of an idea of where I was on the field. I caught it and moreso was thinking, just take off and get as much as I can. Looking back, I’ll see what it looks like on film. Maybe it would have been a better idea to keep it in the end zone.”

Coach Sammy McCorkle on part of what turned the game around: “I challenged the offensive line. I challenged the defensive line. … And  I thought they did a good job on both sides of responding. I just told them, 'We’ve got to go out there and make plays. We’ve got to finish. We're in a situation now and we got to score points.' For our offense to go down there after that onside attempt and punch it in, that was huge. It's huge for the defense going out there and getting an interception. That's what you're looking for.”

McCorkle on the defense forcing three consecutive three-and-outs in the second half: “That was big. That was critical. Our defense knew if we just get the offense the ball the offense will move it down the field and we can put points on the board. Just get them the ball and go ahead and rest on the sideline so the offense can do the long drives.”

McCorkle on another issue in the return game, this time the ball going off the foot of a Dartmouth player on a punt and Fordham recovering:  “Obviously it’s communication. You’ve to hear it when the punt returner's yelling that you’ve got to get away from the ball. He was blocking, but we’ve just got to be smarter than that. You just can't allow a team like that to have those simple opportunities on a short field.”

McCorkle on what his team takes out of the win: “It's a game of two halves. We’ve got to take that second half and and play that way for four quarters. We had good plays. We moved the ball in the first half and they had some good stops. It’s just the finishing stuff.”

Receiver Grayson O'Bara and Fordham linebacker James Conway. (Justin Lafleur photo)