ALLSTON, Mass. – Dartmouth has done a lot of winning since Sammy McCorkle took over as head coach and one of the sayings he likes to use with his players after the Big Green wins is, “Wash it.”
Dartmouth will have some washing to do this week, but it will be a little different this time after No. 12/15 Harvard ran out to a 17-0 first-half lead Saturday and went on to a 31-10 win before 11,334 in the Crimson’s Homecoming game.
With a share of the Ivy League at stake, Harvard got 322 yards and four touchdowns through the air from NFL prospect Jaden Craig while improving to 4-0 in the Ivy League and 7-0 overall. Dartmouth, which had won its last three, slipped to 2-2 in the conference and 4-3 overall.
“Obviously not the outcome we wanted,” said McCorkle, whose team closed the gap to seven points midway through the third quarter. “I just think we put ourselves behind the eight ball early on there. But I tell you what. I’m really proud of the way our guys came out in the second half . . . and put ourselves back in a position to tie the thing up.”
Harvard drove 71 yards for a touchdown after receiving the opening kickoff and added a 74-yard TD pass late in the first quarter to take an early 14-0 lead. A 75-yard drive culminated by a 38-yard field goal the next time the Crimson had the ball left Dartmouth with a lot of work to do after going scoreless heading into the locker room.
McCorkle’s message to his team was simple.
“To take one play at a time,” he said after the game. “I mean, we're not going to score 17 points on one play. So let's just chip away at it. We knew we were getting the ball back to start the second half. So it was, let's . . . work ourselves down the field. Let's punch that thing in the end zone, and then have the defense just go out there get a stop.
“And that's what we did. I told them, ‘Hey man. Just take one play at a time. We've been here before and let's battle back.’ ”
Just as Harvard did in the first half, Dartmouth took the second-half kickoff and marched 75 yards in 12 plays for its first points of the day. Grayson Saunier found tight end Chris Corbo for completions of 20 and 21 yards before the quarterback powered in for a one-yard touchdown with Francisco Caballero, Cam Davenport and Taysire Williams clearing the way.
A Harrison Keith interception on the third play of Harvard’s ensuing drive gave the ball right back to the Big Green near midfield and with a couple of third-down completions from Saunier, Dartmouth was on the march again. Although a third-and-six sack stalled the drive at the Harvard 28, Owen Zalc’s 46-yard field goal with 3:54 remaining in the third quarter pulled the Big Green back within a touchdown at 17-10.
But it didn’t take long for Harvard to stick a dagger in the comeback effort.
On the next possession Craig dug the Crimson out of a third-and-14 hole with a 19-yard completion, and added a 14-yarder on fourth-and-nine that with a roughing-the-passer penalty tacked on set Harvard up at Dartmouth’s 14. On the next play the Crimson QB rolled right and found backup tight end Logan Reaska for a throw-back touchdown to the left that made it a 14-point game early in the final quarter, and took the air out of the Big Green sideline and crowd.
“It’s frustrating,” said McCorkle of Harvard’s answer to Dartmouth’s run. “It was a fourth down there once or twice. We had two third downs. The thing about it is, we had busts. We had the coverage. We had the defense, and we just didn't stick to what we needed to do on those critical, crucial times. I think sometimes guys are just trying to make plays. I get it. But we can't do that. And it hurt us.”
Down two touchdowns on a day when Harvard was enjoying success moving the ball, McCorkle had a choice after the Big Green took the ensuing kickoff and faced a fourth-and-one at its own 34. Punt and hope the defense would stem the Crimson tide enough to give the offense time to score a couple of touchdowns. Or push the chips in and go for it deep in his own end.
McCorkle took the second option.
“We have got to get that first down,” he said of the call. “It's fourth-and-inches. You have got to get it . . . With their offense and what they can do, we only had so many opportunities left. And when you're down 14, you’ve got to make those.”
The call was a QB sneak and when the pile cleared the Big Green had come up short.
The Crimson wasted no time taking advantage. On the first play after the stop Craig pump faked and hit tight end Sean Gilmartin for his second touchdown of the game and the final points of the day.
Although the gamble deep in his own end didn’t pay off, McCorkle wasn’t second-guessing himself after the game.
“I’d do it a hundred times,” he said. “You’ve got to go.”
Harvard finished the day 9-of-15 third-down opportunities while accumulating 432 yards of total offense to the Big Green’s season-low 261.
Harried all day, Saunier completed 18-of-32 passes for 200 yards and was sacked a season-high three times behind an offensive line missing injured starting tackles Delby Lemieux and Vasean Washington.
DJ Crowther had nine carries for 24 yards as the ground game – like the passing game – struggled to get its footing.
“We’ve got to do a better job,” McCorkle said. “We just made mistakes at crucial times of the game, and that just can't happen. It's disappointing, but I tell you what, our guys battled, and we'll bounce back.
“We’ll clean this thing, we'll learn from it, move on, and get ready for next week.”
NOTES – Dartmouth’s 10 points were the fewest it has scoring in a game since dropping a 17-9 decision in its last visit to Harvard on Oct. 28, 2023. . . . Craig has now thrown a career-high four touchdown passes four times. His last TD throw was the 41st of his career, breaking Neil Rose’s Harvard record. . . . With the win Harvard became the first team in the Ancient Eight to have 300 Ivy League victories. … Handling color commentary on the ESPN+ stream was longtime Harvard coach Tim Murphy, perched in the press box high above his signature proclaiming Tim Murphy Field. . . . The all-time series now stands at 75-48-5 in Harvard’s favor. . . . The Crimson was chosen first in the Ivy League’s preseason media poll with Dartmouth edging Yale for second in the voting. . . . Harvard came into the game as one of the six remaining unbeaten FCS teams.