HANOVER – Given how monumental a win it would have been knocking off the No. 7 team in the nation on its home field, and how crushing the last-second loss ended up being, you might wonder how Dartmouth quarterback Grayson Saunier will bounce back from his game-sealing interception at the end.
But while you might wonder, his fellow co-captain Harrison Keith wouldn't.
“There’s nobody else I’d want to have the ball in his hands in the last minute or two of a game like that,” the Dartmouth safety said. “He threw some really good balls at the end of the game. It came down to the end and Lehigh picked one off. Hat’s off to them. (Saunier) was putting his body on the line and was the reason we were in that position.”
Sammy McCorkle, likewise, had no doubts his senior quarterback will put the disappointing end of the game behind him.
“He’ll bounce back,” the Big Green coach said. “He’s such a competitor and he’ll learn from this. He will. He’ll brush this thing off, he’ll learn from it, and he’ll be ready to have a good week.”
Saunier was well his way to doing just that even before getting on the bus for the long ride back to Hanover, or seeing video of what was a remarkable interception.
“They’re a good team and they made a good play,” he said. “Maybe I underthrew it. … (I’ve) got to be smarter, maybe throw it away and get to the next down, but you can’t go back. You can’t go back and do it again.
“If anything, we’ve just got to go to the drawing board, watch the film and learn from it. I’m proud of the way we fought to the end.”
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Dartmouth finished with a narrow advantage in total offense (324 yards to Lehigh’s 291 yards) while the Mountain Hawks had 24 first downs to the Big Green’s 20. … Thanks to Luke Yoder’s hard-earned 150 yards, the home team outrushed the visitors, 218 yards to 62. Dartmouth’s advantage through the air was 262 yards to 73.
The Big Green went three-and-out just one time and held the ball for at least eight plays on every other possession. … When Dartmouth took 20-17 lead at the end of the third quarter it marked the first time Lehigh trailed in four games this season.
Both teams were flagged seven times, Lehigh for a total of 75 yards and Dartmouth for 58. … The Big Green was 9-of-14 on third down conversions and Lehigh 9-of-12.
Individually, Steve Simpkins Jr. led Dartmouth with 10 tackles while Cameron Best-Alston had six with one tackle for loss. Harrison Keith and Joshua Johnson also had six stops apiece. … The rebuilt Dartmouth offensive line allowed just one sack for four yards, but Lehigh did have six tackles for loss.
Big Green senior Nick Lemon finished with a career-high 102 yards on five catches with a long of 42. Junior Ky’Dric Fisher had a career-best 88 receiving yards on four catches.
Sophomore Myles Craddock, back in action after missing much of the preseason, ran 13 times for 33 yards and one touchdown. Freshman Jacob Henry had five carries for nine yards. Saunier ran eight times for 21 yards.
Kicker Owen Zalc’s two field goals were officially listed at 49 and 50 yards. … Punter Luke Armistead’s only kick went for 48 yards.
For Lehigh, sophomore quarterback Derek Yoder, making his first start after junior Hayden Johnson was injured a week earlier, completed 10-of-13 throws for 73 yards and one touchdown.
Dartmouth drives in order (plays/yards/result): 3/-2/punt; 9/43/field goal; 9/41/field goal; 9/75/touchdown; 10/75/touchdown; 13/53/downs; 8/54/interception.
Lehigh drives in order (plays/yards/result): 10/67/touchdown; 3/7/punt; 15/80/touchdown; 1//4/halftime; 16/65/field goal; 11/75/touchdown; 3/2/punt; 1/-3/end of game.
THEY SAID IT
Gently edited for clarity and brevity
Lehigh defensive back DJ Brown on his one-handed interception: “I just see ball in the air, and go get ball. We were talking about it on the sidelines. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games and | just wanted to do something to help the team get this win."
Lehigh coach Rich Nagy: “I think part of the reason they had to throw the ball was because we were able to stop their run game. We knew we wanted to limit the runs going into this.”
Editor's note: Both quotes courtesy of the Lehigh Brown and White.
Grayson Saunier: “We left a lot out there on the field. I think we performed well at times. They’re a good team. We respect that. We know that. But we feel that we beat ourselves today. There were times where we could have taken the lead, or we could have hopped on them earlier and they got the best of us sometimes."
Saunier: "I'm proud of the way we fought. Offense and defense both proved to ourselves that we can hang, and we can beat the number seven team in the country. So we’re proud of the way we (played), but we don’t accept anything less than a victory.”
Harrison Keith: “We know we’re capable of winning that game. Lehigh has a great team (but) we’re not satisfied with anything but a win ….I think we were flying around on both sides. We showed a lot of flashes of what we can be this season. So again, just wipe it, watch the film, and take it into week two. I’m really excited for what this team can do for the next 10-plus weeks.”
Sammy McCorkle on the rebuilt offensive line: “They did a good job. They did a good job protection wise, doing a good job of getting Grayson time back there. A couple calls early on we had some busts, but we cleaned it up. We fixed it.”
Saunier on the offensive line: “A lot of guys stepped up. Guy like Paul Binder and Max Livingston. I mean, literally everybody had not play a significant amount of time. So I’m really proud of the way the guys fought.”
McCorkle on facing All-America tailback Luke Yoder: “It was all about effort and swarming to the football. We knew how to get more than one guy there. I mean, he’s a heck of a running back and he showed that at times, breaking some tackles. You’ve got to clean that up a little bit, but overall I thought the guys pursued the football. (If) he broke a tackle, there was another guy there to hit him. I thought our guys played with a lot of effort and physicality.“
Keith on Yoder: “He is a great player. I think for the most part we did a really good job of containing him. He was hard to bring down, but I think we did a really good job of rallying to the ball. He had one or two big plays for sure. But again, he’s one of the best in the country, so he has our respect. But I’m proud of how the guys came out and attacked him.”