Keith Clark rides a Harley, could pass for the state trooper with shades you never want to see growing bigger in your rear-view mirror after pulling you over, and on occasion sounds something like an old-school coach from the Junction Boys era.
Apart from the hog, that’s absolutely not who he is, but for anyone who doesn’t know Dartmouth’s offensive line coach, he might give off a little of that vibe. Which is why it was so telling to see the tears welling in his eyes and flowing down his cheeks after Dartmouth knocked Harvard from the ranks of the undefeated Friday night.
Helping a young and unproven offensive line come of age has been only one of the challenges Clark has been facing, and seeing that group dominate the way it did in helping the Big Green upset its archrival was clearly cathartic for the veteran coach.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of a bunch of guys than I am right now,” Clark said. “You know, they prepared well. They got excited to play, and they really rose to the occasion.”
That was never more evident than in the time-consuming drive that all but sewed up Dartmouth’s 24-14 win. Taking over at its own 29 with 11:39 to play and needing both to run time off the clock and add insurance points, the Big Green did just that, holding the ball for more than seven minutes before Owen Zalc came on and kicked a 30-yard field goal.
The drive consisted of 14 plays, with every last one of them on the ground, as what began the season as the five fingers Clark tutored turned into the fist that punched its way through the Harvard defensive front.
Quarterback Grayson Saunier, whose game-high 109 yards helped the Big Green pile up 229 yards on the ground – despite leading rusher Myles Craddock missing the game with an injury – has been appreciative of the work the big guys in front of him put in this year and put on display Friday night.
“Obviously, I’m not a part of the offensive line, but I know how much the offensive line loves Coach Clark,” said Saunier. “I know how much he means to them, and I know how much he means to us as a team. . . .
“The ability for Coach Clark to really rally these guys to step up this year, game by game, it’s been awesome. It's been awesome.”
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Dartmouth has averaged 209.3 yards per game on the ground over its three-game winning streak. That after managing just 62 yards on the ground in the opener at Lehigh. Freshman Jacob Henry had 14 carries for 53 yards without a lost yard against Harvard and Dylan Elder 18 carries for 46 yards. Chris Roper added 12 yards on two carries.
With the run game getting the job done, Saunier put the ball in the air just 12 times against Harvard’s vaunted pass defense, completing five throws for 42 yards and two touchdowns. Nick Lemon led the receivers with two catches for 30 yards, highlighted by a nine-yard touchdown reception that made it 21-7 late in the second quarter.
Cameron Best-Alston and Steve Simpkins Jr. led Dartmouth with eight tackles apiece, with “CBA” picking off two passes. Harrison Keith added six tackles and No’Koi Maddox five.
In addition to Best-Alston, Matthew Boydell, Sean Chester and Maddox had interceptions. Boydell seemed on his way to a 97-yard pick six only to barely step out of bounds at the Dartmouth 39 for what went in the books as a 36-yard return. . . . After not having an interception in its first four games, the Big Green now has 10 in its last three games. . . . Harvard quarterback Charlie Smith had thrown just four interception in six games prior to his struggled in Hanover, and Dartmouth picked off five of this throws.
While the Big Green won the battle on the scoreboard, Harvard won the statistical battle. The Crimson had more first downs (26-18) and more yards of total offense (404-271). But thanks to its run game, Dartmouth had the ball for 8½ minutes more than Harvard.
Freshman Roman Sosnovyy had his first career sack for a loss of seven yards, was credited with half a tackle for loss and finished with four tackles one week after posting a career-high five stops at Columbia.
The win was the Big Green’s first over the Crimson since a 20-17 victory in 2021.
Dartmouth drives in order (plays/yards/result): 5/21/punt; 6/18/touchdown; 11/61/touchdown; 2/2/interception; 11/75/touchdown; 2/5/halftime; 4/10/interception; 5/18/interception; 3/5/punt; 14/59/field goal; 6/15/downs.
Harvard drives in order (plays/yards/result): 1/0/interception; 16/80/interception; 6/30/punt; 2/35/touchdown; 4/75/touchdown; 5/20/interception; 14/83/missed field goal; 4/9/downs; 2/14/interception; 2/6/end of game.
THEY SAID IT
Gently edited for brevity and clarity
Harvard coach Andrew Aurich:
“Congrats to them. They a great game. They executed. We didn't execute. It's my job as a head coach to make sure we're in the right mindset to come out and execute. We might take a long look in the mirror and figure out how I can do my job better for these guys because this is a really talented team, but we weren't executing at the level I know they can. And it starts with me.”
Dartmouth defensive back Cameron Best-Alston: “The past couple weeks the defense kind of found our identity. Found our swag back to Dartmouth culture. That's just all a belief in our coaches, belief in the brand, belief in the standard.”
Best-Alston on his two interceptions and five by the team: “Couldn't do it without the D-linemen and the coaching staff. We bought into the scheme and what we are going to do. But at the end of the day, the players are playing. We have got to make the plays.”
Quarterback Grayson Saunier on his running:
“They didn't have to run me a lot. We could have handed the ball off. But for the coaches to have trust in me to get the job done, even when I'm not throwing the ball as well, or things aren't going our way, (is important). We have got to be ready to do anything, whatever it takes to win. The running's awesome. The throwing, I have got to get better at. But kudos to the O-line, receivers, tight ends and running backs. They stepped up today big time.”
Saunier on how much the team pays attention to what’s happening in the Ivy League race: “I mean, obviously we're aware. We pay attention to what's going on. But it's all about us. We’ve just got to focus on what we can do, buy into the process and take it game-by-game, day-by-day. Obviously Princeton's a great team. We respect them just like Harvard. But we’ve got to treat it like any other week. Prepare our butts off and get ready to come (out strong) next Saturday down in Princeton.”
Coach Sammy McCorkle: “Super excited and just so proud of the way our guys came out. Even more important, the way our guys prepared all week and how they came out ready to play. I just thought the relentless effort, relentless energy, and the relentless focus on every single play showed out there.”
McCorkle: “Not everything went our way. There were some bad plays out there. We did not let that affect us the next play and we bounced back. I’m just really, really happy the way the guys started and how they finished strong.”
McCorkle redirecting the question of where the result ranks since he’s been head coach: “It's a big win. We've had a lot of good wins here. That's our standard here. We want to be in these type of games. I told our guys you've earned the right to be in this type of game. You've worked hard these last couple weeks to put yourself in this situation, and you deserve to be in this situation. Now go out there and get it.”