The drizzly, damp weather set the tone for the Dartmouth football team's ugly but effective victory Saturday at Memorial Field. Three thousand one hundred seven sloppy fans, many of them decked in plastic bags and soggy green jackets, toughed out the miserable conditions to see the Big Green out-hit, out-hustle and out-run, but barely beat the Leopards of Lafayette, 14-7.
For those who like to see pristine long passes, glitzy interceptions and, well, anything pretty, this game was not for them. But die-hard fans that did not mind getting a little wet had to love this one, as Dartmouth spent most of the afternoon fighting it out in the trenches and on the ground.
The weather dictated play, as Dartmouth attempted only 10 passes and completed just two, for a paltry total of 40 net passing yards. On the ground, Dartmouth thrashed the Leopards for 270 net yards on 69 attempts.
Dartmouth got the 270 yards and two touchdowns on the ground against a Leopards team that had not given up 100 yards rushing or a rushing touchdown this season.
Unlike earlier in the season, when Coach John Lyons doled out carries relatively evenly to his army of running backs, this game was all Greg Smith '97. The 6'0, 211 pound back had 27 carries for 151 yards -- the biggest day of his career.
Smith, as usual, would not accept the kudos, but instead congratulated his offensive line.
"I can't say enough about those guys up front," Smith said. "They don't get enough credit. What they do makes everything happen for everyone else."
But Smith did make a few things happen on his own too, after running through the gaping holes left by his line. It was then that he started to make people miss, or he just plain ran them over.
Smith seemed to enjoy the added playing time. "It felt great to get in there. I'll take as much work as they let me. I like running in any weather."
Neither of Dartmouth's touchdown drives Saturday, which totaled a combined 55 yards, were characteristic marches down the length of the field. The Big Green started their first scoring drive from the Lafayette 37, after the Leopards were forced to punt out of their own end zone.
Six consecutive running plays later -- four by Smith, and one each by quarterback John Aljancic '97 and co-Captain tailback Pete Oberle '96, Dartmouth was parked at the one on fourth down.
Lyons did not take any chances, calling for a straight-forward quarterback sneak right over the middle, and Aljancic delivered, slipping through the crack left by center Kevin McGowan '96 and left guard Greg Smith '97.
That touchdown and ensuing point after, coming off Dartmouth's first possession of the half, deadlocked the game at seven early in the third quarter.
Dartmouth's defense could not have made it too much easier for its offense on the game winning touchdown either.
Late in the third quarter, on first and 10 from their own 15, the Leopards pitched to tailback Leonard Moore, who sprinted around the right end until he met linebacker Zach Walz '98, who jarred the ball loose on his bone-crushing hit. Cornerback Marlin Twitty '98 recovered the ball, and Dartmouth took over from the 18.
Aljancic and Smith took turns this time, and the big running back got the final call. From the Leopard six on first down, Smith pounded himself in around the left end for the touchdown, for the 14-7 lead.
On defense, Dartmouth nipped every Leopard attack in the bud save one -- Lafayette's 75-yard drive in the first half that resulted in the Leopards only touchdown. Dartmouth granted the Lafayette only 10 first downs, five alone in that single drive.
Inside linebacker Mark Abel '97 seemed to be everywhere at once Saturday, compiling 16 tackles, including four behind the line of scrimmage.
"We sent in Mark a few times to get a fifth man, and I thought that worked very well," Lyons said.
Overall, Dartmouth's rain-aided defense had easily its best day of the year. In one important statistic for Lyons, the big play category, the Big Green were perfect, not allowing a run over 15 yards or a pass over 25.
Lafayette's Coach Bill Russo attributed some of his team's offensive anemia to Dartmouth, but blamed the ineffectiveness on his own team as well.
"We just don't have enough offensive firepower to take advantage of," he said.
Lafayette did have a few late fourth quarter chances to tie the score, but Dartmouth's defense took the game into its own hands, stalling each drive in its tracks.
The Leopard's best chance arrived 7:34 in the fourth quarter from Dartmouth's own 21, after Big Green punter John Mckewan '96 shanked a slippery football out of bounds for a net of 15 yards.
Dartmouth's defense bore down and crushed the Leopard's last-ditch drive in an efficient four plays.
"If it's in your hands, you've got to step up to the challenge," said Abel on the defense's job. "There was a lot of adrenaline on the field, and I think everybody stepped up their level of play and we got the job done. Our defense was really confident that we could stop them."
Like last week, Dartmouth's offense still had problems adding the finishing touches when they were in deep. Twice, the Big Green lost fumbles in Leopard land -- once at the 12 and later at the Lafayette two. Dartmouth also had a pass intercepted at Lafayette's 24 yard line, and couldn't chalk up points on a first and ten at the Leopard 12.
"Its the same old thing offensively, we are hurting ourselves with the same mistakes," Lyon's said on the growing curse on Dartmouth's offense deep in opponent territory.
Smith said, "We can do what we want to do against anybody, but it's just a matter of stopping ourselves."
But all that really mattered was Dartmouth won, and as far as Lyon's is concerned, he doesn't care how ugly it gets as long as Dartmouth notches the win.
"We came up and made the plays when we had to," Lyons said. "We continue to make it very difficult for ourselves, but the bottom line is we got it done."
