The Dartmouth football team continued to be full of surprises at Yale on Saturday, thrashing the Bulldogs at the Yale Bowl, 22-7 in front of a crowd of 14,729 spectators.
The Big Green football squad, now 3-2, loves to make things interesting. It seems like just when you think you know what to expect of the squad, they turn around and smack you in the face.
Dartmouth had its back against the wall going in to the contest, winless in the Ivy's this year, but that did not daunt them. Neither did the fact that the Big Green dominated Yale, now 2-3, in the first half, only to head for the locker rooms down 7-6.
This is the type of team where a once-suspect kicking game can all of a sudden look like a million bucks, where you never know who is going to be taking the snaps behind center and where conventional theories of wisdom mean nothing.
On offense, the Big Green, facing the loss of their top receiver to an injured ankle, an ailing passing game in recent weeks and the added confusion of a reinstated platoon system at quarterback, decided to up the ante.
In the first half, Dartmouth fought not only the flailing Bulldogs, but a flurry of yellow flags as well. The Big Green had five penalties against them in the first 10 minutes alone and by half-time had given up eight penalties for 62 yards to Yale, while having to settle for only two long field goals on the scoreboard.
That is right, field goals. Dartmouth, which until recently had been having trouble with extra-point kicks, got a near-perfect performance from kicker Dave Regula '98, who split the uprights from 42 and 40 yards in the first half to get Dartmouth on the board.
"The only thing that seemed to be keeping us from scoring [touchdowns] was a few mental lapses," co-Captain tailback Pete Oberle '96 said after the game. "We felt good about our first half performance, barring the mental mistakes, and we... all agreed that if we could stop the errors we could win the game."
Coach John Lyons, who had expressed unhappiness with the air attack in the last few weeks, looked to light some fire under his quarterbacks by playing musical chairs with them. Jon Aljancic '97, who had started the last three games, relinquished part of his job to Ren Riley '96, who was the starter at the beginning of the season.
The result was a slow start, as both Aljancic and Riley took time to warm up, going 3-7 and 2-7 in the air respectively in the first half.
Dartmouth got its first points in the game on their opening drive. The Big Green, with Aljancic at the helm, drove 35 yards mostly on the ground to set up Regula's booming 42-yard field goal, handing Dartmouth the early lead.
Dartmouth's second field goal in the first half was set up by a Lloyd Lee '98 17-yard punt return to the Yale 32. Riley got the Big Green closer, sprinting for a 12-yard gain, but the offense sputtered after that, sending in Regula again, who spanked a 40-yard field goal to put the Big Green ahead 6-0.
The Bulldog offense, despite having fewer chances, still managed to escape the first half with a 7-6 lead, after responding to Regula's last field goal with a hurry up offense attack that caught Dartmouth's defense off guard.
In the second half, Dartmouth's defense regained the momentum, grabbing a fumble at Yale's own 22 to set up what would amount to another Regula field goal, this time for 35 yards.
Dartmouth, weary of being continually halted near Yale's red zone, finally broke through for a touchdown on their following possession. Dartmouth's leading rusher, Greg Smith '97, broke out of the backfield for a 34-yard run until finally hauled down at the Yale four yard line. Stocky tailback Ambrose Garcia '97 then took it the rest of the way, tip-toeing in for the score after a pitch from Aljancic, which put Dartmouth up 15-7.
In the meantime, the Big Green defense completely derailed Yale's offense, which was previously ranked first in total offense in the Ivy Leagues. Yale, forced to start its backup quarterback in place of injured top Ivy League passer Chris Hetherington, was held to 92 rushing yards in the game and only 86 net offensive yards in the first half.
Defensive tackle Scott Hapgood '97 had seven tackles and two sacks Saturday, and linebacker Brian Schmidt '97 added nine tackles of his own to stifle the Bulldog offense.
Dartmouth's defense, which has allowed only 14 points in the second halves of the last four games combined, has continued to come up big when most needed. In the second half Saturday, the swarming Dartmouth defense permitted only four first downs by the Bulldog offense.
Dartmouth's offense added nails to Yale's coffin with 6:41 left in the game after the Big Green defense thwarted a fourth and three by the Bulldogs at the Dartmouth 38.
Aljancic hit racing wide receiver Eric Morton '97 in the numbers over the middle, and Morton took off, sprinting untouched down the sideline for a sixty-one yard reception and Dartmouth's final score, 22-7.
What it amounted to was Dartmouth's best all round performance of the season, even if it took a little unrewarded work in the first half and two quarterbacks at the helm.
"I believe everybody on our team feels confident that whoever is the quarterback will be able to move the offense," Oberle said on the quarterback situation. "Each guy presents a different challenge to the opposing team so I think it might be a little more difficult for them."
Next Saturday, Dartmouth, now 3-2, takes on Colgate on homecoming weekend at Dartmouth's own Memorial Field at 1:00 p.m.
