The Ivy League media's preseason poll had tabbed this as the game of the year -- a showdown between preseason favorite Dartmouth and runner-up Pennsylvania. The game certainly lived up to the hype, but on a day where the Big Green were clearly the better team, they almost handed away the game they deserved to win.
When the clock expired though, Dartmouth's last second 24-22 victory over the Quakers at Memorial Field solidified their claim as the team to beat and gave them their first victory over Penn in four seasons.
After the offense stalled inside Penn territory with just over five minutes remaining, the Big Green defense continued to play the swarming type of defense that had held Penn in check for most of the second half. Forced with a do-or-die defensive stand, Dartmouth, led by linebacker Mark Abel '97 and his 13 tackles, forced Penn to punt the football back to the offense with 2:34 left on the clock.
"We knew we had to come out and play the type of defense that we were capable of," co-Captain Abel said. "In the first half we gave up some plays, but the offense was in a rut and we needed to come up with some big plays to get the ball back."
Moments later, with the Big Green offense facing a critical fourth and three, quarterback Jon Aljancic '97 kept the drive alive by finding fullback Pete Oberle '96 near the left sideline for a gain of six and a first down at the Penn 39 yard line. Aljancic continued to direct the offense as they worked their way down inside the 10 yard line. With 19 seconds remaining, Aljancic found a wide-open wideout Eric Morton '97 on a crossing pattern in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown to give the Big Green a two point lead.
"Eric was actually the third option on the play, but he did a great job to get open, make the catch and get in the end zone." Aljancic said. "Although we were sloppy at times considering we turned the ball over four times, I felt when we needed to make a big play, we did. The defense did a great job stopping the Penn offense and gave us [the offense] great field position to work with."
For his efforts, Aljancic was named football's Ivy League Athlete of the Week. On the day, the senior quarterback was 21-34 with two interceptions in passing for 227 yards.
Morton said, "We definitely felt that if we could get the ball back that our offense was versatile enough to put the ball in the end zone and win the game."
But Dartmouth's fourth missed extra point left open the possibility for a game-winning field goal by Penn in the final seconds. After advancing the ball to the Dartmouth 42, rather than using their remaining timeout, Penn spiked the ball into the ground to stop the clock, wasting two seconds -- a decision that would later come back to haunt them. Coach Al Bagnoli decided to try to gain a few precious yards instead of sending placekicker Jeremiah Greathouse out on the field to attempt a potential game winning 59-yard field goal. But on the ensuing play, Fabish was unable to get out of bounds before the clock expired, giving the Big Green the victory.
"We went back and looked at the film and it was obvious that they didn't get out of bounds because it took them three seconds to just throw the ball," Lyons said. "With four seconds left, I expected them to throw the ball into the end zone where the ball can bounce around and anything can happen, but I never expected them to try and throw short. It's something I would have never done."
Penn was able to erase Dartmouth's halftime lead when the Big Green turned the ball over twice inside their own 20 yard line in the third quarter. Penn cornerback Joseph Pieta stepped in front of Aljancic's out pattern intended for receiver Zach Ellis '98 and returned it to the Big Green two yard line, resulting in a 32-yard field goal to cut the Dartmouth lead to 18-16.
On the following kickoff, Penn recovered Ellis's fumble at the 19 yard line. Penn took advantage of the miscue three plays later when Teodecki hit Fabish for a 19-yard score. A failed two point conversion gave the Quakers a 22-18 lead.
Dartmouth had taken an 18-13 lead into the locker room by scoring touchdowns on three consecutive drives. Following a Lloyd Lee '97 38-yard punt return to the Penn 33 yard line, the offense capped off a six play drive when senior tailback Ambrose Garcia burst off the left side for a six-yard score. Aljancic finished the other two drives himself by scoring on two quarterback keepers from the one.
"I think we started off slow in the first quarter on both sides of the ball," Lyons said. "We came back and played well in the second quarter, and when we went ahead 18-7, I felt as if we were definitely in control of the game.
"Unfortunately, we let them back into it with the turnovers, but it was a game I thought we should have won all along, and fortunately our guys took over and allowed us to get the victory," Lyons added. "But the mistakes on extra points and field goals almost cost us a victory."
The offense succeeded in keeping the play calling balanced, using a running combination of Aljancic on options and bootlegs and tailback Greg Smith '97, who had 90 yards on 21 carries.
The passing game was sparked by tight end Will Harper '98 and Ellis. Harper, who had only one catch last season, and Ellis each finished with six catches on the afternoon, most of them in key situations on third down.
"Most importantly, I think we threw the ball much better than last year," Aljancic said. "The offensive line did a great job pass protecting and the running backs and receivers all did a great job catching the ball. We still need to work on cutting down on turnovers, but for our first game of the year, I'm very pleased with what we did but definitely not satisfied."
The defense, shaky at times in the first half, let Penn go on a 65-yard touchdown march in the first quarter to open the scoring, followed in the second quarter by a 84-yard touchdown scamper by Quaker tailback Jasen Scott, who finished with 166 yards on the day.
But Dartmouth forced first-time starter Teodecki to make numerous bad throws, including a string of 10 straight incompletions that spanned three quarters. As a result, the defense was able to focus on smothering the run, allowing Scott just one yard on 12 carries in the second half.
"We were in position to make the tackles but just couldn't make the plays in the first half," Abel said. "Hopefully it's something you won't see for the rest of the year. Their inability to throw the ball really surprised us because they didn't try to balance their offense, and after we settled down I knew they couldn't beat us by trying to move the ball down with their running game."
"It's good to be 1-0 in the Ivy League and to have beaten Penn, its a feeling that we haven't had since I have been here," he added.
The Big Green will take their eight-game unbeaten streak on the road this weekend when they travel to Lehigh on Saturday. They return home the following week to face another Patriot League opponent when Fordham comes to Memorial Field.
