It was the game the Big Green football team had been waiting for, a contest when all three units, the offense, defense and special teams, came together and earned them a decisive 20-7 victory over the struggling Fordham Rams.
Dartmouth's offensive juggernaut netted 543 yards of total offense with a superb balance of 263 yards on the ground and 280 yards through the air. The defense gave up only five yards rushing in the entire game and forced three turnovers. Kicker Dave Regula '98 hit all of his extra points not to mention two field goals. It was complete domination. But wait, why is it that the scoreboard says the Big Green only beat Fordham by 13 points?
Dartmouth's 20-7 win over the Rams on Saturday proved that when the Big Green play at the top of their ability, they can dominate their opponents on both sides of the ball.
But Dartmouth once again lacked a finishing touch and was unable to put away a pesky Fordham team that wouldn't quit. Like the week before, it took an interception by Lloyd Lee '97, his second interception in the fourth quarter, to extend Dartmouth's unbeaten streak to 10 games and raise its record on the young season to 3-0.
The Big Green sealed the victory late in the third quarter as the offense relied on its senior backfield of quarterback Jon Aljancic '97, tailback Greg Smith '97 and fullback Pete Oberle '96.
After an offsides call on the Fordham kickoff gave Dartmouth the ball out near midfield, Smith carried the ball five times on the drive for 37 yards and Oberle caught an 18-yard shuffle pass to move the ball deep into Ram territory. Aljancic capped the eight-play, 58-yard drivescoring with a three-yard option keeper around the left side to put Dartmouth up by the final score of 20-7.
Leading 13-0 at halftime, Dartmouth came out and did what it did all first half -- stop the Fordham offense and then drive the length of the field. The Big Green were seemingly marching towards the end zone to end any doubts about the outcome, when they suddenly were stalled at the Fordham 31 yard line and turned the ball over on downs.
Upon regaining possession, the Fordham offense, limited to only 87 total yards in the first half, found its only sign of life on the afternoon, using a precision passing game and a great catch on a tipped ball by wide receiver Chris Auferio to put the ball inside the Dartmouth five yard line.
The Big Green defense held for three plays, but on fourth down from the two yard line, Ram quarterback Kevin Scozik lofted the ball above the outstretched hand of defensive end Scott Hapgood '97 and into the waiting hands of tight end Jon Nelson to narrow the lead to 13-7.
Dartmouth used an offense that gained 301 yards in the first half to control the game in the first half. Aljancic, behind great pass protection from the offensive line, used big third down passes to tight end Will Harper '98 and wideouts Forest Wester '97 and Will Bergman '97 to continually set the team up inside the Fordham 20 yard line throughout the first half.
But even though they were able to move the ball for the most part, Dartmouth only managed one touchdown in five trips inside the Ram 20 yard line, a one-yard touchdown run by Smith with 4:52 left in the second quarter to put the Big Green up 10-0.
Aljancic missed two sure touchdowns to Will Bergman, the first time missing a wide open Bergman on a corner pattern before overthrowing him on a slant pattern two drives later. Three times Dartmouth was held to a field goal attempt, with Regula converting on kicks of 27 yards and 32 yards.
The half ended on a questionable call, as wide receiver Zach Ellis '98 fumbled at the Fordham 13 yard line with 10 seconds left in the half on a pass that should have been ruled incomplete.
But those were minor problems in what was overall one of the best performances by a Dartmouth offense since the Jay Fiedler '94 era. The team had great balance and seemed to be able to push the Rams all over the field, only once not getting a first down.
"We played a really strong game on offense, and it wasn't until I saw the stat sheet that I realized how many yards we had put up," Aljancic said. "Sure it's frustrating not to have the points to show for it, but those will come in time. We moved the ball really well and only went three and out once, which is pretty impressive."
"Our offensive balance was outstanding," Head Coach John Lyons said. "We were able to run the ball in between the tackles and Jon [Aljancic] threw the ball really well, had some nice scrambles and made the right check. We dominated the time of possession as well, but we still need to go back and iron out the mistakes we made in not scoring."
Not to be overshadowed, the Big Green defense stepped up its play in the first half, getting great pressure on Scozik all afternoon and nullifying any threat from the Ram running game by holding the Rams to five yards on the day and minus six rushing yards in the first half.
Scozik, who was intercepted three times, was throwing off balance all day. The biggest hit of the afternoon came on a blind side sack by defensive end Greg Dietrich '97 that jarred the ball free at the Fordham 40 yard line late in the first half, but linebacker Mark Abel '97 was unable to pick up the loose ball for a sure touchdown and Fordham maintained possession.
"The pass rush was great yesterday," Lee said. "The play out of the front seven gave the quarterback much less time in the pocket and led to some quick throws that we got interceptions off of. When the line gets pressure we get interceptions, and when the secondary gets good coverage the line gets sacks so it all came together yesterday."
Lyons said, "I thought we played our best game because all of the units executed very well for four quarters. Our kids played hard, and we improved off of our last two games and that should give them confidence."
The Big Green will look to sweep their Patriot League opponents when they host Holy Cross next weekend, and Saturday's game proved to them just how well they can play.
"We're steadily gaining confidence, and we're going to straighten out some more things against Holy Cross before we get back into the Ivy Schedule," Lee said.
