Dartmouth put together its most complete effort of the year when the Big Green traveled to Ithaca, NY on Saturday and beat up Cornell, 38-21 in a key Ivy League showdown. The win was of great significance for the Big Green who stayed atop the Ivy League standings at 3-0 while dropping the Big Red into third place with a 2-1 record.
The win extended the Big Green's unbeaten streak to 13 games and solidified Dartmouth's claim as the top team in the Ancient Eight. Tied with Columbia for first place at 3-0, Dartmouth showed that it could slow down a top ranked offense and win on the road, a message that needed to be sent considering that three of its remaining four contests take place away from Hanover. The squad's 6-0 record is its best start since 1971.
The Big Green formulated a terrifically balanced offensive attack that saw the Big Green post a 100-yard rusher in Greg Smith '97 (27 carries for 108 yards), a 321 yard passer in quarterback Jon Aljancic '97 and a 166-yard receiver in wideout Zach Ellis '98.
These Big Green standouts managed to overshadow Cornell All-Ivy running back Chad Levitt's 240 yards rushing, while the Big Green defense stifled Cornell's top ranked passing game, holding Cornell quarterbacks to a combined 96 yards passing.
Leading 17-14 at the half, Dartmouth put together its best 20 minutes of football of the year to stake a commanding 38-14 lead minutes into the fourth quarter. Three times Cornell marched into Big Green territory, and three times the Big Green held them, gained good field position and upon getting the ball on offense put it in the endzone.
"In the locker room at halftime you could definitely feel there was an attitude that we were going to go out in the second half and win the game," Aljancic said. "This team is experienced and playing with confidence, and we knew that we could get the job done, and the defense did a great job holding them, and the offense was able to take advantage by scoring on our first three possessions."
Cornell was trying to take the lead early in the third quarter when on fourth down the Big Green foiled a fake punt attempt at the Dartmouth 43. Aljancic and the Dartmouth offense took over there and put together a strong drive that resulted in an Aljancic plunge over the top of the line, re-establishing the Big Green's 10 point lead at 24-14.
After holding Cornell on downs at the Dartmouth 18, the Big Green put together possibly their most impressive drive of the game. Opening up with a 39-yard completion to Ellis, Aljancic and the offense marched 82 yards in 11 plays, getting a key third down catch and run from fullback Pete Oberle '96 to keep the drive alive and set up the Big Green with a first and goal from the eight.
Two plays later, tailback Smith added his second score of the game when he took an option pitch on the right side and scampered four yards into the end zone to put Dartmouth up 31-14.
Getting great field position at midfield after a Cornell punt, Aljancic directed the third consecutive scoring drive of the half, finding Oberle on a corner route for a 20 yard touchdown pass with 9:47 remaining in the game.
Aljancic's second touchdown pass of the game and Oberle's first touchdown of the year closed the door on Cornell, which added a touchdown late in the game to pull within 38-21, the eventual final score.
Cornell had pulled within three points towards the end of the second quarter when Levitt reeled off his second long touchdown run of the game, this one a 36-yard effort, to close the score to 17-14.
Smith's first touchdown of the game had given Dartmouth a 17-7 lead after an Aljancic to Ellis connection in the first quarter had erased Cornell's 7-3 lead just minutes into the game.
The Big Green had opened up the scoring with a 29-yard field goal by Dave Regula '98, but Levitt responded two plays later with a 72-yard scoring burst on a cutback run.
"They had big, physical cornerbacks who covered us really well," Ellis said. "But the key to the passing game has been Jon [Aljancic]. We were faster then their cornerbacks and made the adjustment to start throwing deep, and Jon kept on putting the ball where it had to be. On my touchdown I was covered very well, and the throw was just perfect."
The Big Green offense managed to roll up 504 yards in total offense, with Aljancic gaining 347 total yards, the fifth largest output in Big Green history. His 321 yards on a dazzling 16 for 21 throwing, both career highs, placed him second in the nation yesterday in passing yardage. The 166 yards receiving by Ellis was the largest output by a Dartmouth receiver in years.
"We did a good job mixing up our play selection," Aljancic said. "Early on they were stacking the line knowing that we wanted to run the ball, but we knew that our receivers were better then their cornerbacks and guys like Ellis [Zach] and Mortie [Eric Morton '97] were able to take advantage of that by getting some deep balls that really hurt them."
The defense may have given up 240 yards to Levitt, but they were able to hold Cornell when it counted. Aside from his two long runs, Levitt only gained 132 yards on 28 carries.
More impressive was the pressure the Big Green put on the Big Red quarterbacks, limiting the passing offense to 96 yards and getting three sacks, two of them stopping a key third quarter drive by the Big Red. Cornell's offensive output fell way short of the 409 yards they had been averaging previously.
