The glow off of the smiling faces of the Big Green as they celebrated their 24-0 shutout of Princeton provided the final illustration to this year's fairy tale of a season, a 10-0 fairy tale that is possibly the greatest chapter ever written in Dartmouth or Ivy League history.
If only Princeton had known last year that its game-tying field goal to spoil the Big Green's 1995 championship hopes would leave such a bitter taste in Dartmouth's mouth, the Tigers might have decided against kicking it. They might have known to warn the rest of the Ivy League what was about to come. They might have considered not facing the Big Green in a game that the Dartmouth players had been waiting for all year.
"I think the single most important factor in our success this season was last year's loss to Princeton," Head Coach John Lyons said of the team he has guided on a 17-game unbeaten streak." After coming so close, the players just wanted to get it done this year and they did. It is just a very special feeling to see a team come together and put together one of the greatest seasons in Dartmouth history."
Tri-Captain Greg Smith '97 said, "I knew 20 after the game last season that we would come back this year and get the title and get our revenge."
Saturday, the Big Green defense came up with its best effort of the year to propel Dartmouth to a 24-0 victory over Princeton and a perfect 10-0 season for the first time in school history. The team, which captured the Ivy League championship last weekend at Brown, is the fifth squad to go undefeated, but the first to be able to boast 10 victories in a season after the schedule was expanded in 1980.
Dartmouth came out and showed the kind of letdown that would be expected from a team that had already clinched the Ivy League title.
The first half saw both offenses struggle to move the ball, effectively turning the game into a battle of punters for the most part of the first half with the exception of a Dave Regula's '98 21-yard field goal with one minute remaining in the first quarter.
Leading 3-0, Dartmouth was able to strike late in the half as the defense continued its punishing play. Safety Lloyd Lee '98 stepped in front of Tiger quarterback Brett Budzinski's pass at the Dartmouth 30 yard line and raced the opposite way 70 yards for a touchdown to give what had been a listless Dartmouth team life and a 10 point halftime lead.
"The defensive line got great pressure and the quarterback was forced to hurry his throw. I was eyeing the ball the whole way," Lee said.
Lyons said, "There is no doubt in my mind that Lloyd's play turned the entire game around for us. The defense had been playing a great game but the team just needed a spark to get going and Lloyd did just that."
Lee's interception, one of two on the afternoon, was the exact spark the offense needed as they came out in the second half and began to execute.
Four minutes into the half, quarterback Jon Aljancic '97 found fullback Pete Oberle '96 wide open down the left side of the field for a 32-yard scoring toss that gave the Big Green a 17-0 advantage and the momentum they had been looking for all afternoon.
"Until Lloyd's interception, we had just been flat," Aljancic said. "Once Lloyd got in the endzone, the offense just turned it up and got on track."
While the Big Green defense continued to shutdown the Tigers, Dartmouth took advantage of great field position midway through the fourth quarter to secure the victory and the concurring perfect season. Taking over just past midfield, Aljancic hit Dylan Karczewski '99 on shovel pass at the line of scrimmage and then exploded downfield untouched for a 46-yard touchdown.
"They were showing eight or nine men at the line of scrimmage to take away the running game and force us to throw the ball," Lyons said. "In the second half, Jon took control of the offense and put the ball where it had to be and found a rhythm."
The Big Green preserved their second shutout of the season when freshman cornerback Tom Reusser '00 intercepted Tiger quarterback John Burnham deep in Dartmouth territory with three minutes remaining in the game.
On the afternoon, the defense forced a school record nine sacks and four turnovers while limiting the Tigers to 111 yards in total offense. Lee's two interceptions established a new Big Green season record for interceptions with seven.
Dartmouth's offense managed to come to life in the second half, finishing with 316 total yards on the afternoon, with 168 of those coming after halftime. Aljancic finished the day completing 14 of 26 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns, good enough to move him into fourth place on the all-time passing list.
The win was the first time Dartmouth had ever beaten Princeton in the final game when trying to achieve a perfect record, having failed the previous seven times.
"The feeling about what we have accomplished really hasn't really set in yet and I don't think it will for a very long time because we are just too young to realize what this season means in the entire history of Dartmouth," tailback Greg Smith '97 said, who finished his career in sixth place on the all-time Dartmouth rushing list.
In the end, maybe it is Aljancic who best understands this season's place in Dartmouth history.
"People will remember this team," he said.
