"Last year was not what we wanted," co-captain and nose tackle Mike Rabil '06 said about Dartmouth's 2-8 campaign in 2005, which included a 1-6 mark in the Ivy League. "We must keep focused and remember our goal is to win an Ivy championship."
But on Saturday, the Big Green (0-1) saw a promising start to the new season disappear as the Colgate Red Raiders (1-1) amassed 223 rushing yards and scored three touchdowns in the second half en route to a 28-7 victory over the Big Green at Andy Karr Stadium in Hamilton, N.Y.
Colgate's sophomore running back, Jordan Scott, had a big day against the Big Green's defensive 11, rushing 23 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns, and also catching two passes for 28 yards.
"We obviously need to make some adjustments," Rabil said about Dartmouth's run defense. "Not to discredit Scott, but we just need to make some better fits. After his big run for the first play of the game, we held him under a hundred yards, until the last drive of the game."
Scott wasted little time making his presence felt against the Big Green defense. On the Red Raiders' first play with 10:40 left in the first quarter, Scott took the handoff to the right side and cut back left to go 65 yards for his first touchdown of the day.
However, Ian Wilson '08 managed to block the extra point attempt to hold Colgate to an early 6-0 advantage. Wilson led the Big Green with ten tackles, including one tackle for loss.
With Colgate trailing 7-6 early in the second half, Red Raider quarterback Mike Saraceno completed two passes for 41 yards to set up Scott's second touchdown run from two yards out in the middle of the third quarter. Saraceno then connected on a 15-yard toss with 5:56 left in the fourth to give Colgate a 21-7 lead.
After the Big Green failed to convert on fourth down early in the fourth quarter, Scott sealed the contest with a seven-yard scamper with 3:10 remaining after Dartmouth bobbled a handoff on its own 36-yard line.
Dartmouth's only scoring output in the contest came on a one-yard touchdown run by Milan Williams '09 in the second quarter following some strong play on special teams.
The Big Green blocked a 41-yard field goal attempt and recovered the ball on its 47-yard line with 11:31 left in the stanza. Behind two key third down passes of 17 and 13 yards by starting quarterback Tom Bennewitz '08, Williams capped a nine play, 53-yard drive by rushing up the middle for the score with 7:05 remaining to give Dartmouth a 7-6 lead.
But overall, the Big Green offense struggled, as Dartmouth gained 54 yards on the ground and 170 yards in total. Williams led the team with 31 yards rushing on 12 carries. Jason Bash '06 did not play due to injury.
"The biggest improvements will come when our two premier backs are healthy," co-captain and offensive lineman Preston Copley '07 said, referring to the tandem of Bash and Williams. "Milan is playing hard, but he is not 100 percent due to a hand injury and Jason was sidelined this weekend with an ankle sprain. Once Jason is back in the game, you can expect some big numbers out of him."
Bennewitz finished the game 14 of 22 for 102 yards with no interceptions, while top receiver Ryan Fuselier '06 made six catches for 64 yards.
"Obviously we're disappointed," head coach Buddy Teevens told reporters after the game. "We didn't convert some plays when we needed to and that's the bottom line."
Copley echoed Teevens' sentiments, saying that poor execution proved especially costly for the Big Green.
"All the guys had the legs to play four full quarters," he said. "The biggest weakness was our poise and execution of assignments. We knew how we needed to play to win and we let early season jitters affect our play on key downs."
Next up for the Big Green is its home opener versus the No. 1 University of New Hampshire Wildcats.
"Of course UNH is a good team," Rabil conceded, "but if we execute Coach's game plan to perfection then that will put us in a position to win."
Game time is set for 12 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, on the new turf at Memorial Field.
