What seemed like a momentous third-down stop for the Big Green's defense turned into a backbreaking pass interference penalty. The Dartmouth bench erupted in shouts at the officiating crew, as did the Big Green fans. Nonetheless, the call stood and New York Governor George Pataki, a Yale alumnus, sat smiling in the Bulldogs' cheering section of Memorial Field.
Governor Pataki was not the only Yale fan smiling on Saturday, as the Bulldogs escaped Hanover with a 26-14 victory over Dartmouth. Yale was led, as usual, by its stellar NFL-caliber senior offensive lineman Ed McCarthy, and last season's Ivy League rookie of the year, sophomore running back Mike McLeod.
Both Connecticut natives, McCarthy and McLeod continued their symbiotic relationship Saturday afternoon, as McCarthy helped pave the way for McLeod's 198 yards on 33 carries with two touchdowns. However, McLeod's fourth carry appeared to be ominous for the Bulldogs.
McLeod was hit hard by the Big Green's Joe Gibalski '07 at the Dartmouth 31-yard line, and omnipresent Big Green defensive back Ian Wilson '08 swooped in to pick up the loose ball. Things were looking up for Dartmouth, especially after Mike Fritz '07 connected with Brian Evans '08 on what appeared to be a 39-yard strike. Unfortunately for the Dartmouth men, nothing seemed to go their way as Yale's star sophomore free safety Steven Santoro stripped Evans and sophomore cornerback Casey Gerald shoveled the ball off the ground and into his arms at the Bulldog 30-yard line.
Yale then promptly proceeded down the field, driving 63 yards in 10 plays (nine McLeod runs and an incomplete pass), and settling for a 24-yard field goal by junior place kicker Alan Kimball.
A few drives and another Kimball field goal later, and the Big Green had another chance to swing the momentum back its way. Dartmouth had a fourth and inches at the Bulldog 43-yard line, but senior defensive end Brendan Sponheimer met Hudson Smythe '09 in the backfield to send the Dartmouth offensive unit off of the field once again.
The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 19-0 before the Big Green made things exciting. After McLeod rushed for 141 yards on 22 carries in the first half, the Big Green held him to 58 yards in the second half and tallied their first points of the game when Fritz connected with tight end Brett Lowe on a 17-yard touchdown pass that capped a 77-yard, 10-play drive.
Buddy Teevens then pulled a page out of New York Jets' coach Eric Mangini's book, and went for an onside kick with plenty of time left on the clock. The play was perfectly executed, and the ball was recovered by Marlon Alebiosu '10 at the Bulldogs' 37-yard line. Fritz then tossed a beautiful ball to Andrew Von Kuhn '09, who made a streaking catch in the end zone to cut the Bulldog lead to 19-14.
Then it seemed as if things were beginning to go Dartmouth's way after all. An apparent kickoff return for a touchdown by Santoro (who already has one 94-yard return for a touchdown this season) was called back due to a block-in-the-back call against the Bulldogs. The Big Green then had Yale in a third-down and 23 situation at the Dartmouth 34-yard line.
But Dartmouth's hopes were soon crushed as Polhemus dumped a ball out on the wing to McLeod, who took it for twenty-five yards down the sideline to the Dartmouth nine. He then immediately rushed it in with 8:33 to go in the contest to seal the deal at 26-14 for the Bulldogs.
The offensive star on the day for the Big Green was Evans, who finished with five catches for 139 yards. Fritz was impressive as well, completing 16 of 21 pass attempts for 211 yards, one interception and two touchdowns.
Coach Teevens was frustrated by the loss and the team's play in every area of the game.
"It was a disappointing ball game," he said. "We had difficulty getting Yale off the field, and in the first half, difficulty maintaining control of the football offensively. Special teams hurt us as well, a bad decision on a kick return and bad field position. It was a collection of things."
The Big Green men will look to turn things around next weekend when they face Holy Cross at the annual Homecoming game. Holy Cross posted a 35-30 victory over Brown on Saturday to improve to 4-2 on the season. Crusaders quarterback Dominic Randolph had a stellar game, completing 30 of 39 passes for 329 yards and four touchdowns.
