Penn marched down the field
in the fourth quarter on Saturday,
eliciting flashbacks of the Big
Green's loss to Colgate, but a controversial
call in the endzone sealed
a 21-13 Dartmouth victory.
A blocked punt deep in Dartmouth's
(1-2, 1-0 Ivy) territory set
up a quick touchdown strike and,
soon after, an onside kick recovery
for the Quakers (0-3, 0-1 Ivy)
with 2:37 remaining in the game.
Quarterback Bryan Walker's two
minute drill brought Penn to the
Big Green six on fourth down.
The r e a r e
dif fering opinions
on what
happened next.
Walker found
TE Dan Coleman
on a skinny slant to the left
side of the endzone. Coleman
bobbled the ball as he was falling,
and after much discussion by the
officiating crew the pass was ruled
incomplete. Penn head coach Al
Bagnoli insisted that "[Coleman]
says he bobbled it, got it between
his legs, it never hit the ground
and he picked it up."
Bagnoli also complained about
which official made the incomplete
call, "If the guys who were on top
of it called it I would have felt a lot
better. You just cant be overruling
people coming from fifty yards
away."
"It's a tough way to end a game,
and a little bit more controversial
than I would like," he said.
"I saw it hit the ground," said
Joe Battaglia '08, who was just feet
from the play. "I saw him go down
and he was sitting on it, so I knew
it wasn't good."
For Dartmouth, the win and
late defensive stand proved they
could turn a first half lead into a victory.
"The guys had been there, and
said we're going to get this done,"
head coach Buddy Teevens said
after the game. "It could have gone
the way of the Colgate game, but
it didn't."
Quarterback Tom Bennewitz
'08 took over most of the offensive
work in the absence of RB Milan
Williams '09. Bennewitz threw for
265 yards and two touchdowns. It
was his first collegiate win as a
starting quarterback.
"I thought it was Tom's best ball
game," Teevens said. "I'm ver y
pleased with his progression."
Williams planned to return
from a groin
injur y against
the Quakers,
but reinjured
his leg in Friday's
practice.
Rob Mitchelson '10 got the nod to
start in the backfield, and rushed
for 42 yards on 15 carries. Nate
Servis '09 added 28 yards on 12
carries.
Defensively the Big Green made
big plays and big stops when they
needed to be made. The Quakers
made it to the Dartmouth red zone
six times with only one touchdown
to show for it. Three of those stops
came on downs in the fourth quarter.
"Every time we got a big stop
you couldn't get any more enthusiasm
out of us," Battaglia said of
the Dartmouth defense. "We knew
we were going to have to stay on
the field pretty late in the fourth
quarter ... and we just knew we
had to step up and everybody was
ready to do it."
"We had a strong of fensive
performance in the first half, and
a strong defensive performance
in the second half," Teevens said.
"The corners tackled well. The
defensive line generated a little
bit of pressure, which we haven't
seen before."
Dartmouth took a 7-6 lead into
the locker room at halftime, but
broke the game open with scores
early in both the third and fourth
quar ters. Bennewitz found a
streaking Brian Evans for a 35-yard
touchdown in the third. Following
suit, Eric Paul '09 beat his man and
made a spectacular catch on the
right sideline for a 29-yard score.
"[The defender] tripped over
my foot as he was trying to turn his
hips," Paul said. "That was probably
one of the hardest catches
I've ever made, being that wide
open. I knew it was coming to me
the whole time, I just had to focus
and make the play."
Walker threw for 266 yards
and one touchdown for the Quakers,
mostly short passes over the
middle. Notably, he did not throw
any interceptions, impressive after
Penn threw the ball away seven
times last weekend against Villanova.
The Quakers' run game also
performed well. Joe Sandberg ran
for 80 yards on 20 tries, but could
not find the endzone when it was
needed the most.
Dartmouth continues its Ivy
League schedule with a trip to
20th-ranked Yale this Saturday.
The Bulldogs are fresh off a 38-17
defeat of Holy Cross. Kickoff is at
12:30.
