The Big Green (2-4, 2-1 Ivy) were in a familiar position after the Lions (1-5, 0-3 Ivy) drove 96 yards in six plays to tie the game at 28-28 with 9:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. Then a missed 28-yard field goal off of the right upright certainly put the Colgate game in the minds of many in attendance.
This time, however, a fumble swung the game in Dartmouth's favor.
On the first play of Columbia's next drive, CB Jason Blydell '08 ripped the ball away from Columbia TE Jamal Russell. John Pircon '08 recovered the fumble, and four plays later the Big Green had a 35-28 lead thanks to a two-yard touchdown by Hudson Smythe '09.
"Developing and growing as a team, stuff like that happens," Head Coach Buddy Teevens said, referring to the missed field goal. "It was encouraging to see how we responded."
Things kept going wrong for the Lions, as three plays into their ensuing drive the snap went wild, bouncing all the way out of the back of the endzone, giving Dartmouth a safety and solidifying the win.
"I didn't ask [QB Craig Hormann] about it," said Norries Wilson, Columbia's head coach. "I'm just assuming that he got deep into the snap count and the linemen were prepared for the next sound to be the snap, and instead of saying 'easy' to back them off, especially the center, he gave them a hard call -- not a hard call, but his voice inflection didn't change, and the center took that to be the snap count and he snapped the football. That's what it appeared to be."
Teevens changed things up under center after Tom Bennewitz '08 threw an interception on his first pass of the game. Alex Jenny '10 was calling the plays on the next drive, and led Dartmouth 77 yards down the field to tie the score at seven. He stayed in at QB for the rest of the game.
Teevens said that the switch after the first drive had been planned since Tuesday.
"I talked to Tom about it on Tuesday and said look, this is how it's going to play: Tommy gets the first one, Alex gets the second one and we'll make a decision from there."
Jenny was 14-23 for 189 yards and a touchdown.
Jenny noted the differences between coming out every series, and the role he has had earlier this season, only seeing the field for one or two drives at a time.
"It's definitely different, you get a chance to get comfortable with the offense and just have confidence in everyone else. It's just nice to get to play some football again."
The effectiveness of the running game also helped take some pressure off of Jenny. Milan Williams '09 was sidelined again, but Nate Servis '09 and Rob Mitchelson '10 combined for 235 yards. Hudson Smythe '09 scored three touchdowns in goal line situations.
"When we can come out and run, open those huge holes, and get six or seven yards on first down it makes my job a whole lot easier," Jenny said. "It's just great when you have a running game like that.
Craig Hormann was 19-28 under center for Columbia. He threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns.
Dartmouth traded scores without the Lions throughout the game, with neither team able to build up a lead greater than seven points until Dartmouth's final safety.
The Big Green took a 21-14 lead into the locker room at the half. Although nobody rushed the field during halftime, the game was briefly delayed at the start of the fourth quarter when several members of the Class of 2011 ran across the field instead of just standing in the middle of it.
Columbia tied the game at 21 on the opening drive of the third quarter when Hormann found Joseph Taylor for a 40-yard touchdown, but Dartmouth responded on the next drive. Jenny completed a 50-yard pass to Brett Lowe, setting up Smythe's second touchdown of the day on a three-yard run.
Both teams traded punts as the clock ran into the fourth quarter. Columbia tied the game with 9:54 left on a 27-yard reverse by Austin Knowlin that seemed to leave the Big Green defense baffled.
During the post-game press conference, Teevens said he was happy with the way his team performed.
"We were proud of our guys," the coach said. "We finished a game, and it's been a charge we've put forth for a while, to go out and play 60 minutes of football. When we needed to come up with a big play defensively, we did. When we needed to control the football, move it down the field and score, we did. And there was a feeling of confidence that I hadn't seen to that degree today."
The Big Green's 2-1 Ivy League record is currently good for third in the conference, behind Yale and Harvard. Dartmouth takes on the Crimson, who are unbeaten in league play, next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
