The Dartmouth football team followed up last week's win over Columbia with a 42-21 loss to Harvard yesterday in Cambridge, Mass.
Nick Schwieger '12, who rushed for 242 yards against Columbia, left the game early in the second quarter with a broken hand after just 10 carries for 18 yards.
Schwieger is out for the season and "may require surgery," co-captain Pete Pidermann '10 said in an interview with The Dartmouth on Sunday.
With the victory, Harvard (5-2, 4-0 Ivy) maintained its perfect Ivy League record, while the Big Green (1-6, 1-3 Ivy) still sits in a four-way te at the bottom of the league's standings.
Wide receiver Tanner Scott '11 racked up seven receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown, but the Crimson's offense was too strong for Dartmouth to handle.
Although the Big Green's defense struggled, Scott said that the offense did not contribute enough either.
"We didn't help out our defense enough on offense, and we couldn't sustain a drive until the end of the second quarter," he said. "Both sides of the ball had to work together yesterday, but it wasn't clicking."
Harvard struck first in the game after a strong pass rush on Big Green quarterback Conner Kempe '12 forced Dartmouth to punt late in the first quarter. The Crimson was able to return the punt to the 40-yard line, giving Harvard an advantageous field position. On the next play, Crimson freshman running back Treavor Scales ran the ball in for a touchdown, putting Harvard on the board.
The Crimson's next drive, in the beginning of the second quarter, was a steady push 84 yards down the field, capped off with a 15-yard run by junior Gino Gordon, putting Harvard on top 14-0.
Dartmouth responded with a 40-yard drive of its own, looking strong until a pass by Kempe was intercepted by Ryan Barnes and returned to the Harvard 38-yard line.
After an interception by Dartmouth cornerback Shawn Abuhoff '12 was called back due to a roughing the passer penalty, Scales found the end zone for Harvard, putting the Crimson up 21-0.
Before the half ended, however, the Big Green found its way onto the scoreboard. A 15-yard pass interference penalty set Dartmouth up on the Harvard 12-yard line, and with less than two minutes to go, Scott dove to catch a Kempe touchdown pass just inside the sideline.
Despite being down 21-7 at the half, the Big Green players still maintained their enthusiasm from last week's victory, Scott said.
The Crimson offense, however, proved to be much for the Big Green in the second half. Looking efficient, the Crimson forced its way into the end zone yet again as the half opened, traversing 93 yards in seven plays that took less than three minutes. Gordon posted his second score of the day with a 48-yard rush.
The Big Green would not go easily, however. On the next drive, Michael Reilly '12 took the snap on a fake field goal for a gain of 10 yards. Rob Mitchelson '10, a strong replacement for Schwieger at running back, brought the ball to the one-yard line, and Kempe ran it in himself for a touchdown on the next play.
Mitchelson had 14 carries for 61 yards on the day and never sustained a loss of yards.
With the score now at 28-14, Dartmouth was still in the game. Donald Kephart '11 delivered a near-perfect onside kick, but the Big Green touched the ball too early and was penalized, giving Harvard the ball.
On this drive, Gordon was able to find the end zone for the third time with an eight-yard run that gave the Crimson a 35-14 lead.
These points went unanswered, as Dartmouth's next drive included Kempe getting sacked for a loss of nine yards. The Big Green punted, giving the Crimson another scoring opportunity.
Junior quarterback Collie Winters had his first passing touchdown of the day for Harvard, a 31-yard toss to freshman tight end Kyle Juszczyk.
Dartmouth did not give up, and in the fourth quarter Pidermann blocked a Harvard punt, which was subsequently recovered by Reilly and run in 16 yards to bring the score to 42-21.
Pidermann led all players with seven solo tackles.
Reilly also recovered a fumble on the following kickoff, but nothing else the Big Green did would make up for the large point deficit.
Harvard was stronger than Dartmouth over the course of the game.
Even though possession time was split almost equally, the Crimson was much more efficient with its time, and compiled 521 offensive yards to the Big Green's 262.
The Big Green returns to Hanover next weekend to take on Cornell. The Big Red is 1-3 in Ivy League play this season, and has scored only 51 points in Ivy competition so far.
Scott said that the team needs to focus on fundamentals and find a momentum to get a win over Cornell.
"We need to get back to the basics and have a great week of practice," he said. "After Columbia, we were the most excited we've ever been, and if we just get that back it will carry us a long way."
Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at Memorial Field.
Staff writer Bianca Zlatea contributed to the reporting of this article.
