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The Dartmouth
March 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Football team upsets Brown, 21-16

11.14.11.sports.fball2
11.14.11.sports.fball2

"This is the biggest win of my career," co-captain Nick Schwieger '12, who rushed for 137 yards on a career-high 37 carries, said. "It's a great win for the program. To go on the road and beat an Ivy League contender speaks volumes about this program right now. We'd never beat those guys in my career, so it was really great."

The Bears entered Saturday still alive in the League title race, but their loss to the Big Green, coupled with Harvard University's 37-20 win over the University of Pennsylvania, gave the Crimson its third conference title in the last five seasons.

Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens stressed all week that beating Brown on the road was an expectation. Players validated Teevens' faith in them on Saturday, putting in a gutty performance to prevail in a physical game.

"We have great guys," Teevens said. "They believe in what they're doing and they believe in each other. They came down to win, not just to show up."

Teevens said after the game that the win was his biggest since he returned for his second stint as head coach in 2005.

After a scoreless opening quarter, Brown senior quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero hit senior wide receiver Alexander Tounkara-Koune for a nine-yard touchdown strike with just over six minutes to play in the half. The key play of the drive was a 45-yard completion to senior wideout Jimmy Saros that took Brown to the Dartmouth 38-yard-line.

Dartmouth then put together an impressive 13-play, 77-yard drive that culminated in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Conner Kempe '12 to Garrett Babb '12 with just 17 seconds left in the half. Schwieger set up the score with a crucial fourth-down conversion two plays earlier from the Brown 37-yard line.

Kempe again played solidly, completing 10 of 18 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.

Brown took possession to start the second half, and Newhall-Caballero threatened to lead the Bears on another touchdown drive as he steadily marched the offense down the field.

The Big Green defense toughened up as the drive wore on, however, forcing three straight incompletions at the 20-yard line as Brown settled for a field goal.

Cornerback J.B. Andreassi '12 said that holding Brown to just 16 points represented the way the Big Green defense believed it could play all season.

"I think Brown's probably the best offense in the League, and they definitely have the best quarterback in the League," Andreassi said. "But we knew the potential we had as a defense, and I think it all came together today."

The Big Green offense also helped the defense by holding the ball for more than 20 minutes in the second half and keeping Newhall-Caballero and the Bears off the field.

Kempe put the Big Green on top midway through the third with a one-yard touchdown run, but Brown junior A.J. Cruz returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown. A missed extra point gave the Bears a 16-14 lead with 3:06 to play in the third.

Dartmouth then used two long drives to put the game away. The first spanned 61 yards and 15 plays and featured four third-down conversions. The drive burned 7:07 off the clock and resulted in a Schwieger one-yard touchdown run to put the Big Green ahead for good.

The second came late in the fourth quarter, with Brown needing a stop to regain possession and attempt a winning score. The drive began with 4:27 on the clock, and by the time Brown finally stopped Dartmouth, just two seconds remained in the game.

The Big Green's ability to close out the win showed just how far the team has come from last season, when Dartmouth couldn't hold on to a late 28-17 lead in a 35-28 loss to the Bears.

With one game remaining, the Big Green is not where it wanted to be at the beginning of the season, but could still finish with a winning League record for the first time since 2003. To do so, Dartmouth must defeat seventh-place Princeton University on Saturday at Memorial Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.