"I'm disappointed in the outcome," head coach Buddy Teevens said. "They're a much better team than their record indicated and we've been preaching that all week, but we couldn't come out with the win in the end."
Dartmouth and Bucknell last faced off in 2010, when Dartmouth won 43-20 after scoring 37 unanswered points to finish the game.
Dartmouth hoped to get over .500 for the first time since its opener against Butler University and establish its first multi-game winning streak of the year.
"Some things didn't go our way and that's just the game of football," quarterback Alex Park '14 said. "Some teams are going to make mistakes while others make big plays. We need to maintain a positive attitude to make sure we're ready."
On a day when the defense performed very well, holding Bucknell under 300 yards on offense, Dartmouth's offense never found its rhythm as they earned 252 yards.
"Our pass protection was poor," Teevens said. "Our run blocking was poor. We didn't convert on third down and our completion percentage was down. On top of that, the offense had six three-and-outs."
Dartmouth received the opening kickoff but quickly went three-and-out as Dalyn Williams '16 failed to get anything going.
Starting at the Bucknell 40, freshman R.J. Nitti converted a third-and-seven over the middle to junior Josh Brake. Operating out of the pistol, Bucknell advanced to the Dartmouth 23, but could go no farther as Nitti threw three straight incompletions, including one to the end zone with no one in the area. Bucknell left the field with the score tied at zero as junior Derek Maurer's 47-yard field goal sailed wide right.
Williams continued being shut down as Bucknell swarmed toward him whenever he tried to run. On fourth down, Williams' pass to a wide-open Robbie Anthony '15 was deflected at the last moment, giving Bucknell the ball on downs.
Hoping to spark the offense, head coach Joe Susan replaced Nitti with senior Brandon Wesley. Wesley pushed Bucknell past midfield but on third-and-eight, Wesley was tripped up six yards shy of the first.
Dartmouth's offense started showing some life as Williams spread the ball around the field. A 14-yard carry by Dominick Pierre '14 put Dartmouth in the red zone.
Dartmouth received a second chance when junior Demetrius Baldwin-Youngblood was flagged for a personal foul after ripping off Williams' helmet on third down. Two plays later, Pierre rolled into the end zone for three yards up the middle, putting Dartmouth on the scoreboard 7-0. On a big third-and-12, Wesley completed it deep to Brake who beat the coverage and tiptoed along the sideline until being forced out after 42 yards. Dartmouth made an impressive goal line stand, forcing the turnover on downs when Vernon Harris '16 made an outstanding open field tackle, stopping freshman C.J. Williams from breaking the plane after catching the short pass in the flat.
The rest of the half was uneventful, as the Big Green went into the locker room with a 7-0 lead.
"We played flat football on offense, defense and special teams," Teevens said. "We had four contests where it was high energy and emotions but we just didn't match it."
Bucknell started the second half with the ball, advancing down the field with a passing game supplemented by the run game. On third down, Wesley completed a pass to Brake who was tackled just shy of the marker. Wesley then sneaked the ball for the first. Bucknell advanced as far as the Dartmouth 12. Maurer split the uprights from 32 yards out, cutting Dartmouth's lead to 7-3.
Bucknell efficiently moved down the field on their next drive. Teevens accepted a holding penalty to make the Bison replay third down at the 15-yard line. The Big Green defense had forced an incompletion on the previous third down, but decided to back the visitors up rather than giving them a fourth-and-goal from the five. On the ensuing replay, DelMauro scored by running through a massive hole in the middle. The point after put Bucknell up 10-7 with 14 minutes left in the game.
On third down from his own 11-yard line, Dalyn Williams was strip-sacked by Smith, setting up Bucknell in the red zone. On the next play, C.J. Williams powered through Dartmouth's defense, running through Troy Donahue '15 for the score.
Teevens replaced Dalyn Williams with Park in hopes of sparking the offense. The move didn't work out as intended, as Park was sacked twice on the ensuing drive. Dartmouth punted and senior Kyle Sullivan opted to return the ball. Womack smacked into Sullivan, forcing the fumble which Will McNamara '16 recovered, but could not capitalize.
With four minutes left on the clock, Park started getting into rhythm, throwing to the sidelines and relying on his receivers to get out of bounds to save time. However, Dartmouth's drive stalled when Park's fourth-down pass was tipped at the line and fell incomplete, giving Bucknell the ball with 2:38 remaining.
Bucknell ran another minute and a half off the clock before Donahue blocked Sullivan's punt, giving Dartmouth a chance at scoring from 21 yards out.
Park underthrew Carrier on his first attempt, but hit an open Bo Patterson '15 in the corner for the score with 44 seconds left, cutting Bucknell's lead to three.
Dartmouth's last hopes of tying the game ended when Bucknell recovered Riley Lyons '15's onside kick. Bucknell went to the line in the victory formation, kneeling to end the game.
After splitting time of possession in the first half at 15 minutes for each team, Bucknell dominated the second half, holding onto the ball for 20:16.
Dartmouth's ground game failed to click and was held to a season-low 76 yards rushing. Pierre managed only 75 yards on the ground on 19 carries.
"We knew Dalyn Williams and Dominick Pierre are big threats in the run game and we wanted to do our best limiting them on the ground," Susan said. "Our defense did a great job stopping them."
Dalyn Williams had a hard time against Bucknell's defense, completing 10 of 21 for 104 yards, was sacked five times and only ran for nine yards as Bucknell harassed him all afternoon.
"We pressured Williams enough and gave him enough looks that prevented him from being consistent and getting comfortable," Susan said.
To relieve Williams, Park finished seven of 13 for 72 yards and the touchdown to Patterson while being sacked another two times.
Dartmouth plays the final game of its three-game home stand next week, against Columbia University at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
