Unforced errors and turnovers killed Dartmouth’s momentum in their 36-24 loss to the University of Pennsylvania on Oct. 4.
The Big Green started hot, with defensive back Harrison Keith ’27 diving to intercept Penn quarterback Liam O’Brien’s underthrown pass on the first play of the game. Dartmouth quarterback Grayson Saunier ’27 capitalized right away with a touchdown on a 17-yard QB keeper.
On the next possession, another Saunier scramble for a touchdown gave the Big Green a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.
However, the momentum quickly turned after defensive back Sean Williams ’26 muffed a Quaker punt to give Penn the ball in the red zone, which they converted into a touchdown to get back in the game.
The Big Green offense struggled to regain the lost momentum, settling for a field goal on one drive and throwing a costly interception in the next. Penn was able to capitalize on this turnover right before the half with a nine-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 17.
Saunier, fresh off a 400-yard passing performance against Central Connecticut State University, cooled off, completing only 16 of his 30 passes for a lowly 142 yards and two interceptions. He has thrown an interception in each of the first three games this season.
Head coach Sammy McCorkle commented on the first interception thrown by Saunier, intended for Luke Rives ’28.
“We’ve got to run the route better,” McCorkle said. “We can’t just get pushed out of bounds, and we’ve got to be able to go fight and challenge for balls. I’m sure if Grayson could take that one back, he would.”
Unforced errors continued to plague Dartmouth in the second half. On a fourth down coming out of the break, a high snap went flying over the head of punter Luke Armistead ’28 and into the back of the endzone for a safety.
Dartmouth’s struggles on special teams have been a common theme this season, but with plenty of time still on the clock, the Big Green was hoping to recover and secure the victory. Unfortunately, the deficit got worse when O’Brien led the Penn offense into the red zone and connected with tight end Cadin Olsen on a 12-yard touchdown pass to make the score 26-17.
Dartmouth’s rushing defense, which had been dominant so far this season, surrendered 162 yards, the most given up since Dartmouth’s heartbreaking loss to Harvard last season. Two of O’Brien’s four touchdowns came on the ground, which Dartmouth’s defense struggled to stop. Linebacker Thaddeus Gianaris ’26 said the Big Green defense must better protect against the run going forward.
“I think he was running it just straight downhill, and that’s something that kind of threw us off a little bit,” Gianaris said. “But it’s nothing we haven’t seen, nothing we didn’t expect. We just need to do a better job dealing with it.”
A third-quarter Dartmouth touchdown wasn’t enough to close the gap, as more turnovers and inconsistent special teams play allowed Penn to extend their lead by 10 and close out the game.
After the game, Saunier reflected on the loss and what the Big Green needs to improve ahead of a Yale University Homecoming showdown this Saturday.
“We just got to be more consistent,” Saunier said. “More fundamentally sound the entire game, not just the first half, not just the second half.”
Dartmouth will get right back to work to try and bounce back next weekend. The Big Green will face off against Yale on Oct. 11 during Homecoming weekend.
