"I'm happy for [the team] because they didn't get panicked and they didn't get nervous," head coach Buddy Teevens said. "They were laughing on the sidelines, not as a distraction but because they loved what they were doing. It's what college football should be like."
Schwieger broke Dartmouth's (1-5, 1-2 Ivy) record for rush yards in a single game with 242. The record had previously been held by Al Rosier '91, who ran for 229 yards against Brown in 1991.
The Big Green got on the scoreboard on the first drive of the game and never looked back. By alternating steady Schwieger rushes with consistent passing, Dartmouth drove 43 yards down the field until Conner Kempe '12 found Niles Murphy '10 for a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Columbia's (2-4, 1-2 Ivy) celebrated quarterback, M.A. Olawale, was inefficient on the team's first drive, and the Lions soon had to send out the punt team. Luke Hussey '11 blocked the messy punt attempt, however, giving Dartmouth possession on the Lions' 36-yard line.
After a few successful running plays, Dartmouth was again able to find the end zone through the air. Michael Reilly '12 was in perfect position to catch a seven-yard toss from Kempe, putting the Big Green ahead by two touchdowns Dartmouth's largest lead since it took on Cornell in 2007.
Defensive tackle Eddie Smith '12 said that playing with a lead changed the team's outlook.
"It's a different feeling when we've got to stop them so we can score again," he said. "It's a lot easier to get into the zone when we're ahead."
Despite a slow third quarter, the Big Green's play would only continue to improve as the game continued. Less than five minutes into the fourth quarter, Shawn Abuhoff '12 forced a fumble by Columbia senior receiver Austin Knowlin on his own 39-yard line. Charles Bay '11 capitalized on the opportunity, scooping up the ball and running it back into the Lions' end zone.
"I didn't know I knocked the ball out, to be honest with you," Abuhoff said. "We put it all together and played a great game."
Dartmouth was hit with a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration after the score.
Teevens said that he was not bothered by the penalty because at that moment, it hit him that the team was in the process of capturing the win that had been so elusive for the past two years.
"I don't like a lot of penalties, but that's one I'll take," he said.
Columbia avoided a shutout on the next drive, when Olawale scampered into the end zone on a one-yard rush. The two-point conversion attempt failed, however, leaving the score 21-6.
The Big Green, playing with a fervor the team has not shown in years, soon responded. Schwieger outran the Lions for a 66-yard dash down the field, culminating in Dartmouth's fourth touchdown of the day, and was Schwieger's longest run of the season.
Schwieger said that Dartmouth fully earned the victory.
"I don't know if I've ever really felt like this, quite honestly," he said. "I believe in coach Teevens and I believe in the system. This is the start of something new and something great."
In the rainy weather, Kempe completed just seven of his 20 pass attempts, but the running game was the day's clear focus. Olawale, who was named the Ivy League offensive player of the week in September, completed 12 of his 30 attempts and was held to 89 yards. He was also sacked twice, by Mark Dwyer '12 and by Smith.
Abuhoff said that the team had studied Olawale's play.
"We watched films and we saw that whenever you get him rattled, he makes mistakes," he said. "So after we jumped on him with a couple of points, we really narrowed down what they could do."
Columbia's scoring difficulties were not just limited to its offense, as its special teams unit failed to capitalize on two field goal attempts. Greg Guttas missed his first 37-yard attempt, before a third-quarter, 35-yard effort was blocked by Abuhoff and recovered for a touchback.
The Big Green win had been predicted on Friday night by College President Jim Yong Kim, who said in this Dartmouth Night speech that the Big Green would "take it to Columbia." Kim was on the sidelines on Saturday.
"It was exciting that President Kim was out and so active," he said. "There's a lot of respect for him he's a real person."
After the long drought, a win greatly improved the team's morale, Smith said.
"I've been hungry for this for a long time," he said. "I didn't want to leave the field. This kind of feeling is addicting."
The Big Green will look to replicate that feeling at next weekend's road game against Harvard in Cambridge, Mass.
