"It's a nice win for the program and a nice win for the seniors," head coach Buddy Teevens said. "It was a complete game on both sides of the ball and it was a great finish."
Yale went nowhere fast on its first drive. After a touchback on the opening kickoff, it earned just one first down before punting the ball. Yale did give Dartmouth a scare when senior quarterback Henry Furman threw deep to senior Chris Smith, but referees ruled that Smith never tapped his feet in bounds.
Junior Kyle Cazzetta pinned Dartmouth deep in its own territory. Dartmouth's offense started conservative, running the ball on a couple of option plays before Dalyn Williams '16 hit Pierre down the left sideline for 42 yards on a wheel route, putting the Big Green just shy of the red zone.
Dartmouth's drive stalled in the red zone when Williams fumbled on 3rd-and-2. Dartmouth recovered, but a kick by Riley Lyons '15 sailed wide right.
Yale attacked Dartmouth's defense very conservatively, feeling for any weaknesses. On third down from the Dartmouth 33, Furman attempted to reach Smith on a yard cross over the middle of the field, but Smith couldn't hold onto the ball as he fell to the ground. Yale turned the ball over on downs when Bronson Green '14 prevented junior running back Tyler Varga from controlling the catch.
Taking control of the ball at their own 33, Dartmouth worked the read-option and short-pass game down the entire field before Cole Marcoux '14 made an amazing one-handed grab in the right corner of end zone on the first play of the second quarter. Williams kept the ball most of the time, and his best run was a 17-yarder after he ducked and weaved through a wall of Yale defenders. Yale blocked the ensuing extra point attempt, but Dartmouth kept the lead 6-0.
"[Marcoux] just keeps getting better and better and better," Teevens said. "Coming in and learning a new position is just impressive."
Yale's responding drive halted after being stopped on third-and-short. At first, Yale looked like it would try to convert fourth-and-inches, but later opted to punt, pinning Dartmouth inside its own 20.
Dartmouth went three-and-out when false start and holding penalties derailed the drive.
With the ball at its 46-yard-line, Yale's offense started to show some life as Furman's pass to junior Deon Randall over the middle advanced Yale to the Dartmouth 39. A completion to senior wideout Chris Smith put Yale inside the red zone, and on third-and-seven, Furman targeted Smith again but the receiver dropped the easy catch in the end zone. Cazzeta's 29-yard kick put Yale on the board, 6-3.
Dartmouth went three-and-out again as Williams was sacked on two consecutive plays. Williams tried scrambling to find an open receiver but none of Dartmouth's receivers could achieve separation. An ugly punt placed Yale at the Dartmouth 45.
With the ball at the 45, Yale quickly advanced seven yards off a Varga run. A 12-yard run later by Varga set up Yale inside the red zone. Lined up in the pistol formation, Furman successfully read the defense and sprinted into the end zone for the 17-yard score, shaking off one tackler in the process as Yale took the lead 10-6.
On Dartmouth's next drive, Williams threw deep to Bo Patterson '15 who had a lock on the ball until it bounced off freshman Foyesade Oluokun's helmet. Two first downs later, Williams scramble on 3rd-and-12 placed Dartmouth at the 29 for 4th-and-four. Dartmouth's conversion attempt fell short as when Williams' target couldn't maintain possession.
Dartmouth was given one last opportunity in the half to score after Eric Wickham '15 intercepted Furman's pass. Using the no-huddle, Williams guided Dartmouth to the 10 before everything came apart. Dartmouth was forced to take its third and final timeout to avoid a 10-second runoff when Kirby Schoenthaler '15's helmet came off. On the next play, Williams was flagged for intentional grounding. Since Dartmouth was without timeouts, a 10-second runoff occurred, leaving two seconds to go in the half. Williams' last second throw was picked off in the back of the end zone.
Dartmouth received the ball to start the second half, but a holding penalty and a false start made Dartmouth go three-and-out and punt.
Yale very quickly went down the field. Furman took another shot to the right pylon, but Randall couldn't get his foot in bounds. Dartmouth forced a fourth down as Vernon Harris '16 nearly picked off Furman's pass, knocking it to the ground. Cazzetta's field goal attempt split the uprights, increasing Yale's lead to seven points.
Williams directed the offense with effective passing, extending plays with his legs and working with Pierre on the read-option. On 2nd-and-eight from the 32, Williams threw into the end zone but the pass went incomplete after Yale's corner and Schoenthaler made contact with each other. Two plays later, on fourth down, Williams threw into the end zone again, hitting a diving Patterson for the 32-yard score and tying the game at 13.
"To me, that was a growth opportunity for us," Teevens said. "We came out in the second half and we did what we needed to do. It was just the resolve in the second half. Yale's defensive line was making assignment calls and it was throwing our offensive line off, led to several procedural penalties."
Dartmouth almost forced a three-and-out, but was flagged for pass interference on 3rd-and-five, giving Yale a second chance to mount a drive. On Yale's next play, Furman's screen pass fell to the ground in front of Varga. The referees ruled the pass a lateral and Dartmouth recovered the fumble at the 36.
Dartmouth couldn't capitalize on the turnover, and punted the ball after going three-and-out.
Williams completed a pass to Marcoux that converted a big third down as Dartmouth drove down the field near the beginning of the fourth quarter. Pierre picked up the next two first downs running up the middle, putting Dartmouth just inside the 15. Pierre then scored running off the left tackle on the read option for the six-yard touchdown run, giving Dartmouth the 20-13 leads with 10 minutes left.
Stephen Dazzo '15 almost ended Yale's ensuing drive with an interception, but the referees ruled the ball hit the turf first. On third down, Furman dropped back to pass, then started rolling right before keeping the ball but was stopped a yard shy of the first down.
After Yale's punt, Williams converted a third-and-five with a rollout to the left. A run up the middle by Kyle Bramble '16 picked up the next first down and set up Dartmouth at the Yale 30. Yale stuffed Pierre at the line on a third down, forcing Dartmouth to try the field goal to ice the game. However, Lyons 32-yard kick again sailed wide right, giving Yale the ball at the 20 with three minutes left.
Yale's first play was stuffed for a one-yard loss. Furman's pass on the second play was tipped up at the line of scrimmage and almost intercepted, forcing 3rd-and-11. Furman dumped the ball off to Varga who ran for six yards and was hit out of bounds by Chase Womack '13. Except Varga went out of bounds without the ball as Womack's hit forced the fumble, which stayed in bounds, and Mike Banaciski '14 recovered the loose ball with two minutes left.
"They rallied themselves," Teevens said. "They worked hard all week and focused on what we needed to do. We had a lot of guys step up. It was a team effort."
Yale had only two timeouts left and could not prevent Dartmouth from running down the clock. Pierre was stuffed up the middle on fourth down, but a facemask penalty on Yale gave Dartmouth the automatic first down and the win.
"We didn't control situations today at all," Yale head coach Tony Reno said. "We had turnovers and third downs but we didn't finish. Some of the key third downs we needed, we didn't get."
Dartmouth rode Pierre to success, feeding him the ball a whopping 37 times for 167 yards, a score and 4.5 yards per carry. Pierre entered the game needing just 58 yards to compile 2,000 rushing yards in a career and did so on a four-yard dash in early in the third quarter. Pierre joined an elite group in Dartmouth football, becoming one of only three Big Green players other than Nick Schwieger '12 and Al Rosier '91 to reach the 2,000-yard milestone.
"I told the coach if you need me, I'll get you yards," Pierre said. "At least five yards per carry. I was just doing my best to get all I can."
Pierre caught four passes for 63 yards and racked up 230 yards from scrimmage overall.
"It felt pretty good," Pierre said. "I knew coach was going to ride me and the line did a great job opening it up. I think we just realized we weren't being as physical as we usually were."
Varga, Yale's running back, did not have as good of a game, touching the ball 21 times for 68 yards. Varga and Pierre are considered as the top two running backs in the Ivy League.
"Varga's good, but we all think [Pierre's] better and we hope we showed that today," Banaciski said. "Us stopping the run was a big thing for us."
For the first time this season, Dartmouth's defense held its opponent under 300 yards as Yale acquired only 264 yards all game.
"They're a good defensive unit," Furman said. "We pride ourselves on being a penalty free and turnover free operation. We like to pound the ball and grind it out but we didn't do it today."
Yale's three turnovers and its four penalties came at inopportune times. Furman finished the afternoon 15 of 32 for 144 yards and an interception. He was slightly more effective on the ground, chalking up 24 yards and a score on six carries.
"We didn't execute on both sides of the ball," Reno said. "From dropped balls to missed passes to missed tackles, it all goes together."
Dartmouth's offense performed less effectively than previous weeks, going 423 yards, its lowest output all season. Dartmouth was penalized 12 times for 73 yards, but was still able to dominate time-of-possession 35:35 to 24:25.
Williams finished with his worst game statistically in his career, but provided several big plays at crucial times after a very slow first half. He completed 14 of 30 for 188 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
"Our goal was to bottle up Dalyn Williams," Reno said. "But in the second half, Williams' scrambles killed us."
After the recent string of Ivy League games that have come down to the wire, speculation has increased that the conference title race is wide open.
"There's a lot of parity in the league today," Reno said. "It's a wide-open league and you got to do the little things right to win these close games."
Dartmouth plays the second leg of its three-game home stand next week against Bucknell University at 1:30 p.m.
