Dartmouth Football Comes Up Shy, 14-7, at Cornell

Nov. 6, 2004

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ITHACA, N.Y. - In a defensive struggle highlighted by three big plays, the Dartmouth football team came up on the losing end of an Ivy League contest, 14-7, at Cornell's Schoellkopf Field on Saturday. The Big Green falls to 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the Ivy League while Cornell Big Red won its second in a row and is 3-5 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

Dartmouth's defense started strong, holding Cornell on a pair of three-and-outs early in the second quarter, the second of which started at the 4 yardline after senior Grant Wagner's (Campton, N.H.) deep punt.

After a scoreless first quarter, Dartmouth held possession going into the second quarter. Junior quarterback Dan Shula (Cooper City, Fla.) connected with senior Andrew Hall (Greene, Maine) for 12 yards on the quarter's first play, but Hall was hit and lost the ball on the way down. Cornell senior Nate Tarsi (Berlin, Conn.) scooped up the fumble and scampered 50 yards to help the Big Red to a 7-0 lead at 14:46.

Cornell struggled on the first three plays of its next possession before the Big Green was whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after holding the Big Red on third and long. On the next play, junior quarterback Ryan Kuhn (New Fairfield, Conn.) twice faked a handoff before splitting the seam to senior Chad Nice (Morrison, Ill.) for 50 yards at 11:17. Freshman Peter Zell (Fort Myers, Fla.) tacked on his second extra point for a 14-0 advantage.

The Big Green switched quarterbacks in the second half, as junior Charlie Rittgers (Lebanon, Ohio) replaced Shula and hit his first two passes to Hall. At 6:04 of the third quarter, Rittgers found senior receiver Bob Murphy (Rockland, Mass.) streaking up the right side for 73 yards and a touchdown. Murphy balanced near the sideline and managed to stay in bounds and complete a play that is tied for the ninth-longest pass in program history.

On the next Cornell possession, Kuhn had a pass deflected by junior defensive end Anthony Gargiulo (Neshanic Station, N.J.) before it was picked by junior defensive tackle Mike Rabil (Gaithersburg, Md.) at 3:37 at the Cornell 40 yardline. However, the Big Green was unable to capitalize.

With 14:05 to go in the fourth, Zell missed a 32-yard field goal to keep Dartmouth's hopes alive. The Big Green drove to the Cornell 42 on the next drive, which included sophomore Sam McDonald's (Cincinnati, Ohio) first career reception for 20 yards, but Dartmouth ended up punting.

The Big Green couldn't convert on a third and long and punted with just over two minutes left, and Kuhn hit junior tight end Chris Eckstein (Harrisonburg, Va.) for a first down with 1:40 left to clinch the win.

Neither team got much of a ground game going, as the teams combined for 30 yards on 64 carries. Murphy was Dartmouth's offensive star with 113 yards on six catches, and Rittgers finished 11 of 16 with 175 yards off the bench. Gargiulo led the team with 12 tackles and four sacks.

Dartmouth returns to action next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with a home game against Brown.

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