Williams, McManus Rally Big Green to 38-31 Win at Yale

Saturday, October 11

New Haven, Conn.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-1 , 2-0

Yale

3-1 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Dartmouth

Yale

Williams, McManus Rally Big Green to 38-31 Win at Yale

10/11/2014 3:46:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — On the 100th anniversary of the Yale Bowl, Dartmouth and the host Bulldogs played a football game for the ages as the Big Green rallied for a 38-31 victory on a raw, rainy Saturday afternoon. Quarterback Dalyn Williams capped a career day with a two-yard touchdown run with 2:20 to play to provide the winning margin and improve the Big Green to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 in Ivy League play.

Yale (3-1, 1-1 Ivy) suffered its first loss of the year despite quarterback Morgan Roberts throwing for 302 yards and running back Tyler Varga gaining 105 on the ground. But the Dartmouth defense came up with some big plays, including three interceptions, to help hold the top scoring offense in the FCS to just seven points in the second half.

Williams upstaged the Bulldog QB by throwing for 388 yards — the fourth-most ever at Dartmouth — while completing a career-high 32 passes on 47 attempts, three of which went for touchdowns. His favorite target was senior wide receiver Ryan McManus, who hauled in 12 of those completions for 188 yards (both career bests) and a touchdown. He also returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to cut the 14-point deficit in half and begin the Big Green comeback.

Dartmouth 38, Yale 31
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014
Yale Bowl • New Haven, Conn.
Attendance: 6,241 • Weather: 52, Rainy and Overcast

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Dartmouth	7	7	14	10	38
Yale	14	10	0	7	31

Scoring Summary
1st/9:26	Y	Roberts 4 run (Cazzetta kick)	0-7
1st/7:39	D	Patterson 39 pass from D. Williams (Gakenheimer kick)	7-7
1st/3:22	Y	Roberts 1 run (Cazzetta kick)	7-14
2nd/12:08	Y	Varga 8 pass from Roberts (Cazzetta kick)	7-21
2nd/7:08	D	R. McManus 60 punt return (Gakenheimer kick)	14-21
2nd/3:57	Y	Cazzetta 36 FG	14-24
3rd/6:12	D	Bramble 4 pass from D. Williams (Gakenheimer kick)	21-24
3rd/2:04	D	R. McManus 30 pass from D. Williams (Gakenheimer kick)	28-24
4th/14:39	Y	Varga 13 run (Cazzetta kick)	28-31
4th/7:30	D	Gakenheimer 35 FG	31-31
4th/2:20	D	D. Williams 2 run (Gakenheimer kick)	38-31

PASSING		C/A/I	Yards	TD
D	D. Williams	32-47-1	388	3
Y	Roberts	25-41-3	302	1
LEADING RUSHERS		#/Yds	Avg	TD
D	Bramble	6-27	4.5	0
D	Grove	3-15	5.0	0
D	D. Williams	19-13	0.7	1
Y	Varga	20-105	5.3	1
Y	Roberts	13-38	2.9	2
LEADING RECEIVERS		#-Yds	Avg	TD
D	R. McManus	12-188	15.7	1
D	Patterson	7-81	11.6	1
D	V. Williams	7-50	7.1	0
Y	Randall	9-106	11.8	0
Y	Wallace	6-56	9.3	0
Y	Haenni	4-97	19.3	0

Statistical Comparison	D	Y
1st Downs	23	27
Rushing Yards (Net)	46	178
Passing Yards (Net)	388	302
Total Offense	434	480
Penalties/Yards	2-13	6-60
Turnovers	1	3
3rd Down Conversion	11/20	5/13
Time of Possession	31:11	28:49

After sophomore Alex Gakenheimer knotted the score at 31 on a 35-yard field goal with 7:30 left to play, Dartmouth dropped the kick returner at the 16-yard line and the defense allowed no yardage to force a Bulldog punt. Facing 3rd-and-12, McManus made a spectacular diving catch for a 40-yard gain to put the Green in field goal range.

But Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach Buddy Teevens was not about to settle for a field goal, as he proved later during the drive. Williams converted another third down by scrambling for a seven-yard gain to the Yale 13. But when senior receiver Kirby Schoenthaler was stopped a yard shy of a first down, Teevens was forced with a 4th-and-1 at the four. The decision was to go for it, and Williams came through with a two-yard surge up the middle. One play later, Williams dove for the final two yards and the winning score.

The Bulldogs began the second half with a 24-14 lead, but an interception by junior cornerback Vernon Harris set up a seven-play, 71-yard touchdown drive to close the gap to three. The big play on the drive was a 42-yard bomb to McManus, and junior running back Kyle Bramble provided the six points with a four-yard reception when left alone in the end zone. Gakenheimer's PAT made it a three-point game at 24-21.

Even though Yale returned the ensuing kickoff to the 44, Dartmouth did not allow a first down, then took over at its own 17. On the second play, Williams connected with junior running back Brian Grove for a 27-yard gain, and Grove followed that up with a 17-yard run up the middle. Three plays later, McManus snared a 30-yard bomb in the end zone to give the Big Green their first lead of the day at 28-24.

The Bulldog offense was not done, however, as Roberts completed a 47-yard pass to Leo Haenni during a seven-play, 84-yard drive to the end zone. Varga traversed the final 13 yards, extending the ball over the goal line just inside the pylon two plays into the fourth quarter.

Stephen Dazzo and Will McNamara converge on a Yale pass that Dazzo intercepted to set up the game-tying field goal.

When Dartmouth's next possession stalled near midfield thanks to a pair of Yale sacks, it appeared the Bulldogs had regained control of the game. But the defense stepped up once again as senior free safety Stephen Dazzo snared a tipped pass for the third Big Green interception of the afternoon. Williams led the offense down to the Yale 10 before another sack — the seventh of the day — left the Green settling for the 35-yard Gakenheimer field goal to tie the score.

While Williams' touchdown run put Dartmouth up by seven, the potent Yale attack had one more opportunity to get those points back with 2:20 still on the clock. Roberts completed his first five passes and ran for six yards as well to advance to the Big Green 37. But that would be all for the Bulldogs as four consecutive passes fell to the ground, and Dartmouth merely ran out the clock to secure its second straight win and third consecutive triumph over Yale.

Yale struck first in the opening quarter when Roberts capped an eight-play, 59-yard drive with a four-yard jaunt into the end zone. Dartmouth answered with a preview of what was to come as Williams combined with senior Bo Patterson for a 39-yard touchdown toss to tie the game.

As the Big Green answered, so did the Bulldogs with another 59-play drive, this time lasting 12 plays. Again it was Roberts providing the points with a one-yard touchdown run. Yale made it three straight touchdowns early in the second quarter when Roberts threw his lone scoring strike of the day, an eight-yarder to Varga out of the backfield.

When Dartmouth stopped the Elis for the first time, it immediately led to a touchdown as McManus caught the 40-yard punt on the run and never stopped, evading defenders to become the first Big Green player to return a punt for a touchdown in three years. Kyle Cazzetta booted a 36-yard field goal for Yale, and both teams missed out on possible scores in the final minute of the half thanks to interceptions, the first by Bulldog Spencer Rymiszewski at the Yale 16, the second by Dartmouth senior safety Troy Donahue who returned it 45 yards to the Bulldog 37.

Dartmouth amassed a season-high 434 yards of offense, but the running game was held in check with just 46 yards, thanks in part to those seven sacks which led to 41 yards lost. While McManus was the receiving star, Patterson and junior Victory Williams both grabbed a career-high seven passes for 81 and 50 yards, respectively.

On defense, junior linebacker Will McNamara racked up a career-best 15 tackles and Harris made eight stops with both having one for a loss.

The top receiver for Yale was Deon Randall with nine catches for 106 yards. Grant Wallace had six receptions for 56 yards, and Haenni fell just short of a 100-yard game with four grabs for 97 yards. As a team the Bulldogs outgained the Green with 480 total yards.

Dartmouth returns to Hanover to host Holy Cross (2-5) in the Big Green's homecoming game on Oct. 18 at 1:30 p.m. Yale will play its second of three straight home games when Colgate (4-2) comes to the Yale Bowl next Saturday with kickoff slated for 1 p.m.

Notes: Dartmouth is 2-0 in the Ivy League for the first time in 17 years ... this is just the sixth time the Big Green have won a game in which they allowed at least 30 points ... McManus became the 18th Dartmouth player to amass 1,000 career receiving yards in a career and is currently 15th with 1,156 yards on 81 catches ... Williams topped 1,000 career rushing yards to become the second quarterback in program history to reach the milestone. He needs seven more yards to become the all-time leader ... Williams threw for three TDs for the fourth time in his career and second time this season ... the last time the Big Green defense picked off three passes in one game came against Cornell on Nov. 3, 2012 ... Patterson needs just 12 more receiving yards to reach 1,000 in his career.