Football Brings Granite Bowl Trophy Home to Hanover

Saturday, October 16

Durham, N.H. / Wildcat Stadium

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-0

New Hampshire

3-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Dartmouth

New Hampshire

Dartmouth celebrates with the Granite Bowl Trophy after the game

Photo by: Brian Foley

Football Brings Granite Bowl Trophy Home to Hanover

10/16/2021 3:52:00 PM | Football

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Dartmouth asserted itself all game in defeating #23 New Hampshire, 38-21

By: Rick Bender

DURHAM, N.H. — The Granite Bowl Trophy is coming back to Hanover.

Dartmouth (5-0) ran roughshod over 23rd-ranked New Hampshire (3-3) at Wildcat Stadium all afternoon, racking up 604 yards of offense in defeating the Wildcats, 38-21, its first victory in Durham since 1969. The total offense was the most in five years for the Big Green as they won their second straight game in the series, evening the all-time record at 19-19-2 with UNH.

Quarterback Derek Kyler had the biggest game of his career, setting a career-high of 325 yards on 18-of-23 passes with a pair of touchdowns. The running game was just as effective with 263 yards thanks to the other half of the quarterbacking tandem, junior Nick Howard, who ran for 96 yards and three 6-yard scores on 18 carries and running back Noah Roper — playing in place of regular starter Zack Bair — with a career-high 108 yards on 16 carries. Dartmouth also posted 31 first downs, one shy of the program record.

"We came here knowing we would have to play really well to beat a team the caliber of New Hampshire," said Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach. "Offensively, we executed almost flawlessly as Kyler was really on his game, making quick decisions and checking off so well on every play, while our line matched the physicality on the other side. And other than the three long plays we gave up, our defense did a wonderful job in containing a high-powered offense."

Dartmouth got right to work in asserting itself, driving 75 yards in 10 plays on the game's opening drive with Howard crossing the threshold on a 6-yard bull run up the middle. With the PAT, the Big Green enjoyed an early 7-0 lead. But when UNH marched deep into Dartmouth territory, it seemed the hosts would answer right back. On 3rd-and-goal inside the 1, however, the Big Green denied Carlos Washington Jr. then forced an incompletion to get the ball back in the shadow of their own end zone.

Undaunted, Dartmouth drove the length of the field in 13 plays with Howard once again finishing off the possession, this time around the right end untouched for a 14-0 advantage with 11:20 left in the half.

The first of those big UNH plays came shortly thereafter as Dylan Laube broke two tackles on the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff and bolted for a 75-yard touchdown run, cutting the Wildcats' deficit in half.

A 56-yard bomb from Kyler to freshman Painter Richards-Baker gave Dartmouth another scoring opportunity, only to have an 18-yard sack send the Green back to the UNH 34. Senior Connor Davis came on to attempt a career-long 51-yard field goal and split the uprights, boosting the Dartmouth lead to 17-7. It was the first Big Green field goal of at least 50 yards in 18 years.

Senior nickelback John Pupel picked off a Wildcat pass near midfield and returned it 18 yards to the UNH 34, setting up another score that made it a 24-7 lead. Senior tight end Joe Kramer leaped high above three defenders around him to pull in a 13-yard pass from Kyler in the back corner of the end zone. The score remained at 24-7 into the intermission as New Hampshire drove to the Big Green 30 before time ran out.

Dartmouth picked up right where it left off after the break, stopping UNH on a three-and-out before boosting its lead to 31-7. Kyler connected with Paxton Scott on a short pass, and the sophomore turned it into a 52-yard touchdown, dancing along the sideline before breaking several tackles along the way.

The Wildcats, however, still had some fight in them. Laube broke off another long run, this time going 53 yards for his second touchdown of the day. Little more than four minutes later, UNH pulled a halfback pass out of its bag of tricks with Washington Jr. going deep to Sean Coyne for a 48-yard score, closing the gap to 10 points at 31-21 with 3:42 still to play in the third quarter.

But Dartmouth had an answer in the fourth quarter, gobbling up 66 yards in just seven plays as Howard scored for the third time from six yards out. The key play was a 3rd-and-10 reception by sophomore Isaac Boston to pick up a first down at the Wildcat 9.

Boston led the Big Green with career highs of six catches and 62 yards, while Scott had four grabs for a personal-best 92 yards and his touchdown.

New Hampshire was limited to 372 yards, 139 from Laube with two touchdowns among his seven carries. Quarterback Bret Edwards finished the day 20-of-30 for 131 yards and one interception, and Sean Coyne led the Wildcats with five catches for 55 yards.

The Dartmouth defense was led by linebacker Jalen Mackie with 10 tackles and cornerback Isaiah Johnson nine while Seth Walter had the team's lone sack. Noah Stansbury and Ryan Toscano topped all players with 11 stops apiece for UNH.

Dartmouth, which is 2-0 in Ivy League play, returns home next week to host Columbia (4-1, 1-1 Ivy) on Friday, Oct. 22 for a nationally televised game on ESPNU at 6 p.m. Big Green fans can also listen to Brett Franklin and Wayne Young calling the action for free through the official website of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com.

Notes: Davis's 51-yard field goal was one yard shy of tying the school record held by Tyler Lavin '05, one week after he broke the school record for consecutive PATs, which he extended today to 57 … Dartmouth has won consecutive games in the series for the first time since the 1969 and '72 seasons … Howard has run for at least two touchdowns in each of the last four games, the first Big Green player to do so since Nick Schwieger '12 in the 2010 and '11 seasons … Dartmouth has won six straight games dating back to last year, a streak longer than all but two FCS teams, and is 31-4 since the start of the 2017 season … the Big Green have won back-to-back games against ranked opponents (No. 9 Princeton in 2019) and are 4-2 against ranked teams since the start of the 2016 season, beginning with the most recent showdown with UNH.