Football Impressive in 31-7 Victory Over No. 16 Princeton

Friday, November 5

Hanover, N.H.

6:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Princeton

Shane Cokes and the Dartmouth defense proved to be handful for Princeton.

Photo by: Foley-Photography

Football Impressive in 31-7 Victory Over No. 16 Princeton

11/5/2021 8:57:00 PM | Football

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The defense did a number on a Tiger offense that was averaging 37 points a game

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth defense shut down No. 16 Princeton and quarterback Derek Kyler threw three touchdowns to lead the Big Green (7-1, 4-1 Ivy) to a 31-7 victory on Friday evening at Memorial Field. With the victory, Dartmouth moves into a first-place tie with the Tigers (7-1, 4-1 Ivy) and records its third win over a ranked team in the last four weeks while ending Princeton's FCS-best 12-game road winning streak.

Kyler finished the game 16-of-19 throwing the ball for 193 yards along with the three touchdowns, and cornerback Isaiah Johnson put the stamp on the game near the end of the third quarter with a 73-yard pick-six to complete the scoring. Overall, the Big Green defense registered six sacks, 2.5 courtesy of end Shane Cokes, while the Ivy League's leading tackler, linebacker Jalen Mackie, matched a season-high with 13 stops, 2.5 going for a loss.

Princeton entered the game leading the Ivy League with 36.9 points per game, but Dartmouth set the tone early by holding the Tigers to just 19 yards in the first quarter. The Big Green offense, meanwhile, was marching down the field with relative ease, starting with a six-play, 75-yard drive on their first possession. A 12-yard run by Zack Bair and 19-yard pass to Paxton Scott preceded a 37-yard touchdown toss to Scott, who deftly kept his feet inbounds as he dove through a pair of defenders for his fourth scoring catch of the season.

After a three-and-out for Princeton helped Dartmouth begin its next drive on the Tigers 47, Kyler and his running counterpart, Nick Howard, went to work. Howard ran four times for 20 yards and caught one of three Kyler passes for five more. The finishing touch was a 4-yard laser to Dale Chesson in the back of the end zone, the junior's first career touchdown catch after missing the first six games of the season with an injury. Another Connor Davis PAT made it a 14-0 game late in the first quarter.

With a little more than nine minutes left before the half, the Big Green lead increased to 17-0 on a Davis 33-yard field goal. But Princeton clawed back with a 75-yard march in 13 plays, capped by a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by John Volker. Then on the final play of the half, the Tigers had a chance to close the gap even further, lining up for a 27-yard field goal in the final seconds. The kick glanced off the helmet of one of his lineman, however, changing the flight of the ball just enough to clang off the right upright, maintaining the 17-7 Dartmouth lead at the break.

After the intermission, both defenses bowed up with fourth-down stops in their own territory before the Big Green broke through. Tight end J.J. Jones started a drive by hauling in a 20-yard pass over his shoulder while staying in bounds, and five plays later, Kyler found wide receiver Jonny Barrett 23 yards downfield for his third touchdown toss of the evening.

Princeton threatened to match those points, driving down to the Dartmouth 30. But a quick out pattern was sniffed out by Johnson, who stepped in front of the Cole Smith pass and sprinted 73 yards with his prize for what turned out to be the final touchdown of the night with four seconds remaining in the third quarter.

There wasn't much difference in the total yardage for the two teams by the end of the game, but the Big Green needed just 46 plays to cover 334 yards 7.3 yards per play) while the Tigers ran 80 plays to gain 325 yards (4.1 per play). Chesson led the Dartmouth receiving corps with five catches and 61 yards to go with his trip to the end zone, while Scott gathered three throws for 58 yards and a score. Noah Roper had 56 of the Green's 141 yards on the ground with one of his five carries gobbling up 39 yards, the game's longest play.

Smith finished the night 21-of-32 for 171 yards and the one interception, relying heavily on Jacob Birmelin (seven catches for 72 yards). Volker had 11 carries for 55 yards and the long Tiger TD in place of Princeton's leading rusher, Collin Eaddy, who was carted off the field early in the game with an apparent leg injury.

Joining Mackie with double-digit tackles was linebacker Marques White with a career-high 10 stops, including 1.5 sacks. Defensive end Mick Reese also had 1.5 sacks while Cokes led the way with his 2.5 sacks to go with seven tackles overall.

Dartmouth controls its own destiny with an opportunity to claim at least a share of its conference-record 20th Ivy League crown. The Big Green will play its final home game next Saturday, Nov. 13, when Cornell (1-6, 0-4 Ivy) comes to town for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ featuring Dick Lutsk and Matt Corsetti calling the action. Dartmouth fans can also listen to Brett Franklin and Wayne Young for free through the official website of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com.

Notes: Dartmouth has won four straight games over ranked teams, starting with the 27-10 win over Princeton at Yankee Stadium in 2019 … the Big Green have won nine of the last 11 meetings with the Tigers and are 51-45-4 spanning 100 games in the series … with 202 yards of offense today, Kyler jumped from ninth to sixth all-time at Dartmouth in total offense (4,313) … with his third touchdown toss of the game, Kyler became the eighth QB in Big Green history to surpass 4,000 passing yards. He now has 4,012 to his name … the 14 players on the roster who began their collegiate career in 2017 have gone 33-5 in their careers, the most wins over any four consecutive seasons in program history (32 wins from 1969-72).