Dartmouth Drops Defensive Struggle to UNH in Granite Bowl

Saturday, October 15

Hanover, N.H.

1:30 PM

Dartmouth College

1-4 , 0-2

New Hampshire

5-2 , 4-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

New Hampshire

Dartmouth

Robert Crockett III had a big interception in the end zone in the third quarter to deny a UNH touchdown.

Photo by: Eli Burakian

Dartmouth Drops Defensive Struggle to UNH in Granite Bowl

10/15/2022 4:43:00 PM | Football

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The Big Green were limited to 198 yards as the Granite Bowl trophy goes back to Durham

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — After racking up over 600 yards against New Hampshire last year, Dartmouth was held to less than one-third that total as the visiting Wildcats shut out the Big Green in the Granite Bowl at Memorial Field on Saturday afternoon, 14-0. Max Brosmer threw for one score and ran for the other for UNH (5-2), defeating Dartmouth (1-4) for the first time since 2014.

The Big Green were limited to 58 yards on the ground and 140 yards through the air for a total of 198, their fewest in 11 years. Quarterback Nick Howard, who sat out last week's game at Yale with an injury, ran the ball just six times for 9 yards, well below his season average of 117 entering the contest. He also completed 6-of-7 passes for 54 yards, part of the quarterbacking tandem Dartmouth employed for the first time this season with Dylan Cadwallader throwing for 86 yards on 8-of-20 throws and an interception on a Hail Mary before halftime.

New Hampshire relied on Brosmer's arm and the legs of Isaac Seide, who got the start in place of the sidelined Dylan Laube. Seide ran for 127 yards on 26 carries (4.9-yard average) while Brosmer connected on 20-of-29 throws, one of which was a 2-yard touchdown to Brian Espinet not even two minutes into the game.

Espinet's touchdown was set up by the first play from scrimmage of the day, a 56-yard pass to Joey Corcoran across the middle that took the Wildcats down to the 10-yard line. Three plays later, UNH was on the board and Nick Mazzie was providing the extra point for a sudden 7-0 lead.

Dartmouth's initial drive lasted for four plays, but the punt by Davis Golick was a beauty that pinned the Wildcats at their own 5. After narrowly avoiding a safety on a 4-yard loss, UNH methodically moved the ball slowly down the field and was still in possession at the Big Green 40 when the quarter expired more than 10 minutes later. But that was as far as they would go, returning the favor by downing the ball at the 8.

Later in the opening half, Dartmouth had an opportunity to put points on the board but faced 4th-and-3 at the Wildcat 10 and sent the field goal unit onto the field. The fake was sniffed out by UNH as the holder Cadwallader was wrapped up for a 5-yard loss, leaving the Big Green down by a 7-0 score.

New Hampshire capitalized on Dartmouth's missed opportunity thanks in part to a 41-yard completion to Heron Maurisseau to the Big Green 24. Brosmer then took matters into his own hand when faced with a 2nd-and-goal from the 8, fighting his way through the defense on a keeper, falling forward across the goal line with only 29 seconds remaining in the half for a 14-0 lead.

In the second half, Dartmouth opened with the ball and advanced into Wildcat territory, only to fumble at the UNH 25. It would be the last time the Green got the ball past their own 40 on this day.

The Wildcats got excellent field position after forcing a punt from the Dartmouth 1 later in the third quarter as Sean Coyne returned the kick 30 yards to the 15. But on 1st-and-goal at the one, UNH took to the air and instantly regretted it as fifth-year senior Robert Crockett III stepped in front of the pass and secured it for his first career interception.

On the next Wildcat drive, UNH attempted a 40-yard field goal only to have it blocked by junior Vachon Raye, keeping Dartmouth within two scores with still an entire quarter to go.

But it simply was not the Big Green's day. New Hampshire at up more than 10 minutes in the fourth quarter between a pair of Dartmouth three-and-outs, leaving the Green just 2:35 to work with from their own 2 still trailing by two touchdowns. Cadwallader managed to pick up a pair of first downs, but that was all, and UNH took a knee on the game's final two plays to win back the Granite Bowl Trophy that Dartmouth claimed in 2016 and retained last year.

New Hampshire finished the game with 363 total yards and held the ball for nearly 39 minutes.

Dartmouth (0-2 Ivy) begins the second half of the season at Columbia (3-2, 0-2 Ivy) next Saturday, Oct. 22 for the Lions' homecoming game. Columbia suffered a 34-7 defeat at the hands of the Penn Quakers today. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and a free audio broadcast featuring Brett Franklin and Matt Corsetti on the call will be available on the official Dartmouth Sports website and app.

Notes: New Hampshire regained the advantage in the all-time series, 20-19-2 … Dartmouth has lost four straight games for the first time since the 2011 season when it also started the year 1-4; it went on to finish the campaign with a mark of 5-5 … Golick posted the best punt average of his career at 43.3 yards on his six boots.