Howard Runs for Three Touchdowns to Lead Dartmouth to a 30-14 Victory

Saturday, November 11

Hanover, N.H.

1:30 PM

Dartmouth College

5-4 , 4-2

Cornell

3-6 , 2-4

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Cornell	0	7	7	0	14
Dartmouth	14	7	3	6	30

Nick Howard awaits the snap against Cornell, Nov. 11, 2023

Nick Howard broke a 96-year-old Big Green record

Photo by: Rohan Kalan

Howard Runs for Three Touchdowns to Lead Dartmouth to a 30-14 Victory

11/11/2023 4:40:00 PM | Football

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The fifth-year celebrated Senior Day by breaking a 96-year-old Big Green record

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Senior Day could not have gone any better for quarterback Nick Howard. The fifth-year led Dartmouth to a 30-14 victory over visiting Cornell at Memorial Field by rushing for 108 yards and three scores, breaking the Big Green record for career rushing touchdowns that had stood for 96 years.

With the victory, Dartmouth (5-4, 4-2 Ivy) kept its title hopes alive, though Harvard (8-1, 5-1 Ivy) held on to sole possession of first place with a triple-overtime victory over Penn this afternoon. The Big Red dropped to 3-6 on the season and 2-4 in the Ivy League.

Howard now has 34 rushing touchdowns at Dartmouth, breaking the record of 33 set by legendary Myles Lane '28. With his first 100-yard game of the season and sixth of his career, he also boosted his career rushing total to 1,835 yards, leapfrogging four others in the Big Green annals into fourth place.

"This was a great win, and we have a lot of pride playing here in front of friends and family," Howard said after the game. "I felt good coming into the game, and I haven't felt fresh the past couple of weeks, but I've been fortunate in not taking a lot of big hits lately. We had a little different buzz today, and it really felt like our confidence and belief in each other all kind of came together at the right time."

First-year Owen Zalc joined Howard as a Dartmouth record-breaker today, converting his 16th field goal of the season from 42 yards into the wind, breaking the program's single-season mark that had stood for 33 years.

Dartmouth got out to a quick start, marching 75 yards in plays to the end zone to start the game. The key play in the drive was a 38-yard bomb from Jackson Proctor to Paxton Scott inside the Big Red 10 on 3rd-and-10. Two plays later, Howard was bulling his way across the goal line from three yards out for his first touchdown of the day and a 7-0 lead.

Before the first quarter could expire, the Big Green offense was back at it, starting past midfield after forcing Cornell to punt from its own 9. Howard took control of the drive, completing his only pass of the day (a 27-yard connection on 3rd-and-1 to tight end Jace Henry) and running the other five plays, the last a 1-yard burrowing to the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

The Big Red fought back, though it coughed up a golden scoring opportunity first. After traversing 70 yards to the Dartmouth 13, Drew Powell had an eight-yard rush that ended in catastrophe as cornerback Leonard St. Gourdin poked the ball free and recovered it at the Big Green 5. But when Dartmouth could not advance the ball and punted away, Cornell started its next drive with a 41-yard pass from Jameson Wang to Davon Kiser and ended it with a reverse to Wang who shoveled a pass to Ean Pope for a 2-yard touchdown toss with 4:43 left in the half.

One more TD before the half! @jacksonlproctor to @k1ngj05

Watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/ko7E0KlDh2 #TheWoods 🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/ENYnFMiJ6w
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 11, 2023

Both teams traded punts, leaving Dartmouth 1:47 to try and cover 65 yards before the intermission. It took only 1:12 as it turned out as Proctor carved up the Cornell defense. The junior completed 5-of-7 passes during the drive, the last a 37-yard strike to the 270-pound Henry, who broke a pair of tackles to thunder his way into the end zone for a 21-7 lead at the break.

Cornell would not relent however, blocking a punt early in the third quarter to take over at the Big Green 23. On 3rd-and-5, Wang called his own number and sprinted for the 6-yard score, closing the gap to seven points once again.

Dartmouth responded in kind thanks to a 20-yard toss to Scott and runs of 11 and 14 yards by Howard. Although the drive stalled at the Big Red 24, Zalc came on and booted the 42-yarder into a stiff wind, clanging the ball off the left upright and just over the crossbar for his record-breaking field goal and a 10-point advantage.

In the fourth quarter, Cornell gambled on 4th-and-3 from its own 36 with 9:22 to play and rolled snake eyes as Wang's pass fell incomplete. The deflated Big Red then allowed a 31-yard run by Tevita Moimoi followed by Howard's final touchdown of the day, this time from 5 yards out, though the extra-point attempt banged off the right upright, leaving Dartmouth with a 30-14 lead.

That's 3⃣ rushing touchowns for @nchoward17 today and 34 on the ground for his career, a new Big Green record!

Watch on @ESPNPlus: https://t.co/ko7E0KlDh2 #TheWoods 🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/xBW4FDqbGH
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 11, 2023

But when the next Big Red drive died at the Big Green 31 when cornerback Patrick Campbell broke up a fourth-down pass, Dartmouth was able to run out the final 5:34, kneeling down inside the Cornell 10 twice to finish off the victory.

"We prepared ourselves all week, and I'm very happy with how quickly the offense came out of the gate," said Sammy McCorkle, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach. "And the defense did a heck of a job stepping up when we needed them to. The energy level was the best we've had in a long time. The guys were really into it across the board."

The Big Green ended the day with a well-balanced offensive attack — 196 yards on the ground and 176 through the air. Proctor completed 13-of-19 throws for 149 yards and the one touchdown via the pass, his favorite target being Scott who had five grabs for 78 yards, boosting his career total over 1,500 yards. St. Gourdin led the defense with six stops and his big forced fumble and recovery.

Cornell mustered only 266 yards with Wang throwing for 153 on 19-of-31 passes and leading the rushing attack with 31 yards on eight carries. Luke Banbury led all players with 11 tackles and Noah Taylor added 10 more including a sack for the Big Red.

Dartmouth will play its final game of the season at Brown (5-4, 3-3 Ivy) next Saturday at noon needing a win combined with a Yale victory over Harvard to earn a share of the conference crown. The game will be televised on NESN and simulcast on ESPN+, and a free audio broadcast will be available featuring Brett Franklin and Matt Corsetti through the official site of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com.

Notes: Dartmouth improved to 63-42-1 all-time against Cornell and has won 12 of the last 14 meetings … Zalc also tied the Ivy League record for field goals in a seven-game Ivy season (13) … Charles Looes registered a sack one week after collecting four, boosting his league-leading total to 6.5 on the year … of Howard's 34 career touchdowns, seven have come against the Big Red.