Dartmouth Capitalizes on Princeton Turnovers in 23-21 Victory

Friday, November 3

Hanover, N.H.

7:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-4 , 3-2

Princeton

4-4 , 3-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Princeton

Dartmouth

Jackson Proctor led the Big Green offense in the second half.

Dartmouth Capitalizes on Princeton Turnovers in 23-21 Victory

11/3/2023 11:55:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights Press Conference

Owen Zalc lifted the Big Green with a 47-yard field goal in the final two minutes

By: Rick Bender

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth rookie place kicker Owen Zalc split the uprights from 47 yards out with 1:29 left in the game — his third field goal of the night — lifting the Big Green to a 23-21 triumph over visiting Princeton on the 100th anniversary of Memorial Field. Dartmouth (4-4, 3-2 Ivy) picked up just 197 yards of offense but forced four turnovers to knock off the Tigers (4-4, 3-2 Ivy), which entered the weekend as the co-leader in the Ivy League standings.

A Zalc field goal from 38 yards late in the third quarter whittled the Big Green deficit down to one, 21-20. Dartmouth got the ball back on the first play of the fourth quarter when defensive end Charles Looes recorded his fourth sack of the night — tying a program record — jarring the ball loose in the process and recovering it near midfield. But the Big Green could not capitalize on that Tiger miscue, failing to convert a 4th-and-1 "tush push," giving the ball back to Princeton at its own 44.

The two teams traded punts before the Tigers attempted a 47-yard field goal with 5:11 to play. Looes continued his big night as he got a hand on the kick, and the ball landed directly in the hands of Sean Williams, who scampered 69 yards to the end zone, seemingly giving the Green the lead. But a block-in-the-back penalty negated the score, leaving Dartmouth on the Princeton 48.

Six plays later, the Big Green faced 4th-and-1 from just inside the Tiger 30, so Zalc trotted onto the field following a Princeton timeout to attempt the 47-yard field goal. From the moment the ball left his foot, there was no doubt about where it would end up, giving him his fourth conversion from 47 yards in the last three weeks.

For the 4th time in 3 weeks, @owenzalc has connected from 47 yards, this time providing the game-winner with 1:28 to play!

FINAL: Big Green 23, Tigers 21

We are now 3-2 in the @IvyLeague and 4-4 overall.#TheWoods 🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/s2qCkkdVDa
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 4, 2023

"There are some nerves that come about naturally from pressure situations, but I just try to stay calm and collected," Zalc said. "When I get nervous, I talk a lot. [Long snapper] Josh Greene can tell you I'm always chirping in his ear. I'm always a little more energetic when I get stressed, but I just channel that in a good way to do what I need to do."

There was still nearly a minute-and-a-half to play, however, and Princeton quickly picked up a first down with a 16-yard pass. That would be all the Tigers could muster as a short pass on 4th-and-2 pass was broken up by cornerback Jordan Washington, allowing Dartmouth to take the victory formation and run the clock out to secure the victory.

"We definitely didn't make it pretty, but we knew it was going to be a battle and that it was going to come down to the end, and we made the plays we needed to make," said Sammy McCorkle, Dartmouth's Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach. "Our team did a great job with the effort throughout, and after a rough first half, we held each other accountable. We kept chipping away and knew it wouldn't happen on one play, but we stayed consistent with our energy and played to the very end."

🚨🚨PICK-6 ALERT🚨🚨

Getting out of the gate quickly thanks to @SeanWilliams_22!

Watch on @ESPNU: https://t.co/vFFCycNdbR #TheWoods 🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/g08SenDO7R
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 3, 2023

The game opened with a pair of Princeton turnovers that allowed the Big Green to jump out to an early 10-0 lead. On the Tigers' first play from scrimmage, a Blake Stenstrom pass went right through the hands of receiver A.J. Barber, and Williams was there to pluck the ball out of the air and scamper 26 yards to the end zone barely two minutes into the contest.

On the very next Princeton possession, Looes registered consecutive sacks, the second of which caused Stenstrom to lose hold of the ball, which nose tackle Josiah Green covered up at the Big Green 44. Although Dartmouth ran three plays and set up to punt from midfield, McCorkle called for some trickery in the form of a fake punt as tight end Chris Corbo took the snap and ran 26 yards before he could be taken to the turf. Now in field goal range, Zalc eventually provided the points in the form of a 39-yard field goal.

The tide turned on the first play of the second quarter when the Tigers punted to Williams, who already had a 38-yard kickoff return and a 22-yard punt return, not to mention his pick-six. But this time, the ball slid through his arms, allowing Princeton to recover the muff at the Dartmouth 45. Nine plays later, running back John Volker scored the first Tiger points on a 1-yard run over the goal line.

Princeton added another touchdown before the intermission on another Volker carry, this time from 9 yards out right after the Big Green were whistled for pass interference on a 3rd-and-7 pass to the end zone, giving the Tigers a 14-10 lead.

And @jacksongerard21 scores his first career TD on this 9-yard pass from @jacksonlproctor!

Watch on @ESPNU: https://t.co/vFFCycNdbR #TheWoods 🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/exbKFRYS8d
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 4, 2023

Jackson Proctor took over behind center for Dartmouth to start the second half, and the change paid off immediately as he led the offense on an eight-play, 57-yard touchdown drive, culminating with a 9-yard toss to Jackson Gerard for his first career touchdown and a 17-14 lead.

That lead was short-lived thanks to a 62-yard bomb over the Big Green defense from Stenstrom to Luke Colella. Proctor helped Dartmouth respond with completions of 10, 23 and 5 yards on the next drive, allowing Zalc to provide his shortest field goal of the day from 38 and set the stage for his heroics in the fourth quarter.

Proctor, the third-string quarterback, finished the game 9-of-12 passing the ball for 86 yards with the one touchdown. Williams tied for the Dartmouth lead with nine tackles to go with his pick-six, a forced fumble and a pass breakup, while Looes terrorized the Tigers with his four sacks and blocked field goal.

"I take it upon myself to prepare each and every week, every day, just to know that if I get the opportunity that I can take advantage of it. I couldn't succeed with my teammates and their faith in me as well as the coaching staff's faith. Without them, it wouldn't be possible."

Stenstrom completed 19-of-31 throws for 245 yards and a score, but he also was intercepted once and fumbled the ball away twice. Colella led all players with 107 receiving yards on five catches, and Liam Johnson recorded 11 tackles.

"Stenstrom is definitely one of the best quarterbacks in the Ivy League," Looes said, "and we knew that if we let him throw the ball, he would be able to hurt us. But our secondary did a great job of giving us time to put pressure and get him off his game a little bit."

Dartmouth will play its final home game next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when Cornell (3-4, 2-2 Ivy with a game at Penn on tap tomorrow) invades Hanover. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Bob Lipman and Matt Corsetti calling the action, and a free audio broadcast featuring Brett Franklin and Wayne Young '72 also will be available through the official site of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com. To purchase tickets, visit the Dartmouth Ticket Office website or call at 603-646-2466.

Notes: Dartmouth is 276-145-8 in the 100 years of playing at Memorial Field … the Big Green have beaten Princeton each of the last six games in Hanover … Dartmouth is 44-3 against the Tigers when scoring at least 18 points against them … the Big Green had not rallied for a victory when trailing entering the fourth quarter since a 29-23 win at Brown on Nov. 23, 2019 … Zalc has 15 field goals on the season, which is for tied the Dartmouth single season record set 33 years ago by Dennis Durkin '93 … with 12 of his 15 field goals coming against Ivy opponents, Zalc is also one field goal shy of matching the Ivy League single-season record in conference contests … Looes is just the third Big Green defender with four sacks in a game, tying the mark set by George Neos '93 in 1992 against Harvard and matched by Anthony Gargiulo '06 in 2004 against Cornell … Williams' pick-six was the first for a Dartmouth player since Isaiah Johnson '22 returned an interception 73 yards for a score two years ago against Princeton at Memorial Field as well.