Ivy Title Still in Play on Senior Day

Saturday, November 11

Hanover, N.H.

1:30 PM

Dartmouth College

Cornell

Tickets

The Senior Class of 2024

Photo by: Chloe Broeker

11/9/2023 10:02:00 PM | Football

Saturday Nov. 11 Tickets Game Program ESPN+ Broadcast International Stream Audio Broadcast Live Stats @DartmouthFTBL Series History Dartmouth Notes

The senior class is looking for one more win at Memorial Field to keep its title hopes alive

By: Rick Bender

Dartmouth (4-4, 3-2) vs. Cornell (3-5, 2-3)
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 | 1:30 PM
Memorial Field | Hanover, N.H.
ESPN+ — Bob Lipman play-by-play, Matt Corsetti analyst
Audio — Brett Franklin play-by-play, Wayne Young '72 analyst

Ivy Title Still in Play
Dartmouth celebrates Senior Day for the final home game of the 2023 season, honoring the 33 seniors and fifth-years, plus three team managers, that have been such an integral part of the program. Those players in turn would like nothing more than to win one more game for the home crowd, needing a victory to keep their hopes of winning a share of the Ivy League crown alive.

The Big Green can't grab that share without a little help along the way, needing either Penn or Yale to knock off Harvard while winning their last two contests. But first things first, and the thing in the way of the Hanoverians this week are the Big Red of Cornell, the first team to play against Dartmouth at Memorial Field 100 years ago.

Last year, Cornell got the best of the Big Green in a tight, 17-13 contest in Ithaca. The Big Red have won two of the last three matchups, as a matter of fact, coming on the heels of a 10-game skid in the streak from 2009-18. But that one loss came two years ago right here at Memorial Field in a 41-7 blowout.

There was no lopsided score last week with Princeton in town, but all that mattered was that Dartmouth came away with a win. First-year Owen Zalc provided the difference in the game with his 47-yard field goal with 1:29 to play, lifting the Big Green to a 23-21 triumph. It was his third field goal of the game, and his heroics helped him earn the Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week award, his fourth weekly honor of the season as he tied the Dartmouth program record with his 15th field goal.

Defense and special teams won the game for the Green as DE Charles Looes earned the Gold Helmet Award as New England's top player in Division I as well as the Ivy Defensive Player of the Week honor thanks to four sacks, two that stripped the ball free, one of which he recovered himself. He also blocked a 47-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter to keep the Dartmouth deficit at one point, setting up Zalc's game-winning kick.

Safety Sean Williams played a large role in the win as well with a pick-six on Princeton's first play from scrimmage, a team-high nine tackles and a pass breakup, not to mention returning the opening kick 38 yards and three punts 30 more.

The Big Green struggled against the Tigers' stout defense, amassing just 197 yards. But Dartmouth got a spark off the bench in the form of QB Jackson Proctor, who guided the offense on its only touchdown drive upon entering the game to start the third quarter. He finished the game 9-of-12 for 86 yards and has completed nearly 80 percent of his 68 passes for 525 yards this year.

Dartmouth would like to get QB Nick Howard to repeat his performance the last time Cornell visited the Upper Valley two years ago when he ran for 172 yards and four scores on a mere 13 carries.

Scouting the Big Red
Cornell surprised the league by knocking off two-time defending Ivy champ Yale in its first conference game of the season, 23-21, improving to 2-0. But since that victory, the Big Red have lost five of six, the lone triumph coming three weeks ago in a 36-14 win over Brown.

The offense has done a pretty good job of piling up yards, but the points have tailed off of late (just 11 in the last two games combined), and Cornell is now averaging under 20 a game.

But with Jameson Wang behind center, the Big Red have a big weapon at their disposal. The junior has completed close to 65 percent of his passes for nearly 2,000 yards with seven touchdowns and only four interceptions. He has topped 300 yards in two of the last three contests and also has more than double the rushing yards (368) of anyone else on the team with six of their seven scores on the ground.

Four players have between 34 and 47 carries in the backfield, the most effective of whom has been Gannon Carothers at 4.7 yards per rush.

Nicholas Laboy is one of the top receivers in the league, ranking third with 44 catches and fourth with 555 receiving yards and a pair of TDs. Four others have at least 20 grabs on the year, and Doryn Smith also has two scores to go with 33 receptions for 337 yards.

The defense has been solid overall, ranking in the top third of the FCS in points and total yards allowed. Linebacker Noah Taylor tops the team with 55 tackles, and 10 different players have at least one sack but only two have two — LBs Connor Henderson and Hunter Sloan. One safety, Trey Harris, is tied for the league lead with eight passes broken up, though the other, Brody Kidwell, has two of the Big Red's eight interceptions.

Jackson Kennedy handles almost all the kicking duties and is second in the league (behind Zalc) in field goals, converting 14-of-18, and averages 38.8 yards on his 26 punts, including a long of 81 yards.

Cornell is led by The Roger J. Weiss '61 Head Coach of Football David Archer, a 2005 graduate of the university. The former Big Red captain was the youngest Division I head coach in the country when hired before the 2013 season and has led the team to a 29-69 record in 10 seasons at the helm.

Last Year Against the Big Red …
Dartmouth drove 64 yards to the Cornell 8 in the final 90 seconds of the game in Ithaca, but Nick Howard's pass on the final play carried Jonny Barrett just out of the end zone as the Big Red held off the Big Green, 17-13. Jarmone Sutherland caught a 16-yard TD from RB Noah Roper, and Jace Henry hauled in a 22-yard score from Howard to account for Dartmouth's scoring. But Cornell took a 14-13 lead late in the third quarter on its second TD of the game, then added a 28-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. Howard threw for a career-high 213 yards in the loss, and Charles Looes had a personal-best 12 tackles.

Fighting for Title Aspirations
With last week's 23-21 victory over Princeton, Dartmouth kept its hopes of earning a share of the Ivy League championship alive. Only twice has the league champion finished a season with two conference losses — 1963 and 1982. But the Big Green were among those with two losses in each of those campaigns, and it isn't far-fetched for it to happen again for the first time in 41 years. Dartmouth must win its last two games, and Harvard has to lose to either Penn this week or Yale in its the season finale. That's it. But who the Big Green would share the crown with is anyone's guess, but it would be with one or two of the following: Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale.

Looes Cuts Loose
Fifth-year DL Charles Looes had a game he will never forget in helping Dartmouth defeat Princeton on Nov. 3, and on national television. Not only did he tie a Big Green record with four sacks in the game, he also stripped the ball free on two of them, and recovered one of those fumbles. In addition, he had a key block of a field goal attempt in the fourth quarter to keep the Dartmouth deficit at one point, setting up the game-winning field goal with 1:29 to play. For his efforts, Looes was named the Gold Helmet Award winner as the top Division I player in New England that week as well as the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, not to mention receiving honorable mention for the Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week. He also went from outside the top 10 in the league in sacks to leading the Ancient Eight with 5.5 on the season.

The Wizard of O.Z.
First-year place kicker Owen Zalc continues to be a weapon for Dartmouth. The three-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week branched out and received the Special Teams Player of the Week following his performance in the 23-21 victory over Princeton on Nov. 3. Zalc drilled three field goals — his third such game with three this season — including the game-winner from 47 yards out (matching his longest of the year) with 1:29 to play. He is just the third Big Green player to earn four weekly honors in one season from the league office, joining Craig Morton '89 (four-time Rookie of the Week) in 1986 and Jay Fielder '94 (four-time Offensive Player in 1992). Those three field goals give him 15 on the season, tying the Dartmouth record set in 1990 by Dennis Durkin '93, who is the only other Big Green kicker with at least three field goals in three games in one season. He also has 12 field goals in Ivy games, one shy of the conference record. In addition, Zalc leads the FCS in field goals made per game (1.88).

Williams' Will
If you felt like safety Sean Williams was everywhere on the field in the 23-21 win over Princeton on Nov. 3, there's a good reason for that. The sophomore opened the game by returning the kickoff a season-long 38 yards, and on the Tigers' first play from scrimmage, he intercepted a pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown, the first pick-six for a Big Green player since Isaiah Johnson '22 had a 73-yard score against Princeton two years ago. Williams also had three punt returns that gained 30 total yards, plus a 69-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown that was called back due to a penalty.

Proctor Passes Exam
So much going on in that note header, but I like it. Jackson Proctor was called upon to guide the Dartmouth offense in the second half against Princeton with the Big Green trailing, 14-10. All the junior QB did was lead the team on its only offensive touchdown drive of the game, then put Owen Zalc in position to boot his final two field goals of the game to lift Dartmouth to victory. All told, Proctor was 9-of-12 throwing the ball for 86 yards and one touchdown. That 75 percent completion rate, believe it or not, actually lowered his rate for the season to 79.4 percent (54-of-69) for 525 yards and two scores.

Win on the Rare Side
The 23-21 victory over Princeton wasn't half-baked, but it was pretty rare in that Dartmouth only accumulated 197 yards of offense. This was just the ninth win (and first in 18 years) for the Big Green when being held to fewer than 200 yards since the 1969 season. They lost the other 42 such games, giving them a winning percentage of .176. That last win? It came on Sept. 17, 2005 against Colgate, 26-21.

Top-20 Defense
The Dartmouth defense has been terrific this season, ranking 13th among FCS schools in yards allowed per game (305.9) and 14th in rushing yards allowed (105.5). The Big Green are also tough on third and fourth down, allowing opponents to convert just 33.3 percent of their third downs (18th in the nation) and 33.1 percent of their fourth-down situations (sixth).

Sack Masters
One thing Dartmouth understands is getting to the quarterback and protecting its own. Only one team in the FCS has surrendered fewer sacks than the Big Green (4), and they also lead the Ivy League in sacks by their defense (20), which ranks 24th in the nation on a per-game basis. Charles Looes leads the way with 5.5, tied with teammate Braden Mullen.

Great Scott!
Senior WR Paxton Scott has been the Big Green's most effective offensive weapon this year, twice catching 10 passes and topping 150 yards in a game, and leading the team in receptions in five of the eight games thus far. Having already led Dartmouth in receptions and receiving yards each of the last two years, he will surely do so again this year as he is fourth in the Ivy League with 42 catches and fifth in yardage (531). Scott is one of only 15 players in Big Green history with 100 catches in a career, and with nine more grabs he will be among the program's top 10 all-time.

Howard Climbs Career Charts
Nick Howard is currently eighth among Dartmouth's all-time rushers (and first among its QBs) with 1,727 yards to his credit. He recently surpassed Curt Oberg '78, the special assistant to the head coach, and needs just 62 more yards to break into the top five. Of the players in the top 10 (found to your left), only one — Rick Klupchak '74 — has a higher average per carry (6.06) than Howard (5.17). Howard is also second at Dartmouth in both career multi-TD games (13) and career rushing touchdowns (31, Myles Lane '28 had 33 TDs on the ground) plus is tied with place kicker Foley Schmidt '12 for fifth in scoring with 186 points.