No. 24 Big Green Drop Tough 39-22 Final at Cornell

Saturday, November 16

Ithaca, N.Y.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

Cornell

No. 24 Big Green Drop Tough 39-22 Final at Cornell

11/16/2024 7:09:00 PM | Football

Box Score Postgame Interview with Coach McCorkle

Cornell scored 23 straight second-half points after Dartmouth took a 14-13 lead

By: Justin Lafleur

ITHACA, N.Y. — Patrick Campbell picked off Cornell quarterback Jameson Wong to set up a go-ahead touchdown with 8:50 left in the third quarter, but the Big Red responded with 23 consecutive points, on their way to downing the 24th ranked Dartmouth football team, 39-22 on Saturday afternoon. The Big Green tied a season high with three interceptions on the afternoon, but they also turned the ball over four times themselves and Cornell capitalized.

With the loss, Dartmouth falls to 7-2 and 4-2 in the Ivy League. Cornell improves to 4-5 and 3-3. The Big Green still have a chance to share the Ivy League Championship with a win over Brown next Saturday combined with a Harvard loss against Yale.

"Very disappointing… very disappointing," said Sammy McCorkle, Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach. "It's not the outcome we wanted. Hats off to Cornell, who came out ready to play. They executed and made plays when they needed to. We didn't make plays when we needed to.

"We don't want to come out and have this type of showing, but the guys battled, kept fighting," McCorkle continued. "Just too many mistakes. You can't do that and allow a team the opportunity to control the ball, control the clock and allow them opportunities to score more points."

The Big Green struggled to rush the ball, finishing with just 60 yards on 25 carries. Quarterback Jackson Proctor had 46 of those yards on 10 attempts. Through the air, he finished 26-of-37 for 258 yards and a score. Daniel Haughton posted career highs in receptions (6) and yards (101). Twelve different Big Green players had at least one catch.

Along with his interception, Campbell recorded a career-high 11 tackles, with Micah Green adding 10 — marking the fourth time in his last six games in double figures. Green tallied his first-career interception, with Sean Williams making a pick as well.

The Big Red controlled the early stages of the game, but Dartmouth held them to just a pair of field goals. Then with 11:35 left in the second quarter, Dartmouth finished off an eight-play, 75-yard drive as Proctor ran it in from 10 yards out. The drive began with Proctor connecting with Jackson Gerard for 16 yards. After an incompletion, he found Chris Corbo for 36 yards. Following the extra point, the Big Green led 7-6 with 11:35 left in the second quarter.

Jackson Proctor runs it in and after the extra point, the Big Green lead 7-6 early in the second quarter!

Gameday Central ➡️ https://t.co/Rk9sHqOLVH #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/rUjeToIVcu
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 16, 2024

The Big Red responded with a 13-play drive, which included multiple third-down conversations, to retake a lead at 13-7. A Cornell interception in the final minute set the Big Red up in prime position to tack onto their lead, but Green's interception ended thoughts of that.

HUGE interception by Micah Green in the final seconds of that first half to keep the Big Green within six.

Gameday Central ➡️ https://t.co/Rk9sHqOe69 #TheWoods🌲 | #GoBigGreen pic.twitter.com/OgaouOs7Yk
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 16, 2024

Early in the third quarter, Campbell made a sensational interception and even stronger run back. Four plays later, the Big Green had the lead back as Grayson Saunier ran it in from eight yards out. The extra point gave Dartmouth a 14-13 advantage with 8:50 on the third-quarter clock.

This Patrick Campbell interception was great; the return was out of this world.

Gameday Central ➡️ https://t.co/Rk9sHqOe69 #GoBigGreen #SCTop10 @NCAA_FCS pic.twitter.com/bj5ygVD3vQ
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 16, 2024

The ensuing two drives saw each team pick up another interception. For Dartmouth, it was Williams in the end zone. However, Cornell's Luke Babury picked off Proctor to give the Big Red the ball at the Dartmouth 24-yard line. Three plays later, Wang ran it in from 14 yards out. The 2-point conversion was no good as Dartmouth led, 19-14, heading into the fourth.

The Big Red added a touchdown with 10:08 left in the fourth and field goal with 5:53 on the clock. By that time, Cornell led 29-14. The margin swelled to 22 at 36-14 before a Haughton four-yard touchdown reception, followed by the 2-point conversion to Jackson Namian, pulled the Big Green within 36-22, but with just 2:28 remaining.

Cornell would add a field goal to finish off the 39-22 final.

Total yards were 378-327 in favor of the Big Red, with the Big Green holding a 267-203 advantage through the air and Cornell tallying a 175-60 edge on the ground.

"It hurts. I told [the team] it hurts," said McCorkle. "It should hurt, but we've got to do better. We've got to coach better; we've got to prepare better. I told them, we've got to learn from this, get better and watch it and make the corrections we need to make."

The Big Green return home for their season finale next Saturday, Nov. 23 to host Brown at 12 p.m. on Senior Day and Youth Football Day. With a win and Harvard loss to Yale, Dartmouth would clinch a share of the Ivy League Championship.

"We've got to get ready for Brown and finish strong," said McCorkle. "It's out of our control now, but we can't worry about that. We can only control what we can control, which is preparing for Brown."

Tickets can be purchased HERE. Questions can be directed to the Athletics Sales Office at athletics.sales@dartmouth.edu or by calling (603) 646-2466.

NOTES: The 12 different Big Green to record a catch on Saturday marked a season high … Dartmouth and Cornell have now alternated wins in each of the last six meetings … The Big Green's four turnovers were a season high … Saturday marked Dartmouth's first road loss since last Oct. 28 at Harvard (one year and 19 days ago).