PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania Quakers had just come off a historic week after topping nationally ranked FCS powerhouse, Villanova. They looked to take that momentum into Saturday’s contest against Dartmouth, but unfortunately positive plays failed to carry over.
Right from the opening possession, play was shaky for the Quakers as they fumbled the ball just two minutes into the game, ultimately leading to a Dartmouth Big Green touchdown on an 8-yard completion from senior quarterback Dalyn Williams to senior wide receiver Victor Williams. From there, Penn failed to ever gain any composure as they struggled to halt a second straight touchdown on Dartmouth’s second drive of the game.
Frustrated by the two quick scores, the Quaker’s showed some grit and were able to block the extra-point kick after the second touchdown, making the score 13-0 in favor of Dartmouth at the end of the first quarter.
To open the second quarter, Penn endured another pair of consecutive touchdown drives — each again involving Dartmouth quarterback Dalyn Williams — to make the score 27-0.
Photo Courtesy: University of Pennsylvania
It was not until Penn’s final drive of the second quarter that they were able to move the chains. The Quakers’ first first-down of the game came after more than 25 minutes of action, but it pumped some life into the offense as they were able to score their first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard rush by junior quarterback, Alex Torgersen. This would be Torgersen’s last play of the game however as he sat out the second half due to an injury from a hit taken in the end-zone.
The extra-point attempted by Penn’s senior placekicker, Jimmy Gammill, sailed wide and was no good, resulting in a halftime score of 27-6, with the Quakers trailing.
Though the Penn offense had momentum heading into the second half, it was the Quaker defense that would have to take the field first. In the opening drive of the half, the Penn defense tried to stop the dominant Dalyn Williams, but to no avail. The Darmouth quarterback was able to once again hook up with his teammates to end the possession with a Big Green touchdown. The Quaker offense now had their hands full as they faced an uphill climb to catch up to Dartmouth’s 34 points.
Senior backup quarterback, Andrew Lisa, replaced the injured Torgersen for the rest of the contest. During Lisa’s opening drive, it appeared that the offense was still in rhythm from their previous second quarter touchdown as they were able to complete a total of seven positive-yardage plays, including three consecutive completions thrown by Lisa and two first downs which totaled 27-yards for the drive. Two plays later however, Lisa was sacked 7-yards behind the line of scrimmage and fumbled the ball — a deflating end to an impressive offensive drive.
Dartmouth would then score another touchdown to end the third quarter. It was a story retold as Dalyn Williams completed a 43 yard touchdown pass to his favored receiver, Victor Williams — digging Penn into a deeper deficit as they headed into the final quarter trailing 41-6.
The Quaker’s were never able to reach the top of that uphill climb, failing to match Dartmouth’s 41 points. By no means would it have been an easy task — the Big Green came into the contest ranked 10th in the nation in scoring at 40 points per game — but Penn never gave up.
The Quaker’s were able to score two more touchdowns in the fourth, each coming consecutively and each coming from a pass thrown from Lisa — the first a 2-yard completion to Justin Watson and the second a 3 yard completion to Cam Countryman. The Quaker offense was able to put up 20 points against a dominant Dartmouth defense that ranked second in the nation with just 8.5 points allowed going into the game.
The final score of the contest was 41-20 and it marked the first time since 1997 that Penn had lost to Dartmouth at home.
Overall, the elite execution that Dartmouth displayed at Franklin Field proved too tough of a challenge for Penn that day.
Dalyn Williams was able to contribute to all of Dartmouth’s six touchdowns and between him and wide receiver, Victor Williams, the two accounted for over 600 positive yards.
“They executed very, very well. We knew it was going to be a dog fight, they’re a good team,” first year Penn head coach Ray Priore said during the post-game press conference. “Dalyn Williams is a talented player and we’ve been trying to handle him for a number of years. When you have a senior dominate a team like they do, it typically bodes pretty well for them as they go into the season.”
Though Andrew Lisa was able to throw two touchdowns for the Quakers, it was not enough to satisfy the senior backup quarterback.
“At the end of the day I just want to win — we just want to win as a team. It was nice to play, but at the same time we still lost to Dartmouth,” Lisa said. “We couldn’t come out with the victory and all credit to Dartmouth. It was nice playing but regardless of me playing or not I’d still rather have the W.”
Win is exactly what the Quaker’s will try to do this Saturday at Franklin Field, as they face yet another difficult matchup against #13 Fordham. Kickoff on Saturday, October 10th is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be available via The Ivy League Digital Network website.