Penn Downed 31 – 7 by Dartmouth in Ivy League Opening Game
October 1, 2021 –
The home opener and the first game at Franklin Field in nearly two years. A feeling of excitement resonated through the stands, but the Big Green of Dartmouth would emerge victorious in the Ancient Eight curtain raiser 31 – 7 over the University of Pennsylvania Quakers. The ingredients for Dartmouth was a defense that kept the Penn offense bottled up throughout the game, and pounding running game that kept the ball in their possession.
At the beginning the game appeared to have taken on the trend of a shootout. Midway through the first quarter the Red and Blue needed to punt the ball from their 29 yard line. Robert Crockett blocked the punt and took it to the endzone for a 7 – 0 lead. Penn answered right away. Wide receiver Ryan Cragun hauled in a 73-yard pass from quarterback John Quinnelly setting up the offense at the Dartmouth 7 yard line. It was the biggest offensive play for the Quakers. Running back Isaiah Malcome scored on the next play to tie the game.
From there the defense of the Big Green gave up little. The Red and Blue had but 8 first downs in the game, and the offense held the ball for 18:24. The Quakers converted 2 of 9 third down conversions. On the ground Penn gained 35 yards on 21 rushes with Malcome leading the way with 37 yards.
Dartmouth turned to their running game gaining 240 yards. The Big Green also put up 173 yards through the air. They ran 50 times and threw on 23 plays. Dartmouth has two quarterbacks. Nick Howard is more of a runner. He gained 101 yards on 19 carries crossing the goal line twice. Derek Kyler completed 15 of 22 for 160 yards and a scoring toss to running back Zack Bair, who ran for 91 yards. The Big Green held the ball for 41:36. They moved the sticks 22 times.
The Big Green broke the tie early in the second quarter on a Conner Davis 35-yard field goal. The drive took 8:15. After a Penn punt Howard capped a 53-yard drive that took 3:02 with a 7-yard touchdown run. In that drive ran on 5 of the 6 plays. Dartmouth closed the first half on the toss to Bair to take a 24 – 7 lead into halftime. In that scoring segment the Big Green ran on 7 of 10 plays.
Howard got his second touchdown of the night at the 12:02 mark of the fourth quarter from one-yard out. Dartmouth improves to 3 – 0.
Cragun led Penn with 84 yards on 3 receptions. Quinnelly completed 6 of 15 passes with two intercepted.
The Quakers fall to 1 – 2 for the season and 0 – 1 in the Ivy League. Next up for the Red and Blue is a home game with Lehigh next Saturday.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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