Football Falls to Dartmouth in Double Overtime

With just over 12 minutes left to play against recent Ivy bottom dweller Dartmouth, it looked like the football team would cling to its 10-0 lead and snap a five-game losing streak. Instead, the Red allowed 114 fourth-quarter rushing yards and the Green tied it up at 10 to send the game to overtime. Two overtime periods later, Cornell kicker Brad Greenway missed a 36-yard field goal wide left and the Green took the win, 20-17.

In a game with two dysfunctional offenses, it ultimately came down to the kicking game. Dartmouth’s Foley Schmidt hit a 26-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 and send it to overtime, then hit a 40-yard field goal to put the Green ahead for good, 20-17. Cornell’s Greenway made a 25-yarder, but as time expired in regulation, his 35-yarder — which would have handed the Red the much-needed win — was blocked. Greenway also missed the 36-yard potential equalizer in double overtime, as well as a 25-yarder in the first quarter. [6]Silver lining: Senior Bryan Walters (18) broke the Ivy League record for career punt return yardage.

“Our guy is now struggling,” Knowles said. “Just like a golfer, all of a sudden he’s in a slump. Last week, too, he struggled. He had been really good.”

With the loss, Cornell (2-6, 1-4 Ivy) falls into a three-way tie for last place in the Ivy League. Dartmouth (2-6, 2-3), which snapped a 17-game losing streak earlier this season, is tied with Yale for fourth place.

Dartmouth sophomore running back Nick Schwieger, who ran for 242 yards earlier this season against Columbia, is out for the season with a hand injury, but rookie Greg Patton was a plenty capable replacement. Taking snaps out of the wildcat formation, Patton ran for 243 yards, a school record, and both of the team’s touchdowns.

“He’s good, he’s a good player,” said head coach Jim Knowles ’87. “I don’t know where they were hiding him. When you have a guy who can run the ball like that and you have a lead blocker in there with him, that’s why you see the formation have so much success everywhere. It’s hard to cover all the gaps.”

“We thought we could utilize Greg with some of the defensive schemes Cornell put on the field,” said Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens. “I never would have thought he would break the rushing record because I never would have thought he would get enough carries to do it. With [senior Matthew] Dornak leading the way, Patton kept moving the ball effectively, so we kept going to him.”

Cornell’s rush attack put up 224 yards, which would have been an impressive total had it not been eclipsed by Dartmouth’s rookie. Senior Randy Barbour led with 94 yards on 18 carries.

Seniors Ben Ganter and Stephen Liuzza both threw interceptions and the Red had five turnovers to the Green’s four. Ganter completed 18-of-33 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Bryan Walters provided the team with a dim silver lining: He returned three punts for a total of 26 yards, moving him into first place all-time in the Ivy League.