Big Win for Big Green in Ivy Opener at Penn, 41-20

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Senior Dalyn Williams set a school record by completing 92 percent of his passes (23-of-25) for 336 yards and four touchdowns, plus ran for 73 yards and two more scores as Dartmouth won at Penn for the first time since 1997, 41-20. Senior Victor Williams was on the receiving end of 12 of those throws for 213 yards — setting career highs for a second consecutive week — and two touchdowns as the Big Green started the Ivy slate with a victory and improved to 3-0 for the first time since that last win at Franklin Field 18 years ago.

Dartmouth racked up 506 yards while holding the Quakers (1-2, 0-1 Ivy) to 263, and the Big Green scored on each of its four full possessions of the first half, building up a 27-0 lead before Penn even recorded a first down. Williams collected 201 total yards in the opening half and was 12-of-13 throwing the ball with the lone incompletion a throw away to avoid a blitz. In the second half he amassed 208 more to give him 409 for the game, just the sixth game of 400 or more total yards in Big Green history; Williams owns three of those games.

It didn't take long for Dartmouth to impose its will as senior A.J. Zuttah knocked the ball free from
running back Tre Solomon on the third play of the game, and senior David Caldwell pounced on the loose ball to give the Green great field position at the Quaker 32. Four plays later, the first Williams-to-Williams touchdown connection came on an eight-yard pass for a 7-0 lead barely three minutes into the game. With the catch, Victor Williams became the 20th player in Dartmouth history with 1,000 receiving yards, and he was just getting started.

A pair of passes to Williams and the rushing of senior Kyle Bramble — who went over 1,000 yards on the ground in his career on his second carry — pushed Dartmouth down to the Penn 21 on the next possession. Dalyn Williams took over from there, running the ball on three straight plays, reaching the end zone on a nine-yard option keeper. The PAT was blocked, however, leaving the score at 13-0.

Two more three-and-out possessions for the Quakers led to two more scores for the Big Green. The first time, Williams guided the offense on a 16-play, 90-yard drive that lasted more than half a quarter with the quarterback finishing off the drive by burrowing for a one-yard touchdown. About five minutes later, Williams found junior Houston Brown in the end zone from 22 yards out for a 27-0 lead with seven minutes left in the half.

Penn finally sustained a drive, covering 74 yards in 14 plays until less than a minute showed on the clock. Quarterback Alex Torgersen scored on his final play of the afternoon, diving in from one yard out to put the Quakers on the board to make it 27-6 at the intermission as the point after sailed wide.

In the third quarter, Dartmouth opened up a 41-6 advantage. On the third play of the second half, Williams hooked up with Brown again, this time on a 30-yard strike. After a 37-yard Big Green field goal attempt sailed wide to the left, the Dartmouth defense quickly forced a punt when senior linebacker Will McNamara stymied Solomon behind the line on a 3rd-and-1 rush. Williams kept the ensuing drive alive with a 12-yard gain on 3rd-and-11, then went deep to his namesake for a 43-yard touchdown bomb.

In the fourth quarter, Penn managed to score two touchdowns less than four minutes apart. Wide receiver Justin Watson scored on a two-yard pass, and after a sack forced backup quarterback Jack Heneghan to fumble the ball, the Quakers needed five plays to go the 18 yards for the final points of the game on a three-yard toss to Cam Countryman.

Senior linebacker Eric Wickham led the defensive effort with a career-high 11 tackles, one for a loss, and Orimolade collected seven stops with the lone Big Green sack that forced a Quaker fumble. Speaking of fumbles, Zuttah recovered one and forced another to contribute from his defensive tackle position.

The backup quarterback for Penn, Andrew Lisa, played the entire second half and completed 15-of-21 passes for 126 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tyler Drake led all players with 15 tackles for the Quakers, and Lukas Nossem registered two of the three Penn sacks. Brian Schoenauer led the rushing game with 57 yards on nine carries, and Watson was the leading receiver with eight catches for 66 yards and one touchdown.

Dartmouth returns to Hanover next weekend to host Yale (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised by Fox College Sports. Big Green fans can listen to the Dartmouth radio broadcast featuring Adam Giardino and Wayne Young ’72 on 99Rock (WFRD 99.3 FM) locally and online through the Ivy League Digital Network (ildn.tv). Penn will play its final non-conference game by hosting 13th-ranked Fordham at 1 p.m.

Notes: Williams is the fourth Big Green quarterback to throw for 300 yards in consecutive games ... he also surpassed 7,000 total yards in his career and needs 178 to pass Jay Fiedler’s school record of 7,249 yards ... his four scoring strikes tied a personal high as well ... Victor Williams is just the third Dartmouth receiver to post over 170 yards twice in one season, having done so last week with 178 against Sacred Heart ... he finished the day with 1,193 career receiving yards … Bramble has 1,028 rushing yards in his career, making him the 27th player in program history to hit the milestone ... the victory was just the third in the last 18 meetings with Penn and the first consecutive victories in the series since 1996-97 (Dartmouth beat Penn in Hanover last year, 31-13) ... Bill King ’63 held the previous record for completion percentage, connecting on 14-of-16 (.875) against Columbia in 1962.