Dartmouth routs Penn, 41-20
The bad news for the rest of the Ivy League wasn't so much the 41-20 beating Dartmouth administered to Penn on Saturday in the Ivy League opener for both teams.
The bad news for the rest of the Ivy League wasn't so much the 41-20 beating Dartmouth administered to Penn on Saturday in the Ivy League opener for both teams.
What really resonated was the tone struck by the players most responsible for the Big Green's ending their nine-game losing streak at Franklin Field.
"The more games you win, the harder it is to win the next week," Big Green receiver Victor Williams said after snaring 12 passes for 213 yards - the second-highest single-game receptions total in school history - and a pair of touchdowns. "When you're 3-0 or whatever you are, you get a big target on your back and everybody wants to beat you. So we've got to make sure that we go out and get better when we practice so we're ready for the next challenge."
Penn (1-2, 0-1 Ivy) provided no challenge. It didn't help that the Quakers lost their starting quarterback, Alek Torgersen, to a head injury in the second half. Penn did not provide an update on Torgersen's condition after the game
Riding high after beating Villanova nine days earlier for the first time in 104 years, the Quakers had no answer for Williams or the guy who was getting him the ball - quarterback Dalyn Williams.
In fact, as good as Victor Williams was, Dalyn Williams was probably even better. He completed 22 of 24 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns. He also led Dartmouth (3-0, 1-0) with 73 yards rushing and two more touchdowns.
Dalyn Williams' performance had Penn coach Ray Priore wondering when he had last seen a quarterback in the Ivy League with the combination of good legs and passing ability that the Big Green quarterback has.
"I'd probably have to say that you have to go back to Ryan Fitzpatrick," Priore said of the New York Jets starting quarterback, who was a seventh-round draft pick out of Harvard and is now in his 11th NFL season. "He can really do everything out there. And his team is loaded with seniors. That's the type of combination that really does well in our league."
Torgersen was replaced by Andrew Lisa, but Torgersen's presence probably wouldn't have made much of a difference.
Dartmouth had a 27-0 lead in the first half. The Big Green had 15 first downs before the Quakers got their first, and outgained Penn 498 yards to 263 for the game.
@JmitchInquirer