Pennsylvania 39, Dartmouth 14
The next Saturday, Dartmouth took its annual trip to Franklin Field and absorbed its annual beating at the hands of a Pennsylvania team which, although far from its pristine glory, still seemed strong enough to handle the Green without undue strain. The last time Dartmouth beat Pennsylvania was in 1933, when we turned the trick by the score of 14-7. Hostilities between the two institutions were renewed in 1943, after a lapse of ten years, and in the intervening years Dartmouth has yet to leave the field victorious. This year was no exception, and it was the old nemesis, pass defense, that licked the Indians again. Pennsylvania scored five of the six touchdowns through the air, with the Green secondary standing by. By way of varying the pattern set against Fordham, however, Penn ground out 249 yards on the ground, in addition to the 234 they gained through the air.
Pennsylvania lost no time in taking charge of the game, and their first score came on a pass before the clients were barely settled in their seats. With less than five minutes of the game elapsed, the Red and Blue registered on an aerial venture that covered 60 yards into the end zone. Shortly thereafter, the home forces intercepted an erring toss by Gene Howard, who was badly rushed all afternoon by the proverbially powerful Penn line, and there was the second Pennsylvania score. They got another before the end of the half, likewise through the air, which left the score a dismal 18-0 at intermission time. During this stanza, there was very little for the Dartmouth partisans to get excited about.
In the third period, however, halfback Tommy Collins gave the Green a shot in the arm. Taking a reverse from Al Reich following a punt, Collins eluded the Penn defenders and, aided by some robust blocks, galloped 76 yards down the sidelines for the first Dartmouth touchdown. Penn scored again in this half, which left the count 25-7 as the teams went into the fourth period. Then the Red and Blue began to roll on the ground through the tiring Dartmouth line, which hitherto had done a very creditable job in stopping the Pennsylvania running attack. The home forces, however, began to rip the Green line to shreds, tearing off 20 and 30 yards at a clip. In the final period, Penn scored its only TD on the ground.
The fourth period saw the other stellar play by a green-shirted hero, and this time it was Tommy Collins again who stole the show. This slender youngster from Honolulu, indeed, practically carried the load single-handed, both offensively and defensively, for Dartmouth through the lengthening shadows of Franklin Field. He intercepted a Pennsylvania pass on the Dartmouth 45 and raced to the 4-yard line before he was stopped. On the next play, halfback Dick Calkins went over standing up on an end sweep. That was the end of the scoring for Dartmouth, and this extra tally kept the contest from appearing too one-sided in the record books.
In the matter of statistics, the Pennsylvanians beat our brains out even more decisively than the score would indicate. Several promising scoring marches, indeed, were interrupted by penalties against the home team, with Pennsylvania running up a total of 119 yards by this means, as against 55 for Dartmouth. The Red and Blue got 19 first downs, compared to 8 for Dartmouth, and several of the latter came through the gratuitous route of penalties. In yards gained rushing, as noted, Pennsylvania ran up 249, as against the almost unbelievably puny total of a net 10 yards for Dartmouth. The Green line was never able to move the Penn forwards to let the backs go tearing by. Through the air, Penn connected with 13 out of 29 tosses for a total of 234 yards, whereas the Indians tried 20 passes and connected with seven, for a total of 78 yards. The only department in which the Green excelled was punting, with an average of 41 yards per try, compared to 32 yards for Pennsylvania. In the interests of accuracy, it should be pointed out that Dartmouth was forced to punt ten times, whereas Penn was obliged to do likewise only four times.
A serious blow to the Big Green in the Penn game was the injury to Captain Bill Vesprini, who tore some ligaments in his leg and was sidelined for three or four weeks. His place as offensive center has been taken by sophomore Mike Papantones, while on defense letterman John McNary has also helped to back up the line.
