Dartmouth 14, Syracuse 0
Dartmouth continued its winning ways, initiated the week before against the hapless Black Knights of the Hudson, by decisively defeating a burly Syracuse team on Memorial Field by the score of 14-0. The Green entered this contest as the decided underdog, with Syracuse the favorite on the strength of its early promise and despite subsequent defeats by Cornell and Illinois. Coach McLaughry's pupils showed, however, a commendable alertness, an increasing offensive punch, and an overall will to win which combined to render the victory even more one-sided than the score would indicate.
After the drab offensive performances of the early games, the Green uncovered several new and potentially devastating weapons both on the ground and through the air. Sophomore Jim Miller continued to direct the team at quarterback with striking coolness and savoir faire, and his tosses to sophomore end Dave Thielscher suggested happy days ahead for the Green in this department. Sophomore Dick Jennison played most of the game at offensive fullback, scored both touchdowns, and was the leading ground gainer for Dartmouth on his powerful dashes through the middle of the Syracuse line on quick-openers. The veteran Charlie Curtis, playing his final year for Dartmouth, covered his defensive assignments with superlative skill and contributed several dashing punt returns to the afternoon's festivities. So good was Curtis' performance, indeed, that after the game Captain Bill Vesprini presented the football used in the game to Charlie as a token of the esteem of the team for the latter's valiant efforts.
The first half of the game was a scoreless tie, with both teams unable to hang on to the ball. Syracuse fumbled the kickoff, Dartmouth recovered only to fumble themselves, Syracuse recovered and fumbled on their first attempt. After that, the boys managed to pull themselves together, although each side contributed five bobbles apiece throughout the performance.
In the third period, Dartmouth scored its first touchdown, after a penalty against Syracuse for unnecessary roughness had put the ball in Dartmouth's possession on the Orange 1-yard line. Prior to that time, Dartmouth had recovered a Syracuse fumble on the visitors' 37, which was followed by two successful Miller passes, one to John McDonald and the other to Dave Thielscher. This brought the ball to the Syracuse 15, after which came the penalty. Hence the Green would probably have scored without the penalty, but it certainly made things easier. Jennison then crashed over for the score. Hank Fry converted for his eighth straight successful attempt, to be followed shortly by his ninth. He had not missed one since the Fordham game.
In the fourth period, Charlie Curtis started the ball rolling by another of his hell-for-leather punt returns, which took him past midfield to the Syracuse 44. On the next play, Jennison took a hand-off from Miller and burst through the line between his own left guard and tackle. He kept on going and propelled his 200 pounds past the Syracuse secondary toward the goal, which he crossed standing up, to the delight of his teammates and the majority of the clients in the stands. In the final moments of the game, Dick Brown, substituting for Jim Miller, tried a quarterback sneak from the Dartmouth 9-yard line, broke through, and raced 91 yards for an apparent touchdown, only to have the play called back on a backfield-in-motion penalty. These frustrated heroics came, as noted, in the closing minutes of the game, after Dartmouth had halted the most serious Syracuse threat of the afternoon inside the 10-yard line.
