Dartmouth 38, Columbia 14
It was cold and gray at Memorial Field the Friday afternoon before the Columbia game. The 33-man Columbia squad was going through a light workout and the Lions' Coach Lou Little, with his olive drab jacket collar turned up, had a bad cold.
"The team's a little tired, I think," he said, "but we should be 'up' for the game. He paused to cough and his voice was low and very husky. "We've had a rough schedule so far, you know, and now Bob Mercier, our halfback, has an inflamed groin and Mitch Price's leg is still a little weak."
Exactly 24 hours later Columbia had been defeated by a higher score than any opponent had run up against them in 27 consecutive games. The Dartmouth team, rebounding from five defeats and in top physical shape, played the best game of the season to defeat Columbia 38-14 and chalk up its second victory of the 1952 campaign.
The first half was an even contest. Dartmouth drew first blood on a pass from Jim Miller to Russ Smale that went 43 yards for a TD. But the Lions roared right back and drove downfield to the Dartmouth 11-yard line. When two of Mitch Price's passes failed, halfback John Valuska took a hand-off from Price on a beautiful fake and went unhindered around right end for the score that tied it up.
In the second period, with the Big Green line rushing Price constantly and Columbia unable to gain on the ground, Dartmouth's hopes of victory soared. Then the Big Green began to move aided by a 39-yard pass from Jim Miller to end Dave Thielscher which deposited the ball on the Columbia 10-yard line. But Columbia held at this point and after two of Miller's passes missed their mark, Hank Fry, Dartmouth's point-after specialist, trotted in and split the uprights for a field goal which gave the Indians a 10-7 halftime edge.
As both teams left the field the talk in the press box dwelled on predictions for the second half. Price's passes had been stopped before, but usually he managed to connect sometime during a game for at least one or two scores. He was, after all, the best passer in the Ivy Group and one of the best in the nation. In any event, it was still anybody's game and it looked like a tight one.
However, events proved otherwise. With the second half just two minutes old, Dartmouth tackle Parker Caswell and end John Patten fell on a Bob Merrier fumble on the Columbia 23-yard line. On the very next play Jim Miller, who completed 8 out of 18 passes in the game, tossed to Russ Smale in the end zone and Fry's placement sent the Indians out in front 17-7.
By this time the Columbia attack was really bogging down and Price's desperation passes were either being intercepted or going incomplete. A few minutes later the Lions booted from deep in their own territory and it was Russ Smale again. The diminutive halfback from West Catasauqua, Pa., playing his final home game along with 23 other seniors, took the ball on the dead run at the Columbia 40-yard line and headed goalward. With the aid of some good blocking he knifed through the Columbia team, bowled over a stumbling official and went over for the TD as the Fall Houseparty crowd of 9,000 cheered him to the echo. Minutes later, Smale again popped up, this time intercepting a Columbia pass to give Dartmouth the ball on the Lions' 16-yard line. Then Miller tossed to end Dave Thielscher, Fry converted and the score was 31-7. All this in ten minutes of the third period.
Columbia hit back briefly in the fourth period when Jerry Hampton intercepted one of Miller's passes and romped 43 yards to score, but it was obvious that the Lions were a tired ball club. Then three minutes later halfback Dick Calkins found a big hole in the Columbia line, scooted through, evaded the secondary and raced 52 yards for the final Dartmouth touchdown.
It was a team victory for the Indians with the defensive line and backs stopping Price cold (he gained 40 yards passing and lost 13 rushing, while the total Columbia offense for the game totaled a mere 100 yards) and the offensive team blocking and running as they hadn't all season. Russ Smale was far and away the top performer of the afternoon. He gained 37 yards rushing, ran back three punts for 61 yards and one score, caught two touchdown passes, and intercepted two passes for gains of 26 and 18 yards.
There could scarcely have been a more fitting climax to the Dartmouth home season and Dartmouth fans went away with the realization that the team had at long last reached its potential and that possibly it could get by Cornell and Princeton.
IN THE YALE BOWL: (Top) Jim Miller, Green quarterback, decides to run with the ball for a change and chalks up a good gain. (Below) More in character, he is shown handing off to Dick Collins in an off-tackle play that went for only a short gain despite the efforts of the Dartmouth blockers who can be seen hard at work.
