A first-ever ranking of Dartmouth's 10 most memorable football games
#10 War Without Helmets
1919-Dartmouth 20, Penn 19
In 1918, the world was at war and college football was on hold. In 1919, the boys came home and football resumed. Penn, one of the nation's premier teams, had shut out its last four opponents in 1917 and four of its five foes in 1919 before losing to Penn State, one of unbeaten Dartmouth's victims two weeks earlier. Clarence "Fat" Spears ' 17, a 5-foot-6-inch, 235-pound All-America guard in 1914 and 1915, was coaching Dartmouth. A cherubic face belied the barroom vocabulary that Spears needed to manage the likes of Bill Cunningham '19, Swede Youngstrom '18 and Gus Sonnenberg '20, the gorilla lineman who liked to pull hotel radiators out of the floor and later reigned for years as the world heavyweight wrestling champion. This renegade bunch, along with Jack Cannell' 19 and Jim Robertson '20 in the backfield, had been to war. It was war of a different kind as Dartmouth and Penn collided before a packed house at the Polo Grounds in New York. When the bloody battle was done, Dartmouth had prevailed, 20-19, establishing the Green among the nation's best elevens. A week later, the Green lost an unbeaten season against Brown in Boston, 7-6.
#9 Two-Minute Thrill
1996-Dartmouth 24, Penn 22
Dartmouth's only 10-0 season hinged on the opening game at Memorial Field between teams ranked No. 1 (Dartmouth) and No. 2 in Ivy League preseason polls. Penn had beaten Dartmouth three consecutive years. With less than three minutes to play, Penn erased Dartmouth's 18-7 lead and was clinging to a 22-18 advantage. Then Jon Aljancic '97, the southpaw quarterback, engineered a gutsy 12-play, 55yard drive. Three years of chasing Penn were erased by Aljancic's 8-yard touchdown pass to a diving Eric Morton '97 with 19 seconds left to play. The season produced equally tense and memorable cliffhangers at Harvard (63) and against Brown (27-24). As Murry Bowden '76, co-captain of Dartmouth's 1970 undefeated team, said, "There's a saying in Texas that if you've done it, it ain't bragging." In 1996, Dartmouth did it.
#8 Marinaro Wasn't Enough
1971-Dartmouth 24, Cornell 14
Dartmouth's hopes for its third straight Ivy League title were on the line as undefeated Cornell, riding the broad shoulders of its Heisman Trophy candidate, Ed Marinaro, came to Memorial Field. A week earlier, Dartmouth's 15-game winning streak ended in the last minute at Columbia, 31-29. An overflow crowd of 20,819 expected Marinaro and Cornell to prevail. Not so. At the half, Dartmouth led 17-0. Marinaro carried 44 times, gained 177 yards and scored both Cornell touchdowns during a secondhalf rally. Then Dartmouth's Steve Stetson '73, starting his first game at quarterback, hit split end Tyrone Byrd '73 with the touchdown pass that put it away. Five interceptions and two fumble recoveries were the defensive contributions. A week later, Dartmouth routed Princeton and Cornell did the same to Penn. Both finished 8-1 as Ivy cochamps. Marinaro was runner-up to Auburn's Pat Sullivan in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
#7A Fitting Collapse
1973-Dartmouth 24, Harvard 18
Dartmouth won or shared the Ivy League title from 1969 to 1972, but the Green stood at 1-3 as it came to Harvard Stadium in 1973. The Crimson expected to bury Dartmouth but fell behind, 24-3. Harvard came back in the second half, but three classic goal-line stands preserved this pivotal game, which propelled Dartmouth to its fifth straight Ivy crown. Reggie Williams '76, a sophomore who would become a three-time All- Ivy first team selection (an honor shared with defensive end Tom Csatari '74, his senior teammate in 1973), was starting his first game at middle linebacker. Williams, with linebacker Rick Gerardi and defensive backs Don Smith and Frank Turner '75, created an inspirational effort that earned the Green's defensive unit the Boston football writers' weekly Gold Helmet Award. "It's the only time I collapsed in the locker room after a game," said Williams, who later played in two Super Bowls during a 13 -year career with the Cincinnati Bengals. "It was a physical and emotional draining."
#6 The Jinx Gets Put On Notice
1931 - Dartmouth 33, Yale 33
In 1884, Yale beat Dartmouth, 113-0. Thus began the history of the Yale Jinx. In seven subsequent meetings with the Elis, Dartmouth didn't score a point. That ignominious statistic ended with the 14-14 tie in 1924, but the winless streak continued until 1935. During the 19305, the Yale-Dartmouth series took on a personality all its own. It began in 1931 when Albie Booth, Yale's Little Boy Blue, led one of the nation's best teams to a 5-1-2 record. The loss was to Georgia; one tie with Army. The Dartmouth tie seemed improbable as heavily favored Yale moved to a commanding 33-10 lead in the Bowl. Then the tide turned. BillMcCall '32 returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. A blocked kick produced another. McCall made a one-handed interception and sprinted 60 yards for a third. The score was suddenly Yale 33, Dartmouth 30. Dartmouth charged again but Yale stood its ground. As dusk cloaked the Bowl, McCall held the ball and All-America quarterback Bill Morton '32 booted a 34-yard field goal. As they said in Cambridge in 1968, when Harvard scored 16 points in the last 42 seconds and tied the Elis at 29, Dartmouth had "beaten"Yale, 33-33.
#5Burying the Jinx
1935 - Dartmouth 14, Yale 6
It was Earl Blaik's second season as Dartmouth's coach. His squad was unbeaten, and Yale had lost only to Army as they met again in the Bowl. As the game began, Jack Kenny '36, the Dartmouth captain and quarterback, slipped into the Yale huddle. "Let's have some fun today, boys," he said. And Dartmouth did. Halfback Pop Nairne '36 gave Dartmouth a 70 lead. Yale countered with Charlie Ewart's long punt return. The extra point hit the cross bar, no good. Six times Dartmouth drove inside Yale's 10-yard line but failed to score. It remained 7-6 until the waning minutes, when linebacker Carl "Mutt" Ray '37 intercepted a pass at Yale's 12 and stretched across the goal line. With two minutes to play, Dartmouth fans tore down the goal posts. The 51-year-old Jinx was dead at last.
#4 The Little Landslide
1970-Dartmouth 10, Yale 0
Generations will debate which is the greatest Dartmouth football team ever: the 1925 national champions, the 1965 or 1970 Lambert Trophy winnersor the 1996 Sill team that won ten times. On the last day of October 1970, more than 60,000! fans at Yale Bowl watched coach Bob Blackman '37's last Green team stake its claim. Yale and Dartmouth entered the Bowl with identical 5-0 records. In the game, Yale never came close to scoring. Dartmouth netted 480 yards of total offense. Yale had 190. Dartmouth ran 86 plays, Yale 57. Jim Chasey '71, the Ivy League co-player of the year, passed for 237 yards. Halfback Brendan O'Neill '72 scored Dartmouth's touchdown. Wayne Pirmann '72, after playing a morning soccer game against Yale in Hanover, had a private plane waiting to fly him to New Haven. He arrived by halftime and added a third-period field goal. No opponent scored against Dartmouth for the rest of the season. Dartmouth finished 9-0 and was ranked No. 14 nationally in the polls. It was "the most lopsided 10-0 game in Ivy League history," wrote Worcester Telegram sports editor Roy Mumpton. Blackman had his third undefeated team in 16 seasons at Dartmouth. In December, he departed for new challenges at Illinois.
#3 Victory by Telegram
1940-Dartmouth 3, Cornell 0
Cornell, riding an 18-game win streak and Catop the national rankings, was an over- whelming favorite. But Earl Blaik's underdog Green held the Ithacans scoreless and took a 3-0 lead on Bob Krieger '41's 27-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. Then referee Red Friesell's worst nightmare unfolded. In the confusing final seconds of play, he lost track of downs. Despite protests from the Dartmouth bench and his head linesman, Friesell awarded Cornell another play. The historic fifth-down touchdown pass produced a Cornell win, 7-3. Game films revealed the truth, and two days later Friesell admitted his error in a telegram to Dartmouth captain Lou Young '4l. Telegrams from Cornell coach Carl Snavely and athletic director James Lynah said the Cornell squad had voted to concede the game. It remains the only game in Dartmouth football history not decided on the field.
#2 Passing Fancy
1925-Dartmouth 62, Cornell 13
On Nov.3, 1923, in the dedication game of $275,000 Memorial Field, George Pfann and Cornell destroyed Dartmouth, 32-7. Then Dartmouth embarked on a string of 21 wins and one tie that was finally ended by, you guessed it, Yale (in 1926). Dartmouth's revenge on Cornell came during that streak, when the Big Red returned to Memorial Field on Nov. 7, 1925. En route to the national championship and an undefeated (8-0) season that would be affirmed a week later with a 33-7 rout of Chicago, then a solid Big Ten team, coach Jesse Hawley unveiled a passing attack (an uncommon weapon in that era since the pigskin was shaped like a rugby ball) built on the strong arm of halfback Jim "Swede" Oberlander '26. Arecord crowd of 12,000 watched Oberlander use four secret plays that Hawley designed to devastate Gil Dobie's Cornellians. Oberlander threw six touchdown passes, still a Dartmouth single-game record, and ran for another score as the Green dominated. The popular strategy of the day was for a team to kick off after being scored against, hoping to gain favorable field position. As the game wore on, Cornell foolishly kept kicking off. And Dartmouth kept scoring. Dartmouth's attack "would have broken the Hindenburg line," wrote famed sportswriter Grantland Rice.
#1 Taming of the Tigers
1965-Dartmouth 28, Princeton 14
This game had all the essential ingredients for greatness: Two undefeated teams. High stakes. Plenty of big plays and trick plays. And a come-from-behind victory. Princeton was riding a 17-game win streak as the Tigers prepared to play undefeated (8-0) Dartmouth at Palmer Stadium. Bob Blackman's team was loose and spirited during a Friday afternoon workout at Yankee Stadium. He had tricks up his sleeve. The first came four minutes into the game when sophomore defensive back Sam Hawken '68, wearing cross-country shoes, ran up the backs of two linemen and leaped to rattle Princeton's great placekicker, Charlie Gogolak The crowd of 45,725 was as surprised as Gogolak. Problem: Hawken's timing was off. He leaped into the Tiger backfield before Princeton snapped the ball. Dartmouth was penalized. But the message was delivered. Gogolak tried again—and missed. Dartmouth erased Princeton's 7-0 lead and built a 21 -7 advantage when quarterback Mickey Beard '67 delivered a pass to Bill Calhoun '67 for 79 yards, the longest pass play to that date in Dartmouth history. The win was secure, and the Big Green had just played its most memorable game. The 12-member Lambert Trophy committee certainly was impressed, voting to award the trophy to Dartmouth, the best team in the East.
A Dartmouth sweep goes for a 20-yard gain against Penn at the Polo Grounds.
Senior receiver Zach Ellis caught six passes for 91 yards in the comeback victory.
Quarterback Stetson's heroics earned him player-of-the-game honors over Ed Marinaro, Cornell's Heisman Trophy candidate.
Reggie Williams (63) was quite a hit in his first start at middle linebacker.
Dartmouth, wearing dark jerseys, rallied with 23 unanswered points to almost break the longstanding Jinx.
Students bade farewell to the Yale Jinx by erectting a mock tombstone on the College Green.
Quarterback Jim Chasey led the Big Green to its unforgettable 9-0 season.
Dartmouth eventually won the historic Fifth-Down Game, but not until two days after it was played.
Oberlander was involved in seven touchdowns against CornOberlander was involved in seven touchdowns against Cornel
"I was really the decoy, but the other receivers were covered," said Bill Calhoun of his 79-yard touchdown catch.
