Penn drops Ivy League opener to Dartmouth in coach Rick Santos’ return to New Hampshire
After a slow start, the offense found momentum in the low-scoring contest, but Big Green star running back Myles Craddock punched in a game-winning touchdown.
Penn lost, 14-10, to Dartmouth in a fourth-quarter flurry on Saturday in Hanover, N.H.
For three quarters, neither team gained the upper hand. But in the fourth quarter, the Big Green responded to a go-ahead Quakers touchdown with a game-winning score of their own in both teams’ Ivy League opener.
On the last play of the game, as freshman quarterback Miles Teodecki desperately sought to throw the ball upfield, Dartmouth (1-2, 1-0 Ivy League) recorded its first sack of the season to seal the win.
Figuring it out
Penn head coach Rick Santos stressed the importance of first- and second-down efficiency entering Saturday’s game, but the first quarter looked like a repeat of last week’s loss for Penn’s offense. The Quakers (1-2, 0-1) punted on both of their drives and struggled to sustain offensive momentum while Dartmouth scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Grayson Saunier to Ky’Dric Fisher. Saunier threw for 173 yards on 13-of-15 passing.
But Penn’s offense woke up in the second quarter. The Quakers put themselves in field-goal range twice and converted one, a 26-yarder to cap a 10-play, 71-yard drive. Meanwhile, they held the Big Green to just 59 yards in the quarter.
Teodecki looked more comfortable this week and flashed the dual-threat abilities he impressed fans with against Bucknell. He was Penn’s leading rusher with 54 yards.
The quarterback also started to find his passing rhythm with a fellow freshman, wide receiver Mason Page. Page had eight receptions for a game-high 64 yards, including a 19-yard pass from Teodecki. Teodecki completed 27 of 39 passes for 214 passing yards on Saturday compared to 133 last week against Lehigh.
» READ MORE: First-year Penn coach Rick Santos made major starting quarterback decision before season begins
Fourth-quarter flurry
The teams were gridlocked, 7-3, entering the final quarter and statistically neck and neck across the board.
Dartmouth missed a trio of field-goal attempts in the second and third quarter, and, while Penn’s field goal put them on the board, untimely penalties erased the potential for more.
But the Quakers finally got an edge on their opening drive of the fourth quarter, when senior running back Sean Williams Jr. capped a 16-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run for his team’s first lead of the day.
But Dartmouth responded quickly, gaining 75 yards on eight plays and scoring a rushing touchdown of their own via a 2-yard run by running back Myles Craddock, whom Santos pointed out as a player Penn’s defense needed to watch. Though Craddock gave the Big Green the winning touchdown, the Quakers kept him to 85 rushing yards; he put up 140 yards in Dartmouth’s previous game against Monmouth.
Up next
Penn returns to Franklin Field to suit up against nonconference opponent Howard next Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+).
