HANOVER, N.H. -- In a battle of field position dictated by defense, Dartmouth made a of couple extra plays to escape with a 10-0 victory over Cornell on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field. With the loss, the Big Red slipped into second place (3-5, 3-2 Ivy), one game behind Yale atop the Ivy standings. The Big Green stopped a two-game skid and improved to 6-2 (3-2 Ivy).
Cornell held the home school to 299 yards of offense, its third game this season limiting an opponent to under 300 yards, but could only muster a season-low 249 yards itself in having its three-game conference win streak snapped.
Dartmouth got a hard-fought 119 rushing yards from Ryder Stone and a 23-yard first quarter touchdown connection from Jack Heneghan to Hunter Hagdorn that kept the Big Red chasing throughout.
The Big Red defense was outstanding, breaking up 10 passes and intercepting another. Cornell forced three-and-outs on six of the home team's first seven possessions, but punted itself on 12 straight. Five of those came in the third quarter with the Big Red playing the field position game, and five of those were downed inside the 15.
Two-time defending Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week
Nickolas Null was outstanding, punting 12 times for a net average of 35.3 yards per kick and seven being stopped inside the Dartmouth 20. His only kickoff was put through the end zone for a touchback, his 11th straight this year.
Senior
Nick Gesualdi had nine tackles and a pair of pass breakups, sophomore
Jelani Taylor had six stops and four pass breakups and junior
DJ Woullard knocked down three other throws.
David Jones had his first career interception. Linebackers
Kurt Frimel and
Reis Seggebruch each made eight tackles, as did senior safety
Justin Solomon.
Junior quarterback
Dalton Banks completed 15-of-36 passes for 184 yards, with
Owen Peters hauling in five passes for 82 yards. Sophomore
Harold Coles had 38 rushing yards to lead the run game, which was stymied most of the afternoon by the Big Green defense.
Notes to Know
• Junior
Dalton Banks became the fifth player in Cornell history to surpass 4,000 career passing yards, ending his night with 4,132 yards.
• Senior
Nick Gesualdi's nine tackles pushed him to 14th on the school's all-time list (232).
• Sophomore
Owen Peters had a career-best 82 receiving yards on five catches.
• Sophomore
Nickolas Null's seven punts downed inside the 20 established a school record, supassing the six by Drew Alston (2009 vs. Bucknell), Nick Maxwell (2008 vs. Yale) and Chris Fraser (2016 vs. Sacred Heart).
• Sophomore
Jelani Taylor had four pass breakups, a mark that ranks tied for second at cornell in a single game and is two off Aaron VanderKaay's six at Penn in 1997.
• The Big Red defense limited its fourth opponent this season to 300 or fewer yards, something it hasn't done since 2005.
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Next Up
• The Big Red will close its home schedule when Columbia visits Schoellkopf Field on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1:30 p.m.
• The contest will be played for the Empire State Bowl (Big Red leads Empire State Bowl series 5-2) and will be televised on SNY and simulcast on the Ivy League Network.
• Cornell will be looking to extend its four-game win streak in the series and its 65-36-3 edge all-time.
• The Big Red will honor its 25 seniors prior to the game on Senior Day.
