Sept. 20, 2008, Hamilton, NY – Colgate 34, Dartmouth 20
It seemed good things would be in store for Dartmouth in 2008 when the Big Green took a 20-13 into the final minute of the third quarter over the opener at always-tough Colgate.
Even though Dartmouth couldn’t hold onto the lead, Alex Jenny’s 29 completions and 343 passing yards in just his second career start and Phil Galligan’s 10 catches for 146 yards hinted at an exciting season.
But a lopsided loss against New Hampshire a week later and a hard-fought loss to Penn in the Ivy League opener took the steam out of the Big Green, which would go on to finish the season still searching for its first win.
In a quick hole at Colgate after quarterback Greg Sullivan hit lanky Pat Simonds with a 41-yard touchdown pass on the Raiders third play from scrimmage (the PAT failed) Dartmouth cut the lead in half as Jenny drove the Big Green to the 22 and Foley Schmidt came on to boot a 39-yard field goal.
Dartmouth took its first lead as Jenny completed passes of 19 yards to Galligan, 10 yards to Milan Williams and 19 yards to Eric Paul before Williams scooted in from the six for a 10-6 lead at 11:46 of the second period.
A Colgate touchdown and a Schmidt field goal of 26 yards sent the teams to the locker room tied at 13.
Dartmouth went back in front 20-13, midway through the third quarter with Jenny hitting Paul for 49 yards to the Gate three and three plays before finding Paul from the same yard line for the go-ahead score.
The Raiders responded with a touchdown to make it 20-20 but Dartmouth fought right back again as Jenny drove the Green from their own 36 to the Colgate 4.
But Schmidt’s 21-yard field goal was blocked and the Raiders proceeded to march 80 yards for the go-ahead score that made it 27-20.
Dartmouth tried one more time to answer, marching from its own 15 to the Colgate 17 before two sacks ended the bid. A quick Colgate scoring drive then essentially ended the game.
Pete Pidermann had 12 tackles and Andrew Dete nine, including two for a loss.
