Dartmouth Runs Over Columbia 38-18 as Grayson Saunier Scores Three Touchdowns

A week ago, Grayson Saunier left Dartmouth's win over Merrimack with an injury in the first quarter. On Saturday in Manhattan, he ran for three touchdowns, the last of them a 68-yard dagger, and looked like a quarterback who had never been hurt in his life.

Dartmouth beat Columbia 38-18 at Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium, spoiling the Lions' 85th homecoming with a plan that was about as subtle as a snowplow. The Big Green ran 247 yards' worth of football at Columbia, scored all five of their touchdowns on the ground and then let the defense pick off three passes in the fourth quarter to close it out.

Dartmouth is now 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Ivy League, with two straight wins. Columbia, which arrived on a two-game winning streak and with a 4-1 record, falls to 4-2 and 1-2 in league play.

The plan, executed

There was no mystery to what Dartmouth wanted to do. Head coach Sammy McCorkle said it plainly afterward: "We knew we were going to have to run the football, establish the run, and I thought we did a good job of that."

The opening drive was the thesis statement. Eleven plays, 75 yards, and sophomore running back Myles Craddock finishing it with a 14-yard touchdown run on third-and-1. Columbia answered by driving to the Dartmouth 4, but the Big Green defense held, and the Lions settled for a Hugo Merry field goal. It was 7-3, and that red zone stop would matter more as the day went on.

In the second quarter, Jason Bish hauled in a 31-yard catch, and five plays later Jacob Henry scored from 3 yards out to make it 14-3 with 10:21 left in the half.

Columbia's passing game finally showed up. Junior receiver Hutch Crow caught a 30-yard touchdown pass, and suddenly it was 14-10. That is the version of Columbia that came from behind in three of its first four wins.

Dartmouth had the response ready. Saunier found James Elliott for gains of 20 and 36 yards, then punched it in himself from a yard out before halftime. The Big Green went to the locker room up 21-10.

The turning point: nine and a half minutes

If you want one drive that explains this game, it is the one that ended Columbia's afternoon in spirit, if not on the scoreboard.

Dartmouth went 83 yards in 15 plays and burned just over nine and a half minutes of the third quarter doing it. It was not pretty, and it was not supposed to be. Run, run, convert, run. Saunier capped it with another 1-yard touchdown with 2:52 left in the quarter, and the lead was 28-10.

For a Columbia offense built on throwing the ball, that drive was a nightmare. Senior quarterback Chase Goodwin came into the day leading the Ivy League with 1,489 passing yards and averaging nearly 300 a game. For most of the third quarter, he had nothing to do but watch.

Columbia did make one more push. Ten seconds into the fourth quarter, freshman receiver Bryce Coleman caught a 14-yard touchdown pass, and the Lions converted the two-point pass to make it 28-18. Coleman came in leading Columbia with 453 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, and he showed why. With nearly a full quarter left and a quarterback who can throw it, a 10-point game felt very much alive.

Then the Dartmouth secondary took over.

Three picks in the fourth

Senior safety Harrison Keith intercepted Goodwin first. Dartmouth could not cash that one in, as Owen Zalc's 54-yard field goal try came up empty. It did not matter. Junior defensive back Thai Brown picked off Goodwin next, and this time Zalc hit from 41 yards to push the lead to 31-18.

Then junior defensive back No'Koi Maddox joined the party with the third interception. After that pick, Saunier took off on a 68-yard touchdown run with 1:42 to play. Final: 38-18.

"The team that can get multiple turnovers, you're going to give yourself a really good chance," McCorkle said.

The pass rush did its part, too. Chris Chol and Keoni Perkins each had a sack, and McCorkle credited the front for speeding up Goodwin's clock. "I really just thought our guys did a really good job of putting pressure on the quarterback," he said, adding that it forced throws earlier and into tighter windows, with the secondary in position to make him pay.

The players who decided it

Craddock was the workhorse. The sophomore carried 23 times for 128 yards and a touchdown and set the tone on the first drive of the game. He is the kind of back who makes a game plan like this one possible, because he keeps getting four yards when the defense knows exactly what is coming.

Saunier was the closer. He ran for 96 yards and three scores, and he was efficient enough through the air to keep Columbia honest, completing 14 of 24 passes for 172 yards to 10 different teammates. His legs made the difference.

"We got guys. We got studs at every position on our offense," Saunier said. "If you want to win games, you've got to get the ball into those guys' hands."

McCorkle saved his loudest praise for the people who never touch the ball. "I just was really happy and impressed with the way our guys, especially up front," he said of an offensive line that opened hole after hole.

For Columbia, Crow and Coleman each found the end zone, and Merry added a field goal. But Goodwin's three fourth-quarter interceptions turned a competitive game into a comfortable one.

The stats that matter

Dartmouth averaged better than 5 yards a carry and finished with 247 rushing yards. In a game the Big Green controlled with the clock as much as the scoreboard, that number tells most of the story.

The other number is 209. That is how many yards Dartmouth allowed to a Lions offense that had been throwing for nearly 300 per game. Columbia's game plan depended on Goodwin getting comfortable, and he never did, especially once the Big Green had a lead to protect and could pin their ears back.

Then there is the turnover margin. Three takeaways in the fourth quarter alone, and the last two turned into 10 points. In a game that was 28-18 with 15 minutes left, that was the difference between a nervy finish and a 20-point win.

What it means

Dartmouth has now won five straight meetings in a series it led 74-20 coming in. Last year's meeting in Hanover was a 49-3 Dartmouth rout. This one was closer for a while, but it ended in the same place. Columbia is still searching for its first home win over Dartmouth since 2016.

For the Lions, the loss stings. Under third-year coach Jon Poppe, they had won three road games and rallied from 17 down to beat Penn 28-27 the week before. At 1-2 in the Ivy League, the margin for error is now very thin.

For Dartmouth, the reward was the biggest game on the schedule: a Friday night home game in Hanover against No. 15 Harvard, 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League. If Dartmouth wants to make the Ivy race interesting, the formula from Saturday, run the ball and make the quarterback uncomfortable, is not a bad starting point against anyone.

The last word

There is a version of Ivy League football that is all spread offenses and passing records. Dartmouth showed up in New York and played the other kind, the kind that wears on a defense one 4-yard run at a time until there is nothing left to defend.

McCorkle's postgame summary was short and correct. "Our running backs ran hard, our quarterback ran hard." On a homecoming afternoon in Manhattan, that was more than enough.

Sources: Valley News, Columbia Athletics game notes. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Stockton Photography.