Daybreak goes to Dartmouth

Show Notes

On this episode of Daybreak, Wilson Conn, Mark Dodici, and Hope Perry traveled to Hanover, New Hampshire for Princeton football’s game against Dartmouth. Listen in from the sideline as Daybreak follows the sound of the story. 

What is Daybreak?

The world moves fast. Daybreak keeps you up-to-date.

Enjoy everything you need to know to stay informed — on campus and off — in this digestible, efficient podcast. Daybreak is produced by Vitus Larrieu '26, Isabel Jacobson '25, and Eden Teshome '25 under the 147th Managing Board of The Daily Princetonian. The theme music was composed and performed by Ed Horan, and the cover art is by Mark Dodici.

This episode contains explicit language. Listener discretion is advised.

Hope + Mark cold open: You haven’t really lived until you’ve experienced the epic highs and lows of Princeton college football.

[start theme music]

Hope: For the Daily Princetonian, I’m Hope Perry.

Wilson: I’m Wilson Conn.

Mark: And I’m Mark Dodici. You’re listening to Daybreak.

Wilson: Today, Daybreak takes you to New Hampshire for this weekend’s Princeton Tigers football game. It’s Sunday, November 7th.

Hope: Mark, Wilson, and I left Princeton at five a.m. on game day to travel up to Hanover, New Hampshire, for the — at the time — undefeated Princeton Tigers’ football game against Dartmouth. This game was the 100th meeting between Dartmouth and Princeton, with the Big Green leading the series all-time with 50 wins, 45 losses, and four ties. The last time the teams met was in 2019 at Yankee Stadium in commemoration of the 150th year of college football. At that game, Dartmouth took home a 27–10 win and ended up tying for the Ivy League Championship with Yale. Of the 10 previous times the two times faced off before this weekend, the Big Green had come away with the win eight times.

Mark: With both teams in strong positions entering the matchup — Dartmouth 6–1 with just one loss to Columbia, and Princeton with seven wins and no losses, the game would put the Tigers in the driver’s seat towards the Ivy League Championship with two weeks left in the season. The game kicked off at six p.m. at Dartmouth’s Memorial Stadium, where it was a brisk 42 degrees.

[National Anthem audio from the Dartmouth band — carry this under the next line until the next ambi portion]

Hope: Mark and I were on the sideline for the game, and Wilson was up in the press box, where — and I have to mention this because it was truly a highlight of the night — there was chicken noodle soup.

[coin toss audio]

Wilson: Dartmouth won the coin toss but opted to defer to the second half, so it was Princeton’s ball to begin the game. On the second play of the first drive, Princeton senior quarterback Cole Smith completed a 10-yard pass to senior tight end Carson Bobo for a 10-yard pickup.

Hope: But the drive ended soon after as Smith took a huge sack on third down, forcing the Tigers to punt. In what felt like a cruel joke, Big Green quarterback Derek Kyler completed a quick drive that culminated in a Dartmouth touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Paxton Scott.

[touchdown audio ambi]

Mark: On the second play of the next Princeton drive, senior running back Collin Eaddy took the ball but landed badly on his ankle.

[ambi sideline audio “That doesn’t look good”]

Wilson: Eaddy had landed close to the Dartmouth sideline, so it was hard to see what was going on from the Tigers’ vantage point across the field. Players from both teams went over to offer words of encouragement as he was taken off the field in an air cast — an indication that he was unlikely to return for the rest of the night. Eaddy led the team in rush yards on the season coming into the game with 474.

[ambi of me saying “With Collin Eaddy being carted off the field just now, we’ve been stopped for a few minutes. This game just got a lot harder for the Princeton.”]

Mark: And indeed, the night did not get easier for Princeton as it wore on. Junior punter Will Powers was brought on to punt once again, and Dartmouth scored again with a successful pass from the quarterback to receiver Dale Chesson.

Wilson: And with the Princeton offense back on the field, a quick first down was followed by another punt as the Tigers were unable to convert on yet another third down in the opening of the second quarter. During just the first quarter, Princeton had only picked up 19 offensive yards, while allowing 127.

[band audio underneath here]

Mark: The Big Green continued to dominate on their next drive — quarterback Kyler completed to Chesson for 35 yards. The Tigers’ defense took Kyler down in a huge sack, and on the field, it looked like a fumble. At this point in the game, with Dartmouth up 14–0, a turnover would have been huge. We ran over to the turnover bell, which, as the name would suggest, Princeton players ring if they pick up possession while on defense.

[Ambi: “OH and it’s a huge sack...the ball’s on the ground...who comes away with it…? And it’s a Princeton ball, it’s a Princeton pickup! Oh my god! Time for the turnover bell...or maybe not yet?]

Hope: But the fumble was overturned by instant replay and Dartmouth kept control of the ball.

[“After further review...the player’s knee was down…”]

Wilson: Another chance for a turnover was lost when the Tigers dropped a potential interception and Dartmouth kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 17–0 midway through the 2nd quarter.

[“The Big Green is going for a field goal...and it’s good...”]

Hope: I’d like to note here for the listeners that I got a lot of weird looks for talking into my little handheld microphone. But, anything for the pod I guess.

Mark: The Tigers’ next drive started with a reverse to senior wide receiver Jacob Birmelin, which resulted in an 11-yard pickup. First-year running back John Volker gained 28 yards and the energy picked up on the Princeton sideline.

Hope: On the next third down, quarterback Smith completed to junior wide receiver Andrei Iosivas for 10 yards — the quarterback then ran for 10 yards on the next play. With the Tigers on the Dartmouth nine-yard line, you could cut the tension with a knife.

[sideline ambient audio]

Wilson: Senior wide receiver Dylan Classi caught an 8-yard pass and John Volker scored a touchdown on the next play with a one-yard run.

[cheering audio]

Mark: The Tigers pulled off a big stop against the Big Green on their next drive, but senior defensive back Delan Stallworth had to leave the field with an apparent injury. Stallworth accounted for 21 Tigers tackles over the past three games.

Hope: With time running out in the first half, the Tigers drove the ball down the field, landing at the Dartmouth 33 with just over a minute to play in the half. The Big Green got called on pass interference on a throw meant for Iosivas, setting up the Tigers on the Dartmouth 13. But Cole Smith was sacked by the Dartmouth defense again, which set up a 28-yard field goal for first-year kicker Jeffrey Sexton. With just seconds on the clock, the kick deflected off the helmet of one of the Princeton linemen, bouncing off the right upright. At halftime, the score was left at 17–7.

[field goal miss audio]

Hope: Coming into the second half, it was even colder.

[“To give you an idea of how cold it is for me and Mark here on the field, um, the microphone doesn’t know how much battery it has left. So, it’s a little chilly.”]

Mark: Though a big Dartmouth drive would have set the momentum firmly in the favor of the Northerners, Dartmouth had to punt and Birmelin caught a 12-yard pass from Smith to start off the Tigers’ next drive. But the momentum was short-lived as Powers came back out to punt just a few minutes later.

Wilson: Big Green running back Noah Roper was able to pick up 39 yards on the right sideline, but Princeton’s defense managed to shut down the at-first explosive drive with a big tackle for loss by junior Anthony Corbin. Princeton’s next possession didn’t lead to anything, but Dartmouth’s did.

Hope: The Big Green scored a touchdown to make it 24–7 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.

[touchdown score audio underneath “That’s a Dartmouth touchdown.”]

Mark: Princeton senior defensive back Trevor Forbes was called for targeting for a hit on the play, which officials confirmed via replay review. Forbes, one of Princeton’s star defenders all season, was ejected from the game.

[Me, Mark, sideline reaction to the call “So, there’s a targeting call here. We didn’t see it. But, they confirmed it, so that’s that.”]

Hope: Princeton quarterback Cole Smith threw a pick six with just seconds to play in the third quarter, putting Dartmouth ahead 31–7. Although there was another quarter to play, the game was all but over at this point. The temperature dropped to just above freezing as the game wore on, but team spirit on the sideline didn’t flag — Forbes returned to cheer on his teammates.

[“Dartmouth once again back on top, tied now with Princeton at the top of the Ivy League, standings now both 7-1, as we enter the final home game here next Saturday for the Big Green. Thanks again for attending tonight’s game…]

Wilson: At the end of the game, after post game handshakes, the team gathered around the Princeton University Marching Band to sing “Old Nassau.”

[“Old Nassau” audio]

Hope: After the game, Daybreak correspondent Wilson Conn spoke with Princeton Head Coach Bob Surace ’90.

[Wilson: All right, we'll keep it short. First off, what went wrong for you guys tonight?

Surace: Yeah, you just, we didn't execute little things, you know, they catch their touchdown for an interception we drop ours, they make their field goal we don't execute in the red zone. We didn't, you know, and when all those things happen one way it snowballs into what happened tonight and our guys fought you know, they played hard there's just, you know, you know, the the back to back short weeks certainly weren't the best you know, and I thought we had the mental and physical ability to handle it. You know, we just didn't seem the same today. Part of it's because they [Dartmouth] are really good.

Wilson: Yeah. What are what positives, if any, can you take from this game?

Surace: Oh, I thought our guys kept fighting. And you know, we made some adjustments defensively that really helped. You know, after the first couple series, they did a really good job driving the ball. And I thought offensively after the first two series, we did a really good job moving the ball. We didn't do great in the red zone. And that showed.

Wilson: Yeah, lastly, I know, there's not a lot of you haven't had a lot of time after the game so far. But do you have any update on Collin Eaddy?

Surace: I know they're gonna keep them overnight here. It's, you know, obviously it's a serious injury to his lower body. I don't know if I can go further than that. But, but it's a serious injury and very unfortunate.

Wilson: All right, thanks so much.

Surace: Thanks. Thank you guys. Thank you guys for coming.]

Mark: With the loss, Princeton and Dartmouth were tied for the top spot in the Ivy League with four wins and one loss in conference play. Yesterday, Yale beat the Brown bears to advance to foreign one as well. There's now a three way tie atop the conference standings. With just two games to play, things could get interesting. If Princeton wins out, beating Yale next weekend at home and Penn the weekend after in Philadelphia, they'll be guaranteed at least a share of a championship with Dartmouth. If they lose to Yale next Saturday, though, the chances look a lot slimmer, regardless of what the other two teams do over the next two weeks. Princeton's championship fate this season rests solely in its own hands.

Hope: That’s all for Daybreak today. This episode was written by Wilson Conn and myself, sound engineered by me, and produced under the 145th managing board of the ‘Prince.’ Our theme was composed by Ed Horan, class of 2022. For the Daily Princetonian, I’m Hope Perry. Have a wonderful day.