HANOVER, N.H. -- From the misadventures of a field goal kicker to Dartmouth's woes in protecting its punter, the 17-point disparity in the final score of Penn's win over the Big Green on Saturday is nearly all attributed to special teams.
The contrast was like night and day.
On one side was Penn kicker Derek Zoch, who effortlessly converted all four of his field goal attempts with room to spare and converted both of his extra point tries.
"We have a kid who's a work in progress," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said about the sophomore. "But he's a pretty talented kid"
On the other side was Dartmouth's Erik Hinterbichler, who could not catch a break all day. His first attempt, a 32-yard try in the first quarter, hit the right upright. Then, as time expired in the first half, he put a 24-yard kick off the left upright.
"He hit them both well," Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said. If he hits the inside of the upright, it's three points and we don't feel badly about it. If he hits the outside, it's rejection."
Even after the Big Green was finally able to push the ball into the end zone in the fourth quarter, it was rejection once again as Hinterbichler's awkward kick off a bad hold barely made it halfway to the goalposts.
But the differences in special went far beyond the field goal units.
Before the game, Dartmouth made a change at the punting position, inserting 6-foot-5 Brian Scullin to replace the 5-9 Hinterbichler.
Scullin wasn't quite tall enough.
In the second quarter, with Penn leading 3-0, the ball was snapped over the head of Scullin, who picked it up, and was smothered by Penn's Scott Williams. Williams then returned the fumbled ball to the Dartmouth 19-yard line, which led to another Zoch field goal.
In the fourth quarter, with the Quakers ahead 23-9, the punt block team again went to work as Casey Edgar got his hands on a Scullin punt deep in Big Green territory, leading to another Zoch field goal.
While the offense was unable to take full advantage of the two plays, they did help the Quakers win the battle for field position.
"We really swung some field position over when we had to swing it over," Bagnoli said.
When the punt block unit couldn't get a hand on the ball, Adam Francks and Casey Edgar did not let them down.
The senior defensive backs combined to return four punts for 33 yards despite little room to maneuver.
The Big Green, on the other hand, was unable to earn a single return yard, with Penn punter Anthony Melillo receiving a few lucky bounces, including one that resulted in a 63-yard kick.
So whether it was drawn up or by luck, everything on special teams was going Penn's way.
And it's no surprise that everything on the scoreboard was going Penn's way also.
Deciding factors - Penn kicker Derek Zoch connected on field goals of 35, 37, 24 and 23 yards without missing a kick - Dartmouth's Erik Hinterbichler missed two field goals off the upright and put an extra point short - The Quakers blocked a punt and caused a fumble after a bad snap on another punt
