HANOVER — Ahead of the 2024 season, Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle said his running back room was “amped” to assume a greater responsibility in the team’s ground game.

The departure of Nick Howard, the program’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns, in conjunction with the offseason pivot away from the dual-quarterback system that has defined the Big Green offense in recent seasons, would ensure more touches for the backfield. McCorkle wanted to “get the ball in their hands as much as we possibly can.”

The group, led by senior Q Jones and junior D.J. Crowther, delivered on Saturday in Dartmouth’s season-opening 45-13 dismantling of Fordham at Memorial Field.

The Big Green needed only four plays and 112 seconds to score their first touchdown of the season, a 40-yard run from Jones that saw him scamper into the end zone nearly untouched.

What did the Colorado native see throughout the game and that play in particular?

“A lot of holes,” said Jones, whose 16 carries and 86 rushing yards were both team-high marks.

The in-game calculus from McCorkle was simple. Win the battle at the line of scrimmage, establish the run game with two physical backs in Jones and Crowther and the opposing defense will respond by loading the box, which opens up the passing game for senior Jackson Proctor, who completed 14-of-18 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns against one interception.

Fordham coach Joe Conlin was witness to what he described as “an invisible first half” during the opening 30 minutes as the Big Green opened up a 24-0 advantage.

And while the Rams showed “some glimpses” in the second half, he believed his team “should have been in a decent spot” to handle the Big Green’s two explosive rushing scores in the fourth quarter — one provided by Crowther on a 46-yard dash and the other by sophomore Grayson Saunier on a quarterback keeper.

Jones and Crowther combined for 169 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the win, stats which are really tribute to the guys who paved the way for the duo to get downhill, according to Jones.

“My tight ends and (offensive) lineman, they handle their business up front,” Jones said. “And to repay them, I try to get touchdowns, I try to get first downs, because it’s just a testament to all their hard work.”

Saturday’s takeaways

Big Green defense limits Capaldi in first start: Fordham starting quarterback CJ Montes, a 2023 Walter Payton Award finalist, did not play Saturday after sustaining a knee injury against Stony Brook, paving the way for Jack Capaldi to make his first start.

Entering the game, the Rams’ offensive line had struggled to protect its quarterbacks, surrendering 21 sacks in their opening three contests. Senior defensive end Josiah Green said the Big Green had identified Fordham’s offensive line as a weak point and wanted to make sure that they “broke them down as much as possible.”

Capaldi had been under duress for much of the first half when Green delivered a vicious, midsection-contorting hit on Capaldi, the first of Dartmouth’s four sacks on the day. Two plays later, Green chased Capaldi to the sideline and had an animated response after the whistle.

“A couple plays earlier, I missed him. I told my teammates I was going to get him next time and I got him,” Green said. “Coach (Aashon Larkins) talks about pursuit all day, every day. Angles beat speed any day of the week. So I knew I messed up the play earlier, took a better angle, and he got the worst of that.”

Capaldi, who Conlin said was not the issue Saturday, completed 23-of-43 passes for 187 yards, one touchdown and one interception in his first start.

■Special teams make special teams When senior cornerback Jordan Washington darted down the Dartmouth sideline in the third quarter after blocking Bennett Henderson’s field goal attempt, McCorkle was stride-for-stride with the trailing official.

McCorkle said he thinks he “pulled a hamstring” during Washington’s scoop-and-score, but that he beat the referee in the foot race.

“I’m a special teams guy deep down, so you obviously get excited, pumped up for stuff like that,” said McCorkle, a two-time special teams player of the year at Florida.

On the heels of a first team All-Ivy selection in his debut season in Hanover, sophomore kicker Owen Zalc, who hit 17-of-21 field goals as a freshman, nailed his first field goal attempt of the season, a 40-yarder.

Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.