JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Make that a full decade of season-opening victories for the Dartmouth College football team, which trounced Jacksonville University on both sides of the ball for a 35-6 victory at Jacksonville’s D.B. Milne Field on Saturday afternoon.
Like previous season-opening wins, this one wasn’t close.
The Big Green (1-0) led 28-0 at halftime and never looked back, allowing a fourth quarter score by the Dolphins (1-2) to miss out on a shutout.
Quarterback duo Jared Gerbino and Derek Kyler combined for 186 passing yards and four touchdowns, part of Dartmouth’s 427 total yards on 65 plays.
The Big Green entered the game as heavy favorites and would have covered the spread if not for a goal line fumble late in the game.
Saturday saw a breakout performance by the multidimensional Drew Estrada, who scored twice on touchdown passes from Kyler. He led the team with 104 receiving yards and 79 rushing yards, including a 62-yard scamper on the Big Green’s first play from scrimmage.
“It was definitely a career game for me,” said Estrada, who led Dartmouth with 27 catches in nine games last fall. “It’s a good start to the season. ... We always want to start with a win, as expected, but ideal circumstance for us.”
Added Teevens: “He’s fun to watch. ... We want to put him in a position to do as many things as he’s capable of doing. He’s just real smart with the football. A real savvy football player.”
Dartmouth has held season-opening opponents to seven points or less in its last three seasons — a 38-7 win over Stetson in 2017 and a 41-0 win over Georgetown last fall — and has not lost an opener since a 34-14 defeat against Colgate in 2009.
The Big Green, who were 9-1 overall and finished second in the Ivy League last season, host the Raiders next week for their home opener; Colgate fell to 0-4 with a 35-21 loss to Maine on Saturday.
“It’s a benefit to the teams we’re playing, who have lined up for two or three weeks. We’ve just got to overcome it,” said Teevens, who’s team annually is one of the last in the country to open its season. “I think we’re conditioned now to know what we need to do and go out and execute.”
Added Estrada: “For some reason, it seemed like we were waiting even longer. I don’t know why. But we’re always ready to get out there. It’s nice to be fresh.”
The Big Green scored on four of their five first-half drives, putting the game out of reach by the halftime intermission.
Dartmouth needed five plays to open the scoring, a 62-yard run by Estrada that ended four plays later in the end zone on a drive up the middle by senior Caylin Parker from the goal line. It added to the lead with five yard touchdown pass to Joe Kramer from quarterback Jared Gerbino with 1 minute and 47 seconds left to go in the opening stanza.
In the second quarter, Dartmouth quarterback Derek Kyler found Estrada for a 26-yard touchdown pass and Gerbino hooked up again with Kramer from three yards out. Kyler found Estrada again midway through the third quarter for a 13-yard score, putting the Big Green up, 35-0.
The Big Green were just as good defensively, forcing Jacksonville to punt three times and broke up a fourth down conversion attempt. They held the Dolphins to just six first downs and 137 yards in the first half.
Jacksonville found some life late in the third quarter and into the fourth thanks to a herculean effort from junior quarterback Calvin Turner Jr., who led the Dolphins in rushing with 95 yards on 18 carries and was 7-for-11 with 106 passing yards. He found Craige Saxton from 5-yards out for Jacksonville’s only score 1:52 into the final stanza.
Gerbino, a run-first option under center last season, and Kyler, more of a traditional pocket passer a year ago, also combined for 59 rushing yards on 10 carries, each showing some dual threat potential. Jake Pallotta saw some playing time in the fourth quarter, going 6-for-7 for 36 passing yards.
“Gerbino, we really put an emphasis on throwing the football, and he did a much better job of putting the ball on the money,” Teevens said. “Kyler, running the football a little bit. We like for both guys to have a balance. They offset each other fairly effectively.
“We play two (quarterbacks), we’ll play two all year long.”
NOTES: Dartmouth played Saturday’s game without All-American corner Isiah Swann, last year’s NCAA Division I leader with nine interceptions, and wide receiver Hunter Hagdorn, who is 10th all-time at Dartmouth in receptions and yardage. ... Announced attendance was 2,077 at D.B. Milne Field, with many wearing Dartmouth apparel. ... The Big Green practiced at the Jacksonville Jaguars’ facilities on Friday night. ... Next week’s game against Colgate is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Memorial Field.