Ithaca, n.y.
The artificial surface was covered by snow shortly before the Ivy League game, but the grounds crew did an admirable plowing job and the Big Green was driving the Big Red backward as well, leading 21-0 after a quarter.
The second stanza was not nearly as successful for the visitors, who were up, 21-17, at halftime. However, scoring drives on two of Dartmouth’s first three possessions after the break quelled thoughts of an upset. Dartmouth had 242 yards rushing while allowing only 92, and wildcat formation quarterback and Rush, N.Y., native Jared Gerbino carried 19 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns in front of approximately 100 friends and family.
“We got up a bunch and relaxed a bit … and we didn’t tackle well, really the first time that’s happened this season,” said Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, his face ruddy after enduring temperatures in the 20s and wind chills in the teens. “We squeezed our guys a little bit at the half and came back and did a much better job.
“The first drives of the second half were key. The offense went the length of the field and scored, and our defense made them go three-and-out. The offensive line kicked it into gear, and the defense harassed the quarterback the whole second half.”
Dartmouth improved to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in Ivy play. The Big Green needs to defeat visiting Brown (1-8, 0-6) this week and have Penn (6-3, 3-3) upset Princeton (9-0, 6-0) to claim a share of its first Ancient Eight crown since 2015.
Cornell (3-6, 2-4) lost a chance for its first winning season since 2005 despite converting three of four chances on fourth down. The Big Red converted only four of 15 cracks at third down, but coach David Archer said he had confidence after watching video of the Big Green’s previous games.
“They had 18 third-and-1s or fourth-and-1s or fourth-and-2s this season and had given up first downs on 14 of them,” Archer said. “We thought it was something we could take advantage of. I had to block it out sometimes and pretend it wasn’t fourth-and-1 on (our) 30.”
Dartmouth won the coin toss for the eighth time this season and deferred before forcing Cornell to punt on the game’s opening drive. The Big Green then drove 70 yards in five plays, quarterback Derek Kyler completing passes of 17 and 26 yards to Drew Estrada before chucking a 27-yard touchdown pass to lineman-turned-tight end Jake Guidone. The big man bobbled the ball like a juggler before crossing the goal line, and Connor Davis kicked the first of his five extra points for a 7-0 lead.
Cornell’s next drive ended when Isiah Swann intercepted his school-record eighth pass of the season. The cornerback needs two more to break the Dartmouth career mark held by Scott Sims (1988) and Lloyd Lee (1997). The pick led to another Kyler touchdown, this one of 22 yards to tight end J.J. Jones, that capped a six-play, 60-yard drive and led to a 14-0 score.
Another Cornell three-and-out handed Dartmouth the ball on the Big Red’s 37-yard line and, six plays later, Rashaad Cooper ran seven yards untouched for a touchdown. The visitors led, 21-0, with two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Cornell, which lost, 66-0, to Princeton two weeks ago, avoided another blowout. The Big Red scored on Harold Coles’ 7-yard run, a 43-yard Zach Mays field goal and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dalton Banks to Coles, all before intermission. The last of those strikes saw Coles run over Dartmouth nickel back Kyran McKinney-Crudden, usually one of the Big Green’s surest defenders.
“The fact that we weren’t tackling effectively was really problematic,” said Teevens, whose team played without injured standout linebacker Jack Traynor. “We had first hits, but guys were bouncing off and getting breakaway runs.”
Dartmouth received the second-half kickoff and drove 75 yards in 13 plays. Gerbino carried the ball on the last three snaps, including a 1-yard run into the end zone. The Big Green led, 28-17, and soon got the ball back McKinney-Crudden recovered a fumble at the hosts’ 18-yard line. Gerbino again sliced into paydirt from a yard and, at 35-17, the game was mostly over with six minutes to play in the third quarter.
Cornell closed the scoring on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Banks to Lars Pedersen with four minutes remaining, but Dartmouth’s backups were on the field for much of the final stanza.
Cooper rushed 14 times for 73 yards and a touchdown and Estrada caught four passes for 53 yards. Kyler completed 12 of 20 passes and two touchdowns and had one throw intercepted. Gerbino connected on one of four passes for 10 yards, and Nigel Alexander, playing in Traynor’s place, had a team-high 14 tackles.
“Today was big, coming off last week with a lot of emotions in the air,” said Gerbino, referring to his team’s heartbreaking 14-9 loss at Princeton. “We just stuck to our game plan and fought through that feeling from last week, because we didn’t want to lose again.
“We’re not going to finish 10-0 like we wanted, but only a handful of Dartmouth teams have gone 9-1. We just want to finish off strong for each other.”
Notes: Traynor had an 18-game starting streak snapped. … Gerbino, a junior, rushed for more than 100 yards for the third time this season and passed the 1,000-yard mark for his career. … Senior linebacker David Emanuels, who walked on to the Big Green as a freshman, made 11 tackles and noted that he finished 4-0 against Cornell. His brother, Alex, was a center for the Big Red, which initially offered David Emanuels an admissions slot but later rescinded the offer. … Gerbino said Cornell recruited him as a linebacker, a position he didn’t play in high school. … Pregame wind bursts tipped over benches on the Dartmouth sideline and sent receivers coach David Shula jogging past the south end zone in pursuit of a batch of play sheets. … Big Green players mostly braved the first quarter without sideline jackets, but once starting linebacker Jake Moen donned one, there was a rush on the black garments. … The Ivy League limits the number of players allowed to dress for league games, but Dartmouth nonetheless brought several seniors who had not traveled yet this season. Among them was senior quarterback Harry Kraft, grandson of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Anticipation is high among Big Green staffers and observers as to whether the diminutive signal-caller will take his first varsity snap against Brown. … When the national anthem was played 20 minutes before kickoff, there were fewer than 200 spectators in the stands. Attendance was announced at 3,604 and was perhaps a third of that number. … Jones’ touchdown catch was the first of the sophomore’s college career, and he is the fourth Dartmouth tight end to catch a touchdown pass this season. The Big Green had no experienced players at that position entering the season.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.