Season Finally Arrives with Trip to Jacksonville

Saturday, September 21

Jacksonville, Fla. / D.B. Milne Field

1 PM

Dartmouth College

Jacksonville

Connor Davis (6) prepares to kick off against Harvard on Oct. 27, 2019

Dartmouth kicks off the 2019 season at Jacksonville

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Season Finally Arrives with Trip to Jacksonville

9/19/2019 10:13:00 AM | Football

September 21, 2019 D.B. Milne Field ESPN+ Broadcast Online Audio Live Stats @DartFootball Dartmouth Notes Jacksonville Notes

The Big Green are looking for a win on opening day for a 10th straight year

By: Rick Bender

DARTMOUTH (0-0)
at JACKSONVILLE (1-1)
Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 | 1 PM | ESPN+
D.B. Milne Stadium | Jacksonville, Fla.

Dartmouth begins its 2019 football season by playing a team it has never squared off against previously as the Jacksonville Dolphins of the Pioneer Football League host the Big Green this Saturday.

The last (and first) time Dartmouth played within the state of Florida came just two years ago with the season opener at Stetson, another PFL school, a game the Green won, 38-7.

This will be just the sixth new team to grace the Dartmouth schedule over the past decade, and the Big Green have not lost to any of those programs. The last eight first-time opponents have fallen to Dartmouth dating back to 1952, with the last loss coming against Fordham in 1951.

The Big Green have a couple of other streaks on the line today as well, having won nine straight season openers and 13 consecutive non-conference contests. The last team to beat Dartmouth in the first game was next week's opponent, Colgate, back in 2009, and the last team outside the Ivy to knock off the Green was a nationally ranked New Hampshire squad in 2014.

This year's team, led by Robert L. Blackman Head Coach Buddy Teevens in his 20th season in Hanover, is expected to be in the hunt for the Ivy League title. The media preseason poll pegged the Green for second place, where they finished last year with a 6-1 conference record, 9-1 mark overall and ranking of 15th in the final FCS coaches' poll. The good news for Dartmouth fans is that the media has underestimated where the team will finish in nine of the past 10 years.

The defense, which ranked second in the nation in points allowed (12.0) and rushing (79.7 ypg) in 2018, has its nucleus back in All-American CB Isiah Swann — the Division I leader with nine interceptions — LB Jack Traynor and DL Jackson Perry, all of whom were first-team All-Ivy selections. Three others also picked up all-league honors in DL David Chalmers (second team), FS Ryan Roegge (honorable mention) and DL Niko Lalos (HM).

The Big Green are expected to run out their quarterback tandem again this season in Jared Gerbino and Derek Kyler. Gerbino was an All-Ivy second team performer, running for 700 yards and eight touchdowns while throwing for four more. Kyler, meanwhile, merely set a school record by completing 68.9 percent of his passes (second nationally) while throwing for 1,362 yards, 13 scores and just two picks.

A host of veteran receivers return as well, including a pair of senior wide receivers in Hunter Hagdorn (10th all-time at Dartmouth in receptions and yardage) and Drew Estrada, plus TE Connor Rempel who led the Green with five TD catches.
The running game will be covered not only by Gerbino out of the wildcat formation, but also RBs Caylin Parker and Zack Bair. Parker averaged 5.8 yards on 50 carries last year and Bair a whopping 8.4 yards on 20 rushes as a rookie.

The one big question mark on the roster will be the offensive line, which graduated four of the five starters from last year, all of whom started every game. The lone returner is Zach Sammartino who will be looked upon for leadership by the largely untested group.

Davis Brief is back for one last year as the team's punter, having been a reliable performer throughout his career. Coach Teevens will be looking for improvement from his place kicking unit, however, with sophomore Connor Davis and freshman Cameron Baller as the top two candidates. Both have strong-enough legs, but consistency will be key in providing some security in the inevitable tight games in an Ivy League that gets tougher with more parity every year.

Scouting the Dolphins
Jacksonville hit the road for its first two contests this fall, getting doubled up at Richmond, 38-19, before collecting its first win of the season at Presbyterian, 30-20, after a bye week.

It will be strength against strength when the Dolphins are on the field; JU averages over 220 yards per game on the ground, 23rd among FCS schools, while Dartmouth ranked second in the nation last year against the run, yielding less than 80 yards every Saturday. But with an option offense, Jacksonville has mostly eschewed the pass, running the ball on 85 percent of its plays and completing only 11-of-22 throws for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Quarterback Calvin Turner has nine of those 11 completions while also leading the Dolphins on the ground with 146 yards and three TDs. Garnett Nicolas and A.J. Davis share the load behind him in the backfield as the duo has combined to match his 48 carries for 197 yards.

The lightly used receiving corps is led by B.J. Byrd with five grabs for 74 yards, while Jordan Younge-Humphrey hauled in a 71-yard TD catch at Richmond.

After allowing the Spiders to complete 17-of-22 passes for 156 yards, the Jacksonville defense clamped down at Presbyterian, holding the Blue Hose to 50 yards through the air on 7-of-15 tosses. That left JU ranked number one against the pass at this point of the year (103.0 ypg).

But the Dolphins have struggled to stop the run, surrendering 7.3 yards per rush and 238.0 per game. Richmond did much of that damage with 326 yards and four touchdowns on 37 carries.

Special teams play has been quite good for JU, starting with punter Matt Clements with a solid 37.1 yards per boot and a punt coverage team that has a blocked punt to its credit. Zachary Benwick handles the place kicking duties — 4-for-5 on PATs and 1-of-2 on field goals. Byrd handles most of the return duties, and has quite well (15.3 yards average on PR, 27.7 on KR).

Ian Shields, a 1994 graduate of Oregon State, is in his fourth season as the Dolphins' head coach and eighth at the collegiate level. He is 15-18 at JU and 38-49 overall with two-year stints at Eastern Oregon and Lenoir-Rhyne. Shields earned three letters in football as a quarterback and two in baseball at OSU.

Co-Captains
For just the second time in the past decade, Dartmouth will feature only two captains leading the squad — seniors Isiah Swann and Jack Traynor.

Home Away from Home
This may be the first time Dartmouth has played at Jacksonville and second time in the state of Florida, but a number of players will feel right at home. The Big Green have no fewer than 16 players on the roster from the Sunshine State, at least half of whom made the traveling roster. Florida has more representation on the roster than any other state; New Jersey is second with 13 and Texas third with 10.

13 Straight Non-League Wins
Dartmouth enters the season opener having won its last 13 non-conference games dating back to the 2014 season, beginning with a 24-21 victory over Holy Cross. It is the longest such win streak for the Big Green during the Ivy League era that began in 1956. You would have to go back to the 1922-28 seasons to find a longer win streak against teams that did not eventually form the Ivy league — twice that of the current streak (26).

706 Wins All-Time
Last year, Dartmouth won its 700th game, becoming just the sixth FCS team to reach the milestone. That win came two games after playing its 1,200th contest as well. Now over 137 seasons and 1,209 games, the Big Green have posted a record of 706-457-46, a winning percentage of .603. Only 20 FCS teams can boast a win percentage of .600 or better.

Buddying Up to 100 Victories
With a 9-1 record a year ago, Buddy Teevens improved his record at Dartmouth to 96-92-2, leaving him four wins shy of 100. Only one other Big Green coach has won more than 60 games at the helm of the program, that being the legendary Bob Blackman, whose named also graces the endowed coaching position inhabited by Teevens. Blackman won 104 contests, so if Dartmouth can at least repeat its record from a year ago, Teevens would be the school's winningest football coach.

Shut-Down Defense
A year ago, Dartmouth had one of the best defenses in the FCS, ranking second in the country in fewest points allowed per game (12.0) and rushing average (79.7). That defense has led to opponents finding it difficult to rack up big numbers. Not one opposing player has run for 100 yards in a game in either of the last two seasons, and only one amassed 100 receiving yards in a contest last year. And no quarterback threw for 300 yards against the Dartmouth defense in 2018. Here are the most recent players to top those marks against the Big Green D:

100 Rushing Yards
Charlie Voelker, Princeton (111)	Nov. 19, 2016
100 Receiving Yards
Reid Klubnik, Yale (124)	Oct. 5, 2018
300 Passing Yards
Chad Kanoff, Princeton (444)	Nov. 18, 2017

Preseason Poll
The Ivy League Preseason Media Poll was revealed last month with Dartmouth pegged to finish where it did last year — second. But if there is one thing Big Green fans have learned over the past decade, it is that the media has a tendency to underestimate the Hanoverians; Dartmouth has finished higher than its prognosticated place in nine of the last 10 years, including last year when the team was predicted to finish sixth.
For the second straight year, Yale was picked to take home the title with nine of the 17 first-place votes. Dartmouth received two votes for the top spot, but last year's champion, Princeton, had four yet was listed third in the poll. Bad news for Yale: Over the past 22 years, the media has correctly picked the champion just three times — Penn in 2003, and Harvard in 2008 and 2015. The complete poll can be found on page seven of these notes.

The Experience Factor
Dartmouth has half of its total starters on offense and defense returning to the field in 2019 with five on offense and six on defense. Despite the graduation of Rashaad Cooper, more than 60 percent of the rushing yards are back on the roster this year (1,589 of 2,547, 62.4 percent). All but 21 of the 1,626 passing yards return, and most of the receivers are back in the fold, representing 70 percent (1,139) of those yards. The biggest loss is on the offensive line, which had the same five starters in all 10 games last year with only one returning in 2019. On defense, three of the top five tacklers moved on, but the Big Green still have more than 60 percent (259 of 689) of last year's stops on this year's active roster.

Still All-Time Ivy Champs
Since the Ivy League began play in 1956, no other school in the conference has won more football titles than Dartmouth with 18. The last time an Ancient Eight squad had more crowns than the Big Green was in 1961 when Yale had the grand total of two. The next season, Dartmouth equaled that total and has never looked up at another team since. But Penn picked up its 18th championship in 2017 to match the Green, putting the 56-year streak in jeopardy should Penn win the race this year.

Returning All-Ivy Performers
Last year, the Big Green claimed a total of 17 players who earned All-Ivy honors, eight of whom made the first team. Three of the first-teamers are back — all on the defensive side — in DL Jackson Perry, CB Isiah Swann and LB Jack Traynor.
Two of the five second teamers return as well, DL David Chalmers and QB Jared Gerbino.

Swann Preseason All-American
After earning consensus All-America honors last year for leading all of Division I (FCS and FBS) and setting a school record with nine interceptions, CB Isiah Swann unsurprisingly has been named a preseason first-team All-American by STATS and several other organizations. In addition, Swann is on STATS' watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in the FCS. Last year, Swann finished fifth in the voting for the award, the highest finish for any Big Green defender ever.

Traynor Preseason Player of the Year
Phil Steele released its three preseason All-Ivy League teams with a dozen Big Green players listed, led by LB Jack Traynor was anointed the preseason defensive player of the year. Traynor has twice been named to the postseason All-Ivy League First Team unanimously. Joining Traynor on the first team are CB Isiah Swann, QB Derek Kyler and LS Grant Jaffe. The second team was graced by DL David Chalmers, WR Hunter Hagdorn TE Connor Rempel, DL Niko Lalos and S Ryan Roegge. Third-teamers included OL Zach Sammartino, LB Nigel Alexander and PK Connor Davis.

Hagdorn Looking to Climb Charts
Junior wide receiver Hunter Hagdorn enters the 2019 campaign with 122 receptions and 1,523 receiving yards, placing him 10th on Dartmouth's career lists for each category. He needs only 14 more catches to move into the top five, but the top spot would be an extremely tall order as he trails Jay Barnard '04 by 94. With 477 more yards through the air, he would become just the sixth player in Big Green history with 2,000 to his name.

National Polls
Dartmouth found itself in the end-of-year polls last year — 15th by the AFCA and 18th by STATS. The AFCA ranking was the highest for the Big Green since the Division I classifcation split into two subdivisions in 1978. It was also the fourth time Dartmouth finished the year ranked with the other years being 1990 (17th), 1996 (17th) and 2015 (23rd). And finally, with Princeton ranked above the Green, it was the first time two Ivy League programs were ranked in the top 15 in any poll. This year, Dartmouth continues to receive votes in both polls, but has not cracked the top 25.

One of the Last to Kick Off
The Ivy League football schedule always starts a couple of weeks after the rest of Division I. But after being the absolute last team to kick off the season in five of the last seven years, Dartmouth gets a few hours head start on three other Ivy teams this year, with Brown, Harvard and Princeton all starting their games between 3 and 6 p.m.

2018 Recap
I imagine most people remember quite a bit from last year, but if you are like me, you still need a little refresher on how things shook out:
•   Dartmouth finished the season 9-1 overall and 6-1 in conference play to finish second, trailing only a 10-0 Princeton team.
•   The Big Green traveled to Princeton to take on the Tigers in one of the most anticipated games in recent Ivy memory with both teams sporting 7-0 records entering the contest. Princeton won the defensive struggle, 14-9.
•   Over the last two years, Dartmouth has lost just three games, none by more than five points. And seven of the Green's last eight losses have been by eight points or fewer.
•   Dartmouth began the year destroying teams, winning each of its first five contests by at least 20 points with an average margin of nearly 30 points.
•   Two of those victories were by shutout — 41-0 over Georgetown and 42-0 against Sacred Heart.
•   The Big Green earned its first win over Harvard in 14 years and first home win over the Crimson in a quarter century, exorcising that demon with a 24-17 triumph.
•   The only team to top 20 points against Dartmouth was Cornell in a 35-24 road victory the week after the tough loss at Princeton.
•   That win over the Big Red extended Dartmouth's personal winning streak against Cornell to 10, its longest against any Ivy League opponent currently.

Showdown at Yankee Stadium
As part of not only the 150th annivesary of college football but also the 250th anniversary of the founding of Dartmouth College, the Big Green will host Princeton in a rematch of last year's epic battle. The game is set for Nov. 9 at Yankee Stadium, marking the second time in three years that Dartmouth will play a football game at an MLB stadium. Two years ago, the Green defeated Brown at Fenway Park, 33-10. This will be the first football game at Yankee Stadium for Dartmouth.