Dartmouth football was shut down by Yale this Saturday in a 38-7 loss in New Haven, Conn., as the Bulldogs racked up 520 yards of total offense.
Dartmouth quarterback Alex Jenny '10 left the game in the second quarter after suffering a dislocated elbow.
After completing three of six passes for 31 yards for the Big Green (0-4, 0-2 Ivy), Jenny was tackled while throwing a pass early in the second quarter. Jenny did not return to the game, and his absence changed the tide, opening up a window for Yale (2-2, 1-1 Ivy) to make its move.
Head coach Buddy Teevens says Jenny will be out for an extended period.
"[The injury] unsettled our team offensively and defensively," he said. "The need is for guys to step up and perform above, knowing that one of your key players is out, but it didn't happen. Guys were mentally affected by it."
Conner Kempe '12, seeing his first significant playing time this season, struggled to get the offense going. On his first pass attempt, which Teevens said was a "decent throw," Yale defensive back Drew Baldwin made a leaping interception.
Only four plays after Baldwin's pick, the Bulldogs cashed in. Junior Brook Hart, starting for Yale at quarterback for the first time this year, delivered a 73-yard completion to Chris Smith with 4:23 to go in the first half. The pass was the 12th-longest in Yale football history.
Hart notched two more touchdowns as the game went on, and made the record books by passing for a total of 390 yards, good enough for sixth on the Bulldogs' all-time list.
Dartmouth was held to only 127 combined offensive yards.
Defense had been a sticking point for the Big Green in practice this week, but the team still let up 520 yards on Saturday. Although the defensive line has improved its ability to stop the running game, Teevens said, Hart's performance at quarterback was somewhat unexpected.
"One of the big things against us is that people run the ball effectively, and we stopped that fairly well Saturday," he said. "What [Yale] did is throw the ball effectively."
While Dartmouth was able to slow Yale's rushing game, its own running backs also struggled to find opportunities. Nick Schwieger '12, who has averaged over 70 yards a game this season, ran for only 48 yards on 18 carries on Saturday.
The passing game was also ineffective, as John Gallagher '12 was the only Big Green receiver to make more than one catch during the game.
Kempe went six-for-12 for 37 yards, and was sacked twice.
Yale led 21-0 at the half.
Defensive end Charles Bay '11 said that Yale chose the right plays, and Dartmouth did not have the consistent mentality needed to stop them.
"It was getting out of focus mentally," he said. "Whenever we did everything correct, it went as planned, but a couple of other times they called good plays and we weren't able to defend them as quickly as we needed to."
The Big Green came back in the third quarter reinvigorated, scoring a touchdown on its first drive. The scoring drive was a slow grind downfield, with Dartmouth moving the ball mostly on small gains both through the air and on the ground.
Finally, a 17-yard completion from Kempe to Gallagher got Dartmouth on the board with 8:19 left in the quarter. The extra point from Foley Schmidt '12 cut the margin to 21-7, but that was the last time the Big Green would score.
The Bulldogs were not done, however, delivering two more touchdowns and a field goal before the game ended.
Kempe, who said that his job was to be ready if Jenny ever went down, said that Dartmouth was prepared for the game, but was simply outmatched.
"I think we were just outplayed and out-physicalled and out-everythinged," Kempe said. "We were ready, but they came with more than we were expecting."
The Big Green will take on the College of the Holy Cross (4-1, 1-0 Patriot) for the Crusaders' Homecoming game next weekend. The kickoff will be at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday in Worcester, Mass.
