HANOVER, N.H. – The University of Pennsylvania football team took Dartmouth's first punch on Saturday and went into halftime looking like it might recover. However, the Big Green threw a series of haymakers to start the second half and the Quakers had no answer in taking a 37-14 loss in their Ivy League opener.
 
It was a 13-7 game at halftime, but Dartmouth came out and scored on its first four possessions in the second half—touchdowns on the first three, a field goal on the fourth—and that was the knockout. Penn, which was playing its first road game of 2018, is now 2-1 on the season.
 
Dartmouth—which won the 700th game in program history on Saturday—drew first blood late in the opening quarter, taking advantage of a short field to go up 7-0. Two different quarterbacks factored in the drive, as starter Derek Kyler was under center for the first three plays and then Jared Gerbino—who scored the winning points on the final play of last year's 16-13 Big Green win at Franklin Field—rushed up the gut on the final two plays to cover the final 16 yards.
 
The Big Green continued to punish the Penn defense on its next drive, taking nearly six minutes to go 61 yards over 10 plays (nine of them on the ground). The Quakers nearly made it all for naught when Nick Miller pulled the ball out of Rashaad Cooper's arms just before he crossed the goal line, but Dartmouth's Phil Berton recovered the fumble in the end zone and that made the score 13-0.
 
On the other side of the ball, all you need to know is that Penn's first play in Dartmouth territory didn't come until there was just 2:54 left in the first half—and that was the start of a drive after the Big Green had to punt from deep in their own territory. Coincidentally, that seemed to spark the Quakers and they drove 48 yards in just 1:36 to make it 13-7. Karekin Brooks capped the drive that seemed to get him on track, taking a pitch to the left and running it in from seven yards out.
 
Dartmouth was able to get within field-goal range in the final 1:18 of the half, but Connor Davis's 49-yard field goal attempt was well wide and the teams went into the locker room with the Big Green up, 13-7.
 
That may have been the last thing that went right for the Quakers on this day.
 
The Green received the kick to start the second half and pushed their lead back up to 13 points when Drew Hunnicutt got behind the Penn defense and Kyler hit him in stride for a 59-yard strike and score.
 
After a Penn three-and-out, Dartmouth marched on an 11-play, 66-yard drive that ended in another score and put the Big Green up, 27-7. Once again the hosts established their ground game, running the ball for nine of the 11 plays with their only completion on the drive being the scoring play, Kyler hitting Hagdorn for a 19-yard TD inside the right pylon.
 
Penn's next possession ended when Ryan Glover's pass bounced around and was caught by Dartmouth's Bun Straton, who returned it to the Quakers' 26. Six plays later, the Green utilized some trickery as Kyler found offensive lineman Jake Guidone open for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
 
Penn finally got back into Dartmouth territory, in fact driving all the way to the Big Green's 19-yard line. However, on third down the Quakers were called twice for false start, and then on fourth down Jack Soslow's 41-yard field goal clanged the right upright and bounced back no good. It snapped a streak of nine-straight made field goals for Soslow dating back to last season.
 
As it turned out, Dartmouth's next possession also ended with a field goal hitting the upright. This time, however, a 44-yard effort by Davis hit the left post instead of the right. Also, it somehow still squirted between the pipes for three points to make the score 37-7.
 
Penn closed its day on an 11-play, 73-yard surge that ended with a Trey Flowers 1-yard touchdown in the game's final minute -- the first career touchdown for the freshman.
 
Safety Jacob Martin was busy all day for the Quakers, finishing with a career-high 18 tackles -- fourth-most in a game this season by any FCS player.

Penn plays its final non-conference game next Saturday, traveling to Sacred Heart to take on the Pioneers for the first time in program history. That game will kick off at 3 p.m. in Fairfield, Conn.