The Midway Point

The Dartmouth-Merrimack preview will go up on BGA Overtime tonight, a game story will be posted tomorrow night, and as always there will follow stories on Sunday and Monday.

The lights were on when I was at practice last night and it's going to be brisk tomorrow at Memorial Field, signs that we are crossing the midway point of the season. If you appreciate this daily BGA site and the coverage of Dartmouth football on the Overtime site and haven't yet done so, this is one final invitation to help out by clicking on Griff the Wonder Dog over there to the right, where you can learn more. Thank you.

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The forecast for gametime in Hanover is breezy with the temperature in the low 40s.

Green Alert Take: When I was at the newspaper back before the internet, I'd call the opposing coach for an interview each week and if the game was going to be in Hanover, the coaches would invariably ask about the forecast. Times have changed.

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Dartmouth football game notes are up:

Find the notes HERE.

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Dartmouth social media shows Saturday's sartorial selection for the Big Green against Merrimack:

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Merrimack's leading tackler with 36 stops is a familiar name – Micah Green '25.

Find the former Dartmouth linebacker's Merrimack bio HERE and his bio from when he suited up for the Big Green HERE.

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Paul Justafan breaks down the Ivy-Ivy matchups with a mention of the rest of the slate HERE.

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In a story from The Advocate Lafayette (La.) High School football coach Steven Hearen says of Dartmouth-bound Richmond Saunier, younger brother of Dartmouth quarterback Grayson Saunier (LINK):

“He can make any throw. He's got a big arm. There's not any throw that he can't make on the field as far as a long throw to the sideline or pushing the ball down the field. He moves well in the pocket and obviously he runs well.”

And . . .

“Richmond’s biggest or greatest intangible is the fact that he's so smart. He sees things so well. We put a lot on his plate because of the fact that he can handle it. For me as a coach, it's a luxury to have someone like Richmond because he goes out on the field and is able to direct traffic. He does such a good job of just operating the offense.” 

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2026 DARTMOUTH SCORING

Sept. 19 – Lehigh 24, Dartmouth 20

Owen Zalc, 50-yard field goal

Owen Zalc, 51-yard field goal

Ky’Dric Fisher, 33-yard pass from Grayson Saunier, Owen Zalc kick

Myles Craddock, 2-yard run, Owen Zalc Kick

Sept. 26 – Monmouth 31, Dartmouth 28

James Elliott, 20-yard pass from Grayson Saunier, Owen Zalc kick

Myles Craddock, 28-yard run, Owen Zalc kick

Taysire Williams, 2-yard pass from Grayson Saunier, Owen Zalc kick

Grayson Saunier, 3-yard run, Owen Zalc kick

Oct. 3 – Dartmouth 14, Penn 10

Ky’Dric Fisher, 16-yard pass from Grayson Saunier, Owen Zalc kick

Myles Craddock, 2-yard run, Owen Zalc kick

Oct. 10 – Yale 28, Dartmouth 7

Ky’Dric Fisher, 30-yard pass from Grayson Saunier, Owen Zalc kick

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EXTRA POINT
Driving along the Connecticut River on my way into Hanover yesterday morning, I was tempted to stop several times to take a picture. When I finally did this is what I saw. It really is a beautiful part of the world.

Better Late Than Never

Whoa! The FCS Nation site doesn't pull its punches in its Dartmouth preview ahead of Merrimack (LINK):

The Big Green looked terrible last week and there is no way to sugar coat it. They were dominated by a team with a flat out bad defense in Yale and couldn't get anything going offensively at all. They also quickly brought to light even more questions about their defense, which was supposed to be the backbone of this team. The Green have now scored just 21 points the past two weeks and have allowed at least 4 TDs in two of their last three games. 

The piece ends like this: 

The good news is that they face a Merrimack team that should let them fix some of their problems.

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Dartmouth sports information has posted its Merrimack game preview HERE. 

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I was pleasantly surprised at Yale last week to see they still publish a game program. There isn't much fresh information in it, but kudos to the folks in New Haven for hanging in there.

If you've been to a game at Memorial Field and haven't gone online to check out the virtual Dartmouth program, here is Saturday's program:

Click HERE to check out the contents.

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Merrimack's notes aren't up yet and stats aren't included in the virtual program but you can find them HERE.

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For what it is worth, Dartmouth is currently at 12½-point favorite over Merrimack. Elsewhere:

Penn is favored by 6½ points over Columbia.
Yale is favored by 11½ points over URI.
Harvard is favored by 14½ points over Holy Cross.
Lehigh is favored by 12½ points over Cornell.

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I've been known to put YouTube on the TV in our bedroom to play ocean sounds, woodland sounds, heavy rain sounds and even distant train sounds with a dark screen as sleep aids. I put the timer on for a half hour, close my eyes and I'm out in five minutes.

I'm not sure this is what I would toss up on the screen, but it will keep going for 10 hours if you want. ;-)

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EXTRA POINT
After my dentist appointment in Hanover this morning, I headed to the town library to pull together today's post rather than drive 35 minutes home and once again I was struck by how the world has changed.

When I was a kid, the library was sacred. You never, ever, ever heard anyone talk above a whisper. Sitting here now I can hear a couple of Hanover High School boys who must have a free period laughing and joking one floor below the balcony area where I sit. The last time I was here I heard someone having a serious business conversation for a good 15-20 minutes from one of the desks near where I was sitting and everyone could hear every word he said. I can hear little ones in the children's section signing, and even librarians sharing a conversation.

I get that with so much online these days libraries have a lot of competition and need to be welcoming places. But I can't help but think something special has been lost.  

Getting His Kicks

 From Dartmouth social media:

(Click graphic to watch.)

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In other statistical news of note on an otherwise quiet Wednesday three days before the Big Green plays host to Merrimack:

• Dartmouth leads the Ivy League and is 11th in the nation in third-down percentage conversions at 48.0 percent.

• Merrimack is 114th in the nation at 29.5 percent.

• The Big Green is first in the Ivy League and ninth in the nation in yards per completion at 14.49. That number has quarterback Grayson Saunier eighth among all QBs nationally.

• Merrimack is 102nd in the nation in passing yards allowed per game at 259.5 and also 102nd in passing yards at 169.7 per game.

• The Big Green's Cameron Best-Alston is fourth in the nation with 6.25 solo tackles per game and Johnny Stephens is seventh at 6.0 per game. Brown's Max Malo leads the nation with 7.50 per game.

• On the more troubling side, Dartmouth is last in the nation in sacks at .25 per game, and last in the nation in turnovers gained with one.

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EXTRA POINT
On my drive back from the post office last week shortly after the grader had finished smoothing out the dirt road I was on, a car passing me by sent up such a thick rooster tail of dust that I had to come to a complete stop for a good 30 seconds and wait it out. I couldn't see a thing until the stuff settled. Fortunately, there was no one behind me, but such is life on a dirt road. There's mud in the spring, dust in summer and fall, and in winter paved roads nearby will be black and dry while our road is still covered in snow and ice. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but it sure would be nice if there were a car wash nearby. ;-)

That's A Wrap

Last night's BGA Overtime post featured a half dozen reflections on Dartmouth football as the season nears the halfway point under the headline Your Mileage May Vary. Tonight the two old men go at each other again.

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Here are extended Dartmouth-Yale highlights, albeit with the first few minutes of audio being Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler's call of Georgia-Alabama:

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Roar Lions podcaster Jake Novak has dropped Dartmouth in his power rankings from first to fourth after the Big Green's loss at Yale. From his analysis (LINK):

(Y)ou've got to wonder about the Dartmouth offense, which is not something that I expected to have to wonder about. They're taking on Merrimack at home. And if Dartmouth isn't able to roll up significant points against Merrimack, then we're really going to have to start asking questions about this team.

Here's how Jake ranks the Ivies after four weeks: 

1 Yale
2 Harvard
3 Princeton
4 Dartmouth
5 Cornell
6 Penn
7 Columbia
8 Brown

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The Massey Ratings system has Dartmouth defeating Merrimack this week, 28-14, with 88 percent confidence. (LINK)

Massey sees the Big Green finishing 5-5 with wins over Columbia, Cornell and Brown while losing to Harvard and Princeton. 

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With Princeton now sneaking into the "receiving votes" category, five Dartmouth opponents show up in the Stats Perform weekly FCS poll:

	STATS	W-L*	Pts	Prev*
1	South Dakota State (52)	5-1	1420	1
2	Tarleton State (5)	6-0	1371	3
3	Stephen F. Austin	6-0	1202	7
4	LEHIGH	6-0	1201	5
5	Montana State	5-1	1195	6
6	Youngstown State	5-2	1178	8
7	Montana	5-2	1052	2
8	Northern Arizona	5-2	1026	13
9	South Dakota	5-2	986	10
10	Lamar	5-1	890	11
11	North Dakota	5-2	800	4
12	Austin Peay	5-2	755	9
13	Illinois State	4-2	722	12
14	UC Davis	4-2	670	14
15	Tennessee Tech	5-1	644	15
16	Campbell	5-1	596	17
17	HARVARD	4-0	529	18
18	Mercer	5-2	402	20
19	Northern Iowa	3-2	380	24
20	ETSU	5-2	312	24
21	Idaho State	4-2	253	16
22	Colgate	4-2	251	23
23	MONMOUTH	4-2	121	NR
24	Morgan State	5-1	116	NR
25	YALE	3-1	104	NR
	Dropped Out:  Richmond (19), South Carolina State (21), Jackson State (22), Southern Illinois (25)
	Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Stony Brook (4-2, 2-0 CAA): 102; Richmond (5-2, 3-1 Patriot): 68; Jackson State (5-1, 2-1 SWAC): 39; South Carolina State (5-2): 24; West Florida (3-2, 1-2 UAC): 24; Cal Poly (4-3, 3-1 Big Sky): 22; Southern Illinois (3-4, 1-2 MVFC): 17; Abilene Christian (3-4, 2-0 UAC): 14; North Alabama (4-2, 1-0 UAC): 10; Grambling State (4-2, 2-1 SWAC): 8; Southeastern Louisiana (3-3, 1-2 Southland): 6; Weber State (4-3, 3-1 Big Sky): 6; PRINCETON (3-1, 1-0 Ivy): 2

	FCS Coaches	W-L*	Pts	Prev*
1	South Dakota St. (23)	5-1	647	1
2	Tarleton St. (3)	6-0	626	2
3	Stephen F. Austin	6-0	588	4
4	LEHIGH	6-0	558	5
5	Montana St.	5-1	539	6
6	Youngstown St.	5-2	517	9
7	Montana	5-2	461	3
8	Lamar	5-1	458	10
9	South Dakota	5-2	407	12
10	Northern Arizona	5-2	398	14
11	Austin Peay	5-2	397	8
12	UC Davis	4-2	396	11
13	Illinois St.	4-2	333	13
14	Tennessee Tech	5-1	319	16
15	North Dakota	5-2	293	7
16	Mercer	5-2	253	18
17	HARVARD	4-0	242	19
18	Campbell	5-1	227	20
19	Colgate	4-2	153	23
20	MONMOUTH	4-2	125	24
21	Idaho St.	4-2	106	17
22	Richmond	5-2	96	15
23	YALE	3-1	61	NR
24	East Tennessee St.	5-2	49	NR
25	Northern Iowa	3-2	38	NR
	Dropped Out: South Carolina St. (21), Jackson St. (22), Southeastern Louisiana (25)
	Others Receiving Votes: Jackson St., 32; West Florida, 25; Morgan St., 24; South Carolina St., 18; Stony Brook, 18; ACU, 11; Southern Illinois, 11; Cal Poly, 7; Charleston Southern, 4; Delaware St., 4; North Alabama, 4; Southeastern Louisiana, 2; Wofford, 2; Central Connecticut St., 1.

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From the Dartmouth football Xwitter account:

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Dartmouth campus tour videos go up on YouTube all the time. This one that was posted recently does a pretty good job for a one-minute production:

 

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EXTRA POINT
When Griff the Wonder Dog and I went to the post office last week to pick up our mail there was a small John Deere lawn tractor with an attached trailer parked neatly outside the little building. Out of the post office stepped a very nicely dressed older woman who proceeded to place a couple of packages in the trailer and climb aboard the tractor. After I complimented her on her "wheels" she told me her car was in the shop and the post office was just too far from her home to walk.

The last I saw after grabbing our mail was the woman on the tractor well up the dirt road that ends at the post office trailed by a cloud of dust. Sometimes I really enjoy living here. ;-)