Gridiron Power Index

The final Gridiron Power Index of the regular season is out. Think of the GPI as sort of a BCS standings of the next level down, combining the various rankings – computer and human – into one. Here's what it shows (125 teams total):

20. Penn
40. Harvard
53. Brown
68. Columbia
79. Yale
88. Princeton
100. Dartmouth
106. Cornell

Current and future opponents:
8. UNH
30. Holy Cross
39. Colgate
77. Butler
113. Sacred Heart
120. Georgetown

For a Deadspin look at the annual Harvard-Yale Bacchanalia, click here.

The Deadspin piece, by the way has a mention about the furor at Dartmouth after the college's now former admissions and financial aid director wrote his infamous letter to the president of Swarthmore College saying, "... football, and the culture that surrounds it, is antithetical to the academic mission of colleges such as ours." If you are new to all of this, click here for the Boston Globe story.

The Town Topics down in Princeton has a piece on head football coach Roger Hughes being let go. It includes this statement from Athletic Director Gary Walters:

"Roger Hughes has been a fine ambassador of the football program during his tenure as head coach. The University is grateful for his service, integrity, and effort on behalf of the Princeton football program. Ultimately, given its commitment to achieving excellence across the board, the University has determined that a fresh start in the football program is needed.”

The story notes that Hughes will finish out his contract, "in a yet-to-be-determined role with the Athletics Department."

For a transcript of a Q&A with Jeff Orleans, former executive director of the Ivy League, click here.

Enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and/or friends.

Wrapping Up the Season

In case you missed it, here's a TV report about Harvard-Yale that shows the failed punt fake:



It took some time to make the web, but the official Ivy League release on the All-Ivy selections has been posted here. This list includes the school year of the nominees, helpful as you look ahead to next year and who is returning what.

In case you weren't counting (and count me among that group, pun intended) there were 13 members of the first offense and 14 members of the first defense.

By my count, then, there should have been nine members of the second offense and eight members of the second defense. But no, there were 14 members of the second offense and 16 members of the second defense. With 12 more members on the honorable-mention offense and defense there was no shortage of players honored.

Green Alert Take: Mixed feelings on this one. It's great to have a lot of players recognized but when four quarterbacks in an eight-team conference make the all-league it seems a little strange. Read on ...

While by most accounts this was not a banner year for quarterbacks in the Ivy League (although four All-Ivy selections may debunk that) it was quite the opposite in the Patriot League. No fewer than four of the seven teams had QB's who posted remarkable numbers, with four in the top 20 nationally in passer rating:

• Rob Curley, Lafayette, third in rating, 3,044 yards, 28 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 68.8 percent
• Greg Sullivan, Holy Cross, 11th in rating, 1,952 yards, 18 touchdowns, five interceptions, 58.7 percent (plus 808 rushing yards and seven rushing TDs)
• John Skelton, Fordham, 15th in rating, 3,429 yards, 26 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 64.4 percent (plus five rushing TDs)
• Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross, 18th in rating, 3,429 yards, 31 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, 64.3 percent (plus 474 yards and six touchdowns rushing)

Harvard's Collier Winters was the top-rated quarterback in the Ivy League at No. 41 with 1,861 yards passing, 15 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 57.6 percent completion rating. There were 93 quarterbacks rated including seven from the Ivies (no Penn quarterback made the NCAA passing/games played threshold):

41. Harvard-Winters
46. Brown-Newhall-Caballero
64. Columbia-Olawale
75. Yale-Witt
83. Princeton-Wornham
84. Dartmouth-Conner Kempe
90. Cornell-Ganter.

Holy Cross' Randolph, by the way, is the only Dartmouth opponent to make the ballot for the Payton Award, symbolic of the top offensive player in the FCS. (link)

Brown's Paul Jasinowki joins Florida's Tim Tebow and 22 others on the CoSida Academic All-America team. (link)

Full All-Ivy League Team

CO-PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Buddy Farnham, Brown
Jake Lewko, Penn

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Treavor Scales, Harvard

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
OL -- Mark Callahan, Brown
OL -- Paul Jasinowki, Brown*
OL -- Jeff Adams, Columbia
OL -- Ben Sessions, Harvard
OL -- James Williams, Harvard*
OL -- Joe D'Orazio, Penn*
QB -- Kyle Newhall-Caballero, Brown
RB -- Nick Schwieger, Dartmouth
RB -- Gino Gordon, Harvard
WR -- Buddy Farnham, Brown
WR -- Bobby Sewall, Brown
WR -- Austin Knowlin, Columbia
TE -- John Sheffield, Yale

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL -- James Develin, Brown*
DL -- David Howard, Brown
DL -- Lou Miller, Columbia*
DL -- Joe Goniprow, Penn*
LB -- Kelly Cox, Brown
LB -- Jake Lewko, Penn*
LB -- Chris Costello, Cornell
LB -- Paul Rice, Yale
DB -- Chris Perkins, Brown
DB -- Derrick Barker, Harvard
DB -- Colin Zych, Harvard
DB -- Jonathan Moore, Penn
DB -- Chris Wynn, Penn
DB -- Adam Money, Yale

FIRST TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
PK -- Andrew Samson, Penn
P -- Tom Mante, Yale*
RS -- Buddy Farnham, Brown

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
OL -- Tim Danser, Brown
OL -- Ben Osborne, Harvard
OL -- Alex Spisak, Harvard
OL -- Luis Ruffolo, Penn
OL -- Andrew Hauser, Princeton
OL -- Mark Paski, Princeton
QB -- Collier Winters, Harvard
RB -- Zachary Tronti, Brown
RB -- Treavor Scales, Harvard
RB -- Luke DeLuca, Penn
RB -- Lyle Marsh, Penn
WR -- Bryan Walters, Cornell
WR -- Chris Lorditch, Harvard
TE -- Andrew Kennedy, Columbia

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL -- Tom McCarthy, Yale
DL -- Carl Ehrlich, Harvard
DL -- Chucks Obi, Harvard
DL -- Josue Ortis, Harvard
DL -- Owen Thomas, Penn
LB -- Sean Hayes, Harvard
LB -- Jon Takamura, Harvard
LB -- Zach Heller, Penn
LB -- Steven Cody, Princeton
DB -- David Clement, Brown
DB -- A.J. Cruz, Brown
DB -- Adam Mehrer, Columbia
DB -- Shawn Abuhoff, Dartmouth
DB -- Pete Pidermann, Dartmouth
DB -- Kevin Gray, Penn
DB -- Dan Kopolovich, Princeton

SECOND TEAM SPECIAL TEAMS
PK -- Tom Mante, Yale
P -- Nate Lovett, Brown
RS -- Bryan Walters, Cornell

HONORABLE MENTION OFFENSE
OL -- Quentin Bernhard, Cornell
OL -- Andrew Bohl, Cornell
OL -- Alex Toth, Dartmouth
OL -- Greg Van Roten, Penn
QB -- M.A. Olawale, Columbia
QB -- Kyle Olson, Penn
WR -- Tanner Scott, Dartmouth
WR -- Kyle Derham, Penn
WR -- Trey Peacock, Princeton
TE -- John Gallagher, Dartmouth
TE -- Nicolai Schwarzkopf, Harvard
TE -- Luke Nawrocki, Penn

HONORABLE MENTION DEFENSE
DL -- Victor Ojukwu, Harvard
DL -- Matt Boyer, Princeton
DL -- Joel Karacozoff, Princeton
DL -- Joe Young, Yale
LB -- Corey Cameron, Columbia
LB -- Brian Levine, Penn
LB -- Erik Rask, Penn
LB -- Travis Henry, Yale
LB -- Sean Williams, Yale
DB -- Andrew Shalbrack, Columbia
DB -- Rashad Campbell, Cornell
DB -- Ryan Barnes, Harvard

HONORABLE SPECIAL TEAMS
PK -- Foley Schmidt, Dartmouth
PK -- Patrick Long, Harvard
P -- Drew Alston, Cornell
RS -- Austin Knowlin, Columbia

* - Unanimous Selection

Schwieger All-Ivy First Team

All-Ivy is in. Here's a brief glimpse at Dartmouth's picks:

First Team
TB Nick Schwieger

Second Team
S Peter Pidermann
DB Shawn Abuhoff

Honorable Mention
OT Alex Toth
WR Tanner Scott
TE John Gallagher
PK Foley Schmidt

Many Happy Returns

In case you were out of town – as I was – the word came down at Sunday's banquet that Buddy Teevens would be back next fall as Dartmouth football coach. It probably wasn't the best-kept secret around that he would be back, but it was kept quiet until the breakup banquet. A quote from acting athletic director Bob Ceplikas in today's Valley News:

"It was a telling moment. You had to see the reaction of the plaeyrs when the president announce that Buddy was staying on as coach. They were just so enthusiastic."

More from Ceplikas in the story:

"He is definitely our coach going forward. He is the guy who can get us where we want to be. It's clear we are not going to settle for anything less."

And this:

"We feel that in light of the number of obstacles taht were in place that we've made tremendous progress. When you look at the on-the-field performance of the freshmen and sophomores you can see we are headed in the right direction in terms of talent. We feel as though all signs are pointing toward going in the right direction."

The Ivy League weekly release shows two Dartmouth freshmen and a sophomore named to the honor roll for their play against Princeton. Named were:

• Freshman strong safety Garrett Waggoner (12 tackles seven solos)
• Freshman linebacker Garrett Wymore (11 tackles, eight solo, one fumble recovery)
• Sophomore tight end John Gallagher (6 receptions for 92 yds)

And yes, I've been known to get the two Garrett W's confused from time to time. And I'm not the only one. Hint, hint ;-)

All-Ivy League picks should be out around lunch time. Without naming names I think there are four Dartmouth players on defense who could get some kind of honor. I don't think all will because that's unlikely when your defense is ranked where Dartmouth's was this year, but purely on an individual basis, four players have a shot.

Offensively I have another four names that could get recognition but expect two. I'll let you know when the release comes out who were on my lists.

The Sagarin Ratings:
123 Pennsylvania
155 Harvard
170 Brown
181 Columbia
189 Yale
216 Princeton
217 Dartmouth
226 Cornell

Monday Wrap

On the road and in a hurry, so check in tonight. In the meantime ...

The Daily Dartmouth on Saturday's game.

The University of New Hampshire was seeded No. 10 and will travel to McNeese State in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. (link) Holy Cross will travel to No. 2 Villanova, which last year had its way with Patriot League champion Colgate. (link)

Northeastern drops its football program. The Boston Globe reports. From the story:

The 87 players and 10 coaches learned their fate last night at a meeting on campus with (athletic director Peter) Roby, a day after the Football Championship Subdivision team won its final game, 33-27, at the University of Rhode Island to finish 3-8. Officials also planned to quietly notify key alumni and donors before issuing the official announcement in a letter scheduled to be released today at 6 a.m., informing the university that Huskies football would be no more.

Peter Roby, the Northeastern AD, is a former Dartmouth basketball player and someone whose name has been mentioned regarding the permanent Dartmouth athletic director position.

Sunday Wrap, Awards, Princeton Fires Hughes

Princeton fires football coach Roger Hughes after a big rivalry win over Yale and an impressive road win over Dartmouth. Seems as if the decision must have been made before last two games. Story. Ironically, Princeton's official news release on Saturday's game included this:

Despite the tough start to the season, the win clinches Princeton a share of fourth place in the Ivy League and gives the Tigers their first 3-1 finish since the Ivy League championship season of 2006.

Dartmouth official release on Saturday's loss can be found here. Princeton's release can be found here.

Dartmouth's season-ending awards were handed out at the banquet Sunday. (link) They are:

• Bob Blackman Trophy (most valuable player): Senior safety Peter Pidermann
• Kenneth T. Young Award (underclassman who made the most significant contribution to the team): Sophomore safety Shawn Abuhoff
• Jake Crouthamel Award (underclassman who contributed the most to the success of the team on offense): Sophomore tailback Nick Schwieger
• Doten Award (sophomore who made a significant contribution to the success of the football team) Sophomore tight end John Gallagher
• Manners Makyth Man Award (best conducted himself to the advantage of Dartmouth and displayed good manners in the sense of William Wykeham’s phrase, “Manners Makyth Man.”) Senior quarterback Max Heiges
• Earl Hamilton Freshman Award (top rookie) Freshman linebacker Garrett Wymore
• Offensive Scout Team, Freshman offensive lineman Thomas Prewitt
• Defensive Scout Team, Freshman defensive lineman Teddy Reed
• Special Teams, Senior tailback Matt Dornak
• John Manley '40 Award (most improvement through efforts in the weight room) Junior defensive end Charles Bay and Schwieger
• Gordon P. Bennett Award (outstanding lineman who exemplifies high degree of performance, sportsmanship and character) Senior offensive lineman Alex Toth
• Lester R. Godwin Award (senior football squad member who, through extraordinary perseverance, has risen above personal disadvantage to contribute measurably to the team) Senior corner Chris Burns
• Alan Hewitt ‘34 and Robert Hewitt ‘40 Award (athletic performance with academic achievement) Senior quarterback Alex Jenny
• Earl Hamilton Varsity Award (sincere friendliness and sense of humor plus appreciation of the outdoors) Senior defensive lineman Jeff Smith
• Frank Hershey Award (zest for life, has maintained a strong, positive attitude and a sincere desire to win) Senior tailback Rob Mitchelson

And here's your final opponent roundup of the season:

Harvard 14, Yale 10
Yale coach Tom Williams' call makes Bill Belichick's call seem conservative.

Columbia 28, Brown 14
Sorry, but this one didn't compute for me. Lions may well have their quarterback designate.

Penn 34, Cornell 0
No brainer.

Bucknell 23, Holy Cross 17
Hardly the way the Crusaders wanted to head into the playoffs.

New Hampshire 27, Maine 24
Wildcats find a way. Barely.

And finally, very, very good visit to Cornell. On to Colgate tomorrow.

Delay of Game

Catch you later ...

Need to be in Ithaca by 1 p.m. No time this morning. Check back in this afternoon/evening.