Trap Game? Maybe, Maybe Not

Finally, a little respect. The College Sporting News review of last week's games includes a look ahead to this week. It has the following to say about New Hampshire-Dartmouth:

Don’t be surprised if Dartmouth gives UNH a scare.

That's not much, but it's a start. The same site offers the following from UNH coach Sean McDonnell:

“We have a big challenge. Dartmouth is a much better football team then they have been in the past two years. You watch the tape and they are more athletic on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Very impressed with their tailback. . . . against a good Colgate team . . . they had Colgate 28-0.”

McDonnell, by the way, always plays up the state angle with his team. The Concord Monitor quotes UNH quarterback Ricky Santos:

"I don't think there's a trap with Coach (Sean) McDonnell as a head coach. He came up Sunday in practice and he was freakin' out. He showed us the Granite State trophy that we had and he was running around and he was just as fired up as ever."

The Monitor quotes McDonnell:

"The good thing is we have people that played in it. Myself, coach (John) Perry (1989-92), we have people that have experience with this. We preach to our kids all the time the history of this rivalry, the history of Ivy League football and where it was at one point nationally and where we are right now. I can always remember from playing, Coach (Bill Bowes) always made a point that it was Yankee Conference vs. Ivy League and we try to make sure we continue that with the (Colonial Athletic Association) vs. Ivy League."

Green Alert Take: It's safe to say the game doesn't stir emotions up quite that way on this side of the state.

Mike Boyle, UNH's multi-purpose weapon at wide receiver, can be scary when he's healthy. Allen Lessels of the Manchester Union Leader reports on Boyle -- and has a few comments about Dartmouth after staffing the Colgate game last week.

I saw this headline: "Slaying the Green Giant," and thought that was a little strong for what Colgate did last week. The Dartmouth-Cornell game does get mentioned in the Sports Network story, but the Green Giant in question is Marshall, which fell victim to UNH. ... The Wildcats, by the way, have moved up to No. 10 in the FCS rankings. (Story)

The Daily Dartmouth is back turning out copy and has a story about the Colgate loss. The headline: "Big Green blows 28-point lead in overtime loss." ... The D also has a story about athletes returning to campus against of their classmates for preseason. Senior safety Ian Wilson is quoted several times.

The Atlantic City Press has its college football hometown notes online and leading the roundup is Dartmouth senior linebacker Justin Cottrell. Not bad considering there are players at Penn State and Miami also mentioned ... below him.

The Ivy League opener against Dartmouth is still nine days away so there's time to heal but Penn's Joe Sandberg, one of the premier running backs in the Ivy League, is not expected to play against Villanova this week with a leg issue according to the Daily Pennsylvanian.

And finally, mixed results for those certain Hanover school-kids yesterday. The sophomore field hockey player -- whose charge was to shadow the unbelievably fast Lebanon player who set three state sprint records as a sophomore -- saw her team come out on the short end of a 1-0 score for its first loss of the year. ... The eighth-grader's football team won down at Claremont on an interception return for a touchdown on the final play of the game by the slugger from my Little League team last spring.