Penn Follow Posted

If the body language doesn't tell the story after Penn's final pass was ruled incomplete, the scoreboard said it all seconds later.
By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

HANOVER -- Three games into the season the Dartmouth football team finds itself ranked first in the Ivy League in a couple of statistical categories that go hand-in-hand.

The Big Green is at the top of the class in passing efficiency as well as in fewest sacks allowed.

To read the full notes column, visit Green Alert Premium.

Ivy League/Opponent Roundup

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a short story on Dartmouth's win over Penn here. ...

Dartmouth opponent capsules with a comment on each:
Princeton 42, Columbia 32
Columbia hung tougher than expected in a turnover-filled game.
Cornell 45, Georgetown 7
Um, does anyone have the number for the G'town scheduling office?
Rhode Island 49, Brown 42, OT
Take a QB off the street and he'll throw for big yards in a Brown uni. Yesterday: 427 yards.
Lehigh 20, Harvard 13
Another last-minute loss for the Crimson, this one on a turnover.
Yale 38, Holy Cross 17
Either Yale is as good as billed or Holy Cross isn't. Or both.
Fordham 34, Colgate 31
Apart from Jordan Scott, Colgate is ordinary.
Richmond 45, New Hampshire 38
Apart from Ricky Santos, UNH is ordinary. (Sound familiar?)

Saturday's Ivy League stat leaders, with a nod to the Ivy office:
RUSHING YARDS
256 -- Mike McLeod, Yale (40 carries)
105 -- Jordan Davis, Columbia (18)
93 -- Luke Siwula, Cornell (17)
86 -- Ricardo Galvez, Yale (10)
84 -- Bill Foran, Princeton (16)
80 -- Joe Sandberg, Penn (20)

PASSING YARDS
407 -- Michael Dougherty, Brown (27 of 47)
275 -- Craig Hormann, Columbia (22 of 42)
266 -- Bryan Walker, Penn (30 of 60)
265 -- Tom Bennewitz, Dartmouth (18 of 26)
252 -- Chris Pizzotti, Harvard (18 of 28)

RECEIVING YARDS
221 -- Paul Raymond, Brown (6 catches)
146 -- Austin Knowlin, Columbia (6)
140 -- Brendan Circle, Princeton (8)
93 -- Colin Cloherty, Brown (7)
90 -- Eric Paul, Dartmouth (5)
83 -- Matt Lagace, Harvard (5)
83 -- Matt Luft, Harvard (4)
82 -- Jason Miller, Harvard (6)

And finally, that certain Hanover High sophomore field hockey player scored both of her team's goals coming up from the midfield yesterday in a big 2-1 win over a very good team.

Dartmouth Defense Steps Up

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com

Sept. 29, 2007

HANOVER -- In the 1962 Dartmouth team’s 17-0 win over Penn, the Quaker offense had just 31 snaps all game.

In Saturday’s 21-13 win over Penn, the Quaker offense was on the field for 43 snaps.

In the fourth quarter alone.

No fewer than 37 of those plays were in Dartmouth territory in the final period, and 21 of the snaps came inside the Big Green 25.

Still, the visitors managed just seven points -- the only touchdown of the game -- over the final 15 minutes.

Click here to read the story

Dartmouth 21, Penn 13

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com

HANOVER -- Uneven offense, untimely penalties, untoward occurrences and even a little controversy. Yup, Saturday’s Dartmouth-Penn game was typical of the series over the past 10 years.

Typical except for one thing.

Dartmouth won.

After nine consecutive losses to the Quakers, the Big Green carried a 21-6 lead into the final three minutes Saturday before rising up defensively at the end to preserve a 21-13 victory, the first over Penn since 1997.

Read the full story on Green Alert Premium

(A sidebar will be posted by 10 p.m.)

Inside The New Building III

The Dartmouth football program is honoring the 1972 Ivy League championship team this weekend. After Friday's practice members of that team and their families who were in town early got a tour of the Floren Varsity House. I had a chance to tag along and shot a few pictures inside the building, scheduled to be formally dedicated on the final weekend of the season.A view of the locker room.
The smart classroom.
The enormous weight room, so large that former Dartmouth coach and retired Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel commented that you could actually do speed training in the room.
The upstairs lounge.
On game days receptions can be held over the field and invited guests will have a bird's eye view of the game.

One piece of news before heading in to the stadium. News reports have mentioned three or four high school seniors who intend to be early decision candidates. I've heard about two others. Apparently there are 15 seniors who have committed to apply early decision.
And finally ... at the end of the Floren Varsity House tour a rainbow danced over fall baseball practice at Dartmouth's Red Rolfe Field.

Penn-Dartmouth Preview

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreen alert.com

Sept. 28, 2007

HANOVER -- When you win those first two non-conference games of the year they swell in importance.

When you lose those first two non-conference games of the year they are still important but in the vernacular of Ivy League sports they have a tendency to morph into “preseason” games.

That being the case, Dartmouth and the University of Pennsylvania will both be bidding to put a couple of “preseason” losses behind them Saturday when the longtime rivals kick off the 52nd race for the Ivy League championship at 12:30 p.m., on Memorial Field.

Click here to read the preview

Story On Backup QB At UNH

The Boston Globe has a tremendously detailed and compelling story about UNH backup quarterback Hank Hendricks, a protege of Doug Flutie, who is facing murder charges in Southern California.

The Dartmouth alum who teaches at Rutgers and is unhappy about the school's push for success in big-time athletics is coming under fire for his comments in a New York Times article this week. William C. Dowling was quoted this way:

"If you were giving the scholarship to an intellectually brilliant kid who happens to play a sport, that's fine. But they give it to a functional illiterate who can't read a cereal box, and then make him spend 50 hours a week on physical skills. That's not opportunity. If you want to give financial help to minorities, go find the ones who are at the library after school."

Picking Dartmouth-Penn

I'm not sure whether this says more about Dartmouth or about Penn, but for the first time in some time there are prognosticators picking the Big Green to knock off the Quakers. Among them is the Harvard Crimson, which hasn't been particularly kind to Dartmouth in recent weeks, but has the Big Green coming out ahead, 21-17.

Jake Novak over at the well-informed Roar Lions Roar blog doesn't name a score but is going Green.

My prediction for Saturday? Sixty-eight degrees and sunny. ;-) (I've long thought it impossible to make predictions about a team you see every day. It's a little like your own car. It starts pulling to one side but you don't notice because you drive it every day and adjust to the change each day without realizing anything is different. Then someone else gets behind the wheel and their immediate reaction is WHOA, how did you not die?)

From a Manchester Union Leader capsule: "The folks at Dartmouth hope that Penn's troubles holding onto the ball last for one more week."

The Daily Pennsylvanian finds the same parallels between Dartmouth and Penn that I asked Coach Buddy Teevens about the other day: both had an opening loss in the final seconds at home against one of the better Patriot League teams. Both followed with a tough loss to a neighboring (as it were, in Dartmouth's case) CAA school last week. The DP writer added this editorial comment:

Drawing comparisons to Dartmouth isn't exactly what Penn had in mind for this season, but the chips have fallen that way for a team that could be about one loss away from crisis mode.

The DP also has a story about Teevens' bike ride across the country.

The Daily Dartmouth doesn't so much preview the Penn game as give an overview of where Dartmouth stands today. The story includes this:

Dartmouth football might be winless, but the team has given us plenty of reason to believe it will have a successful Ivy League campaign, and that this season will not be as frustrating as years past.

The Dartmouth Sports Information office preview for Penn can be found here.

The Providence Journal writes about the Brown-Rhode Island game and gives a nod to Dartmouth for continuing to play New Hampshire. (If you haven't signed up to access the Pro-Jo, it's free and well worth it. Of the big papers it is one of the absolute best for Ivy coverage.) The story says:

Brown and Dartmouth are the only Ivy League schools that have maintained football relations with their state colleges, and URI and UNH the only state schools that have kept it up with their Ivy League institutions. Cheers to all four!

and ...

These games are special. Brown coach Phil Estes recalled his years as a UNH lineman and the games against Dartmouth, "guys on a scholarship team playing the smart guys."

For another story about the helmet impact study that includes Dartmouth, click here.

Next week's Dartmouth-Yale game will be televised on NESN (New England Sports Network) as part of a just-announced TV package for regional football games. The good news is that if you live in New England and get NESN (we don't) you are set. I believe (but am not sure) that there's a tradeout with other regional sports networks and that there's a chance you might get the game elsewhere in the country, but at this point I don't know any more. I'll check for you in days ahead, or you can check with your cable/satellite provider. Princeton-Brown and Princeton-Harvard are also on the docket late in the season.

Alex Thomas, a small-school running back at Ansonia High not far from Yale, ran for a state-record 518 yards in a game last night and has his eyes on playing for the Elis. His coach told the New Haven Register: " I’ll tell you what, I hope Yale gets him because what a steal they’ll get."

An earlier Register story said Thomas's intention is "to continue his education at an Ivy League school. He lists Yale as his top choice with Harvard, Columbia and Cornell also in the running."

To find a recruiting profile of Alex Thomas, click here. He's just 5-9, 180, but he's put up some outstanding numbers, including running for 2,400 yards and 36 TDs last year.

This isn't about football, but the New York Times has an interesting story about why certain body types are best for certain sports like distance running and rowing. Find the story here.

Stay Tuned ...

I've been tied up since 7:30 this morning with a contractor giving us an estimate on replacing our roof. He just finished up his pitch so I'm back at the keyboard and will pull today's blog together in a bit.

The weekend picks are all but finished, so they will go up on the regular site shortly after the blog is posted. Check back tonight for the Dartmouth-Penn preview.

-bw-

Thursday's Practice

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Sept. 27, 2007

HANOVER -- The Dartmouth defense likes the numbers. A lot.

No, not the yardage and points Colgate and New Hampshire hung on the Big Green the past two weeks, certainly. Another set of numbers from the first two contests.

To find out what numbers they like, click here.

No Debating It: Ivy Season Opens Saturday

Not to get political, but scenes from a circus ...
Satellite trucks line the side of the Green in anticipation of the Democratic presidential debate.
At least two networks had tents set up on the Green for post-debate analysis.
This unique vehicle intended to represent the Pentagon budget (left), the education budget (center) and the world hunger and AIDs budget (right), kept circling the Green.
Before walking off the Green John Edwards was approached by someone from the campus radio station and recorded saying, "My name is John Edwards and I listen to 99 Rock."
The CNN bus got prime real estate between the Hopkins Center and the Green.

---

Philly.com has a capsule preview of this weekend's Penn-Dartmouth game. It mentions that the Quakers have never been 0-3 on coach Al Bagnoli's watch.

A Daily Pennsylvanian sports blogger wonders about Penn coach Al Bagnoli yanking players who make mistakes:

It’s one thing to take a guy out for a bit, but if you sub out a player every time he makes a mistake, that’s all he thinks about on the sideline.

There's nothing new in this story from The New Hampshire school newspaper but the headline is a little inflammatory because the editor decided to get cute (as a writer I hated when editors did that.): "It's pretty easy beating Green"

Drew Galbraith, Dartmouth assistant AD, adds his voice to the Ivy League chorus that has problems with a push to allow some college football players to play for five years. Galbraith tells the Daily P:

"The support for this seems to exist in a couple of BCS conferences that … want two bites of the apple."

Florida quarterback Connor Kempe (pronounced Kempee), who gave an oral commitment to Dartmouth last week, is analyzed on this Miami (Ohio) web page that includes the ESPN.com writeup about him. While other sites may not agree, this one says he was "offered" by Miami, Virginia, Stanford, Purdue, Iowa, Auburn, Western Michigan, Kansas State and Iowa State. Recruiting guru Max Emfinger lists Kempe as the No. 7-ranked dropback quarterback in the nation and says he was offered by Virginia and Stanford. Other stories suggest Virginia did offer him while Stanford hadn't yet. ... Kempe was seriously injured in a kiteboarding accident described in detail in this story from the Sun-Sentinel. ... To see a TV piece about the accident, including an interview with him and a few clips of him on the field, click here. The piece is headlined: "Benjamin athlete gets a second chance at life."

A Princeton freshman who won a gold medal in speed skating at the Turin Winter Olympics is ineligible to play Sprint (lightweight) football according to this story in the Princetonian. The wonder is that anyone at Princeton thought for a second that the Ivy League would rule any other way on Joey Cheek's eligibility. Don't folks around Old Nassau remember a basketball/baseball player named Chris Young?

Former Dartmouth defensive lineman Derham Cato isn't getting a lot of time with the Toronto Argonauts, but he's still getting some rubber chicken. He receives a quick mention in this story about a football banquet.

A new building planned for Old Dominion's reborn football program will feature 24 luxury boxes and a unique room for hosting potential recruits on game day. This rendition of the building planned for the ODU stadium end zone suggests it won't be confused any time soon with the graceful facility opened this fall in one of the end zones at Lafayette. Click here to take a look.

Did you know that Dartmouth played in the first game at Washington's Husky Stadium? That fact comes up in this story about the condition of the old building.

The Democratic debate has come and gone from Dartmouth. The Daily Dartmouth has a story about the circus atmosphere surrounding the event.

And finally, a certain Hanover High sophomore field hockey player got a chance to try out a Segway being used to police the crowds on the Green.

Wednesday's Practice Report

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Sept. 26, 2007

HANOVER -- If getting more pressure on the quarterback isn’t the No. 1 priority for the Dartmouth football team heading into Saturday’s Ivy League opener against Penn, it’s pretty doggone high on the pecking order.

To read more, visit Green Alert Premium.

Penn Back Will Be Back

No big surprise this, but standout Penn tailback Joe Sandberg, who sat out the Quakers' loss to Villanova last week to rest a nagging hamstring, will be back and starting against Dartmouth according to the Daily Pennsylvanian. Sandberg ran for 1,042 yards and 13 touchdowns a year ago and was rewarded with a spot on the All-Ivy League first team. The Big Green bottled him up effectively last year, allowing him just 65 yards on 22 carries. Sandberg has 85 yards in 17 carries this fall, all in the first half of an 8-7 loss to Lafayette in the opener.

Penn also will have the services of a starting wide receiver benched last week for disciplinary reasons according to the DP.

The Daily Pennsylvanian Sports Blog The Buzz offers up a few more thoughts about this Penn team and the season to date. ... It also points to the LA Times Bottom Ten, which a subscriber emailed about yesterday. Penn is ranked No. 5 -- in no small part because of its seven-interception disaster against Villanova -- while Dartmouth is No. 19. With the two playing this weekend, writer Steve Harvey quips:

"No. 5 Penn and No. 19 Dartmouth face off in a must-lose game for both." ...

The Daily Dartmouth is up and running and for the first time in a long, long time I saw a Daily D writer at practice yesterday. There's a Dartmouth preview here and a Penn season preview prepared by a Daily Pennsylvanian staffer. The Daily D also has a look back at the UNH game.

A Daily Dartmouth columnist who may have heard about the glory years in Hanover at the dinner table growing up believes things are going in the right direction for the football program. Of the Big Green's recent woes, he writes:

Since I have been at Dartmouth, our football team is 5-27. That’s a .156 winning percentage, or bad enough that if you pooled all of the wins into one season, it still would not be enough to win the Ivy League. In contrast, my father, a member of the Class of 1973, saw the Big Green go 32-3-1.

Dartmouth-bound high school quarterback Connor Kempe of Florida had a trip to Harvard planned before he orally committed to Dartmouth according to this account in the Jupiter Courier.

Time to gripe. Kudos to Harvard corner Steven Williams for being named the national defensive player of the week by the College Sporting News. Williams had a terrific game with two fourth-quarter interceptions, three tackles and two pass breakups to help Harvard hold off underdog Brown. Now consider what Ian Wilson did in Dartmouth's overtime loss to heavy favorite Colgate a week before: Two interceptions, two forced fumbles and 13 tackles. National defensive player of the week? Nope. Ivy League defensive player of the week? Um, no.

A Dartmouth alum on the faculty at Rutgers laments the toll of the school's push for athletic success at a national level in a book entitled, “Confessions of a Spoilsport.” In a New York Times piece about Professor William C. Dowling '66 and the book, the writer (a journalism professor at Columbia) notes:

Dartmouth ... instilled in Dr. Dowling an appreciation for what he calls now “participatory sports” — sports without scholarships, separate dorms, team tutors, product endorsements, television contracts, reduced admissions standards, easy classes and so many other tropes of Division I-A sports.

Ironically, given the tone of the book, it is published by Penn State University Press.

Professor Dowling is none too popular among a certain segment of Rutgers sports "fans," as his website explains.

***

If you are curious about the debate at Dartmouth tonight, the college has a web page dedicated to the event. Hanover, by the way, is absolutely buzzing. (Today's local newspaper had a picture of enormous collapsible duct work being installed at the Hopkins Center for auxiliary air conditioning.)

Parking is impossible so I'll be getting into town early today and milling around before practice -- all so I can find somewhere to park my '1983 '93 Expo nicknamed Vlad (in honor of a favorite baseball player who is an "old Expo.")

Tuesday's Practice

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

HANOVER -- A fire truck or two, an ambulance, a security vehicle, satellite trucks and a postmortem.

Was that:

a) the set of some new action flick?

or

b) just another day at Dartmouth football practice?

To read more, click here

More On QB Commitment

Thanks to a subscriber for sending along a link to a Palm Beach Post story about South Florida high school quarterback Conner Kempe's oral commitment to Dartmouth. There are a few new pieces of information from the links posted here several days ago. The story notes the 6-4, 222 Kempe was in town for the Colgate weekend, that he looked at Penn, Harvard and Dartmouth before narrowing his focus on Dartmouth and Harvard, and that he has made four visits to Hanover.

The Post page has an audio link. All it is, really, is a very well-done computer voice reading the story. It's kind of fun and will almost fool you. Someone has to tell it, however, that Division I isn't pronounced Division Eye ;-)

Missed this the first time. The Colgate newspaper has a story about the Raiders' win over the "Green Monster."

There's a poll up on the right side of the front page of the blog asking how you feel about the season after two games. Does the uptick in scoring leave you more optimistic than you expected? Or does the fact that the defense has surrendered one point less than a year ago at this time have you more pessimistic than you anticipated?

Note: I'll keep the poll up until Saturday and if there appears to be any interest, I'll throw another up next week. Because the polls I tried this summer received votes from only the smallest fraction of visitors I discontinued them. We'll see what happens this time.

It's Penn Week

The Ivy League office has its Dartmouth-Penn preview for the weekend up. Find it here. ...

Villanova, which had just four interceptions a year ago, had seven against Penn last week alone. The Daily Pennsylvanian explains how the Wildcats did it here. ... A DP columnist mulls what he would be thinking if he were the Quaker backup quarterback here. ...

South Florida high school quarterback Connor Kempe, who orally committed to Dartmouth last week, gets a mention (as does his decision) in this story. ...

Former Dartmouth assistant coach Don Brown, now head coach at UMass, is inducted into the Norwich University Hall of Fame. ... Jay Fiedler -- remember him? -- gets a mention in this story about injuries sidelining some of the NFL's Jewish players. It's unclear from this story if the writer spoke with Jay or is making assumptions about Fiedler's football future. ...

Yes, Dartmouth has seen the last of Ricky Santos. But the Big Green probably hasn't seen the last of the talented UNH quarterbacks. Freshman R.J. Toman opened eyes with his play against Dartmouth Saturday as this story reports. (I can see the headlines now: Toman poisoning UNH opponents) ... The UNH defensive philosophy: Bend don't break and then turn 'em over according to this story.

And finally ...

Here's a weird one. I type a lot of words every year. I mean, A LOT of words, all on my Mac iBook. I wore the imprint off a bunch of letters on the keyboard some time ago but Saturday brought something new. My left pinky finally wore a hole right through the plastic on the "A" key. I'm going to have to get some epoxy and fill it.

In case you are curious, the letters I've worn out are: A, S, D, E, C, N, L and M. I kind of expected the missing letters might be R, S, T, L, N, and E, didn't you Vanna?

(An aside: It's pretty funny when someone borrows my computer to send an email and asks me where one of the missing letters is. I have a little trouble with that until I sit down and put my hands on the keyboard. I guess my fingers have been trained to work a little faster than my brain ;-)

Optimist-Pessimist Visit The Neighborhood

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Sept. 24,2007

HANOVER -- The Optimist was a little down after the 31-28 overtime loss against Colgate two weeks ago. He’s feeling a little better after Saturday's 52-31 loss to New Hampshire, an irony that has The Pessimist licking his lips.

To read more, click here

The Guys Will Be Stopping By Tonight

The Optimist and The Pessimist are tearing into each other right now. They'll be stopping by the Green Alert Premium site tonight.

While you wait, the Fearful Forecasts last week:

Prediction: Harvard 35, Brown 14
Actual: Harvard 24, Brown 17

Prediction: Yale 28, Cornell 7
Actual: Yale 51, Cornell 12

Prediction: Columbia 28, Marist 14
Actual: Columbia 31, Marist 7

Prediction: Villanova 21, Penn 14
Actual: Villanova 34, Penn 14

Prediction: Holy Cross 28, Georgetown 10
Actual: Holy Cross 55, Georgetown 0

Prediction: Lafayette 17, Princeton 14
Actual: Princeton 20, Lafayette 14.

Season to Date: 10-4.

Green Alert Take: Feelin' pretty good after listing the only incorrect pick as the one prediction: "You wouldn't want to bet the farm on"... The surprises were probably Brown staying closer than expected to Harvard and the ease with which Yale dispatched Cornell.

McManus Wins Rookie Award

Dartmouth freshman Tim McManus is the Ivy League football rookie of the week, a well-deserved honor for the Big Green Slash (quarterback/wide receiver/utility player).

From the release:

Dartmouth freshman quarterback/wide receiver Tim McManus (St. Paul, Minn.) was a buzzsaw for the Big Green during the 52-31 loss to in-state rival New Hampshire. McManus showed his versatility completing a pass for seven yards, rushing four times for 45 yards and catching two passes for 32 yards. He lined up under center several times against the Wildcats.

(Tim McManus photo courtesy of Dartmouth Sports Information)

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

One week. Huge difference.

Last Saturday the Dartmouth defense had the unenviable task of trying to stop the surgical passing attack of New Hampshire quarterback Ricky Santos. This Saturday the Big Green will face a Penn passing attack that last week was something less than surgical with seven interceptions.

To put the numbers in perspective, Santos had seven interceptions in 13 games last year. He threw 432 passes, recorded 29 touchdowns in the air and had as many picks as Penn's QB's had on one Saturday evening against Villanova.

Don't for a second expect the Quaker quarterback(s) to have that bad a game this weekend, but the Daily Pennsylvanian warns, "if any Ivy defense makes the easy decision to drop back into a zone, it will still mean trouble."

The Sports Network quotes a clearly frustrated Penn coach Al Bagnoli on his team's loss at Villanova: "You can't beat anybody, never mind a good team on the road, when you have that volume of turnovers. As sure as I'm sitting here, we had people open."

Yale's 51-12 win over Cornell marked the Bulldogs' highest scoring game against the Big Red since 1889. The Yale Daily News shares the numbers. Cornell coach Jim Knowles, maintaining a sense of humor at the start of the postgame press conference: “Do I have to make a statement? Can I plead the fifth?”

A couple of other notable games took place at Lafayette's fabulously refurbished Fisher Stadium and at Harvard in the historic first game under the lights.

Of his team's win in Easton, Pa., Princeton coach Roger Hughes was quoted in the Princetonian as saying: "Lafayette is a good team and to come in here and win, I don't know if people realize how big a win this is. And scoring 20 points on the No. 1 defense in Division I-AA is outstanding."

The Harvard Crimson reports the attendance of 18,898 for the Harvard-Brown game was "an increase of 60 percent over the 11,134 in attendance at the 2005 home game against Brown. It was the largest attendance for a home game in more than a decade, excluding the yearly Harvard-Yale match-up, which routinely draws more than 30,000 fans."

***

Rob Talley, the Dartmouth defensive coordinator through the 2004 season, is off to a fast start in his first head coaching job at Stonehill. He has the Skyhawks, who were 1-9 last year under his predecessor, out to a 3-0 start. Their win over C.W. Post Saturday was the first in school history. It's just the second time in Stonehill's 20-year football history the school has been 3-0.

Former Dartmouth head coach John Lyons led Kimball Union Academy to a 32-0 win Saturday in its first game of the season.

***

This is a fun one.

The Missoulian writes about newly remodeled "skyboxes," at the University of Montana's Washington-Grizzly Stadium. (Remember, the Griz play at the FCS level -- I-AA if you will -- the same as Dartmouth and the rest of the Ivies.) The story reports there are 47 of these boxes including the "double-wide" featured in the story. From the Missoulian description of this particular box:

It's got granite countertops, comfy seating for 26, a wet bar, cafe tables and a bird's-eye view of the Grizzlies' playing field.

Pushing the suite into the envy zone: Subzero refrigerator “drawers,” a built-in Subzero glass refrigerator, an icemaker the size of a wastebasket, and a state-of-the-art, under-the-counter microwave that also pulls out like a drawer.

The crowning glory - or at least the most memorable design element - are the suite's five flat-screen televisions providing instant replay action and including a 42-inch bear-sized screen - and a television in the bathroom.

Two of the "conglomerate of football fanatics and friends," who lease the box played football at Dartmouth. Brad Kliber '85, was an offensive lineman (and is pictured in the story) while Jack Manning '72, was an All-Ivy defensive back. Manning, by the way, occasionally takes his eyes off the Griz to see what's happening in Hanover where nephew John Manning '07, has been a starting corner for two years.

UNH Follow Posted

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

HANOVER -- While the Dartmouth defense struggled against New Hampshire -- who doesn’t? -- the Big Green offense continued to show signs that it is coming of age.

A few numbers:

• By following the season-opening 28 points against Colgate with 31 against UNH, Dartmouth has scored 28-or-more points in back to back games for the first time since the undefeated 1996 team turned the trick against Yale (40-6) and Cornell (38-21).
• With four touchdown passes against the Wildcats, Dartmouth now has seven TD throws this year, matching the total for all of last season.
• A year ago at this time, Dartmouth had 160 rushing yards. This year: 365.
• Despite playing just one half Saturday, Milan Williams now has 235 yards rushing, more than any running back had a year ago. (Quarterback Mike Fritz led the team with 410 yards.)
• Dartmouth did not allow a sack for the second week in a row. (An earlier sack by Colgate has been re-categorized as tackle for loss because it was ruled a run.)
• In two games last year Dartmouth had 480 yards of total offense and 26 first downs. The Big Green has 733 yards of total offense and 43 first downs against the same two foes this year.

To read the complete UNH follow story, visit Green Alert Premium.

All Around The Ivy

Like the coaches who are watching it on tape, I had the unfortunate experience of reliving the UNH game this morning. Three years of doing the Green Alert site and I had to pick this game to hit a wrong button on the computer. Thwap, the story I agonized over yesterday was gone, replaced by a second copy of the notes column for all you early risers. Oh well, it's been re-created. Now on to today's blog and later (probably tonight so that I can have some of today free) a follow from UNH.

UNH-Dartmouth game stories ...
The Concord Monitor headline: Quick and easy; Cats score early on way to home-opening rout
Foster's Daily Democrat: "DURHAM — For a while during Saturday's game, Dartmouth was under the illusion it could play with the nationally ranked University of New Hampshire football team."
The Manchester Union Leader headline: 'Cats outslug Green
Seacoastonline.com headline: UNH routs Dartmouth in Granite Bowl
Foster's has a sidebar on Mike Boyle, the all-purpose receiver I'd been warning you about long before he returned the opening kickoff 91 yard and then scored the first TD from scrimmage in the game.

The Ivy roundup ...
Yale 51, Cornell 12
Harvard 24, Brown 17
Princeton 20, Lafayette 14
Villanova 34, Penn 14
Columbia 31, Marist 7

and ...
Holy Cross 55, Georgetown 0

A few thoughts and observations. ... Preseason Ivy pick Yale showed the season-opener at Georgetown a week ago was merely a formality with an overpowering victory against a Cornell team that beat up on Bucknell in Week One. ... Harvard-Brown was closer than expected in front of 18,898 in the first night game at Harvard. ... Princeton proved rumors of its demise were a little early with a big win over previously undefeated and nationally ranked Lafayette. ... Penn suffered seven, count 'em, seven interceptions and eight turnovers that led to six scores. Tough to gauge the Quakers when that happens. ... Columbia got 177 yards rushing from Jordan Davis against a winless and hopelessly overmatched Marist team, but there's an enormous red flag attached to this win after Marist's Bo Ehikioya rushed for 212 yards against a Lion defense that was also torched on the ground a week ago. ... Holy Cross has it going.

Saturday's statistical leaders courtesy of the Ivy office:
RUSHING YARDS
177 — Jordan Davis, Columbia (22 carries)
151 — Mike McLeod, Yale (31)
66 — Rob Toresco, Princeton (9)
61 — Matt Polhemus, Yale (7)
59 — R.C. Lagomarsino, Princeton (15)
58 — Liam O'Hagan, Harvard (12)
56 — Milan Williams, Dartmouth (12)

PASSING YARDS
249 — Michael Daugherty, Brown (18 of 44)
203 — Nathan Ford, Cornell (22 of 37)
200 — Liam O'Hagan, Harvard (19 of 29)
190 — Bill Foran, Princeton (18 of 24)
155 — Robert Irvin, Penn (15 of 27)
145 — Craig Hormann, Columbia (11 of 25)

RECEIVING YARDS
130 — Corey Mazza, Harvard (9 catches)
123 — Braden Lepisto, Penn (11)
106 — Paul Raymond, Brown (5)
102 — Buddy Farnham, Brown (8)
88 — Bryan Walters, Cornell (4)
83 — Jesse Baker, Cornell (8)
80 — Will Thanheiser, Princeton (4)

Dartmouth-UNH Notes

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Sept. 22, 2007

DURHAM, N.H. -- Dartmouth took the wraps off a secret weapon Saturday at UNH.

To find out more, go to Green Alert Premium

UNH 52, Dartmouth 31

Green Keeps Climbing But Can't Escape Hole

Two Early New Hampshire Touchdowns Prove Too Much In 52-31 Loss

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Sept. 22, 2007

DURHAM, N.H. -- Given that New Hampshire figured to be a pretty tall mountain to climb Saturday the last thing the Dartmouth football team needed to do was start in a hole.

But that’s exactly where the Big Green found itself just minutes into what ended up being a 52-31 loss.

To keep reading, click here

UNH Game Story Coming

Just got back from UNH. I'm going to take a few minutes to watch the end of the Penn State-Michigan fiasco and then will get the first story up.

Later,
-bw-

Dartmouth-UNH: Feast Or Famine

The Manchester Union Leader has a quick history lesson about the Dartmouth-UNH series. It's been feast or famine over the years as Allen Lessels explains.

The College Sporting News picks New Hampshire, 37-13. The top of the story offers an interesting look at the various FCS (I-AA) polls.

Harvard defensive back Andrew Berry has a column on the New York Times' college football blog in anticipation of the first home night game in the school's history. Great quote:

It is not lost on me that I am able to be a part of history at a place where I was so certain there was no more history to be made.

Brown's AJ Tracey also has a column on the NYT blog about the uniqueness of Ivy football players.

The University of New Hampshire's offense is explosive and difficult to defend. Enough so that a Florida Gator coach occasionally takes a look to see what's happening up here according to the Union Leader. Doesn't hurt, of course, that he used to coach up here. Still ...

If you don't think they are getting serious about Columbia football, check this out: There are a couple of billboards in New York City inviting people to "Meet the new cats uptown." And there could be more on the way around the city's five boroughs. There's a little more to the story (it helps to have alums in high places) but good for Columbia.

UNH Preview Posted

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

HANOVER -- Dartmouth’s game plan for Saturday’s contest at the University of New Hampshire should have a familiar ring to the 10th-ranked Wildcats.

It’s the same strategy they employed in the fourth quarter last week to hold off Marshall and post their third win over a Bowl Subdivision team in three tries SRSA. (Since Ricky Santos Arrived.)

To read the full preview (and this week's Fearful Forecast) visit Green Alert Premium.

Highly Rated QB Picks Dartmouth

I was out this morning and came back to find Dartmouth has a commitment from a big-time quarterback prospect out of Florida. From the ESPN.com recruiting site:

Conner Kempe has committed to Dartmouth over Harvard and Penn, ESPN's Tom Luginbill reports. Kempe had over 14 Division IA scholarship offers but narrowed his field down to those three Ivy League schools because of their academics.

Kempe is 6-4, 205 and is listed as fast as 4.75 in the 40, but his clear strengths appear to be throwing the football and reading defenses according to the plethora of recruiting sites reporting on him. One wrote: "Kempe is a pocket passer with prototypical size and excellent arm strength. In fact, his arm is his most impressive asset as he is capable of making any throw." ...

From Florida.scout.com:

One of the top quarterback prospects in South Florida this season, Kempe is coming off a strong junior season in which he threw for over 2,100 yards and 17 touchdowns.

For an overview of Kempe, click here. ... There's a photo of him here with this caption: "DRAWING ATTENTION: More than 42 colleges evaluated Kempe during spring practice."

This didn't work on my Mac with a slow connection, but I believe you can see video of Kempe here.

An earlier post when Dartmouth was first mentioned with regard to Kempe told a little about a near tragic kiteboarding accident he had. A story about that can be found here.

Kempe is the latest in a line of high school seniors committing to Dartmouth that includes offensive lineman Patrick Lahey of Brooks School In Massachusetts. His commitment was reported here. The 6-3, 285 lineman is said to have a "nasty streak," that serves him well on the field.

This morning's blog linked to a Boston Globe story mentioning Thayer Academy linebacker/tight end Alex Shulman has committed to Dartmouth.

A word of caution: Although a high school senior may commit to Dartmouth, he still has to be admitted and perform in the classroom over his final school year to the standards that (hopefully) lead to admission.

***

I've been warning about UNH wide receiver Michael Boyle. A Seacoastonline.com story about him today includes this about the 5-8 utility receiver/back:

He caught just 16 passes after a solid redshirt freshman season where he flashed promise as a receiver and led the league in punt returns.

"The following spring, he was the best offensive player on our field," said (UNH coach Sean) McDonnell. "That's talking about David Ball and Aaron Brown. Chad Kackert was out there."

The Nashua Telegraph has a preview of the UNH game here. The Telegraph tells us that UNH may have the services of New Hampshire-bred freshman tailback Sean Jellison for the first time. A former teammate of Dartmouth freshman defensive end Tyler Green at Souhegan HS in Amherst, N.H., Jellison is a highly regarded prospect.

Predictions Unkind

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens offers a tutorial Thursday to his quarterbacks, receivers and a running back.

---

The Sports Network has its weekend preview up. Prediction: New Hampshire 49, Dartmouth 21. ...

The Harvard Crimson predicts a similar score (44-14) with this unkind cut: "The Big Green surprised a lot of people by opening up a 28-0 lead on Colgate last week, and then surprised very few by giving it all back and going on to lose the game, 31-28, in overtime."

The College Sporting News has a short capsule but no prediction. ... The Daily Pennsylvanian look around the Ivies focuses on Yale-Cornell and has just one sentence on Dartmouth-UNH.

There's a capsule preview in the Concord Monitor that includes this comment from UNH coach Sean McDonnell: "Dartmouth is a better football team than they've been in a long time."

Dartmouth might want to consider breaking in those new white pants tomorrow at UNH. Less chance that paint will show up on them if it's still tacky. Huh? From the Union Leader: "The facilities types finished up painting the yard markers on the FieldTurf a little after noon."

Harvard and Brown are playing tomorrow night in the first-ever game under the lights at Harvard Stadium. It sounds as if the campus is buzzing. There will even be a pep rally according to the Harvard Crimson.

First it was a knee, now a hamstring is keeping Casey Cramer off the field with the Tennessee Titans according to this story. As a special teams guy, Cramer is always just barely hanging on to his job, so the nagging injuries are not good.

...

A close read of the Boston Globe Independent School League previews provides the name of a high school linebacker/tight end who could be headed this way. From the Thayer Academy preview: "The group has attracted considerable attention from colleges with Shulman (Dartmouth) and Evans (UNH) already receiving offers." That would be Alex Shulman, listed at 6-2, 205.

Thursday's Practice

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Sept. 20, 2007

HANOVER -- It’s no secret that New Hampshire football coach Sean McDonnell takes the UNH-Dartmouth series seriously. His comments in this morning's paper made that clear.

“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,” the ninth-year head coach said. “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."

McDonnell likes the game, but then again, why wouldn’t he? While there have been a couple of scares, the Wildcats haven’t lost to the Big Green on his watch. And most years haven’t been seriously challenged in the second half. Seven times in McDonnell's eight games against Dartmouth the Wildcats have scored at least 42 points.

In fact, they haven’t lost to their cross-state rivals since Gerald Ford was in the White House and, well, since Buddy Teevens was in a Dartmouth uniform instead of wearing a headset on Saturday afternoons. The Big Green’s last win in the series: 24-13 in 1976.

All of which begs the question: Does the current Dartmouth feel the same way McDonnell does about the series?

Find out by clicking here.

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.

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

HANOVER -- Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens like a lot of what he saw on Memorial Field Wednesday afternoon. Not everything (more about that later) but a lot.

“It was very, very sharp and upbeat with a lot of enthusiasm and focus,” Teevens said of the practice session, sounding even more upbeat and enthusiastic than usual. “Tuesday was bits and pieces, just not sharp. Usually you have a Teaching Tuesday, an Enthusiasm Wednesday and a Polishing Thursday before a Walkthrough Friday. The effort was pretty good yesterday but it wasn't as tidy as you would like.

To read more, visit Green Alert Premium.

Maybe The Opener Changed Their Minds

I just downloaded the 16-page Penn preseason football guide produced by the Daily Pennsylvanian in PDF. (LINK) It's a nice piece of work but doesn't exactly toss any love Dartmouth's way. The preview has 13 prognosticators who offer their guesses for the final Ivy League standings. Six pick Dartmouth to finish eighth and seven pick the Big Green seventh. You do the math; no one picks Dartmouth any higher than seventh.

An inside story includes this thought:

"... (I)n a league full of parity, pretty much anyone outside of Dartmouth has a shot to win it all."

To quote the immortal Sammy Davis Jr., "Ouch, babe."

The guess here is that if they polled the prognosticators after Saturday's opening games instead of before, Dartmouth would have been treated a little more kindly.

On the other hand, it might be a good thing if the re-polling takes place before this weekend when the Big Green figures to have its hands full with UNH and quarterback Ricky Santos. Old friend Andy Gardiner has a USA Today story headlined: New Hampshire rides high aboard sizzling Santos. It includes this quote from UNH coach Sean McDonnell about his QB:

"He's gone from good to great, and now he has to go from great to wherever he wants to go. The expectations for him are so high that he has to do more."

ESPN.com has a travel story about the oldest football stadia (hate that, so I'm going with stadiums) in the country. (LINK) Having done a ton of research when I wrote the Ivy League chapter for ESPN's College Football Encyclopedia, I didn't find much in the story that's new but it's worth reading. It focuses on Harvard Stadium, Yale Bowl and Franklin Field, three of the four oldest um, stadiums, in the nation. (Georgia Tech has the other.)

While you are on the pace, check out the photo slide show that accompanies the story. It's headlined: Monuments to the Past. That's an accurate, but unfortunate headline.

Speaking of stadiums, the Yale Daily has a blurb about a start date for the next stage of the Yale Bowl project. I know this is sacrilege, but I wish the folks in New Haven would consider doing what Bucknell did with the closed end of its little horseshoe. (Aerial picture) (Ground Level Picture) Enormous hedges in one end zone spelling out YALE would be pretty impressive and the place would look a lot less like a "Monument to the Past," if it didn't seem quite so empty. Given the historic nature of the facility, they probably wouldn't consider it and might not even be allowed, but it's an idea. It sure worked at Bucknell.

To access the UNH game notes for Saturday's game over in Durham, click here.

Tuesday's Practice

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

HANOVER -- There’s no dust on Memorial Field's artificial surface, but if there were, it would have finally settled from Dartmouth’s 31-28 overtime loss to Colgate Saturday.

Three days after he saw the Big Green lose a 28-0 second-half lead, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens weighed in on the game Tuesday at the conclusion of the first full practice for the upcoming New Hampshire contest.

Read what he had to say at Green Alert Premium.

Slip Sliding Away Until ...

• A big early lead over a strong favorite.
• A headline-grabbing upset slipping away as the favorite comes roaring back.

Dartmouth's game against Colgate? Yes.

But also New Hampshire's game against FBS team Marshall later the same afternoon.

Despite leading 24-0 at the half and 31-7 in the third quarter, UNH was in serious trouble as the fourth quarter wound down. With its lead shaved to 41-35 and the defense leaking oil, the Wildcats did what any smart team would do. They turned the game over to Ricky Santos & Co.

From a story in Foster's Daily Democrat:

As the lead was shrinking, coach Sean McDonnell was thinking "just one stop."
In this case the best defense — which surrendered 35 second-half points — turned out to be a ball-control offense. ... The Wildcats covered 70 yards and took more than five and a half minutes to score the clinching touchdown in their 48-35 win Saturday over Marshall.

Santos, who completed 23-of-33 throws for 289 yards and three touchdowns while running for 45 yards and another touchdown, has been honored as the national FCS offensive player of the week by The Sports Network and College Sporting News.

Dartmouth wasn't as fortunate, of course, as Colgate came back from a 28-0 deficit to defeat the Big Green in overtime, 31-28. Ironically, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens and Harvard coach Tim Murphy, his high school teammate in Massachusetts, now have one more thing in common.

In 2000, Murphy's Harvard team ran out to a 28-0 halftime lead over Cornell. With a chance to put the Big Red out of its misery, the Crimson drove inside the 30 before fumbling the ball away. What did it matter? A lot, it turned out. Cornell reeled off the next 29 points to take a one-point lead late.

Harvard then drove inside the 10 and seemed a lock to kick the winning field goal. (Sound familiar?) But while Dartmouth fumbled on the final play from scrimmage and didn't get to try a kick, the Crimson did. And it was blocked. Final score: Cornell 29, Harvard 28.

Dartmouth and Harvard (against Holy Cross) both lost nailbiters to Patriot League teams in the opening week. The Daily Pennsylvanian notes that the Patriot League went 5-2 against the Ivies last week, surpassing last year's win total for the conference against Ivy foes on one Saturday. A year ago the Ivies had a 14-4 advantage in the series. There are still 11 games remaining between the conferences.

The Ivy League office has its weekend previews up. Find the Dartmouth-UNH preview here.

Watching Dartmouth jayvee games is always interesting. Milford Academy, for example, has had players headed to places like West Virginia, Miami, Iowas and Penn State in recent years. It's fun to see what happens to them.

I'll be honest with you, I didn't expect to run across the name of a player I recognized from the jayvee game with Middlebury a year ago in the big-time, but there it is. Steve Hauschka, a placekicker for the Panthers last year, is the starting kicker this year as a graduate student at North Carolina State. Find a story about how a kid who graduates from Middlebury ends up kicking for an FBS school here. While I had no idea the Club Midd kicker was going on, it was clear a year ago that he was a major talent as his booming placements just about drew rain. I remember telling a few people he'd look awfully good in a Dartmouth uniform.

Dartmouth practice resumes today. Look for a postmortem on the Colgate game and a recap of the afternoon session tonight on Green Alert premium.

Optimist And Pessimist Have A Field Day

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Sept. 17, 2007

HANOVER -- The Optimist and The Pessimist usually cross paths on Mondays during the football season. They were both at Memorial Field Saturday when Dartmouth opened the 2007 campaign with a 31-28 overtime loss to Colgate but they never saw each other.

Maybe that's because The Optimist checked out at halftime and The Pessimist stopped in only for the last two quarters.

That being the case it's no surprise the fellas don’t see eye-to-eye this week about what they saw last week. (Not that they ever do.)

To read more click here

Not My Call

Let me start out by saying I have tremendous empathy for people who pick weekly awards. I have been the selector for the New England Football Writers Gold Helmet award one week each year for a few seasons now and it is a gut-wrenching job. I've lost sleep over making the pick every time I've done it and to be honest, I'd rather not have that responsibility. But someone has to do it so each week I try to do my part. I put a great deal of thought and consideration into the picks I make (Division I and II-III) and try not to listen when people like me do what I'm about to do: second-guess.

(In another life I used to pick the Ivy League women's basketball player of the week and I know there were people taking my name in vain every week. It comes with the territory.)

While I know how tough it is to make a player of the week selection I can't help but think someone dropped the ball in the opening week of the Ivy season. Dartmouth safety Ian Wilson not only should have been the Ivy League defensive player of the week (LINK) but he also should have had a run at the national defensive player of the week.

All the hard-hitting senior did against Colgate was:

• Make two interceptions (including one on the one-yard line to prevent a touchdown at the end of the first half).
• Force two fumbles with bonecrushing hits, the first setting up a Dartmouth touchdown.
• Make 13 tackles.
• Have a 10-yard tackle for a loss.

Compare that to the solid but not spectacular accomplishments of the award winner:

• Five tackles
• Two tackles for a loss (one sack)
• Two forced fumbles

At the very least it's a crying shame Wilson wasn't co-defensive player of the week and if that's a cop out, so be it.

Sure, Dartmouth lost and the other guy's team won, but this is the defensive PLAYER of the week, not defensive TEAM of the week. Wilson couldn't do it all himself, but he gave it a heck of a shot.

Monday, Monday

If you haven't yet seen a junior varsity football game at Dartmouth, it's usually quite a show and Sunday's 33-26 loss to Middlebury was no exception as the Big Green battled back from a 26-0 halftime deficit. Do check out the story (and stats) on the regular Green Alert site and think about coming out for the next game. The remaining schedule:

Sun, Oct 07 MILFORD ACADEMY Hanover, 2 p.m.
Fri, Oct 26 Harvard at Cambridge, Mass. 2 p.m.
Sun, Nov 11 BRIDGTON ACADEMY Hanover, Noon

Ricky Santos, Ricky Santos, Ricky Santos. Between now and Saturday's game at New Hampshire you can bet you'll be reading about and hearing the name of the nonpareil UNH quarterback over and over and over again. But a Seacoastonline story in the aftermath of the 'Cats' win over Marshall is a reminder that New Hampshire isn't a one-man team, and doesn't play a one-dimensional game. The drive that clinched their third win over an FBS team during Santos' career featured nary a pass. From the story:

The Wildcats (1-1) stayed on the ground 13 straight plays during the march that upped their lead to 48-35 and drained nearly six minutes off the clock, to 1:01 left. Chris Ward totaled 99 yards on 19 carries, including 50 of them on that final drive, with nearly all of those yards between the tackles.

Speaking of that game, no I didn't pick UNH to win it, dagnabit. I did, however, predict UNH would score a bunch of points against Marshall -- got the final score perfect, just the wrong winner -- and why not? Northwestern and Rutgers had no answer for the unique New Hampshire offense and with Santos still running the show, there was no reason to think Marshall would be the one to find the defensive Rosetta stone. The press out of West Virginia seems shocked the UNH put up 45 points. It shouldn't have been.

There are game stories from the weekend in all the school newspapers (except The Dartmouth, of course, because it doesn't resume publication until a week from Wednesday) but nothing worth chasing down. Except, perhaps, for this story in the Daily Pennsylvanian. It explains Penn coach Al Bagnoli's decision to take an intentional safety that allowed Lafayette to win their game, 8-7, with a field goal.

The Union Leader has a column that discusses the all-time football player piece I pulled together for the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. I almost hesitate to mention it because there were some sore feelings from a few people about not being included, but the column reproduces the graphic that accompanied the piece and that's kind of fun.

Former Dartmouth distance runner Jarrod Shoemaker, 25, has made the U.S. Olympic team for the 2008 games as a triathlete.

Turning from Dartmouth, you wouldn't think much could be written about Penn State football coach Joe Paterno that you haven't already read somewhere, but this Buffalo News story is worth reading. Among other things, it notes that Paterno still lives in the same ranch-style home he's lived in all these years, and that his phone number is in the book. I remember seeing Joe around town when I was out there and it was kind of neat to see he could get his pancakes at a certain breakfast place without being bothered.

Back on the subject of last week's picks, it's time for me to take my medicine and it's not too bad ...

Final: Brown 28, Duquesne 17
My Pick: Brown 16, Duquesne 14
Second Guess: I'll take it. Brown showed more firepower than I expected.

Final: Fordham 27, Columbia 10
My Pick: Fordham 24, Columbia 21
Second Guess: Not bad again. But even with Craig Hormann back at QB, the Lions didn't score as much as I expected.

Final: Cornell 38, Bucknell 14
My Pick: Cornell 21, Bucknell 10
Second Guess: I didn't expect the Big Red air game to be that good, that fast.

Final: Holy Cross 31, Harvard 28
My Pick: Holy Cross 24, Harvard 17
Second Guess: I went back and forth on this one. So did the game.

Final: Lafayette 8, Penn 7
My Pick: Penn 17, Lafayette 10
Second Guess: I didn't think many points would go up on the board and got that right. Just got the wrong winner.

Final: Yale 28, Georgetown 14
My Pick: Yale 42, Georgetown 7
Second Guess: A better showing by Georgetown or a worse showing by Yale than I expected. I'm not sure which.

Final: Lehigh 32, Princeton 21
My Pick: Princeton 28, Lehigh 21
Second Guess: Five first-half turnovers can be hard to overcome despite what Colgate did.

Final: UNH 48, Marshall 35
My Pick: Marshall 48, UNH 35
Second Guess: Sure wish I'd picked the same score but a different winner.

Last Week: 5-3
Season To Date: 5-3

And finally, it's not too late to sign up for Green Alert Premium. Read about last week's thriller against Colgate, check out the always popular Optimist and Pessimist later today and get the scoop on practice for this week's game at New Hampshire. To take out a subscription, click here. If you have already signed up, thanks for helping out and spread the word. If last Saturday's game is any indication of what's to come, there's going to be a lot worth reading about in the weeks ahead!

Full-length stories on Green Alert Premium since Media Day, Aug. 6:

Sept. 16 Jayvees Nearly Pull It Out
Sept. 16 Colgate Follow: Echoes Of The Past
Sept. 15 Colgate 31, Dartmouth 28 (ot)
Sept. 14 Colgate Preview
Sept. 14 Week One Picks
Sept. 13 Practice--And Insider's Look at The Dartmouth Special Teams
Sept. 12 Practice--An Insider's Look At The Dartmouth Defense
Sept. 11 Practice--An Insider's Look At The Dartmouth Offense
Sept. 10 Practice--Something Was Different, But What?
Sept. 9 Feature--Tight Ends Coach Lance Clelland
Sept. 8 Practice--They Thought Of Everything. Almost.
Sept. 7 p.m. Practice--A Look Ahead To The Mock Game
Sept. 7 a.m. Practice--Feedback After The Feed Bag
Sept. 6 Scrimmage--The Verdict Is In. Sort Of.
Sept. 5 p.m. Practice--Jobs Will Be On the Line
Sept. 5 a.m. Practice--It's All About EARs
Sept. 4 Practice--Making Sure They Will Be Ready For The Opener
Sept. 3 p.m. Practice--A Very Special Run
Sept. 3 a.m. Practice--Reviews From Scrimmage Are Favorable
Sept. 2 -- Optimist-Pessimist Round One
Sept. 1 Scrimmage--Recap
Sept. 1 Scrimmage--Stats
Sept. 1 a.m. Practice--Quick Whistles Come With Scrimmage Territory
Aug. 31 Practice--Are You (Almost) Ready For Some Football?
Aug. 30 p.m. Practice--Sour Weather But Practice Ends On A Sweet Note
Aug. 30 a.m. Practice--Stick Around Long Enough And You'll See Everything
Aug. 29 Practice--Score One For Coach Teevens
Aug. 28 p.m. Practice--First Day Of Doubles Is A Wrap
Aug. 28 a.m. Practice--Getting Their Kicks
Aug. 27 Practice--First Live Scrimmaging Of The Preseason
Aug. 26 Practice--All Dressed Up And Champing At The Bit
Aug. 25 Practice--A Sweltering Afternoon
Aug. 24 Practice--One On One
Aug. 23 Practice--Defense Has Edge
Aug. 22 Practice--A Lot To Like
Aug. 22--2007 Princeton Preview
Aug. 21--2007 Brown Preview
Aug. 20--2007 Cornell Preview
Aug. 19--2007 Harvard Preview
Aug. 18--2007 Columbia Preview
Aug. 17--2007 Holy Cross Preview
Aug. 16--2007 Yale Preview
Aug. 15--2007 Penn Preview
Aug. 14--2007 UNH Preview
Aug. 13--2007 Colgate Preview
Aug. 8--Questions And (Some) Answers For 2007
Aug. 7--A Coaches Poll?
Aug. 6--Media Day And The 2007 Poll

Jayvee Comeback Falls Just Short

Freshman tailback David Johnson strains for yards one play before he ran in from the 2 for the final touchdown of Sunday's contest. Freshman tight end Kevin Gallagher blocks out front. (click photo to enlarge)

---

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

HANOVER -- Given that practice as a team amounts to about 15 minutes once or twice in the days leading up to kickoff, the odds are usually stacked against the Dartmouth junior varsity whenever it has a game.

The odds were even more prohibitive Sunday. Not only were the jayvees playing the Middlebury varsity -- it’s officially a scrimmage for the Division III team -- but the Panthers put pressure on their opponent with a refined option attack. And they do it no-huddle offense, always tricky to defend.

Now add in heavy pressure against a patchwork offensive line and the Big Green's challenge was that much tougher.

Still, it was something of a reversal of fortune for Dartmouth on the weekend as the jayvees fell into a 26-0 halftime hole and roared almost all the way back in the second half before running out of time and dropping a 33-26 decision. The game was played at the same field on which Colgate erased a 28-point deficit against the Big Green varsity in the second half of a 31-28 overtime thriller just one day earlier.

For full stats and the complete story, go to Green Alert Premium.