Buckle Up That Chinstrap (And Raincoat)

When the Friends of Football tent is up you know the home season is about to begin.
Linemen hit the new sled in the north end zone Wednesday.
Youth football players from Newport, N.H., about 45 minutes away, take in practice Wednesday.

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The forecast has gone from possibility of a shower to sloppy for Saturday's game against No. 7 New Hampshire so be sure to bring your mackintosh and brolly and be thankful for FieldTurf.

Dave Coulson over at The Sports Network has his weekend picks in and it's no surprise that he went with UNH. The surprise is the final score: New Hampshire, 35-17. The teams combined for 83 points last year, 70 the year before and 69 each of the two years before that. In fact, the TSN's FCS guru is predicting the lowest aggregate score since the series was resumed with an annual game in 2000. He has the teams combining for 52 points. The lowest-scoring game of the past eight was the 2002 game when UNH survived the Big Green, 29-26, a total of 55 points. What do you think? Vote in the poll off to the left.

Not that I'm a big believer in the Sagarin Ratings, but this week's numbers give UNH an 18.1-point advantage in Saturday's game.

Two outlets that regularly cover UNH have stories about the spread offense that the University of New Hampshire adopted after having difficulty finding power fullbacks and tight ends (although they currently have a terrific tight end in Scott Sicko). Both stories quote UNH coach Sean McDonnell. The Seacoast Online story includes a thought from Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens. The Concord Monitor story includes the following from UNH's McDonnell, although it pertains to both teams:

"We see it every day so we have an idea of how we want to defend it and we get to try new things against it. If you're trying to do something the day of the game or one week against an offense like that, it becomes tough."

Allen Lessels' Manchester Union Leader blog reports that UNH tailback Chad Kackert (knee) and corner John Clements (hamstring) would not have played if the game were on Tuesday.

Cornell players are getting the "C" back on their helmets one class at a time after a road victory over Bucknell in their opener. The Cornell Sun reports.

For a balanced look at the Princeton band story, check out a Newark Star-Ledger story that includes this:

That brand of humor might draw laughs at Harvard or Columbia, but it doesn't play well at The Citadel, especially when it's accompanied by an unintended slight.