Gearing Up For Holy Cross

The Dartmouth sports information release on Saturday's game against Holy Cross is available here. It includes this telling quote from coach Buddy Teevens:

“Right now we have a high number of young players that have been forced into action a bit ahead of their timetable. While they are making great progress, mistakes come with the growing pains on the field. We need to protect the passer better and give him time to operate. The team’s attitude is good, working hard to correct their mistakes and make better decisions. Nobody is walking out on that field with their head down.”

Dartmouth's game notes are available here.

A PDF of the Ivy League weekend preview can be found here. It doesn't feature much new but does include this factoid:

Holy Cross has posted victories in each of the last four years, but prior to that Dartmouth had won two straight and six out of eight games in the series.

Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph won the Boston Globe Gold Helmet Award as the Division I New England Player of the Week. He was earlier named the National Offensive Player of the Week by The Sports Network, The ECAC Offensive Player of the Week and the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in last Saturday's win over Brown.

Randolph now has won the Gold Helmet four times in his career. I honestly can't remember the last time a Dartmouth player won the award.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal mentions that Dartmouth – along with Stanford, Duke, Harvard and Princeton – has been in contact with Sierra Visa running back Akil Sharp. The 5-9, 200-pound Sharp has run for 827 yards and five touchdowns through seven games. Here's what his coach told the newspaper:

"In the Ivy League, he'd be a good, solid running back. Other schools that stopped by in the spring were interested in him playing defensive back. He's got the speed for both."

It's interesting how often coaches who may never have seen an Ivy League game make those kind of judgments. Perhaps his coach has seen Ivy games and has a good handle on the level of play. But I can't tell you the number of times since the Internet started carrying recruiting stories I've read about a kid who "isn't quite big enough or fast enough to play Division I," but will be a "star" in the Ivy League, only to end up being a role player at best.

Again, that's not meant to disparage this young man or his coach. Sharp sounds as if he'd be a very good Ivy League running back, but really, who knows?

The Review-Journal page on Sharp lists him as running a 4.3 in the 40. Caution: your mileage may vary.

And finally, from yesterday's Big Green Alert premium ...

About That Non-Conference Schedule
Letter To The Editor Puts The Subject On The Table Again

By Bruce Wood
www.biggreenalert.com

Oct. 15, 2008

HANOVER – The elephant in the room reared its head when a letter to the editor headlined Dartmouth Football Mismatch was printed in the morning paper. Written in response to another in an ongoing series of lopsided New Hampshire victories over the Big Green, the letterwriter said that when he watches the annual game he prays, “that no Dartmouth player is lost to injury for the season or for his football career.”

The letter ended this way:

“To continue with this mismatch would be irresponsible and would border on negligence.”

In light of the letter and Saturday’s final non-conference game against yet another strong Holy Cross team, Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens was asked for the umpteenth time after Wednesday’s practice about the scheduling.

Visit Green Alert premium to read what he had to say.