And The Most Experienced QB In The Ivies Is ...

Quick, what Ivy League team will begin the season with the most experienced starting quarterback?

Why, that would be Dartmouth, where Alex Jenny has completed 166-of-301 passes for 1,793 yards over the past couple of years. The senior started six games last fall and relieved early in another. As a sophomore he earned one start and spent the rest of the year filling in as second on the depth chart. Jenny held off a challenge for the starting job in spring camp and has further locked down the position with a terrific first week of the preseason.

Why bring that up now? While the Ivy League coaches somewhat pooh-poohed the question of whether quarterbacks might be more important in the Ancient Eight than in other conferences during their media day remarks earlier this month, Penn coach Al Bagnoli had this to say in a New York Times story about Quaker QB Keiffer Garton:

“Last year was the year of the experienced quarterback. This is the unfurling of the next wave. If you track the Ivy League champions, what is the common denominator? The ones who get really good quarterback play are inevitably fighting for a championship.”

That's not to say simply having an experienced quarterback will make you a winner, even if he can put up huge numbers. Cornell's Nathan Ford led the Ivies with 2,185 yards passing last year and the Big Red still went 2-5 in the league and 4-6 in overall. But having Jenny back and playing so well in the preseason is a definite plus for the Big Green.

While the Ivy League will feature largely unproven quarterbacks almost everywhere you look, not so for Dartmouth's non-league foes, who are absolutely loaded under center. Holy Cross will be led by two-time Patriot League offensive player of the year Dominic Randolph. New Hampshire will be guided again by RJ Toman, the Colonial Athletic Association preseason offensive player of the year and Colgate will once again feature the running and throwing of Greg Sullivan, the All-Patriot League second-team choice who set a school rushing record for quarterbacks last year while also finishing second in the conference in passing efficiency.

As for that story about Penn's quarterback situation, the Times reports, "Bagnoli has been intent on making Garton one of the rare dual-threat starting quarterbacks in a league in which pocket passers are about as standard as ivy-covered walls." And there's this quote from the Penn coach: "“He doesn’t have the most experience. But it’s already more than a lot of the other guys who will be starting this year.”

Yale's early struggles at quarterback in the team's first real scrimmaging of camp are recounted in the New Haven Register's Portal 31 blog that notes:

The quarterbacks fumbled seven times (losing two of them) and threw three interceptions. The four QBs (Brook Hart, Patrick Witt, Rich Scudellari and Bryan Farris were a combined 18 for 43 for 160 yards ...

There is no Ryan Fitzpatrick or Chris Pizzotti at Harvard this year. Fitzpatrick is the backup with the Buffalo Bills these days and Pizzotti saw action in the New York Jets last preseason game before being cut. Fitzpatrick is the subject of a Boston Herald story that notes as a former Cincinnati Bengal he's the rare QB who has looked downfield and seen both Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco.

With the Bills, the story notes, "Fitzy" has an issue with coach Dick Jauron. He told the writer:

“He’s a Yale guy, and being a Harvard guy, come late November this year there’ll be some big stakes."

Writers love coming to Casey Cramer '04 for quotes and with good reason. A reporter for the Nashville City Paper went to the former Dartmouth tight end to question him about Tennessee Titans teammate David Stewart, a man of few words. From the story:

Asked what the longest conversation he had ever had with Stewart was, fullback Casey Cramer answered, “I don’t know, but it didn’t involve any words. It was more grunts.”

If you haven't checked out the flashy new Dartmouth football media guide, find a PDF of it for downloading here. Dartmouth will be printing hard copies this year, but don't be surprised if this is the last time that is the case as the school will likely join the growing movement toward offering guides electronically only. The Indianapolis Star notes ...

The Big Ten also stopped printing its annual media guide in football and men's and women's basketball. Instead, the conference provided flash drives to members of the media that feature each of the school's guides.

From the Star:

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said the traditional media guide is on its way out. "I think they're becoming a dinosaur," he said. "I think they'll be extinct after this year."

The Pacific-10 has proposed NCAA legislation that would ban printed media guides in all sports.

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The Children's Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD) half marathon set a record yesterday for "Most People Dresses as a Superhero at One Time." Find a sweet photo in the Daily Dartmouth.

A regular reader (and friend ;-) stopped by practice yesterday to leave off a copy of New England Runner magazine that had a capsule preview of the state high school cross country programs in the region. Leading the way for the New Hampshire girls was reigning state and meet of champions winner Hanover. Mentioned were three runners, including a certain senior.

Point After
Never owned a Cadillac and never will. But when I was growing up you could always recognize a Cadillac when it paraded its proud self down the street. I saw an ad the other day that said for 2010 they are introducing a Cadillac Sport Wagon. Whoa. A Cadillac sport wagon? Check out this picture. Talk about losing your brand. Now, driving around in a beater with 160,000 miles on it, you might have guessed I'm not much of one for cars. But if I had a choice, I'd much rather have a Nissan Leaf than a Caddy sports wagon.