Ivy Site Kicks Into Gear

The Ivy League's official game notes for Week One have been posted here. Nothing dramatic in the release although the Dartmouth entry under Team-by-Team Notes – after a nice mention of Alex Jenny – must be hard to swallow for the Green faithful:

Senior QB Alex Jenny returns for his final season as the Ivy League’s top returning signal-caller with 1,309 passing yards last season. Dartmouth’s 2008 campaign was its first winless season since 1883 when the Big Green lost its only game. The Big Green also suffered its first Ivy campaign without a victory and have posted losing Ivy records in 10 of the past 11 seasons.

The league's release includes a list of Ivy Leaguers currently in the NFL and two schools dominate the list:

• Matt Birk, Harvard ’98 – Baltimore Ravens
• Desmond Bryant, Harvard ’09 – Oakland Raiders
• Ryan Fitzpatrick, Harvard ’05 – Buffalo Bills
• Colin Cloherty, Brown ’09 – Indianapolis Colts
• Sean Morey, Brown ’99 – Arizona Cardinals
• Zak DeOssie, Brown ‘07 – New York Giants
• Kevin Boothe, Cornell ’06 – New York Giants
• Jonathan Dekker, Princeton ‘06 – Pittsburgh Steelers

The Daily Pennsylvanian is starting a preview series of Ivy League teams. The DP's look at Dartmouth illustrates why it's always dangerous to work off rosters and the previous year's stats to try to get a grasp on a team. From the story:

...(I)t appears that this year's offensive backfield may be even weaker than that of last year.

Nick Schwieger, a sophomore running back from Norton, Mass., is Dartmouth's leading returning rusher with eight games played, 27 carries and a grand total of 81 yards.

That's three yards per carry and 10.1 yards per game.

Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens shouldn't expect his team's running game to improve; Schwieger is the best he's got.

No question, that's the way it looks on paper. But rest assured Teevens does expect his running game to improve and given what we've seen in the preseason it would be a complete shock if it doesn't improve. Dramatically.

The Daily Dartmouth is back online and has a general overview of the 2009 Big Green.

Another day brings a few more polls and rankings featuring Dartmouth opponents. The Sports Network poll shows:

• 6. New Hampshire
• 23. Holy Cross
• 25. Harvard
• 31.Colgate
• 38. Penn
• 41.Brown
• T-50 Yale

The Bulldogs got one vote, which is fine until you realize that St. Francis – which beat Morehead State, 31-0, to win for the first time since Nov. 17, 2007 – got two votes. St. Francis had lost 12 consecutive games.

The FCS Coaches Poll has:

• 7. New Hampshire
• 25. Harvard
• 26. Holy Cross
• 39. Colgate
  

The Dunkel Index, which has been around since 1929, rates all FCS teams. It looks like this (Dartmouth's future opponents in italics):

• 20. UNH
• 25. Harvard
• 32. Brown
• 38. Colgate
• 39. Holy Cross
• 40. Yale
• 45. Penn
• 65. Princeton
• 78. Columbia
• 80. Cornell
• 103. Georgetown
• 107. Dartmouth
• 113. Sacred Heart
• 117. Butler

Dunkel explains its rating system this way:

The Dunkel method is based on the simple premise that future performance can be predicated on past results. To achieve an accurate predictive model, Dick Dunkel, Sr., developed a progressive statistical formula that encapsulates all the possible variables affecting a team. It is one of the few known formulas to incorporate the strength of one team’s schedule against another’s. The Index basically reflects all the intangibles that can affect the performance of any team, on any given day, regardless of the circumstances.

USA Today's Andy Gardiner, an old friend from his days with the Burlington (Vt) Free Press, has a note about the success of the Colonial Athletic Association in its "play-up" games against teams from FBS conferences. With New Hampshire's win over Ball State, the CAA is 4-4 in such games. But for a Maryland comeback that enabled the Terrapins to beat James Madison in overtime, that record would be even better. While the CAA is 4-0, the rest of the FCS is ... wait for it ... 0-38.

Newest additions to the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association: Dallas Cowboy Bradie James and Dr. Alan Rozycki, a three-year letterwinner at Dartmouth and first-team All-Ivy League halfback in 1961. Rozycki led Dartmouth in rushing as a senior and receptions as a junior and senior. Find a quick mention here.

Extra Point
I stopped into that well-known office supply superstore a while back to buy refills for the colored EnerGel pens I use for keeping easy-to-read football stats during the season. Rather than toss the dead pens, I figured I'd just replace the ink. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the complete pens were cheaper than the refills. Granted, the pens were on sale, but that's nuts.