Dartmouth tailback Nick Schwieger: "I think first and foremost, we need to establish a run this week."
UNH defensive end Kevin Peters: "They're going to try and run the ball on us."
Is that channeling or what? Nah, it's just common sense. For as much as the focus has been on the UNH defense so far this fall, it is the New Hampshire offense that has always made the Wildcats go, and if they don't have the ball they can't score. Not much, at least. It's a, "The best defense is a good offense," kind of thing.
Schwieger's comments came in a Daily Dartmouth preview. The UNH player's comments came in a Foster's Daily Democrat story. Peters also had this to say regarding Dartmouth's run game:
"Hopefully we can shut that down and make them pass and get them in third and long so we can get our DBs some picks."UNH coach Sean McDonnell, quoted in the same story, said:
"Their front level people have improved. I watched them run the football (against Colgate). I watched them keep the ball inside. They didn't give up any really long plays in that game against Colgate and they seem to have better team speed on the defensive side of the ball."Most of the focus in the pregame stories is about UNH's improved defense, ranked this week No. 1 in the nation. The Manchester Union Leader notes that UNH had 13 sacks in 13 games a year ago but has eight already in two games this fall.
The Concord Monitor takes a look at UNH's national standing in several defensive categories and takes a swipe at Dartmouth at the same time:
...(T)wo games is a very small sample size and those numbers will undoubtedly change after No. 6 UNH faces some of those CAA powers, like No. 2 Villanova on Oct. 10. But they probably won't dip, and may even get better, after this week's game against Dartmouth.For a look at the UNH statistics by someone who has way too much time on his hands, check out this page on Fumblerooski.org.
Jake Novak of the Columbia Roar Lions Roar blog has this to say about the UNH game:
This could get ugly. Dartmouth is showing some flashes from some individual defensive players, but the Big Green's record against the run is alarming.The Harvard Crimson prediction is a 48-7 UNH win.
From the Daily Pennsylvanian look at the weekend's games:
Notre Dame might have the NCAA record for most consecutive victories over a single opponent (43 over Navy), but the Dartmouth-New Hampshire rivalry is certainly the Ivy League equivalent.The Lehigh Football Nation blog takes a look at scheduling issues surrounding the Patriot League, Ivy League and CAA and within the posting mentions, "... Dartmouth backing off from their annual slaughter against New Hampshire in the "Granite Bowl."
And in non-UNH game news ;-) ...
The Colgate-centric Maroon News writeup on last week's game is up. ... The Columbia Spectator has its not-quite preseason look at Ivy League teams.
The Sports Network has a lengthy column that discusses the Ivy scheduling dilemma if the Patriot League goes scholarship, the Princeton band playing Dixie last week for The Citadel, and the legal problems of Brown standout David Howard. It ends by wishing legendary Penn figure "Coach Lake," a quick return to good health. ...
Bloomberg has its annual story about Ivy Leaguers possibly in line to play in the NFL, this time built around Harvard's James Williams and Brown's Howard. The story says, "Williams and Howard may face each other tonight when their teams meet at Harvard Stadium." May is probably the operative word.
Extra Point
One of these days I'm going to shoot a picture of the impressive rooster tails of water that are sprayed on Dartmouth's AstroTurf field hockey surface before each practice and game just to prove it actually happens. I can't tell you how many people have looked at me like I'm crazy when I tell them that they actually water the plastic stuff. And no, it isn't to make it grow ;-) Check out this Penn State Daily Collegian story to learn a little more about the watering phenomenon.
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