Passing Fancy

From left, quarterbacks Cole Marcoux, Andy Gay, Conner Kempe and Dan Rooney worked on their setup during Sunday's first full-pads practice at Blackman Fields. (click photos to enlarge)
Sam McCorkle gives pointers on protecting the punter to Justin Foley (88) and Elliot Kastner (93).

The punt protection team puts the pointers to work. Practice resumes with the first double-sessions of the preseason. Full reports will be posted on Green Alert Premium with the first going up well before the second practice begins.

Doubles are slated for today, Wednesday and Friday with single sessions Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, when a scrimmage is tentatively set for 2 p.m. (Note the word tentatively ;-) The team will have its first "off" day of the camp on Sunday after 14 practices.

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Inside Higher Ed is not a normal visiting place for the blog but a new story that looks at financial aid packages and discrepancies in the Ivy League carries a mention of Dartmouth football. From the story:

Last year, (Bob Ceplikas, Dartmouth's) acting athletics director sent a letter to football supporters (a group generally not thrilled with the team's recent performance) outlining various ways the college was trying to be more competitive. The letter stated that "in any instance where a recruit receives a more favorable projection from an Ivy competitor, our financial aid colleagues have responded swiftly and competitively to eliminate the differential."

(Robin) Harris, the Ivy League executive director, said she was familiar with the letter. Asked whether Dartmouth had faced scrutiny over publicly stating that football players' aid packages were always being adjusted to match those offered by other Ivies, Harris said that Dartmouth officials had assured the league that football players weren't getting special treatment and that the college was treating all accepted applicants the same. She said Dartmouth's policy was actually "very similar to what Cornell is doing now," even if the public knowledge of it may relate to a letter about football recruits.

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The local daily has a story today about Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor, the Dartmouth corner who did not play last year but has returned to the team this fall as a wide receiver. An accomplished sprinter, Shakoor is a Big Green track captain. Find his junior year football bio here and his track bio here. He adds speed to the receiving corps with PRs of 6.46 at 55 meters and 10.88 in the 100 meters.

Shakoor's brother Ahmed started 10 games on the corner as a sophomore at Marshall last fall. Find his bio here.

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The CHaD (Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock) Half Marathon raised more than $430,000 and yesterday indeed reclaimed its Guinness World Record for the most people dressed as superheroes in one place. (link) Among the 1,500 were That Certain Hanover Grad, who ran two legs of a relay, and her mom, who didn't run but donned a cape.