Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Game Week . . . For Some

It's game week folks. No, not for Ivy League teams, silly. That's still 18 days away.

Teeing it up the day after tomorrow is Week 5 opponent Holy Cross, which will entertain UMass at 8 p.m. in the first-ever night game Thursday at Fitton Field.

Find the Holy Cross game notes here. With a large crowd expected, Holy Cross also has game day information that might get you thinking about Dartmouth's first-ever night game against Penn on Oct. 1.

On Saturday night it will be Week One opponent Colgate playing host to Albany at 6 p.m., and Week Two foe Sacred Heart welcoming Marist at 7 p.m.

New Hampshire is missing from the Dartmouth schedule again this fall but you can get a look at what the Big Green dodged Thursday night on ESPN3 when the Wildcats visit Toledo. Find the UNH game notes here. UNH, which had a very good run of wins over FBS teams ended last year, is bidding for its eighth consecutive trip to the playoffs after reaching the quarters for the sixth time in seven years last fall.
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Colgate's visit to Dartmouth on Sept. 17 will be a showcase of two of the finest running backs in the FCS. The Big Green's Nick Schwieger is the third-leading returning runner in the country at 125.9 yards per game while the Raiders' Nate Eachus is the top returning rusher at 170.1 ypg.

Pennsylvania's Morning Call has a story about Eachus, the native son who left the Lehigh Valley to star at Colgate. The story notes that Eachus, who has run for 3,722 yards and 47 touchdowns as a collegian, averaged 279.3 yards rushing per game during his high school's three-game playoff run as a senior.
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The Providence Journal has a story about college quarterbacks in Rhode Island that talks about Brown's Kyle Newhall-Caballero, the first-team, All-Ivy League quarterback two years ago who was hurt last fall and returns as a fifth-year senior.
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The Daily Pennsylvanian's Buzz blog has a post from the school's media day about a couple of differences between this year's Penn team and the one Dartmouth took to overtime last year. Those differences are the smaller number of returning starters this fall, and the greater number of plays Al Bagnoli's troops will be able to run early in the campaign. From the post:
Bagnoli sounded as if he expects the offense to hit its stride early on this season. It may be hard to recall given that Penn basically breezed through much of the league schedule, but the Quakers came out of the gates a bit slow last season. There was even some debate over whether Billy Ragone or transfer Ryan Becker -- both of whom came in with virtually no collegiate experience -- would start at QB. Well, that question got a resounding answer when Ragone had a first-team all-Ivy caliber season.

At this point, Ragone should know the ins and outs of the offense, allowing Bagnoli to open up the playbook earlier on rather than ease his young QB into a starting role. The coach said to expect more passing to take pressure off of the inexperienced offensive line.
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Listening to his vision and seeing some of the initiatives that are taking place at Cornell it's hard not to be impressed with second-year Big Red coach Kent Austin. A Q&A in the Cornell Sun will give you an idea why.
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Dartmouth is pulling out all stops on the recruiting trail if this story out of Oklahoma is accurate. In a preview about Southmoore High's team, the story says:
At the heart of that defense is senior Kaleb Thompson, a 6-foot, 205-pound senior linebacker who recorded 125 tackles last season. Thompson is being recruited by a variety of Division I programs, as well as Dartmouth, which has already offered a scholarship.
It sounds as if Dartmouth has "offered" the Olahoman. A scholarship? Mmm, not so much.
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Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson, the son of the late former Dartmouth standout Harry Wilson III, is getting lots of ink these days. This story out of Madison mentions how Wilson always writes "Dad" on his wrist tape and explains why. Even the New York Times has written about Wilson in a story carried here.
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Dartmouth will hold its delayed first double-session today. The morning practice is slated for Memorial Field while the afternoon practice will be on the grass over at the Blackman field – unless it is still too soggy. There will be stories posted after each session on Green Alert premium.
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It turns out that those of us who live in Hanover were extremely fortunate when Irene came through Sunday. Not until I saw the newspapers from the last two days did I realize just how much damage had been done locally. Even the shopping plazas in West Lebanon were flooded by the Connecticut River. Find coverage of the flooding in yesterday's paper and more in today's paper.

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