The Poll Said . . .

How many people did you predict will turn out for Dartmouth's first-ever night game at Memorial Field against Penn on Oct. 1? Here's how the Green Alert blog poll turned out:

13,000-Plus – 15%
10,000-12,999 – 42%
7,000-9,999 – 37%
Under 7,000 – 5%

My prediction is just a little north of the 10,000 mark but you should take what is to follow with a truckload of salt because I'm hardly an expert. If you were to ask me – you did, didn't you? – I think about half the student body will come out. Call it 2,000 students although I'd like to think that would be too low before it would be too high. I think there will be alumni who come because it is a night game and others who won't want to drive home at night, but in the end there will be a slight gain there. The real difference, if there is going to be one, will come from locals drawn like moths to the lights. I'm pretty sure of that. If they turn out in good numbers the attendance will top five figures. If they don't, I better be low on the other numbers ;-)

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Penn has Tweeted its depth chart and sophomore Conner Scott, younger brother of graduated Dartmouths standout Tanner Scott, is listed as a starter at wide receiver. If you don't Tweet you can see the Quaker depth chart on the Daily Pennsylvanian blog, The Buzz.

By the way Tanner Scott, who had hoped to play a fifth year but ended up winning a national championship with the Dartmouth rugby sevens when his bid was denied by the Ivy League, has been in London this summer in a training program with Deutsche Bank.

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The Brown Bear Blogger ranks "top Ivy units" in the Ivy League and Dartmouth gets high marks for its receiving, offensive line, secondary and special teams corps, and Nick Schwieger gets special mention at running back.

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Cornell's flashy football website now opens up with a video montage from "training camp" set to music.

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After several days when it didn't, Columbia's redesigned site is now working with Google Chrome on the Mac.

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Give the Patriot League media relations people credit. They have posted a one-stop-shopping look at the offense, defense, special teams and schedules for each team along with video interviews of the head coaches and two players for each school. There's also a link to each school's pages in the PL media guide featuring rosters and more. (Wish the Ivy League would do the same thing.) With Dartmouth playing both Colgate and Holy Cross of the Patriot League this fall you can learn more about those schools here.

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Speaking of Colgate, Lehigh Football Nation, which goes as in-depth in its stories as any site you'll find, has a Know Your 2011 Opponents look at the Raiders. If you are familiar with Colgate coach Dick Biddle, you'll chuckle at this line:

Looking as uncomfortable as ever in a rumpled shirt and tie - he never has been a "suit" type of guy - he did something at Media Day that was extraordinary.

He heaped praise on one of his players.

To be honest, how could he not? The player in question is star running back Nate Eachus.

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The Sports Network preview picks Sacred Heart eighth in the less than all-powerful Northeast Conference. From the preview:

With five of its final eight games on the road, Sacred Heart isn't going to climb much higher than the bottom of the Northeast standings.

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Thanks to Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, still a good friend of the University of New Hampshire where he used to coach, the UNH mascot shows up in this funny commerical for college football.

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And finally, be safe this weekend with the hurricane coming through. With huge pines all around us, we're moving our 1984 VW camper van (this isn't ours but it looks like this) into town where it will be safe.

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Check in tonight for a look at Day 4 of Dartmouth football practice on BGA premium.