Thursday, September 06, 2012

Thursday Smörgåsbord

Dartmouth's opening Ivy League game will once again be against Penn and the Daily Pennsylvanian would have you believe the Quakers' hopes this fall largely on the shoulders of quarterback Billy Ragone. The DP notes that the trio of returning Penn running backs have combined for almost 3,000 rushing yards, meaning Ragone is not the "only star of the show." However . . .

. . . he’s still the biggest. Penn has no chance at Ivy vengeance if Ragone can’t air it out on a championship level down the stretch.
Harvard’s secondary should be its Achilles heel this fall. The defending champs allowed 232.2 yards per game through the air last year and have since graduated first-team All-Ivy cornerback Matthew Hanson and three-year defensive back starter Dan Minamide. 

Dartmouth will get to test some version of that Harvard secondary this evening when the Big Green and the Crimson square off in a preseason game at Harvard Stadium. BGA Premium will have reaction from Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens tomorrow. The game is closed to the general public and the media.
Week One opponent Butler's game notes for Saturday's game against Division III Franklin include the following:

Franklin, 10-2 a year ago, dropped its opener at home to Mount Union, the No. 2-ranked team in the NCAA Division III, 45-7. Butler and Franklin have split their last four football meetings.
Former Dartmouth tight end John Gallagher's West Salem, Ore., high school is in the news for debuting a black football field. See a photo and read about it here.
The new rule requiring a player to leave the game for a play if his helmet comes off led to the Clemson quarterback missing three snaps last week. ESPN.com has a story about the impact of the rule around the ACC.
Adam Hollis, a member of the Dartmouth staff for nine years who then worked for Roger Hughes at Princeton, is now the Southeast Territory Manager for PlayOn Sports, "the nation’s premiere network featuring 24 hour coverage of non-stop High School Sports." PlayOn features more than 100 live high school football games each Friday night this fall as well as a variety of other sports. Need to get your football fix and wonder if there may be an Ivy prospect out in Washington? Catch the Federal Way at Emerald Ridge game tonight at 10 Eastern.