A Week Away . . . Sort Of

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It was one of those mornings when I had to interrupt my stroll down the driveway for the newspaper to run back inside and get the camera. Down in the valley they think it's a dark and cloudy morning. Not so much up here. The more distant cloud is hovering above Hanover.

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The Optimist would say Dartmouth football opens next week at Butler.

The Pessimist would say while that's technically true, the opener is a week from Saturday, 12 days from now.

At least there will be the annual preseason game against Harvard this Thursday.

In case you are having a hard time waiting, here are highlights from last year's opener against the Butler Bulldogs:

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Optimism apparently reigns in Princeton. From the Trenton Times:

It’s taken nearly four years — since December of ‘09 — but Bob Surace has the Princeton University football program where it needs to be: a yearly contender in the Ivy League.

Princeton may be on the way, but I'm not sure the Tiger finishes over last five years quite support the idea that they are now yearly contenders:

2012     5-5     4-3   Ivy (3rd)
2011     1-9     1-6   Ivy (7th)
2010     1-9     0-7   Ivy (8th)
2009     4-6     3-4   Ivy (4th)
2008     4-6     3-4   Ivy (5th)

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The New Haven Register writes about the return of dangerous playmakers Chris Smith and Deon Randall to the Yale offense after a year without them. Add in powerhouse tailback Tyler Varga, 54-catch Cameron Sandquist, the top two tight ends and four of five starting linemen from a year ago and the Bulldogs might be just a quarterback away from being an offensive powerhouse. Could Clemson transfer Morgan Roberts be the keystone of the team?

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It's really weird sometimes at that next level up of college football. Texas drops a 40-21 game to BYU and they fire reassign the defensive coordinator. In season. Some good teaching of lessons to college students going on down in Austin. Got a problem in your organization? Fire reassign 'em. Immediately. Who's running that team, George Steinbrenner? Find a story here.

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Speaking of weird college football stories, from a piece about Murray State's 83-14 win over Campbellsville University:

The game was called six minutes into the fourth quarter as agreed by coaches and the referees.

Murray State scored 42 points in the first quarter and was leading 62-0 with eight minutes left in the first half.

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After a day largely away from football, the Big Green returns to the practice field this morning. Check BGA Premium later today for full coverage of the session.