First Kickoff In One Month

While Dartmouth won't begin practice until four days later, the first college football game of the season is exactly one month from today!

On Aug. 23 Sam Houston State will visit Eastern Washington in the new FCS Kickoff game to be broadcast on ESPN at 3:30 p.m.

Dartmouth's three non conference opponents tee it up one week later with New Hampshire visiting Toledo, Holy Cross traveling to Albany and Central Connecticut at Towson.

Dartmouth begins practice on Aug. 27 and, like its Ivy League brethren, begins the season on Sept. 20 against Central Connecticut.

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Week 2 opponent New Hampshire has been picked a strong favorite to win the powerhouse Colonial Athletic Association title. The Wildcats, who return the core of the team that made it to the national semifinals last year, garnered 15 of 24 first-place votes in the poll released Wednesday. (LINK)

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Dartmouth senior Kirby Schoenthaler has been named to the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) Kickoff Returner Award Watch List. From the Dartmouth release:

"A wide receiver from Bartlesville, Okla., Schoenthaler was held back from returning kickoffs last year during an injury-marred junior campaign that limited him to appearing in just five contests. But as a sophomore, he averaged more than 20 yards per return and brought one kickoff back 79 yards for a touchdown against Sacred Heart. He also has hauled in 44 passes in his career for 411 yards including a pair of touchdowns for the Big Green."

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The National Football Foundation reports that seven new college football teams will start play this fall. Between 2013 and 2016 a total of 28 new teams will have hit the field.

Astonishingly, perhaps, there were 484 college football teams in 1978 and there will be 657 this fall, an increase of 173 teams. (LINK)

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Dartmouth product Kyle Hendricks tossed seven shutout innings to earn his first major league victory for the Chicago Cubs last night. Hendricks fanned five and walked three in a win over the San Diego Padres. Find a game story centered around Hendricks HERE.

Even before the game, ESPN's Rick Sutcliffe had this to say about Hendricks:

"There are so many things about Kyle that flash me back to when I first met Greg (Maddux) and when I first met Mike (Mussina). These guys don't lose.

"It starts with ability, of course. They are better prepared and they're smarter. Kyle is one of those guys."  

 And Sutcliffe added this:

"Back in the day when I read (manager) Don Zimmer's comments in the paper that we could 'pencil in Maddux in the rotation,' I walked into his office and said, 'Forget the pencil, get out the (pen), he's going to help us.' I feel the same about Hendricks."