Lights, Cameras, Action

(Courtesy Ivy League)

With Dartmouth and Penn opening their Ivy League seasons tonight the picks are in ;-)

To the surprise of no one, the five Dartmouth students who pick games for the school newspaper are in full agreement with all of them picking the Big Green. Not one has picked Dartmouth to lose yet. Are they on to something? (LINK)

The Roar Lions blog sees it differently, writing:

The Quakers are staring at an 0-3 start while Dartmouth looks like a surprise title contender. Penn will make a stand here and win the game.

The Harvard Crimson picker actually has a score:

Dartmouth 42, Penn 20 

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Sagarin has Dartmouth as a 14.5-point favorite. Sportbet has Dartmouth by 13.5 and Massey sees it Dartmouth by 28-13.

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The rest of the weekend schedule (free TV coverage)
TONIGHT
Georgetown at Harvard, 7 pm (ESPN3)

TOMORROW
Brown at Rhode Island, noon
Princeton at Columbia, 1  p.m. (Fox College Sports)
Cornell at Colgate, 1 p.m. (Patriot League Network)
Lehigh at Yale, 1:30 p.m. (ONE World Sports)
Holy Cross at Lafayette, 3:30 p.m. (Patriot League Network)
Towson at Richmond, 3:30 p.m.
William & Mary at UNH, 3:30 p.m.

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Fun stuff on the Lehigh Football Nation site with blogger Chuck Burton recalling his first trip as a young boy to the Yale Bowl for the Oct. 8, 1977 game between Dartmouth and Yale. Getting a mention in the story is Curt Oberg '77, then the Big Green's standout running back and this fall helping around the football program as a special assistant to Coach Buddy Teevens.

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Dartmouth News has a story under this sub-head: Dartmouth researchers find that people filter information to prop up existing beliefs. 

What did they study to come to that conclusion? New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his battle with the NFL.

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The BGA Premium preview of Dartmouth-Penn went up last night and the Fearful Forecast will go up later today. As usual with night games there will be a story posted l-a-t-e tonight and a follow (or two) tomorrow.

Don't forget to enter the Guess The Attendance contest sponsored by NexTitle Sports. The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate for Molly's restaurant in Hanover.

To enter the contest, email your guesstimate for the attendance at tonight's Dartmouth-Penn game by CLICKING HERE. That will address an email with the subject line, GuessTheAttendance.

Or simply email your guesstimate to: GuessTheAttendance@gmail.com.

Only one entry per email address.

Get Pumped

Good stuff from Dartmouth video coordinator Alex Dodds:

Setting The Stage

Regardless of how you feel about black uniforms, you have to admit that on a night when they are trying to have a "blackout" at Memorial Field these outfits are somehow appropriate. Here's the Dartmouth uniform combination for Friday's Penn game:

The Daily Pennsylvanian previews the Ivy League opener between Dartmouth and Penn HERE.

From the story:

The Big Green (2-0) lost almost the entirety of their starting lineup, while all of the Quakers’ weapons have returned. In an apparent reversal of expectations, it has been the Hanoverians that have jumped out quick in the beginning of the season, while the Red and Blue are mired in a winless start.

But that ignores the reality of scheduling.

For Penn, opening the year against Lehigh and Fordham is a purposeful test. The Mountain Hawks make a ritual of running through Ivy opponents in their non-conference slate and the Rams boast one of the FCS’ preeminent athletes in star running back Chase Edmonds.

The story refers to a "clash of philosophies" between Dartmouth and Penn regarding scheduling and includes this:

Penn and Dartmouth have chosen differently, and this weekend will provide insight into the success of each method.

Interesting.

Dartmouth scheduled two CAA schools (one with the longest streak of NCAA playoff appearances in the nation and the other an NCAA Championship finalist when this year's seniors were freshmen) and a Patriot League team. Penn scheduled two Patriot League schools and Central Connecticut of the Northeast Conference.

Green Alert Take: Message board posters have taken shots in the past at Dartmouth scheduling teams like Butler, Georgetown and yes, Central Connecticut. Not this year. Coming into the season the case could have been made that Dartmouth and Yale (Colgate, Lehigh and Fordham) had the toughest nonconference schedules – with the Big Green's the toughest of all. Penn, meanwhile, dropped its toughest game against Villanova.

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Dartmouth's game notes have been posted HERE.

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Watch this week's Teevens Teleteaser by clicking HERE.

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CLICK HERE to watch Penn Coach Ray Priore's press conference recorded earlier this week.

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Dartmouth's chances of beating remaining opponents according to Massey:

Penn 85 percentYale 92 percentTowson 84 percentColumbia 95 percentHarvard 59 percentCornell 91 percentBrown  87 percentPrinceton 86 percent

Massey's predictions for this weekend:

Dartmouth 28, Penn 13
Princeton 21, Columbia 17
Harvard 34, Georgetown 14
Brown 34, URI  24
Colgate  27, Cornell 17
Lehigh  35, Yale 28
New Hampshire  28, William & Mary 21
Holy Cross 33, Lafayette  24
Richmond 37, Towson 24

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Voting for the Lambert Cup emblematic of "Eastern supremacy," heading into this weekend:

1. Sacred Heart
2. Albany
3. Dartmouth
4. Harvard
5. Villanova
6. Georgetown
7. Fordham
8. James Madison
9. Wagner
10. Stony Brook
11. Delaware
12. Cornell
13. Richmond
14. Bryant
15. Lehigh
16. Monmouth
17. New Hampshire
18. Duquesne
19. Colgate
20. William & Mary

Green Alert Take: Where do I start?

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Another look at the win over Holy Cross from the Dartmouth football office:

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Penn's game notes for the Ivy League opener have been posted HERE.

The notes give this indication about where things may be going for the Ivies: Penn's game against Dartmouth is one of three the Quakers will be playing this year on a Friday night. All three are being televised on NBC Sports Network with their game against Yale set for Friday, Oct. 21 and against Harvard on Friday, Nov. 11.

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The Daily Pennsylvanian has a column about the Quakers' top receiving threats HERE and a column under the headline, No need to worry about Penn football's early struggles.

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Friday's game, by the way, is being promoted at Dartmouth as a "blackout" game.

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Be sure to enter the latest NexTitle Sports "Guess the Attendance" contest.

Whoever comes closest to guessing the official attendance for the Dartmouth-Penn game Friday night  at Memorial Field will win a $100 gift certificate for Molly's restaurant in Hanover.

Here's a little help.

Dartmouth's attendance for previous night games on Memorial Field:
2016: UNH 8,296

NexTitle Dartmouth cap

2015: Sacred Heart 7,363
2015: Cornell 3,930
2014: Central Connecticut 7,234
2013: Holy Cross 9,227
2012: Butler 9,089

Last Four Dartmouth-Penn games at Memorial Field:
2014: 3,288 (1:30, rain)
2012: 5,873 (Noon)
2011: 8,117 (6 p.m.)
2009: 3,623 (Noon)

To enter the contest, email your guesstimate by CLICKING HERE. That will address an email with the subject line, GuessTheAttendance.

Or simply email your guesstimate to: GuessTheAttendance@gmail.com.

Only one entry per email address.

Check yesterday's BGA Daily for more details

This And That

Dartmouth has received a commitment from Evan Hecimovich, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound lineman from Naperville North High School in Illinois. Find his Tweet announcing his college intentions HERE. Find his HUDL highlight video HERE.

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The new FCS polls are out and Dartmouth gets more respect in one than the other. Teams of interest:

STATS
25. Harvard
34. Dartmouth
43. New Hampshire
45. Towson
51. Georgetown

FCS COACHES
19. Harvard
38. Towson
40. Dartmouth

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The early lines are in on this week's games:
Dartmouth by 14.5 over Penn
Princeton by 4.5 over Columbia
Brown by 12.5 over URI
Colgate  by 13.5 over Cornell
Harvard by 23 over Georgetown
Lehigh  by 6.5 over Yale

New Hampshire  by 4.5 over William & Mary
Richmond by 14.5 over Towson

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The Cornell Sun has an Ivy League roundup HERE.

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In addition to being named Ivy League defensive player of the week, Dartmouth linebacker Flo Orimolade was an honorable-mention selection for the STATS FCS National defensive player of the week. (LINK)

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The Dartmouth junior varsity scrimmaged the combined Middlebury varsity and jayvees on Sept. 18 and the Midd quarterback was very impressive. A little Googling revealed that Ivy League teams in need of a quarterback might have missed out on a very interesting transfer who ended up with the Panthers.

Jared Lebowitz is a 6-foot-4, 200-pound junior who began his college career as a three-star recruit at UNLV. (Find his UNLV bio HERE.) Originally from Vermont, he played two years at South Burlington HS before finishing high school in California. In Middlebury's 40-3 win over Bowdoin Saturday all he did was go 26-for-39 for 369 yards and five touchdowns and run six times for 44 yards and another touchdown. Granted, Middlebury is a DIII program but those numbers are pretty hard to ignore and if he was able to transfer into Midd he would have been a strong candidate at an Ivy school as well.

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Dartmouth grad and Cy Young candidate Kyle Hendricks lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.99 last night with six shoutout innings in the Chicago Cubs' 12-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. From a Chicago Tribune story:

Hendricks (16-8) didn't walk a batter as he extended his streak of allowing three earned runs or fewer to 22 consecutive starts.

Tentatively scheduled to start the regular-season finale Sunday in Cincinnati, Hendricks is 12-2 with a 1.29 ERA over his last 18 appearances since June 19.

Cubs' starter Jon Lester, by the way, is in Hendricks' corner. From another Tribune story:

“If I had a vote, (Hendricks) would be my vote,” Lester said. “I get to see him every day. I see what he does, how he goes about it, how he prepares, how he goes out and executes. He’s my guy. He’s who I’d vote for right now, tomorrow, the next day, whenever.”

Cubs skipper Joe Maddon, a proud graduate of Patriot League member Lafayette, had a little fun with Hendricks during last night's game. From a CSN Chicago story:

 “After he did not go to third base on that groundball, I went up to him and said, ‘Now, if I were to go to Dartmouth and went to the bookstore…’” Maddon recalled. “And he says, ‘Yeah, I’d go…’

“I said, ‘No, it has nothing to do with going first to third. If I were to go to the bookstore and I picked up a T-shirt, what would the nickname say on the front of it?’ And he said: ‘The Big Green.’

“So I learned something.”

And this from the Tribune story:

“When you’re known as the Big Green, is that like Gumby?” Maddon asked. “Is he your guy? What does their mascot look like?

“Do they have one? They probably don’t because you don’t need to have a mascot if you’re at Dartmouth.” 

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Orimolade, Hagdorn Honored By The Ivy League

From a Dartmouth release:

Senior Folarin Orimolade was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Week while freshman Hunter Hagdorn took home the Rookie of the Week award following Dartmouth’s 35-10 defeat of Holy Cross on Saturday.

Find the full release HERE.

Monday Fun Day

And @DartFootball takes the lead! Miles Smith runs it in from 35-yards out! #IvyFootball pic.twitter.com/fT1ReL9lPi

— IvyLeagueFootball (@Ivy_Football) September 24, 2016

Find a 2:45 selection of highlights from the game HERE.

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The Worcester Telegram game story from Saturday focuses on Holy Cross losing all-everything quarterback Peter Pujals (while also noting the Crusaders' second-team quarterback could play just one series because of injury). Find the story HERE.

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The Valley News game story from Saturday's game is HERE.

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The weekly rankings/ratings show Yale in free fall after losing a Cornell:

Sagarin DI Ratings (Last week)
110 Harvard (116)
132 Dartmouth
154 New Hampshire (156)
169 Towson (173)
179 Penn (175)
185 Brown (183)
189 Princeton (184)
199 Holy Cross (186)
210 Cornell (218)
215 Yale (199)
223 Columbia (219)

Massey FCS Ratings (Last week)
11 Dartmouth (13)
20 Harvard (12)
31 New Hampshire (31)
50 Towson (42)
56 Brown (53)
62 Cornell (71)
63 Penn (47)
65 Holy Cross (57)
66 Princeton (45)
83 Yale (58)
90 Columbia (78)

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West Hawaii Today has a lengthy story about Elliot Kastner, the former Dartmouth defensive lineman and Hawaii Prep graduate's role in the development of the Mobile Virtual Player. CLICK HERE to read the story.

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Needing a pick-me-up after losing at Dartmouth, the New Hampshire football team dug deep into its bag of tricks and had a defensive lineman line up at center and start a two-point conversion play by snapping a one-handed lateral (not through his legs) to a wide receiver. He then ran into the end zone as an eligible receiver to catch a pass against Rhode Island. Apparently the play was in the books for the Dartmouth game, but the Wildcats didn't use it. Find the story HERE.

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The Buddy Teevens Coaches Show will be available at 6 Eastern on 94.5 ESPN radio. CLICK HERE to listen live. As of late last week it was not expected that Teevens would be available for the show because this week's Friday night game against Penn means he'll be on the field practicing with the team Monday while the show is airing.
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Saturday Recap

A quick look at how Dartmouth's opponents fared yesterday . . .

Harvard 32, Brown  22
The Crimson's Joe Viviano showed again why he is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback, passing for 205 yards and running for 76 and a pair of touchdowns as Harvard (2-0) built a 25-10 lead at the half. Brown (1-1) closed to 25-16 late in the third quarter and then recovered an onside kick. But it hadn't gone 10 yards, setting the Crimson up at the Bear 49. Harvard took advantage with a four-play drive capped by Semar Smith's nine-yard run to double-up Brown, 32-16. The last of Kyle Moreno's three TD passes closed the scoring with 3:48 remaining. Moreno threw for 302 yards but was picked off three times.

Cornell 27, Yale 3
Cornell appears to have found its mojo and Yale to have lost its way as sophomore Dalton Banks completed 22-of-31 throws for 297 yards and two touchdowns for the surprising Big Red (2-0), who played in front of a Homecoming crowd of 15,493. Cornell built a 24-3 halftime lead as it won its opening two games for the first time since 2009. The Bulldogs (0-2) pulled starting quarterback Rafe Chapple after he completed just 3-of-10 passes with two interceptions and replaced him with Tre Moore, who went 21-for-33 with one interception for 174 yards, but the damage was done. Neither team ran the ball effectively with Cornell managing just 89 yards and Yale 104.

Georgetown 17, Columbia 14
The Lions (0-2) lost their second close game in as many weeks after falling to St. Francis by four points in their opener. Trailing 17-0 at the half, Columbia settled on Anders Hill at quarterback in the second half and piled up 294 yards to Georgetown's 94 after the break. The Lions rolled the dice on a fourth-and-four late at the Georgetown 43 but Hill's completion for three yards gave the ball back to the Hoyas with 3:44 left. After its defense held, Columbia fumbled away the ensuing punt and Georgetown (3-0) ran out all but the final five seconds of the game. The Lions turned the ball over three times and missed a field goal in a disappointing first half.

Fordham 31, Penn 17
The Quakers (0-2) had the ball down seven points midway through the fourth quarter against the Rams (2-1) but were stopped at the Fordham 27. The home team then locked up the game on Chase Edmonds' fourth touchdown of the afternoon. Edmonds, one of the top players in the FCS, ran for 152 yards and three touchdowns and caught four passes for 49 yards to lead Fordham. Penn got 93 yards on the ground from Tre Solomon but just 125 yards through the air from quarterback Alex Torgersen, who was sacked five times on the game and turned the ball over three times in the first half.

Lehigh 42, Princeton 28
Four Princeton turnovers and 461 yards passing by Lehigh's Nick Shafniski spelled doom for the Tigers (1-1), who got three touchdown runs from Ivy League 60-meter sprint champion Charlie Volker. Princeton quarterback Chad Kanoff was picked off three times by Lehigh, which a week ago spanked Penn by a 49-28 count. The Mountain Hawks finished with 621 yards of total offense.

New Hampshire 39, Rhode Island 17
Winless URI was within eight points until the Wildcats drove 63 yards for a touchdown with 5:29 remaining and then tacked on a fumble return for a score to put the game out of reach. New Hampshire (2-2) narrowly outgained Rhode Island, 407 yards to 395, but got two TD throws from quarterback Trevor Knight and one rushing touchdown from the first-year starter. Rhody is 2-29 dating back to late in the 2013 season.

Holy Cross On Tap

Headed out the door shortly for the drive through the morning fog to Worcester, Mass. Check BGA Premium tonight for full coverage of Dartmouth-Holy Cross.

Here's today's schedule for Dartmouth opponents:

12:30 Princeton at Lehigh
1 p.m. Penn at Fordham
1 p.m. New Hampshire  at Rhode Island
2 p.m. Harvard at Brown
2 p.m. Columbia at Georgetown
3 p.m. Yale Cornell

Towson has a bye.

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From the Worcester Telegram preview of the Dartmouth-Holy Cross game:

"I thought (the win over UNH) was a great win for Dartmouth against a good team,” (Holy Cross Coach Tom) Gilmore said. “They played more consistently than UNH throughout the game and they erased any preconceived notions they would be in a rebuilding year. It looks like they reloaded and are ready to go.”

Looking Ahead To Saturday

From the Dartmouth football office:

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The Big Green will go with the classic look Saturday in Worcester:

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Dartmouth's game notes are available HERE (but remember what you've read in this space about depth charts ;-).

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Surprise, surprise, the prognosticators in The Dartmouth pick the Big Green across the board for the second week in a row. (LINK)

Also a believer this week is the Roar Lions Columbia football blog which writes:

Okay, so maybe UNH wasn't such a good team after all. But Dartmouth's defense is the real deal and the offense has weapons. Holy Cross can be very erratic. I like the Big Green to cover and win.

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To watch a FREE stream of the Dartmouth-Holy Cross game on the Patriot League network,  CLICK HERE. Or, if you happen to be in the Worcester area, you can tune in the broadcast on Charter TV3.

If you are technologically savvy you might be able to mute the sound of the video stream and sync Dartmouth's radio call of the game with Adam Giardino and Wayne Young. To listen to Adam and Wayne click HERE.

The Holy Cross radio call of the game will be available HERE. Calling the game will be old friend Dick Lutsk, who did Dartmouth games for several years.

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And finally, in case you are wondering, Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals' name is pronounced poo-YAWLS.

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Warm up for the game by watching this week's Teevens Teleteaser HERE.

Watch Holy Cross Game FREE

For those of you who can't make it to Saturday's game at Holy Cross, you are in luck. The game will be videostreamed free of charge. From the Holy Cross notes:

Live video streaming of all 2016 Holy Cross regular season home football games will be available over the internet through Crusader Vision. The package, done in association with Campus Insiders as part of the Patriot League Network, is available free of charge. To view games through Crusader Vision, visit ‘www.PatriotLeague.tv’.

For a direct link to watch the Dartmouth-Holy Cross game CLICK HERE at gametime.

The Dartmouth call of the game with Adam Giardino and Wayne Young can be heard live HERE.

The Holy Cross radio call of the game will be available HERE. Calling the game will be old friend Dick Lutsk, who did Dartmouth games for several years.

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Find the full Holy Cross notes for the Dartmouth game HERE.

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The Ivy League's weekly notes are available HERE. Last night's BGA Premium began with Dartmouth Coach Buddy Teevens' thoughts on continuing the series with Holy Cross (he's a fan of the idea) as well as what he thinks about playing other Patriot League teams.

The Ivy notes include this summary of the Ivy League's record against Patriot League teams over the past five years:

Ivy League vs. Patriot League2011 7-9
2012 8-8
2013 8-7
2014 7-7
2015 9-6
Total 39-37

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The Yale Daily News has a piece detailing the Yale Undergraduate Sports Analytics Group predicting the Ivy League football race. (LINK)

Here are the percentage chances they worked up for teams to win the title:

Harvard 68.1
Dartmouth 45.0
Penn 12.8
Yale 3.4
Princeton 2.8
Brown  1.5
Columbia 0.05
Cornell 0.02

Green Alert Take: Their first mistake was using the Sagarin Ratings.

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The Chicago Tribune has a story about 6-foot-3, 185-pound Lake Forest Academy quarterback Keelan Laidlaw that includes this:

Laidlaw is from Saskatoon, Sask., where he played hockey but stuck with football as a renegade Canadian. He came to Lake Forest Academy to get better at football and to help prepare him for the next level.

In the summer of 2015, Laidlaw attended a football camp at Dartmouth, where a coach told him he needed a year of seasoning in the states before colleges would take a serious look at him.

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Speaking of quarterbacks, former Dartmouth defensive coach Joe Moglia apparently has a shortage of them at Coastal Carolina. Craig Haley writes this for STATS:

Coastal Carolina has gotten creative to fill a shortage at quarterback on the depth chart.

Graduate student Tyler Chadwick, a starter on the Chanticleers' national championship baseball team this year, has joined the roster and will begin practicing with the football team, coach Joe Moglia said Wednesday. In addition, two true freshmen who were high school quarterbacks, Jordan McRae and Ryan Lee, have moved over to the position from linebacker and wide receiver, respectively.

Yikes.

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Headline from an Ivy League release:

 The Ivy League Advocates to Limit Early Recruiting of Prospective Student-Athletes

From the release:

The Ivy League, continuing its commitment to a student-centered model of Division I athletics, has proposed NCAA legislation to allow prospective student-athletes more time in the recruiting process to make the important decision of where to attend college.

“The pressure on prospective student-athletes to commit to a specific college earlier and earlier is a national issue,” said Executive Director Robin Harris. “It causes stress for prospects and their families, as they are often asked to make a life-altering decision as high school freshmen or sophomores, and sometimes even before they have started high school.

“Our goals are to elevate the national conversation about the negative effects of early recruiting, and to challenge the NCAA membership to change the culture of recruiting that forces prospective student-athletes to verbally commit before they are academically, athletically, or emotionally ready to make their college choice.”

Heneghan Wins New England Gold Helmet

From a Dartmouth Release:

 The New England Football Writers’ Association office unveiled its weekly Gold Helmet Award winners at a luncheon today, and Dartmouth junior Jack Heneghan took home the honor for Division I (both FBS and FCS) regional teams.

A 6-4, 225-pound quarterback from Atherton, California, Heneghan led the Big Green to a thrilling, 22-21 victory over then-No. 22 New Hampshire on Saturday night at Memorial Field, ending a 20-game winless streak that dated back 40 years. Trailing by 14 points entering the fourth quarter, Dartmouth closed the gap to 11 with a 28-yard field goal early in the stanza. Heneghan then threw a pair of short touchdown passes in the final five minutes to pull off the upset against the Big Green’s in-state rival.

More UNH

Spotted this on social media. Things worked out a little better in the Upper Valley than out in Happy Valley where the mantra a couple of years ago was, "Dominate the State."

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A writer for the Manchester Union Leader leads off his column this way:

Dartmouth College has a quarterback. But we had to wait until about 10:30 p.m. on Saturday to fully understand that.

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The Roar Lions blog down at Columbia also was impressed with the clutch play the Big Green got at quarterback, writing:

Dartmouth's 22-21 win over New Hampshire seems most significant because of the play of QB Jack Heneghan. 

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A BGA reader with upper pay tier TV service reports again that Fox Sports East will be replaying the Dartmouth-UNH game tonight and again Friday at 9 a.m.

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Teams of local interest in the STATS weekly poll:

23. Colgate
28. Harvard
34. Dartmouth
38. New Hampshire
39. Towson

And in the FCS Coaches Poll:
19. Harvard
21. Colgate
39. Dartmouth
43. Towson
46. New Hampshire

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Here's what the wise guys are saying as of this morning:

Harvard by 16 over Brown
Yale by 9 over Cornell
Dartmouth by 8 over Holy Cross
Fordham by 6 over Penn
Lehigh by 2 1/2 over Princeton
Georgetown by 2 over Columbia
And . . .
New Hampshire by 20 over Rhode Island
Towson has a bye.

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Massey's computer prediction for Saturday:
Dartmouth 31, Holy Cross 21

Chances of winning this week according to Massey:
Harvard 82 percent, Brown 18 percent
Dartmouth 75 percent, Holy Cross 25 percent
Yale 70 percent, Cornell 30 percent
Lehigh 52 percent, Princeton 48 percent
Georgetown 55 percent, Columbia 45 percent
Fordham 62 percent, Penn 38 percent

As of this week Massey sees Dartmouth finishing 9-1 with these chances of winning remaining games:
at Holy Cross 75 percent
Penn 74 percent
at Yale 82 percent
Towson 77 percent
at Columbia 92 percent
Harvard 48 percent
at Cornell 93 percent
Brown  83 percent
at Princeton 77 percent

Green Alert Take: Doncha just wish it was that easy?

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If you didn't see the lengthy Chicago Tribune story on Kyle Hendricks, do take a look HERE. Dartmouth baseball coach Bob Whalen figures prominently in the terrific piece about the Cubs' Cy Young candidate.

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And finally, Dartmouth has hired its first Kathy Slattery Phillips Undergraduate Intern. Maya-Simone Moten will serve in the position that honors the late Slattery Phillips, who was the college's SID for 24 years and spent three decades working in Dartmouth's sports info office. From a press release:

Former Dartmouth President James Wright said, “Kathy brought energy and enthusiasm and professionalism to everything she did. She cared deeply about student athletes, the coaches and the Dartmouth athletic programs.”

Those characteristics led to a small group of former colleagues, mentees, alumni, industry peers and friends coming together to create an endowment fund in Kathy's memory, with the annual income designated to support this undergraduate internship in her name.

Green Alert Take: It was Kathy who brought me to Dartmouth and who helped smooth the road in front of me when I had the whacky idea of starting BGA. I will be forever grateful to her and to the friends who helped honor her in this way, as well as with a plaque in the Memorial Field press box.

UNH Follow

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Dartmouth defensive end Brennan Cascarano has been selected the Ivy League defensive player of the week and Flo Orimolade has been named to the Ivy honor roll.

Dartmouth quarterback Jack Heneghan also earned a spot on the Ivy honor roll for the week.

Find the story HERE.

The Right Note (Or A Sour One Depending On Your Perspective)

Courtesy of the Dartmouth football office, here's the scene from Leverone Field House after the game as the Big Green players let loose:

As the backs go tearing by... #thewoods #4stripes pic.twitter.com/drkwFCaiaN

— Dartmouth Football (@DartFootball) September 18, 2016

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Dartmouth-UNH highlights from Saturday night can be seen HERE.

(Funny how I could watch the annoying commercial on Safari but not the actual highlights until switching browsers. Yeah, I know that's about updating Silverlight or one of those things on my machine, but those sneaky Internet geniuses are pretty good about making sure the commercials can be seen before you find out you can't see the rest ;-)

The game, by the way, is supposed to be rebroadcast tonight at midnight on one of the Fox Sports stations, although I couldn't find it on my "guide."

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SeacoastOnline, the web presence of the Portsmouth (NH) Herald, has a story out of Dartmouth's 22-21 win over New Hampshire under the headline: UNH football: Rivalry ends on sour note.  Find the story HERE.

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Allen Lessels' UNH Insider recaps Saturday night's game from the New Hampshire perspective HERE.

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Listen to the Buddy Teevens Coaches Show at 6 Eastern on 94.5 ESPN radio. CLICK HERE to listen live.

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Sagarin Ratings (FBS and FCS)
116 Harvard
155 Dartmouth
156 New Hampshire
173 Towson
175 Penn
183 Brown
184 Princeton
186 Holy Cross
199 Yale
218 Cornell
219 Columbia

Massey Ratings (FCS Only)
12 Harvard
13 Dartmouth
31 New Hampshire
42 Towson
45 Princeton
47 Penn
53 Brown
57 Holy Cross
58 Yale
71 Cornell
78 Columbia

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This video with New Hampshire Coach Sean McDonnell and running back Dalton Crossan talking about why they feel UNH and Dartmouth should continue playing was from before Saturday night's game and hearing McDonnell after his team lost, nothing has changed. Watch HERE.

And finally, this from NexTitle Sports:

Amazing Ending To BGA's 'Guess the Attendance' Contest As Well...
The official attendance at (Saturday) night's barnburner was 8,296. The average guesstimate submitted was 8,891. The amazing part was that, unlike the UNH game that ended in dramatic fashion in the game's waning moments, the BGA contest was over nearly before it started, with the winning entry being submitted first, despite heavy voter turnout. Congratulations to Paul Ettari '72 on his winning submission. A $100 gift certificate to the Canoe Club is on its way to Paul! Stay tuned to BGA for the next contest to be announced.

Elsewhere

In games featuring Ivy League teams and other Dartmouth opponents . . .

Brown 35, Bryant 27
In a 21-0 hole after one quarter, the Bears rallied behind the passing and running of quarterback Kyle Moreno. Like Harvard's Joe Viviano and Dartmouth's Jack Heneghan, Moreno was a winner in his first career start, accounting for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing). Brown picked off three passes and held Bryant to 11 yards rushing. Bryant is 1-2.

St. Francis 13, Columbia 9
The Lions allowed Marcus Bagley to run for 220 yards but despite allowing five sacks they were down just three points until a 72-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter gave St. Francis a little breathing room. Columbia quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg completed 15-of-32 passes for just 112 yards with one touchdown and one interception. St. Francis is 1-2.

Cornell 24, Bucknell 16
Dalton Banks completed 17-of-24 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown in his first start and the Big Red turned Bucknell over three times without coughing the ball up once as it matched last year's win total. Cornell got 133 yards rushing from Chris Walker.

Lehigh 49, Penn 28
The Quakers took a 28-21 lead with 1:14 left in the first half on Alek Torgersen's seven-yard touchdown run but were outscored, 28-0, the rest of the way. The Mountain Hawks tied the scored with three-tenths of a second remaining in the second quarter after a squib kickoff hit a Penn player near midfield and they drove 51 yards for a touchdown. Lehigh then marched 65 yards for a touchdown following the second-half kickoff to take a lead it would not surrender. After collecting 320 yards of offense in the first half, Penn managed just 67 yards in the second. Lehigh is 1-2.

Princeton 35, Lafayette 21
The Tigers got all five of their touchdowns on the ground (three by running back Joe Rhattigan and two by running quarterback John Lovett). Princeton used a Lovett TD run with 21 seconds remaining to pull into a 21-all tie at the half and after a Lafayette field goal midway through the third quarter got a couple Rhattigan TD runs to grab a 35-24 lead after three. Lafayette is 1-2.

Colgate 55, Yale 13
Yale got a touchdown pass early in the first quarter but the Raiders responded with three TDs before the period was over and the rout was on. The Bulldogs managed a measly 10 first downs and were outgained 558 yards to 188 in losing their first opener since 2006. Colgate is 1-1.

Albany 45, Holy Cross 28
No. 25 Albany, which earlier this month defeated FBS member Buffalo, used a 28-0 second quarter to offset another big game by Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals. The Crusader QB completed 35-of-55 passes for 353 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Holy Cross had 31 first downs to Albany's 17 and outgained the home team, 471-403. Albany is 3-0.

Villanova 40, Towson 21
Towson scored first and Towson scored last but the Wildcats outscored the Tigers, 40-7, in between to win going away. Towson  hurt itself with two red zone turnovers. Darius Victor ran for 115 yards for Towson, which played without injured Oregon quarterback transfer Morgan Mahalak. Towson is 1-2.

Game Day . . . Finally

OK folks, buckle your chinstraps and here we go!

Dartmouth-UNH kicks off tonight at 7. If you can't make it in person the game will be on Fox College Sports. Check your local listings to see what channel number that is on your provider (fingers crossed that you get it). You can also listen to a live radio stream of the game by clicking here:  945espn.com

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As always there will be a full game story on the Dartmouth-UNH game tonight on BGA Premium. Given that it is a night game (and a TV game at that, meaning it will finish even later) the usual game-day sidebar will go on the site tomorrow. There will also be a follow story tomorrow as well as coverage of the JV game against Middlebury.

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Watched Harvard utterly destroy lowly Rhode Island last night, 51-21, and wonder what YOU think. Granted, Rhody was a sad sack opponent, but still, is it a good thing that a Harvard team Dartmouth played to pretty much of a draw in the preseason looked very, very good? Or would Dartmouth fans rather that Harvard appear to be in for a struggle this fall? Either way, that very, very good part is accurate.

Harvard quarterback Joe Viviano completed 24-of-32 passes for 290 yards with three touchdowns and ran for 51 yards and a touchdown as the Crimson crushed the 0-3 Rams. Harvard piled up 29 first downs to URI's 12, converted 70 percent of its third-down opportunities, ran for 244 yards to the visitors' 98, and had 564 yards off offense to 292 for Rhody.

Viviano, who was expected to start last fall over eventual Ivy League offensive MVP Scott Hosch until being sidelined by a broken foot, showed a good arm, the ability to throw on the run and excellent speed and elusiveness for a 6-foot-5 quarterback in his first collegiate start.

A quote from the Boston Globe game story:

“The unnerving thing coming into our third game and their opener is not knowing how different they might be, but there is some comfort in the fact that they’re going to be the same,” Rhode Island coach Jim Fleming said. “I think that’s the mark of a good football program. They’ve reloaded nicely.”

Justice Shelton-Mosley caught nine passes for 108 yards and H-back Anthony Firkser seven for 11 and two touchdowns. (Does Harvard ever not have a terrific H-back?)

For good measure, Semar Smith ran for 107 yards and a score.

For a little context, URI lost its opener at Kansas, 55-6, and fell last week to Albany, 35-7. Rhode Island is 5-44 since the start of the 2012 season.

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The folks at NexTitle Sports are pleased to sponsor the latest edition of BGA's "Guess the Attendance" contest.

Whoever comes closest to guessing the official attendance for the Big Green opener against UNH tonight will win a $100 gift certificate to the Canoe Club in Hanover.

To enter the contest, email your guesstimate by CLICKING HERE. That will address an email with the subject line, GuessTheAttendance.

Or simply email your guesstimate to: GuessTheAttendance@gmail.com.

Only one entry per email address.

Brought to you by NexTitle: It's All About The Journey

Enter The NexTitle Contest Before It's Too Late

The folks at NexTitle Sports are pleased to sponsor the latest edition of BGA's "Guess the Attendance" contest.

Whoever comes closest to guessing the official attendance for the Big Green opener against UNH Saturday night will win a $100 gift certificate to the Canoe Club in Hanover.

To enter the contest, email your guesstimate by CLICKING HERE to address an entry email with the subject GuessTheAttendance.

Or simply email your guesstimate to: GuessTheAttendance@gmail.com.

Only one entry per email address.

Stay tuned to BGA for upcoming contests and good luck! 

The Wait Is (Almost) Over

From the Dartmouth football office:

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As of Friday morning Dartmouth is pegged as a 3.5-point favorite over New Hampshire, down from 11.5 at the start of the week. Now the pundits are chiming in.

The Dartmouth has five students making picks and, surprise (not) they all pick Dartmouth. (LINK)

STATS, perhaps as close to the bible of FCS football as there is, disagrees. (LINK) Craig Haley writes:

Of course, these instate rivals missed playing each other last year when Dartmouth went 9-1 and won a share of the Ivy League title. With the Big Green replacing 17 starters, UNH shouldn't have any problem making it 14 straight wins in the series.

 The Roar Lions blog arrives at the same destination in a different manner, predicting the game will be "somewhat close, but UNH will win.,"

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Allen Lessels' UNH Insider quotes New Hampshire Coach Sean McDonnell this way in its preview:

"I think it's the best thing for the state of New Hampshire, the best thing for FCS football. We're the only two teams in the state. We're an hour and forty five minutes away from each other. They're the best team in the Ivy League, we're one of the best teams in the CAA. We should be playing each other year in and year out."

More from Insider:

Dartmouth, like UNH, has room on its schedule for three nonconference games a season. The Big Green have posted their nonconference games for each year through the 2020 season on their website and there are no games scheduled against UNH at this time.

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WMUR TV in Manchester has 45-second looks at the Granite Bowl from the UNH perspective and from the Dartmouth perspective.

For a little more detailed look at the game, check out the reported pulled together by Burlington, Vt. station WCAX TV. The voice is that of former Dartmouth offensive lineman Mike McCune. Quarterback Jack Heneghan, defensive lineman Brandon Cooper and Coach Buddy Teevens all get a little screen time.  (LINK)

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And finally, STATS has a very general overview of the Ivy League. Play opens tonight with Harvard and Rhode Island squaring off. (LINK)

Dartmouth has the dubious distinction tomorrow night of being the last Division I school in the country to start play. It's the third time in five years that the Big Green had to see the entire nation play before finally getting on the field.

The "Last to Start" tidbit is from the Ivy League notes, which have finally been posted HERE. The notes include a "Title History" with the number of championships for each team and their last championship. Dartmouth, of course, managed to maintain its one-championship lead over Harvard and Penn last fall by sharing the title with its two closest challengers for that slice of Ivy League history. From the notes:

Titles – School – Last
18 – Dartmouth – 2015
17 – Harvard – 2015
17 – Penn – 2015
14 – Yale – 2006
10 – Princeton – 2013
4 – Brown  – 2008
3 – Cornell – 1990
1 – Columbia – 1961

Two Days And Two-Deeps

TWO AFTERNOON UPDATES . . .

The Ivy League media guide has now been posted. (See link below.)

Also, the Dartmouth notes are now updated with a new two-deep HERE.

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Game notes have been posted by Dartmouth (LINK) and New Hampshire (LINK). There's also a tidbit or two in the CAA notes (LINK).

Fingers crossed that the Ivy League weekly release and media guide are up soon.

Of note, junior Jack Heneghan is listed as Dartmouth's starting quarterback with freshman Jake Pallotta behind him.

The only other freshmen on the two-deep are wide receiver Hunter Hagdorn,  a backup wide receiver, corner Isiah Swann, listed as backup corner, and Grant Jaffe, the backup longsnapper.

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In a lame attempt at humor last year I wrote how two-deeps aren't worth the paper they aren't printed on anymore. To that end, check out the Colorado two-deep for Saturday's game at Michigan, a response to Jim Harbaugh's depth chart shenanigans. (LINK)

(Click to enlarge.)

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I don't really understand these things but the "line" on the Dartmouth-UNH game which was once 11.5 points favors the Big Green by 5 as of this morning.

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A thread on the Any Given Saturday messageboard under the headline CAA Pick'em includes fan predictions for Saturday's CAA games. No surprise there. What is a little surprising is that while there are a lot of people picking UNH there are some folks out there in CAA-Land who believe Dartmouth will end its decades-long drought against the Wildcats this week. (LINK)

Or could they be Ivy infiltrators?

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From Palo Alto Online:

At Dartmouth, junior quarterback Jack Heneghan is in the hunt to play a significant role this year when the Big Green opens its season against New Hampshire.

Jack Katzman may get a chance to kick and/or punt for Dartmouth, coached by former Stanford coach Buddy Teevens. The Big Green finished 9-1 overall last year.

Palo Alto grad Jack Anderson will also be looking to take the field for Dartmouth as an offensive lineman.

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And finally, here's an edited excerpt from a quick FootballScoop story that you must read:

What happened last Thursday in Texas is a scary reminder of the risks involved in football, but (it) exemplifies why so many people love this game and the lessons that it teaches both kids and adults. 

Screen Gem

Click photo to enlarge.

Dartmouth Coach Buddy Teevens drew quite the crowd Tuesday when a crew filming for the CBS Sports show Engineering the Perfect Season interviewed him at practice. That film session came one day after the Discovery Channel had a crew documenting the MVP robotic tackling dummy in action.

Speaking of the MVP and the media, while BGA was on sabbatical at the start of August the six-chapter Bleacher Report exploration of the MVP and the no-tackling-each-other edict in practice came out. It's several thousand words and well worth the read. Find the Bleacher Report, uh, report HERE.

As long as we're on the MVP, the North Hawaii News has a quick blurb about the Hawaii Preparatory Academy Alumni Speaker Series and set to make a presentation is Elliot Kastner '13, the former Dartmouth defensive lineman who is largely responsible for the MVP. His talk will be entitled:

“Mitigating Sub-Concussive Head Trauma in Contact Sports Through the Use of Improved Technology and Technique.”

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More than 100 of these signs promoting Dartmouth's opener have popped up around the Upper Valley. Memorial Field will be hopping on Saturday night as Dartmouth and UNH battle for New Hampshire supremacy in the Granite Bowl.

Looking for a little more background on Dartmouth's opening-day opponent? The full University of New Hampshire football media guide is available HERE.

On the subject of media guides, the Ivy League's guide should be available HERE soon. Still waiting for the first Ivy League weekly press release but that will be available HERE.

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Dartmouth Coach Buddy Teevens is on record supporting an 11th game for Ivy League teams. While the Ivies are stuck at 10 the Ohio Valley and Southland conferences have submitted a proposal to the NCAA to allow FCS schools to schedule a 12th game. Check out the thinking behind adding another game and its lukewarm reception HERE.

Scouting The First Two

Here are some highlights of the game between Dartmouth's first two opponents. Week One foe New Hampshire defeated Holy Cross, 39-28, Saturday night.



If you want to watch the full broadcast of the New Hampshire-Holy Cross game, CLICK HERE (although for some reason you'll need to scroll ahead to the 1-hour, 4-minute mark to get to the start of the game).

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The odds are up for the first weekend of Ivy League football action and there are some stunners. I don't bet – never will and never have. Having watched the league for a long time, I think if you bet on Ivy football you are nuts. That said, there are some head scratchers here ;-)

Dartmouth is favored over UNH by 9.5 points. It had been 11.5 points.
Harvard is the pick over Rhode Island by a whopping 31.5 points
Yale is a 3.5 point choice over Colgate.
Princeton is favored over Lafayette by 18.5.
Penn is a 10.5 point favorite over Lehigh.
Bryant is a 2.5 point pick over Brown.
St. Francis is a 3-point favorite over Columbia.
Bucknell is a 7.5-point favorite over Cornell.

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After taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning with the Chicago Cubs last night, Dartmouth alum Kyle Hendricks is now being called a Cy Young favorite. From USA Today this morning:

Chicago Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks lost his shot at history Monday night with a no-hitter, but instead may have just secured himself the National League Cy Young award.

There are still nearly three weeks left in the season, but Hendricks, 15-7, and major-league low 2.03 ERA, has got to be in the driver’s seat, with his latest stellar performance in the Cubs’ 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Find the full story HERE.

How About That

Don't have any details but former Dartmouth corner Vernon Harris, who was reported as cut in early August after signing a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs (LINK), is now listed on the team's roster along with three other players under the Reserve/Injured heading. (LINK)

What does that mean? This post attempts to clarify Injured Reserve, Reserve/Injured status:

Teams can place any number of players on injured reserve (technically: "reserve/injured list"). Any player placed on the IR list counts against the cap, but not against the roster limit. These players are ineligible to play again (for the same team) during the ongoing season. They may not practice with the team at any time, but can attend team meetings, and generally be around the team as much as they like.

Spotrac has a full list of Reserved/Injured players from around the NFL including their injuries where available. Harris's ailment is listed as "undisclosed." (LINK)

With the Green Bay Packers reportedly reaching an "injury settlement" and releasing center Jacob Flores (LINK), Harris is the last member of the Dartmouth Class of 2016 still under contract with an NFL team. The Packers' link reports that Flores' injury was a knee.

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Gotta admit, I missed the first Buddy Teevens show on ESPN Radio 94.5 fm last Monday. You can catch the next show if you CLICK HERE tonight at 6 and make your way up to the Listen Live Now link. The show is being broadcast from the Canoe Club in Hanover.

For the next five weeks it is slated to be broadcast from the Public House in Quechee.

Green Alert Take: Here's hoping the hour-long shows will eventually be archived because they have a lot of competition for your time at 6 p.m. Eastern.

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A little news out of Towson's win over St. Francis on Saturday night. The Tigers, who returned every starter on offense this fall except their quarterback, will be Dartmouth's final nonconference opponent on Oct. 15. This is from the STATS weekend roundup (LINK):

Towson rallied from 28-10 down for a 35-28 win over Saint Francis and it might have found its quarterback, and perhaps it's not Oregon transfer Morgan Mahalak, who suffered a shoulder injury and was in a sling afterward. Backus Ellis Knudson led the rally, looking the most to wide receiver Christian Summers, who totaled 232 receiving yards and two touchdowns (94 and 43 yards) on only six catches.

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Teams of interest in the weekly polls:
STATS
24. New Hampshire
26. Towson
29. Harvard
40. Dartmouth
42. Penn

Coaches
21. Harvard
27. New Hampshire
42. Penn
47. Dartmouth 

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Sagarin Ranking
113. Harvard
137. Penn
156. New Hampshire
162. Towson
165. Dartmouth
177. Yale
179. Holy Cross
190. Princeton
202. Brown
223. Columbia
231. Cornell

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Dartmouth resumes practice at 4 this afternoon as it prepares for Saturday night's opener against New Hampshire (1-1) on Memorial Field. Usually, the Big Green has three full practices for an upcoming opponent (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a walk-through Friday). Because the preseason game against Harvard was on a Thursday, Dartmouth will have two extra full-session practices for the opener against UNH (Saturday and Monday) as well as the regular Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday practices and the Friday walk-through.

Check BGA Premium tonight and every night for full coverage of Dartmouth football practices and games.

How The Others Guys Fared

All three of Dartmouth's nonconference opponents are now 1-1 after New Hampshire outlasted Holy Cross last night, and Towson fought back to upend St. Francis. A look at last night's results:

New Hampshire 39, Holy Cross 28
Paced by the precision passing of Peter Pujals, the visiting Crusaders jumped out to a 21-6 lead by the early moments of the second half in a bid to spoil the opening of Wildcat Stadium. Pujals, a four-year starter, was 23-for-26 for 215 yards in the first half, with only a 56-yard TD run by New Hampshire's Dalton Crossan allowing the Wildcats to claw back to within 21-13 at the half.

With Pujals cooling down (he would finish 42-for-64 for 427 yards with three TDs and two interceptions) and UNH heating up, the Wildcats carried a 32-28 lead deep into the fourth quarter. A big Holy Cross stop gave the Crusaders the ball at their 21 with 2:25 to play but on third-and-10 All-American Casey DeAndrade picked off Pujals and returned the interception 28 yards to give UNH a much-needed cushion. New Hampshire outscored Holy Cross in the second half, 26-7.

Crossan carried 24 times for 199 yards and two touchdowns for New Hampshire. The Cats got 190 passing yards and 87 more on the ground from quarterback Trevor Knight, who threw for two scores and was picked off twice. UNH ran for 362 yards to 71 yards for Holy Cross. New Hampshire is now 48-6 at home since 2007.

Towson 35, St. Francis 28
Between 1993 and 2014 St. Francis had exactly no winning seasons, five times going winless and on eight other occasions winning just one or two games. But the Red Flash finally got over the .500 mark with a 6-5 record last year, and a week ago carried a lead late into a game at perennial powerhouse Montana before losing, 41-31. All of that is to say it would be a mistake to downgrade Towson for having to dig itself out of a 28-10 hole after losing its starting quarterback to a shoulder injury midway through the first quarter.

A field goal as time expired in the first half and a 75-yard TD drive to open the second (capped by a two-point conversion) pulled the Tigers within a touchdown early in the third. Taking over at their 1 on their very next possession, they got a five-yard run on their first play and then a 94-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 28.

Towson blocked a 30-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter and scored the winning points on a 43-yard touchdown pass with 2:21 remaining.

The Tigers finished with 473 yards of total offense to 287 for St. Francis and a 23-17 advantage in first downs over their visitors, who opened the scoring by turning a Towson fumble on the first play of the game into an 89-yard touchdown return.

Who Knew?

Talking with Jay Fiedler '94 after a Dartmouth football game one day he told me he was helping a quarterback prepare for the NFL draft. I'd forgotten the name but remembered the team – the Denver Broncos.

On a hunch after Northwestern graduate Trevor Siemian helped the Broncos knock off the Carolina Panthers in the NFL lidlifter I Googled around a little bit and, lo and behold, discovered Siemian was, in fact, the quarterback Fiedler had been tutoring.

CLICK HERE to watch and listen to Fiedler talking about Siemian in the video (above) from which this still was taken.

From a recent Denver Post story:

“He was one of the sharpest guys that I’ve worked with,” said Fiedler, a former NFL quarterback. “I worked in a number of different offenses throughout my time in the NFL, and one of the things that I realized throughout my career is you had better be quick to learn, because coaches can change at any minute or you could change teams at any minute.”

Fiedler, of course, succeeded Dan Marino as the Miami Dolphins' starting quarterback, starting 59 games with the Fins during an NFL career that spanned eight seasons.

In case you are wondering what Jay is up to these days, the Miami Dolphins did a Where Are They Now with him a year ago. Find it HERE.

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The local daily has a story about the life of Bob McLaughry '44, who died Wednesday at the age of 95. Area residents will recognize the name McLaughry because of the eponymous real estate company but followers of Dartmouth football history may remember it for another reason.

Bob McLaughry was the son of DeOrmond "Tuss" McLaughry, who coached at Dartmouth 1941-42 and 1945-54. (He coached at Brown for 15 years prior to his arrival in Hanover and also coached at Amherst and Westminster.)

Bob McLaughry lettered for his dad in 1946. From the story about his life:

Despite what outwardly might appear to be a conventional small college-town real estate wheeler and dealer, McLaughry’s life was the stuff of movies, according to family, friends and associates.

A college football player, daredevil skier — he took his last run down the Dartmouth Skiway at age 91 — jet fighter pilot, father of four, husband in two lengthy marriages, businessman and civic leader, McLaughry lived in full sense of the word a complete life.

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If you want to get a sneak peek at Dartmouth's first two opponents, you can catch the New Hampshire-Holy Cross game from Durham, N.H., at 7 tonight on the American Sports Network or NESN. For entertainment purposes only, you might be interested to know that New Hampshire is a 1½-point favorite. The Wildcats lost last week at San Diego State while the Crusaders won at Morgan State.

Towson (0-1), Dartmouth's final nonconference opponent, entertains St. Francis tonight at 6.

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It's back to practice at 4 this afternoon for the Dartmouth football team. Check BGA Premium tonight for reaction to Thursday's affair in Cambridge (actually Allston).

The second of the three-part BGA look at how Dartmouth's freshmen are coming along is tentatively set for tomorrow night.

Sound Performance

The men of Dartmouth singing the Alma Mater after a successful scrimmage in Boston! #thewoods #4stripes pic.twitter.com/pZqqZoNXV9

— Dartmouth Football (@DartFootball) September 8, 2016

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With the Harvard preseason game in the books and the Dartmouth coaches on the road recruiting today is an "off day" for the Big Green. The coaches and team will be back on the field tomorrow at 4 p.m. (for a practice originally slated for the morning). Check BGA Premium tonight for the first of a three-part look at how the freshmen are settling in with the team as well as Coach Buddy Teevens' reflections coming off the afternoon in Boston.

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Dartmouth brought in three quarterbacks in this year's freshman class (Jake Pallotta, Jared Gerbino and Cole Douglas) but the merry-go-round never stops. Cincinnati TV station WCPO writes that the Big Green will be taking a look at 6-foot-5, 220-pound Indian Hill senior Reed Aichholz tonight. (LINK)

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Speaking of QBs, the local Valley News writes about Jake Pallotta leading the race for the No. 3 quarterback slot and running with the "twos" while another QB nurses a slight injury.

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Dartmouth Coach Buddy Teevens gets a little free "pub" on The Week magazine site in a story headlined, How virtual reality is changing the future of sports. (LINK)

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The UNH-Holy Cross game opening New Hampshire's new football stadium leads the FCS Top-25 roundup on the STATS site. Editor Craig Haley picks New Hampshire to celebrate the big day with a win over the Crusaders. (LINK)

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Considering games are only a week away things are pretty quiet on the College Sports Journal's Ivy League discussion board.

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Speaking of discussion boards, time for a little rant. Following this thread on the often-entertaining, sometimes-maddening, occasionally well off-base Voy forum, the anger at the closing of the Yale-Brown scrimmage was clear. Clearer yet was that at a time when the Ivy League should be doing everything it can to build its fan base, it is instead chasing some people away, or at the very least making them pretty angry. As someone said to me, Ivy League teams shouldn't be closing their Ivy-Ivy scrimmages, they should be handing out free sandwiches and sodas to try to get people to attend. Who knows? They may even come back.

This And That

The Columbia fan blog Roar Lions 2016 picks the Ivy League race this way:

1. Penn

2. Harvard

3. Princeton

4. Dartmouth

5. Columbia

6. Brown 

7. Yale

8. Cornell

True story. Just about every time I use the color palette for the Ivy League schools I think about a former Dartmouth basketball player, and a pretty good one. His final choice of schools came down to Dartmouth or Brown and when I asked him what made the difference, he said something like, "I could never see myself wearing one of those ugly brown uniforms."

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An incredibly poignant tribute from the opening weekend of college football:

Green Alert Take: Not mentioned in the piece, unless I missed it, was Fresno State declining to take the penalty. Perfect.

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The funniest thing from the opening weekend (except for the kickoff returner and his family):

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Give a bunch of football players a video camera and look out. There's some funny stuff from the University of New Hampshire media day. Look for former Dartmouth head coach John Lyons refusing to be tricked at the 2:07 mark.

Green Alert Take: I'd love to see what the Dartmouth players could come up with if they handed a camera around like this.

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A couple more stories out of UNH. First, a "frugal librarian" left $4 million to the state university and some of it will go to pay for the football stadium's enormous new video screen. It's a sweet story how the fellow suddenly took to football. (LINK)

Old friend Allen Lessels has penned a Welcome to Wildcat Stadium, which will debut Saturday night with a game against Holy Cross. (LINK)

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BGA Premium's practice story last night started with a look at the Catapult monitoring system Dartmouth is using this year to measure player exertion.

Sorry, but there won't be a BGA report on today's Harvard preseason game. Although I can guarantee I wouldn't divulge any state secrets, "rules is rules" and I can't win this one so BGA will go "radio silent" as they say.

A Familiar Name

It appeared several years ago that placekicker Wyatt Schmidt, younger brother of former Dartmouth standout Foley Schmidt '12, was headed to Hanover. Late in the process, however, the 6-foot-3 younger brother called an audible and instead chose to walk on at USC.

If you tuned in to the Alabama-USC game Saturday night from Jerryworld you saw Schmidt on the field for the Trojans.

But not as a kicker.

As the holder! As they say in the Ivy League, he found a way to "get on the bus." Better make that "get on the plane."

Schmidt also is USC's backup long snapper, although he's still available as a kicker and punter. He is enrolled in the school's well-regarded Science of Real Estate program. 

A third brother, Macalaster Schmidt, is a sophomore kicker/punter playing for onetime Dartmouth Associate Head Coach Chris Wilkerson at the University of Chicago.

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Dartmouth's Week One and Week Two opponents are playing each other Saturday night when Holy Cross helps UNH open its new stadium.

Find Week One UNH's notes HERE.

Find the Holy Cross notes HERE.

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The Los Angeles Times has a story under the headline: Football: Ivy League's top QBs are from Cali, Alek Torgersen and Chad Kanoff

I was a bit surprised that in a mention of Ivy League players the Times wrote:

At Dartmouth, two freshmen will try to play, defensive back Micah Croom (La Mirada) and linebacker Arthur Laslow (Calabasas). Offensive lineman Peter Eggert (Laguna Hills) is a senior. 

I'd have thought they would have mentioned Atherton's Jack Heneghan, who may well be the Big Green's starting quarterback this fall. It took a second to realize that while the headline is about QB's from "Cali" the story is actually about players from Southern California. Makes sense in an LA newspaper.

By the way, Arthur "Laslow" from Calabasas should be Arthur Kaslow.

Any chance that the writer is a movie fan and was thinking of Laszlo from Casablanca when writing Laslow from Calabasas? ;-)