You Can Only Play Who Is On Your Schedule

There has been a lot of chatter about the Ivy League's non-conference record this fall and with good reason. The Ancient Eight went 18-6 out-of-conference this year, with an impressive 10-2 mark against Patriot League teams.

Keeping in mind that you can only play who is on your schedule a look at the results reveals just two of the Ivy League's wins came against Division I teams with a winning record. Princeton had a victory over 10-2 San Diego and Brown defeated 6-5 Bryant. The only other victory over a team with a winning record came when Penn defeated Division II Ohio Dominican.

Three of the Ivy's six losses out of conference came to teams with winning records, and three to teams with losing records.

Here's how Ivy League teams fared out of conference, with the opponents' final records in parentheses:

BROWN

W Bryant (6-5)

W URI (3-8)

L Stetson (2-9)

COLUMBIA

W Wagner (4-7)

W Georgetown (1-10)

W Marist (4-7)

CORNELL

L Delaware (7-4)

L Colgate (7-4)

L Bucknell (5-6)

DARTMOUTH

W Stetson (2-9)

W Holy Cross (4-7)

W Sacred Heart (4-7)

HARVARD

L URI (3-8)

W Georgetown (1-10)

W Lafayette (3-8)

PENN

W Ohio Dominican (7-3) Division II

W Lehigh (5-7)

L Central Connecticut (8-4)

PRINCETON

W San Diego (10-2)

W Lafayette (3-8)

W Georgetown (1-10)

YALE

W Lehigh (5-7)

W Fordham (4-7)

W Holy Cross (4-7

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The Harvard Crimson writes about The Game against Yale being played next fall at Fenway Park. (LINK)

Green Alert Take: Harvard-Yale is one of the games on my bucket list along with Army-Navy, Lehigh-Lafayette and Amherst-Williams. Given a choice, if I could see just one Harvard-Yale game I'd much prefer it to be at Yale Bowl or Harvard Stadium.

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Playing into the decision to hold the game at Fenway Park is the possibility of renovations at Harvard Stadium. CLICK HERE for a look at architectural renderings showing an addition to the outside of the home side of the stadium as well as a dramatic change inside, where a section of the colonnade appears to be transformed into luxury boxes.

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After Aaron Kelton went 8-0 in his first season as head football coach at Williams there were murmurings that the onetime Columbia assistant might one day be a strong candidate for an Ivy League head coaching position. But his win total with the Ephs went to 5, 4, 2, 2 and 2 and he eventually ended up at Shorter University in Rome, Ga. In two years as football coach and athletic director his teams went 0-11 and 0-11. Kelton was let go this week. (LINK)

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Craig Haley of STATS predicts the end of the road for New Hampshire (8-4) in its second round NCAA playoff game against No. 4 seed Central Arkansas (10-1), whose only loss came in its opener against Kansas State. (LINK)

All The Best, Bobby

Yes, this is a football site and not a futbol site, but indulge me this morning as I reflect on the news of the retirement of Notre Dame soccer coach Bobby Clark, who began his college coaching career at Dartmouth in 1985.

As the college's assistant director of sports information back then I was asked to sit in for what we were led to believe was little more than a courtesy interview for a late addition to the candidate pool for the vacant Dartmouth men's soccer coaching position.

I can't remember who else was in the meeting – except for the late Whitey Burnham, who arranged it – but I clearly remember walking out of the interview thinking that was no courtesy candidate. The search was over. Bobby Clark had to be the next Dartmouth men's soccer coach.

And here's the thing. The man had enjoyed a remarkable career as a goalie in Scotland – his British record for consecutive scoreless minutes would hold up for 38 years until a Manchester United goalie broke it – but he never brought up his playing career during the interview. Not one word about it. Only after he was hired and we built up his file did I come to realize just how legendary his career had been with the Aberdeen Dons, and just how beloved he was in his native Scotland.

Bobby was on the job just a few days when he wandered into my office carrying an old schedule and asking me, "What is this Bow-doin?" pronouncing it exactly as it was spelled. He was new to the American college scene, but he caught on quickly, going 82-42-13 from 1985-93, winning three Ivy League championships and setting the framework for the success Dartmouth soccer has enjoyed pretty much ever since. I don't know that I've ever met a better coach or a more charismatic person.

In every era there are coaches whose players love them but with Bobby the affection and respect his players and others had for him was palpable. I recall when I was at the newspaper some years later having to write a story about Andrew Shue, the former Dartmouth player then on the TV show Melrose Place. I had placed a bunch of calls trying to chase down Andrew to no avail, and finally gave Bobby a call to ask for help. No more than five minutes later my phone rang with an apologetic TV star on the other end of the line ready to give me all the time I needed.

Bobby's impact in these parts is still being felt. Not long after he arrived in Hanover he founded Lightning Soccer, the ubiquitous Upper Valley youth program that seemed to be every bit as important to him as the job that brought him to the area. He was soccer's Pied Piper for a generation of little boys and girls. A reception in his honor after he announced he was leaving Hanover to coach the New Zealand National Team saw Leede Arena packed to the rafters with Bobby Clark fans. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, including mine.

Bobby would go on to enjoy success as head coach at Stanford and for the past 17 years at Notre Dame, where he led the Fighting Irish to the 2013 national championship. I read the release about his retirement and watched the video posted on the Notre Dame site and a tear came again to my eye thinking about how much the man meant to so many who had the privilege to play for him and work with him. He was, quite simply, the best.

5 Finalists For Bushnell Announced

The Bushnell finalists for offensive and defensive players of the year in the Ivy League were announced this afternoon. (LINK)

Offensive
Princeton quarterback Chad Kanoff
Penn wide receiver Justin Watson

Defensive
Brown defensive end Richard Jarvis
Penn linebacker Nick Miller
Yale linebacker Matthew Oplinger

The winners will be announced Monday at 12:30 p.m., with the presentation streamed live on the Ivy League Network.

Green Alert Take: No surprises. Yale running back Zane Dudek absolutely should have been one of the offensive finalists but right or wrong, the Ivy League simply wasn't going to have a freshman among the finalists.

Kaskey, Traynor All-New England

2017 Division 1 All-New EnglandTeam

OFFENSE
OL — Jamil Dernby, Maine (Sr., Vineland, N.J.)
OL — MATT KASKEY, DARTMOUTH (JR., WINNETKA, ILL.)
OL — Jake Kennedy, New Hampshire (Sr., Amherst, N.H.)
OL — Chris Lindstrom, Boston College (Jr., Dudley, Mass.)
OL — Karl Marback, Yale (Sr., Birmingham, Mich.)
OL — Connor Mignone, Central Connecticut (Fr., Redding, Conn.)
QB — Trevor Knight, New Hampshire (Jr., Amherst, N.H.)
RB — Harold Cooper, Rhode Island (Sr., New Haven, Conn.)
RB — AJ Dillon, Boston College (Fr., New London, Conn.)
RB — Zane Dudek, Yale (Fr., Kittanning, Pa.)
RB — Josh Mack, Maine (So., Rochester, N.Y.)
WR — Tom Kennedy, Bryant (Sr., Farmingdale, N.Y.)
WR — Neil O'Connor, New Hampshire (Jr., Leominster, Mass.)
TE — Adam Breneman, Massachusetts (Gr., Mechanicsburg, Pa.)

DEFENSE
DL — Zach Allen, Boston College (Jr., New Canaan, Conn.)
DL — Da'Sean Downey, Massachusetts (Sr., White Plains, N.Y.)
DL — Rick Holt, New Hampshire (Sr., Portsmouth, N.H.)
DL — Richard Jarvis, Brown (Sr., Watertown, Mass.)
DL — Cole Ormsby, Connecticut (Sr., Windsor, Conn.)
LB — Thomas Costigan, Bryant (Jr., Stamford, Conn.)
LB — Nick McBeath, Holy Cross (Sr., Miami, Fla.)
LB — Matthew Oplinger, Yale (Sr., Summit, N.J.)
LB — CJ Parvelus, Sacred Heart (Sr., Everett, Mass.)
LB — JACK TRAYNOR, DARTMOUTH (SR., LAKE FOREST, ILL.)
DB — Jarrod Cann, Central Connecticut (Sr., Hartley, Del.)
DB — Hayden Carlson, Yale (Sr., Glen Ellyn, Ill.)
DB — Lukas Denis, Boston College (Jr., Everett, Mass.)
DB — Tanner Lee, Harvard (Sr., Spanish Fort, Ala.)

SPECIAL TEAMS
KS — Logan Laurent, Massachusetts (Sr., Temecula, Calif.)
RS — Justice Shelton-Mosley, Harvard (Jr., Sacramento, Calif.)

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Don't be surprised if you see an Ivy League team or two headed to Clinton, S.C., in the not-too-distant future. The Blue Hose of Presbyterian College will be joining the Pioneer Football League. (LINK)

In The Headlines

The Ivy League allows every NCAA sport it fields except football to participate in the playoffs. Apparently it would be a different story if the coaches had their say.

From a piece in the New Haven Register headlined, Sunday Gravy: Ivy League football teams deserve playoff shot:

“As a group, every year we’ve voted unanimously for the playoffs,” Yale football coach Tony Reno said on Saturday. “There’s a decision made at a higher level that keeps us where we are. I would love to be playing today. Our players would love to have the opportunity to play against the best teams in the country. That’s what it’s all about, right?”

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From a New York Times story headlined, Canadian Football’s Big Steps to Reduce Hits, a Contrast to the N.F.L.:

Football programs that no longer hold full-contact practices have seen injuries plummet. Buddy Teevens, the coach at Dartmouth, a member of the Ivy League, said the number of concussions in practices and games at his college had fallen by 80 percent since 2011, when he stopped contact practices during the season and began focusing on better tackling techniques using robotic dummies. The reduction in head hits during the week has also made players less vulnerable on game days.

“The preconcussive hits you don’t get on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday don’t lead to big hits on Saturday,” he said. “That’s the encouraging thing — the in-game injuries have been reduced as well.” 

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A reminder that the finalists for the Bushnell Cup, the Ivy League's offensive and defensive players of the year, will be announced tomorrow.

An Old Friend

Wandering the University of Maryland campus before yesterday's game we happened to be at the old Cole Fieldhouse just as the Maryland team buses were unloading. That offered a chance for a quick hello with Pete Lembo, the former Dartmouth assistant who went on to have success as a head coach at Lehigh, Elon and Ball State. He's now assistant head coach for the Terrapins.

It was fun to see an old friend and huge fun to see Penn State score a 66-3 win. Not much drama but quite a party in a stadium taken over by a large contingent of blue and white supporters.

Now for the long drive home.🏈

More Football

Greetings from the Princeton suburbs if there can be such a thing.

That Certain Nittany Lion '16 and I are headed to College Park, MD for this afternoon's game between Penn State and Maryland. Because I work football Saturdays this is a rare opportunity for us to take in a game together.

Poll Musings

2017 Preseason Ivy League Football Poll 
1. Princeton (6)  120 points
1. Harvard (5)   120 points
3. Penn (5)   110 points
4. Yale   71 points
5. Dartmouth   60 points
6. Brown (1)   57 points
7. Columbia   38 points
8. Cornell   36 points

2017 Final Ivy League Football Standings
1. Yale 6-1
2. Columbia 5-2
2. Dartmouth 5-2
4. Penn 4-3
5. Harvard 3-4
5. Cornell 3-4
7. Princeton 2-5
8. Brown 0-7

Green Alert Take I: The preseason poll this year was hardly a surprise. It usually looks very similar to the previous year's standings.

Green Alert Take II: Expect that trend to change a bit next year. It's hard to imagine voters keeping Harvard and Princeton where they finished. And because old habits die hard, it would be a surprise to see voters projecting Columbia to finish that high again.

Green Alert Take III: For the third year in a row someone cast a first-place vote out of left field for Brown. Hope springs eternal but the poll isn't supposed to be about hoping. In 2016 the poll had Penn with eight first-place votes and Harvard with seven. The other first-place vote? Brown, which the rest of the voters picked fifth. In the 2015 poll the voters selected Brown fifth, but yet again someone gave the Bears a first-place vote.

Green Alert Take IV: This is not an original thought but I'd like to see the poll expanded so that it includes not just two media members covering each school but also the sports information director and the head coach. Two more votes per school from people who have a little more insight would add a lot more credibility to the poll.

Green Alert Take V: The next poll is a little less than nine months away ;-)

Enjoy

It is a gorgeous Thanksgiving morning looking over to the ski trails on Killington. Click to enlarge the photo.

Highly (Ir)Regula(r)

After Darius George "intercepted" a desperation behind-the-back Princeton lateral on the final kickoff return and ran it into the end zone Saturday a loyal BGA reader speculated that it was probably the first Dartmouth touchdown on a Big Green kickoff since 1997.

Pretty good chance he was right.

The George TD was certainly unusual, but not as unusual as the last one, which came when kicker Dave Regula scored on his own kickoff in front of a crowd of 11,123 at Franklin Field on Sept. 20, 1997.

Regula, Dartmouth's all-time leader with 38 career field goals, had just booted a 23-yard field goal with 7:45 remaining in the second quarter to give the Big Green a 10-0 lead when things got crazy.

Here's a screen grab from the Sept. 29, 1997 Sports Illustrated Vault page explaining what happened:

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From the "Whatever Happened To" department, Dave Regula '98 and his wife Lauren today run TrAk Athletics in West Akron, Ohio. Here's a picture from their website:

By all means read the "You'd Never Guess" entry below the sweet family picture on the TrAk website. Among other things, Dave writes of his wife, who happens to be the sister of a 2004 National League Rookie of the Year Jason Bay:

She’s met Derek Jeter and still married me

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Reporting on players from its area in college football NorthJersey.com writes of Dartmouth linebacker Eric Meile:

Eric played in all 10 games for the Big Green, starting at MLB, and when you think of a tough North Jersey player….he’s it. He was second on the team in tackles with 90, had a pick, forced a fumble and had three and a half tackles for a loss. He is a senior, majoring in Government. Go help the country now Eric.

It was that NorthJersey.com blurb, by the way, that called to mind the Darius George/Dave Regula connection. The blurb included this:

(Dartmouth) scored 34 points in the fourth quarter, and 13 points in one second. How do you do that? You score on a running play with one second left, then intercept a lateral on the ensuing kickoff and score on that too (so with 00 on the clock).

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A little inside baseball for you. Typing this post up brought me right back to 1997 because the exact same thing happened this morning that happened to me frequently in '97. Each time my head said to type Regula my fingers typed Regular.

Only one other name has consistently fooled my fingers since I've been covering Dartmouth football and that would be Vernon Harris. I'd guess half the time I started typing his name I would have to backspace because he really isn't Vermont Harris. I don't know if it ever made it into a story but it sure tried ;-)

Kaskey, Traynor Lead Dartmouth All-Ivy League Picks

*-unanimous decision

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
*Zane Dudek, Yale (Fr., RB – Kittanning, Pa.)

COACH OF THE YEAR
Al Bagnoli, Columbia

FIRST-TEAM ALL-IVY
Offense
Jon Bezney, Yale (Sr., OL – Cincinnati)
Matt Kaskey, Dartmouth (Jr., OL – Winnetka, Ill.)
Nathan Kirchmier, Penn (Sr., OL – Pembroke Pines, Fla.)
Karl Marback, Yale (Sr., OL – Birmingham, Mich.)
Mitchell Sweigart, Princeton (Sr., OL – Washington Boro, Pa.)
*Chad Kanoff, Princeton (Sr., QB – Pacific Palisades, Calif.)
*Zane Dudek, Yale (Fr., RB – Kittanning, Pa.)
Charlie Booker III, Harvard (Jr., RB – Houston)
*Jesper Horsted, Princeton (Jr., WR – Shoreview, Minn.)
Josh Wainwright, Columbia (So., WR – Austin, Texas)
*Justin Watson, Penn (Sr., WR – Bridgeville, Pa.)
Jaeden Graham, Yale (Sr., TE – Aurora, Colo.)

Defense
John Herubin, Yale (Sr., DL – Coppell, Texas)
Lord Hyeamang, Columbia (Sr., DL – Lakeville, Minn.)
*Richard Jarvis, Brown (Sr., DE – Watertown, Mass.)
Louis Vecchio, Penn (Sr., DE – Orange, Calif.)
Tom Johnson, Princeton (Jr., LB – Moorestown, N.J.)
Nick Miller, Penn (Jr., LB – New Market, Md.)
*Matthew Oplinger, Yale (Sr., LB – Summit, N.J.)
*Jack Traynor, Dartmouth (Jr., LB – Lake Forest, Ill.)
Hayden Carlson, Yale (Sr., DB – Glen Ellyn, Ill.)
*Nick Gesualdi, Cornell (Sr., S – Sykesville, Md.)
Cameron Roane, Columbia (Sr., DB – Durham, N.C.)
Spencer Rymiszewski, Yale (Sr., DB – West Chester, Pa.)

Special Teams
Jack Soslow, Penn (Jr., K – Bryn Mawr, Pa.)
Parker Thome, Columbia (Sr., P – Hortonville, Wis.)
*Justice Shelton-Mosley, Harvard (Jr., WR/RS – Sacramento, Calif.)

SECOND-TEAM ALL-IVY^
Offense
Eric Ramirez, Princeton (Sr., OL – York, Pa.)
Patrick Kilcommons, Dartmouth (Jr., OL – Berwyn, Ill.)
J. Edward Keating, Cornell (Jr., OL – Birmingham, Mich.)
Anders Huizenga, Yale (Sr., OL – Trophy Club, Texas)
Christian Montano, Brown (Sr., OL – Orange, Conn.)
Clay Eubank, Brown (Sr., OL – Coto De Caza, Calif.)
Bewley Wales, Columbia (Sr., OL – Tulsa, Okla.)
Tommy Dennis, Penn (Jr., OT – East Setauket, N.Y.)
Reily Radosevich, Princeton (So., OL – Manalapan, N.J.)
Sterling Strother, Yale (So., OL – Moraga, Calif.)
Anders Hill, Columbia (Sr., QB – Boulder, Colo.)
Tre Solomon, Penn (Sr., RB – Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Charlie Volker, Princeton (Jr., RB – Fair Haven, N.J.)
Stephen Carlson, Princeton (Jr., WR – Jamestown, N.Y.)
Hunter Hagdorn, Dartmouth (So., WR – Manvel, Texas)
Chris Williams-Lopez, Yale (Sr., WR – Duluth, Ga.)
Nicholas Bokun, Penn (Sr., TE – Hobart, Ind.)

Defense
Charles Callender, Yale (So., DE – Cutler Bay, Fla.)
Stone Hart, Harvard (Sr., DT – Olympia, Wash.)
Kyle Mullen, Yale (Jr., DE – Manalapan, N.J.)
Nick Tomkins, Dartmouth (Sr., DL – Matawan, N.J.)
Kurt Frimel, Cornell (Sr., LB – Cream Ridge, N.J.)
Luke Hutton, Harvard (Sr., LB – Austin, Texas)
Eric Meile, Dartmouth (Sr., LB – Ramsey, N.J.)
Foyesade Oluokun, Yale (Sr., LB – St. Louis)
Landon Baty, Columbia (Sr., DB – Mountain View, Calif.)
Tanner Lee, Harvard (Sr., S – Spanish Fort, Ala.)
Danny McManus, Dartmouth (Sr., DB – Mendota Heights, Minn.)
Sam Philippi, Penn (Jr., DB – Trabuco Canyon, Calif.)
Isiah Swann, Dartmouth (So., DB – Queen Creek, Ariz.) 
Special Teams
Nickolas Null, Cornell (So., K – Bradenton, Fla.)
Alex Galland, Yale (Jr., P – Bakersfield, Calif.)
Tiger Bech, Princeton (So., WR/RS – Lafayette, La.)

HONORABLE MENTION
Offense
Jack Anderson, Dartmouth (Sr., OL – Palo Alto, Calif.)
Greg Begnoche, Penn (So., OT – Delray Beach, Fla.)
Dieter Eiselen, Yale (So., OL – Stellenbosch, South Africa)
Markham Paukune, Columbia (Sr., OL – Fort Worth, Texas)
Jack Heneghan, Dartmouth (Sr., QB – Atherton, Calif.)
Kurt Rawlings, Yale (So., QB – Bel Air, Md.)
Karekin Brooks, Penn (So., RB – Marietta, Ga.)
Deshawn Salter, Yale (Sr., RB – Syracuse, N.Y.)
Ryder Stone, Dartmouth (Sr., RB – Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Jakob Prall, Brown (So., WR – Tipp City, Ohio)
Justice Shelton-Mosley, Harvard (Jr., WR/RS – Sacramento, Calif.)
Ronald Smith II, Columbia (So., WR – St. Louis)
Graham Adomitis, Princeton (Jr., TE – Ross Township, Pa.)
Stephen Johnston, Dartmouth (Sr., TE – Potomac, Md.)

Defense
Rocco Di Leo, Dartmouth (Sr., DL – Elmhurst, Ill.)
Kurt Holuba, Princeton (Sr., DL – Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.)
Dominic Perkovic, Columbia (Sr., DL – Bloomfield Hills, Mich.)
Charlie Pontarelli, Dartmouth (Sr., DL – Glenview, Ill.)
Richie Ryan, Harvard (Jr., DT – Pittsburgh)
Jay Cammon, Jr., Penn (Jr., LB – Landover, Md.)
Colton Moskal, Penn (Sr., LB – Lake Zurich, Ill.)
Michael Murphy, Columbia (So., LB – Tampa, Fla.)
Colin Boit, Dartmouth (Sr., DB – Sammamish, Wash.)
Connor Coughlin, Brown (Sr., FS – Medford, N.Y.)
Malcolm Dixon, Yale (So., DB – Gardena, Calif.)
Jason Alessi, Yale (Sr., DB – Bloomfield Hills, Mich.)
David Jones, Cornell (So., DB – Sugar Land, Texas)
C.J. Wall, Princeton (Fr., DB – Plano, Texas)
DJ Woullard, Cornell (JR., DB – Fullerton, Calif.)

Special Teams
David Smith, Dartmouth (Sr., K – Montreal)
Hunter Kelley, Penn (Sr., P – Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Nickolas Null, Cornell (So., P – Bradenton, Fla.)
Will Allen, Columbia (Fr., DB/RS – Pembroke Pines, Fla.)

^-second team expanded due to ties in the voting

Princeton Revisited

From the Dartmouth football office:



And holy moly, that winning Dartmouth touchdown was seriously close! Here's the video followed by a still taken from the video:

One More

I must have trained you too well! My in-box has had no fewer than four emails from different folks letting me know that Dartmouth has another recruit Tweeting his intentions to come this way. (Don't let the duplication slow you down because the next time you might be the only one ;-)

Add to the Dartmouth recruit list Alex Schmidt, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end/defensive tackle from Peddie School via Pennridge High School and Perkasie, Pa.

Find his Tweet announcing his intentions HERE and his highlights HERE.

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From the Dartmouth sports information office:

Dartmouth's Jared Gerbino parlayed his performance in the 54-44 victory over Princeton this past Saturday into numerous Player of the Week honors today from the Ivy League, College Sports Madness and the New England Football Writers Association as the Gold Helmet Award winner. In addition, STATS listed Gerbino as an honorable mention as the FCS National Offensive Player of the Week, and the College Football Performance Awards selected Gerbino as one of its three honorable mentions for its FCS National Performer of the Week.

Find the full release HERE.

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Dartmouth quarterback Jack Heneghan gets a well-deserved nod in Palo Alto Online HERE.

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The Ivy League has an outsized presence on the Minnesota Vikings as a Vikings.com story tells us HERE.

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Columbia's Al Bagnoli is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award as the national coach of the year. (LINK)

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Nothing like having your record-setting starting quarterback suspended before your NCAA playoff game. That's the Central Connecticut situation heading into Saturday's matchup with New Hampshire. (LINK)

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Tucked into a Hartford Courant column last week under the headline, Harvard-Yale Rivalry Not Ending Anytime Soon were some interesting comments from Dr. Rich Diana, the former Yale and Miami Dolphins running back.

Diana was interviewed by Chicago Tribune editorial writer Steve Chapman, a Harvard grad who wrote this about Harvard and Yale continuing to play The Game in light of CTE findings:

"How can these two institutions rationalize a pastime so antithetical to the well-being of undergraduates and their own educational missions? It's the equivalent of the Mayo Clinic operating a tobacco shop on-site."

In the Courant story, Diana responded:

"I'm glad he doesn't speak for most of us. I think making statements like that, it's easy for pundits to say things and not really to have scientific backing.

And . . .

"The study that came out showed everybody's brain that was donated had CTE. That's like going to a cardiologist's office and finding out there is a lot of people there with heart disease. 

"You are preselecting for pathology. You can't look at the people who have symptoms unless everybody has symptoms. You have to look at the number of people who play and the number of people who are affected before you start making judgments like removing football from the fabric of America. Maybe (Chapman) turns out to be right, but at this point it's premature to start making recommendations like that."

Read the full story HERE.

2018 Dartmouth Schedule

Sept. 15 Georgetown

Sept. 22 at Holy Cross

Sept. 29 Penn

Oct. 6 at Yale

Oct. 13 Sacred Heart

Oct. 20 at Columbia

Oct. 27 Harvard

Nov. 3 at Princeton

Nov. 10 at Cornell

Nov. 17 Brown

Green Alert Take: It's kind of jarring to see Princeton in Week 8 and Brown in Week 10

Green Alert Take II: At Columbia, at Princeton and at Cornell in a span of four weeks. Yikes.

Here We (Don't) Go Again

Conspicuous by its absence from the NCAA's playoff bracket for the FCS is 9-1 Yale, the Ivy League champion:

Click bracket, and click again to enlarge.

Green Alert Take: There is only one explanation for why Yale is not in the bracket that makes any sense. Take it for what it's worth:

The Ivy League champion is not going to the playoffs because the Ivy League champion is not allowed to go to the playoffs.

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In case you are wondering, Lehigh, which was by beaten by Yale (56-28) and Penn (65-47), is going to the playoffs. So is New Hampshire, which lost to Holy Cross (51-26). The Wildcats somehow managed to extend easily the longest playoff streak in the country:

New Hampshire – 14

North Dakota State – 8

Sam Houston State – 7

Jacksonville State – 5

James Madison – 4

UNH will have a home game with Central Connecticut State Saturday.

Saturday Wrap

Yale 24, Harvard 3
After Harvard opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal Yale ran off the next 24 points including 17 in the second quarter to claim the outright Ivy League championship. The Bulldogs overcame 11 penalties, two interceptions and an embarrassingly bad Yale Bowl field to defeat their archrival for the second year in a row. They held Harvard to 164 yards of total offense with help from six sacks. As an emailer pointed out, The Game drew 51,426 while Dartmouth drew 27,559 for its entire home schedule. Taking it one step further, if you take out the Brown game at Fenway Park, The Game outdrew Dartmouth's other nine games combined by 697.

Columbia 24, Brown  6
Like Dartmouth, Columbia can play the "what if" game but has to feel pretty good after winning an odd finale against Brown and finishing tied for second in the Ivy League in front of 5,341. Seeking to avoid going winless in the conference, the Bears actually outgained the Lions (324 yards to 275) but gave up touchdowns on a run, a pass and a blocked punt. Columbia blocked three kicks.

Penn 29, Cornell 22
Trailing by a point, the Quakers began what would be the winning drive at their own three, got a key first down reception by Justin Watson on what the Penn website said might be "the most spectacular of his Penn-record 286 career catches," and then scored the winning points on a three-yard Tre Solomon run with 2:06 remaining. Penn, which closed out the season with a four-game winning streak, lost its three Ivy League games by a combined 11 points. Just 3,861 turned out at Franklin Field for the thriller.

Wagner 28, Sacred Heart 15
The Pioneers outgained Wagner 439-296 and had 20 first downs to 12 but lost three fumbles in front of 1,848 in Fairfield.

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Before sitting down at the keyboard to try to explain/understand Dartmouth's 54-44 win over Princeton Saturday I watched a recording of Penn State's 56-44 win over Nebraska. The former was in doubt until the final five seconds and the latter (42-10 at the half) was over early, but I'm pretty sure I'll never sit through back-to-back games with 98 and 100 points going up on the board ;-)

Here We Go

You could not imagine morning in the Upper Valley breaking any prettier. Yes it's cold, 20 degrees here on the mountain, but as this is written the sky up here is almost popsicle blue. Clouds will be rolling in during the day but the temperature at kickoff should be about 40 degrees with just a slight breeze and virtually no chance of precipitation. It's a far cry from the dire forecasts early in the week.

10:30 update: Not a hint of blue left in the sky but worry not. Still nothing in the forecast.

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You know the deal. A Harvard (5-4, 3-3 Ivy League) win at Yale (8-1, 5-1) opens the door for Dartmouth (7-2, 4-2) and Columbia (7-2, 4-2) to grab a share of the championship if they win their games. A Yale win over Harvard and the Bulldogs are outright champions.

Today's Schedule:

12:30 – Harvard at Yale (NBC Sports Network)
For live stats CLICK HERE.

1 p.m. – Brown at Columbia (Ivy League Network, SNY)
For live stats, CLICK HERE.

1:30 p.m. – Cornell at Penn (Eleven Sports, Ivy League Network)
For live stats, CLICK HERE.

And of course . . .
1:30 p.m. – Princeton at Dartmouth (Ivy League Network)
For live stats, CLICK HERE.

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Do not miss a fine piece about Dartmouth offensive line coach Keith Clark in the Valley News HERE.

The Last Time . . .

CLICK HERE to watch a terrific five-minute highlight video (above) from the last Dartmouth-Princeton game on Memorial Field when the Big Green came from behind to beat the Tigers and clinch a share of the Ivy League title.

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Find Dartmouth's game notes HERE.

From the Dartmouth notes:

Seniors Jack Heneghan and Ben Hagaman have been named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District I Team. The honor recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. Heneghan, an economics major with a 3.79 GPA, has led Dartmouth to a 7-2 record as the starting quarterback, while Hagaman, a history major with a 3.32 GPA, has protected Heneghan as the starting right tackle. 

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Dartmouth tight end Cameron Skaff discusses the premature end to his college career because of a head injury in the Valley News HERE.

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The Hartford Courant writes about Yale trying to win its first outright championship since 1980 HERE.

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The Yale Undergraduate Sports Analytics Group has Yale as an 11-point favorite with a 73 percent chance of winning The Game and denying Dartmouth and Columbia the chance at winning a share by claiming the outright Ivy League championship. (LINK)

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SB Nation has a story under the headline: College football at Fenway Park is a crass, silly money grab (and it’s beautiful)

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And finally, for those of you who have been checking this space since the days when she was the only girl on her Little League baseball team, the latest news about That Certain Dartmouth '14 is that she wraps up her fall as an educational ranger at Yellowstone today, and will be starting a seasonal stint in the same role at Grand Canyon starting in early December. (She also spent a winter as an educational ranger at the Everglades National Park.)

Before heading down to Arizona she had a chance to catch a Montana Griz game last week. She came away seriously impressed by the atmosphere, by Missoula and by the reach of the Dartmouth family, which made it possible for her to take in the game. Here's a pic she sent back from before the crowd filled in:

Think Orange

Here's the Dartmouth trailer for Princeton:

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Find Princeton's game notes HERE.

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Last week's Compughterratings Simulation predicted a 26-6 Dartmouth win over Brown at Fenway Park. The final spread was pretty close: 33-10. Here's how the service sees the Dartmouth-Princeton game and that Other Game. (That's what they call it, right?)

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Athlon has capsules and picks on what it considers the biggest games of the week and no, Dartmouth-Princeton didn't make the cut. But the Other Game did. Here's what the capsule said (LINK):

No playoff game would be bigger for these archrivals than “The Game.” Harvard is tasked with slowing freshman Zane Dudek, who’s averaged more than 200 yards from scrimmage in his last three games. The Bulldogs are a one-point loss at Dartmouth in the last minute away from being perfect.

Pick: Yale

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Did you know that there was a presenting sponsor for the Dartmouth-Fenway game? Me neither. It was something called, Your Call Football. (LINK)

Green Alert Take: Never thought I'd see the day when the Ivy League would be involved with a concern that advertises that you can, "Compete for over $20,000 in total cash prizes over three action-packed weeks."

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The Gwinnett Daily Post writes about 15 players from the Georgia county playing football in the Ivy League. Ross Wood, Justin Edwards and Cam Poole represent Dartmouth while Princeton has four players from the area. (LINK)

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The latest forecast for kickoff in Hanover Saturday: 37 degrees, 8 mph wind and a 25 percent chance of light rain.

Time Will Tell

Massey Ratings predicts Dartmouth-Princeton should be the most competitive game of the final week of the Ivy League season. Here's how the service sees Week 10:

Princeton 31, Dartmouth 28 (58 percent confidence)
Yale 31, Harvard 14 (89 percent)
Columbia 27, Brown  7 (93 percent)
Penn 28, Cornell 14 (85 percent)

If Massey has it right, Yale will be the sole Ivy League champion with Columbia second and Dartmouth third.

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The Hartford Courant writes about Yale bidding to win its first solo Ivy League championship since 1980. (LINK)

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TwinCities.com writes about Jesper Horsted, the Princeton wide receiver who Dartmouth will have to contend with on Saturday. In addition to setting records on the football field, he's an All-Ivy League centerfielder for the Tigers. Here's how the story starts:

While Jesper Horsted weighed his college options as a senior at Roseville High in the fall of 2014, he made three lists to help with his decision. 

One included schools interested him in as a football player. Another comprised schools interested in him as a baseball player. Yet another was a list of schools interested him in playing both sports. 

The first two lists grew long for the 2015 winner of the St. Paul Downtown Lion’s Club amateur athlete of the year. But the third, with schools willing to buck trend and permit a two-sport Division I athlete, wasn’t even a proper list with only one school: Princeton.

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Cameron Skaff, Buddy Teevens, Gesine Bullock-Prado, Ray Prado, Brock Bacon, Davaron Stockman, Charles Mack and Kirsten Teevens

From the Nov. 2 BGA Premium posting:

Buddy Teevens is always trying to cook up something special for his players but earlier this week it was someone else doing the cooking. 

Along with his wife Kirsten, Teevens and Dartmouth seniors Cameron Skaff, Davaron Stockman, Charles Mack and Brock Bacon were the guests of chef and baker Gesine Bullock-Prado for a filming of her new show, Baked In Vermont. 

Bullock-Prado, the wife of former Dartmouth football player Ray Prado ’89 and sister of actor Sandra Bullock, is a former movie executive and attorney-turned-baker. Ray Prado, a movie storyboard artist, invited Teevens to bring players by for the filming of the show.
“It was Hollywood with big lights, people setting things up and all,” the coach said. “I didn’t know what to expect but it was extremely well done.” 

As was the meal. 

“It was a pork pie,” said Teevens. “It was outstanding, five-star quality. It reminded me of a Thanksgiving dinner at home. The food kept coming.” 

The meal finished with a special treat. “She made a cake that when she cut it open it had a D inside the cake,” Teevens said. "It was fascinating.” 

Boom mics picked up the conversation while the dinner guests ate. “Davaron Stockman was talking about his grandmother and étouffée and the stuff they cook up down south,” Teevens said. “Brock Bacon talked about some of the Texas barbecue. Charles Mack and Cameron Skaff from Virginia talked about some of the seafood and so forth they get down there.”

Read about the new TV series HERE.

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In his first year at the University of Central Oklahoma old friend Jarrail "JJ" Jackson, the former Dartmouth receivers coach, has helped groom the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association offensive player of the year in receiver JT Luper. The Broncho's star has 101 catches for 1,544 yards and 12 touchdowns this fall.

A former standout Oklahoma Sooner receiver, Jackson turned the state into a Dartmouth recruiting hotbed while also having success in Texas, where he recruited a quarterback you may have heard of by the name of Dalyn Williams.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

From the Dartmouth football office (and this is a fun one ;-):

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Dartmouth is the only home underdog in Week 10 according to the offshore wise guys.
Princeton is a 3.5-point favorite at Dartmouth
Yale is a 16-point favorite in New Haven over Harvard
Columbia is a 19.5-point favorite in NYC over Brown
Penn is a 13.5 point favorite in Philly over Cornell

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Jay Greenberg, who does a terrific job chronicling Princeton football, points out in this story that in Saturday's 35-31 loss to Princeton the Tigers piled up 527 yards . . . wait for it . . . in just 19 minutes of possession time. Yale held the ball for 41 minutes.

The piece includes this quote from Princeton coach Bob Surace:

“There are five really good defensive teams in the league this year: Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and Dartmouth, which we haven’t played yet. And if you look at it, the only team that scored against any of them was us.”

For the record, here are the scores of those games:
Princeton 52, Harvard 17
Yale 35, Princeton 31
Princeton 28, Columbia 24
Cornell 29, Princeton 28 

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Northeast teams in the STATS Top 25
10. Stony Brook
16. New Hampshire
26. Monmouth
29. Yale
33. Columbia
38. Central Connecticut
39. Dartmouth

And in the FCS Coaches Poll
12. Stony Brook
14. New Hampshire
22. Monmouth
30. Yale
33. Central Connecticut

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And finally, if you decide to brave the weather and check out Dartmouth football practice this week you should know that the current schedule has practice at 4:15 today but at 2:45 tomorrow and Thursday to give the players a little more evening study time with exams beginning at the end of the week.

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And finally II: The latest forecast for Saturday is 34 degrees, 11 mph wind and 68 percent of light rain at kickoff. Probably the only thing Big Green faithful would prefer with Princeton and its high powered offense coming to town is the rain to turn to snow . . . which it might ;-)

One To Go

SATURDAY'S GAMES
Harvard at Yale 12:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Network)
Brown  at Columbia, 1 p.m. (Ivy League Network)
Cornell at Penn, 1:30 p.m. (Eleven Sports/ILN)
Princeton at Dartmouth, 1:30 p.m. (ILN)

Green Alert Take: As I wrote on BGA Premium yesterday . . .

The Ivy League really should have one league-wide start time for the final Saturday of the season. The Yale-Harvard game kicks off at 12:30 p.m., a half hour before Columbia-Brown and a full hour before Dartmouth-Princeton. If Yale jumps out to a big early lead it will take a lot of the fun out of the Dartmouth and Columbia games, both for the players and the fans. If Yale loses the Bulldogs and their fans will be stuck watching scores out of Hanover and New York City to see if they have to play nice and share. ... Granted, it’s a lot easier to check on scores via the Internet than it was the last time there was a three-way tie, but the excitement won’t be anywhere near as great as if the games kicked off concurrently.

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The Dartmouth has a recap of the Big Green's win over Brown at Fenway Park HERE and the Brown Daily Herald has a writeup HERE.

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There are video highlights available from the Dartmouth-Brown game on the Ivy League Network but I refuse to post a link when they continue to make me watch a 30-second commercial only to come up and report that the video can't be played on my device. For what it's worth, I can watch them on my device if I switch browsers.

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Sagarin COMBO Ratings (last week in parentheses)
101 - Yale (113)
131 - Columbia (141)
139 - Dartmouth (148)
154 - Princeton (155)
160 - Penn (175)
189 - Harvard (191)
191 - Cornell (193)
219 - Brown (223) 

199 - Holy Cross (183)
206 - Sacred Heart (211)
250 - Stetson (248)

(254 DI teams rated)

Saturday Wrap

Scores and a few pithy thoughts after Week 9 of the Ivy League season:

Yale 35, Princeton 31
The Bulldogs won at least a share of the Ivy League title in a back-and-forth shootout. Freshman phenom Zane Dudek ran for 180 yards for the Bulldogs (8-1, 5-1). Yale can claim the outright championship with a win at home against Harvard or losses by Dartmouth and Columbia. Princeton (5-4, 2-4) lost its third in a row (by a total of 12 points). The teams combined for 1,040 yards of offense. Princeton quarterback Chad Kanoff passed for 454 yards and four touchdowns and will provide a stiff test this week for Dartmouth, which has faced teams struggling simply to play catch the past two weeks.

Penn 23, Harvard 6
Two hard-to-figure teams are now both 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Ivy League. Tre Solomon ran 77 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game and that would be all Penn would need. Harvard not only saw a 16-year run of a least seven wins a season come to a halt, but was held without a touchdown for the first time since 1998.

Columbia 18, Cornell 8
Chris Schroer ran for 183 yards as the Lions held offensively challenged Cornell scoreless until the final three-plus minutes. Columbia (7-2, 4-2) clinched its fifth winning record in Ivy League play since the conference started formal competition in 1956. More importantly, the Lions can claim at least a share of their second Ivy League title (the other was in 1961) with a win at home over Brown Saturday and a Yale loss. Cornell, which two weeks ago came to Dartmouth tied for the Ivy League lead, is now 3-6 and 3-3 in the Ivies.

Lehigh 34, Holy Cross 21
The Mountain Hawks (4-6, 4-1) have a shot at going to the NCAAs. Holy Cross (4-7, 2-3) does not.

Sacred Heart 16, Saint Francis 7
Pioneers (4-6, 2-3 NEC) beat the somethings from Saint Francis (5-5, 3-3 NEC).

Jacksonville 13, Stetson 10
Roger Hughes' Hatters (2-9, 1-7 Pioneer Football League) but up a surprising good fight against Jax (7-3, 5-2 PFL).

What Are You Rooting For?

Here's your Saturday primer

If you are a Dartmouth fan and just want a share of the title, you want a win next week and are rooting for:
Yale to lose either at Princeton today or at home to Harvard next week
Result: Dartmouth wins at least a share at 5-2.

If you are a Dartmouth fan and want to win the whole enchilada, you want a win next week and:
Yale to lose its last two games so the Bulldogs finish 4-3
Harvard to lose at home today against Penn and then beat Yale to go 4-3
Columbia to lose to Cornell today or next week at home to Brown to finish 4-3
Cornell to lose to Columbia today or next week at Penn to end up 4-3
Result: Dartmouth wins it all at 5-2.

If you are an anarchist and want to see a seven-way tie, here's how it has to go:
Princeton has to win at home against Yale today.
Cornell has to win at Columbia today.
Penn has to win at Harvard this afternoon.
Next week Harvard has to win at Yale.
And Penn has to beat Cornell in Philly.
And Columbia has to beat Brown in NYC.
Finally, in the last game of the day, Dartmouth has to tumble at home to Princeton.
Result: IF all that happens (big if you notice) seven teams finish at 4-3.

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For those who are wondering, with a thawed-out Mrs. BGA driving and yours truly writing we found a Dunkin' Donuts with wireless on the way home and I posted the story about an hour after leaving Fenway Park and paying ransom (it wasn't that bad) to free up our car. We arrived back on Moose Mountain around 2:15 a.m.

And for those of you who were looking up at the press box in frozen envy: Yes, it was a lot warmer than it was down in the stands. Apologies for that. But don't get the wrong impression. It was stil seriously cold. Clearly, Fenway Park is a baseball stadium not intended for winter use. My fingers are almost usable again.

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The Valley News has a game story HERE.

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And in an absolute shocker, the VN has short piece about basketball forward Evan Boudreaux, the highest rated Dartmouth recruit in memory, announcing his decision to transfer one day before today's season-opener at Quinnipiac. (LINK) Boudreaux is hoping to graduate early and play two years elsewhere as a grad transfer. Boudreaux is the son of former all-time Dartmouth women's basketball and track great Gail Koziara Boudreaux, a Dartmouth trustee.

Let's Play Ball (Football, That Is)

Watch the ABC6 News video above HERE.

A still shot taken from the ABC6 News posting

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The local Valley News has a notes column that begins with mention of players who played high school football games at Fenway Park. (LINK)

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The Boston Herald has an advance HERE.

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Bundle up if you are going to the game. The latest forecast is for 28 degrees and 16 mph wins at kickoff.