Orange Is The New Brown (Mustache)

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Don Brown, who went from coaching at nearby Hartford (VT) High School to Dartmouth and at a bunch of other places including Boston College before eventually becoming the highly regarded defensive coordinator at Michigan, won't be hard to miss at the Outback Bowl and not just because the camera loves him. (When I was at the newspaper we had a remarkable picture of Don giving someone the Mike Singletary stare that we kept around for years. What made it so interesting is that while Brown could give players an unbelievable hairy eyeball, nobody, and I mean nobody, was more beloved by his players.) But I digress.

The reason Don Brown will be hard to miss Monday is a good one. He's dyed his trademark mustache orange as part of the ChadTough Foundation fundraiser to fight Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. Find an NCAA.com story with a doctored (?) photo of Don Brown HERE.

There's a good explanation of the initiative on Twitter:

University of Michigan defensive lineman Chase Winovich challenged Michigan fans to raise money for The ChadTough Foundation. He said that if foundation received at least $15,000 in donations (for his No. 15 jersey), he would dye his hair orange for the Outback Bowl vs. South Carolina (Jan. 1, 2018)! 

Well, Michigan fans delivered! The $15,000 goal was reached in 13 hours! Since that happened, his teammates Grant Newsome, Mo Hurst, Devin Bush, and honorary teammate Larry Prout Jr. have said they would dye their hair as well!

Then the big finale - Defensive Coordinator Don Brown said he would dye his mustache! 

Here's another Tweet:

It is with my great honor that I welcome our Defensive Coordinator, Coach Don Brown to the fight against DIPG! And at $125,000, he will be dyeing his legendary mustache orange! 

And Don's great response:

I WAS NOT CONSULTED BUT CONSENT PROVIDED THE METHOD OF DYE IS COACH EATS CHEETOS 

A Familiar Name

CLICK HERE to watch and listen to Di Leo.

The "tip" came from That Certain Nittany Lion '16, who is in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl enjoying 70-degree temperatures while we f-r-e-e-z-e back here. Confirmation came with a news search ;-)

Chosen by Penn State head coach James Franklin to address the blue-and-white crowd at a pep rally held yesterday afternoon at a minor league baseball park in Scottsdale was Frank Di Leo, a walk-on linebacker for the Big Ten team and younger brother of Dartmouth defensive lineman Rocco Di Leo. From a story in the Centre Daily Times:

Franklin turned the mic over to junior linebacker Frank DiLeo, who thanked the Nittany Lion fans for their support.

Speaking of the Di Leos, heading to Hanover in the fall is a third Di Leo brother, Luca, a 6-1, 302 defensive lineman.

Frank Di Leo, a 5-9, 222 junior, appeared in one game for the Nittany Lions this fall. He also caught one Dartmouth game, making it to Fairfield, Conn., on a bye-week to see Dartmouth defeat Sacred Heart. His only chance to see his two brothers next fall (providing 6-3, 290 Rocco is awarded a medical redshirt season) will be Oct. 6 when PSU is off again and Dartmouth takes on Yale in the Bowl.

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A regular reader has shared a story from Slate about a NESCAC school under this headline: The Liberal Arts Football Factory: Is Wesleyan University compromising its independent reputation and academic excellence to build an athletic cash cow?

Green Alert Take: Did the late Bill Bowen ghostwrite this?

This Doc Delivered

Incoming Dartmouth quarterback recruit Doc Bonner is the state of Maryland's offensive player of the year as part of the American Family Insurance ALL-USA Maryland Football Team. (LINK)

From the All-USA Maryland press release:

The Dartmouth-bound signal-caller led the Cougars to their second straight Class 4A final and earned First Team Washington Post All-Met honors. Bonner completed 119 of 183 passes for 2,259 yards and 26 touchdowns, with just three interceptions, and also rushed for 789 yards and 15 touchdowns on 94 carries.

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The Shoreview Press has a story about former Dartmouth safety Charlie Miller's apprenticeship on the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad. (LINK)

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If you are watching the Ohio State-USC game tonight keep an eye out for a former Dartmouth player and coach.

Adam Scheier '95, a special teams standout for the Big Green, joined the Buckeyes' staff this year after spending the last three years as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Wake Forest and the previous five years at Bowling Green. An assistant secondary coach for the undefeated '96 Dartmouth team, Scheier also coached at Columbia, Princeton and Lehigh. Scheier is tOSU's quality control coach for kicking. (LINK)

 

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A Wall Street Journal story explains how the success of quarterback Baker Mayfield led to college recruiters paying a little more attention to another quarterback from his high school who might otherwise have been overlooked. From the story:

The current quarterback at Lake Travis has benefited from playing in football’s post-Mayfield world. Matthew Baldwin wasn’t the starter until his senior year, even later than Mayfield, and the only colleges interested in him were the types of places that also have squash teams, Ivy League schools like Brown, Columbia and Dartmouth. 

Apparently those "squash" schools were onto something with Lake Travis High School quarterback Matthew Baldwin. From the story:

He committed this month to one of the many schools impressed enough to offer a scholarship much later than usual. Next season he’ll be a quarterback at Ohio State.

(Thanks for the link.)

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And finally, if you have to ask about this pair heading from Grand Canyon to the Fiesta Bowl,  you haven't been paying attention ;-)

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Temperature watch on Moose Mountain: Low last night was 15.8 below zero and temperature at dog-walking time this a.m. was a brisk 13.5 below.

One Who Got Away

A Los Angeles Times has a story about walk-ons for the USC football team begins and ends with the tale of Wyatt Schmidt, brother of former Dartmouth kicker Foley Schmidt. Wyatt originally committed to Dartmouth, where he would have served as a kicker for the Big Green. Instead he instead is a snapper and occasional holder for the Trojans, who play in the Cotton Bowl tomorrow. From the story:

Schmidt’s journey to the USC football locker room is arguably the strangest of the team’s two dozen walk-ons.

And . . .

A three-time state champion in hockey at Minnesota’s St. Thomas Academy, Schmidt gave up football to play junior hockey after high school in the hopes of earning a Division I scholarship as a defenseman. That didn’t happen, so he enrolled at USC, where it quickly became apparent that he would not win the kicking job.

“So I picked up holding,” the 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior said. “And I also had to learn long snapping because they didn’t have a backup. I learned that here. I never snapped a day in my life before.”

And . . .

It’s a story of grit and perseverance that Schmidt acknowledges is similar to that of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, another undersized, moderately athletic walk-on, who played for Notre Dame.

They made a movie about Ruettiger.

“I might not run that 4.3 40,” Schmidt said. “I’ve always known the NFL wasn’t a thing for me. (But) it gave me an opportunity to play in a Rose Bowl, a Cotton Bowl.

“That’s something I’ll definitely remember forever.”

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When we left Scituate, Mass., today at 5 a.m. it was four degrees. Here on Moose Mountain this morning? It was a balmy 14.6 below.

Morning (?)

Winter Wonderland with 17 inches of standing snow on Moose Mountain. (Click pic to enlarge.)

We were up at 2:55 this morning to drive That Certain Nittany Lion '16 to Concord, N.H., to catch a bus to Logan Airport for an early flight to Phoenix. From there he'll bus 2-plus hours to Flagstaff, Ariz., where he'll be picked up by That Certain Dartmouth '14. They'll spend two days at Grand Canyon where she is working as a ranger this winter (and will be working both days), and then head to Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl game between Penn State and Washington. Lucky kids.

That Certain Dartmouth '14, by the way, worked all day yesterday and put her Dartmouth earth science degree to work delivering a couple of presentations about the geology of Grand Canyon to large groups of tourists from around the world.

We're headed to Massachusetts for a 24-hour whirlwind with Mrs. BGA's family so this electronic neighborhood may/may not be dark for a couple of days. See you soon.

By the way, the funny thing about the star (below) is it's too large even to keep in the garage so I prop it up in the woods alongside the house. Several years ago I went out to get it for Christmas and EVERY bulb was gone. The green power wires had been chewed off left and right of each bulb and they had been carted away. I'm guessing our squirrels were celebrating the holiday. (LINK)

Moose Mountain Greetings

If we are late putting our 6-foot star up at the end of the driveway the neighbors start worrying about us. It is the only Christmas decoration visible on our road!

The List

Here's the Dartmouth Early Decision class broken down by likely position.

OFFENSIVE LINE
Calvin Atkeson, 6-4, 284
Ravenscroft School
Raleigh, N.C.
Griffin Lehman, 6-4, 270
The Hill School
Pottstown, Pa.

TIGHT END
Joe Kramer, 6-4, 225
Westwood High School
Washington, N.J.
Robbie Mangas, 6-3, 244
Gonzaga College High School
Washington, D.C.

WIDE RECEIVER
Devin Powell, 6-3, 211
Marvin Ridge High School
Waxhaw, N.C.
Christopher Sykes, 6-4, 193
St. Louis School
Honolulu, Hawaii

RUNNING BACK
Zack Bair, 5-10, 186
Red Bank Catholic High School
Red Bank, N.J.

QUARTERBACK
Kendell “Doc” Bonner, 5-11, 185
Quince Orchard High School
Gaithersburg, Md.

DEFENSIVE LINE
Luca Di Leo, 6-1, 302
Choate Rosemary Hall
Wallingford, Conn.
Alex Schmidt, 6-2, 265
Peddie School
Hightstown, N.J.

LINEBACKER
Joe Heffernan, 6-1½, 207
Marquette University High School
Milwaukee, Wis.
Carson Reich, 6-2½, 228
The Woodlands High School
The Woodlands, Texas

NICKEL
John Pupel, 6-1, 195
Episcopal High School
Alexandria, Va.

SAFETY
Landon McDermott, 5-11½, 178
Lovejoy High School
Lucas, Texas

Saturday Stuff

First things first:

The Food Network's Baked in Vermont episode featuring Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens, his wife Kirsten and a small group of players will air this afternoon at 12:30 Eastern/9:30 Pacific. (Check yesterday's posting for more info.)

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Incoming offensive line recruit Calvin Atkeson, a 6-foot-5, 305-pounder from Ravenscroft School, has been chosen to the (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer’s All-Metro football team. From the writeup (LINK):

Had offers from ACC schools but chose to play in the Ivy League at Dartmouth. Head coach Ned Gonet, who has coached the Ravens for 37 years, calls Atkeson the “most talented offensive and defensive lineman I have experienced.” Two-time NCISAA all-state selection and the defending NCISAA heavyweight wrestling champion. Made 41 tackles on defense with four for loss.

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How cool is it that both starting fullbacks in the Pro Bowl are Ivy League products?

Harvard's Kyle Juszczyk was selected for his play in his first year with the San Francisco 49ers after four with the Baltimore Ravens and Brown's James Develin was chosen for how he has performed in his fifth year with the New England Patriots. Find the full rosters HERE.

Also chosen for the Pro Bowl were two players who have great familiarity with Dartmouth. The special teams selection for the AFC is Matthew Slater of the Patriots, who was a Big Green commit before choosing to attend UCLA. His wife went to medical school at Dartmouth. And one of the AFC quarterbacks is Russell Wilson, whose late father "Harry B." was a terrific player at Dartmouth and one of four brothers to attend the College. (Russell wrote about his father in the Player's Tribune HERE. Oh, and his uncle, Ben '73, addressed the team during a visit to practice this year.)

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Fordham has hired Yale offensive coordinator Joe Conlin as its head coach. (LINK) For those of you always interested in these things (and judging by my email there are a lot of you) FootballScoop reports his "annual compensation is expected to be in the $300,000 range."

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In other Patriot League news, Sherryta Freeman ‘01, a guard on two of Dartmouth's Ivy League championship women's basketball teams, is the new athletic director at Lafayette. (LINK)

Old Friend In The News

An AP story about the gulf between that haves and have-nots in Division I football begins with an anecdote from a former Dartmouth assistant (LINK):

Pete Lembo has seen both sides of major college football as the head coach at Ball State and now as an assistant at Maryland.

At Ball State in the Mid-American Conference, a simple decision like buying black helmets for the team came with concessions. There was give and take on every decision.

“And I would share that openly with our team,” Lembo said. “I would say, ‘Look guys, this is life. You’re going to have to make these same kind of decisions when you’re a husband and when you’re a father and you’re going to have to work with your wife on these kind of things.’ ”

Listed in a preseason story as one of "10 assistants who will be head coaches again soon," (LINK), Lembo showed up in a FootballScoop story listing him as a strong candidate at Fordham, only to have FootballScoop follow that with this: "Source tells FootballScoop the Fordham search has shifted from Pete Lembo."

Lembo was on the Dartmouth staff from 1994-96. He has a 112-65 all-time record as head coach at Lehigh, Elon and Ball State.

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The "Baked in Vermont" episode featuring Dartmouth football coach Buddy Teevens, his wife Kirsten and a small group of players will air Saturday afternoon at 12:30 Eastern (9:30 Pacific).

Here's the synopsis of Baking for the Big Green from the Food Network website:

Gesine Prado is making a big home-cooked meal for football players from her husband Ray's alma mater, Dartmouth College. While Ray shows the offensive line a few veteran moves in the backyard, Gesine bakes a Hearty Pork Pie with a Big Green Salad. She makes The Big Winooski Fudge Cookies and a decadent Surprise-Interior Cake with Dartmouth "D" and tops it all off with a rich, chocolatey Hot Cocoa.

Ray Prado '89, a former Big Green player under Teevens, is a storyboard artist who was featured in an Alumni Magazine story.

Photo courtesy Gesine Prado Twitter

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Thanks to points earned by men's soccer and women's cross country Dartmouth finished fall ranked 51st in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings, which purports to show the best athletic program in the nation. Princeton leads the Ivy League contingent in ninth place followed by Columbia (36), Dartmouth (51), Yale (117) and Harvard (122).

The nation's top five should be no surprise:
1. Stanford
2. Penn State
3. UCLA
4. MIchgan
5. Wisconsin

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And finally, if you are desperate for a white Christmas, come home to the Upper Valley. There's plenty of the white stuff to go around ;-)

Big Green Reaching New Heights

Dartmouth placekicker David Smith brought a little Big Green to the Everest Base Camp (altitude 17,600 feet) during his winter break.

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Dartmouth-bound Joe Kramer, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound tight end from Westwood High School in Washington, N.J., caught 47 passses for 821 yards and eight touchdowns last fall. He spoke to North Jersey.com's Varsity Aces. If the video doesn't work, try this LINK.

Joe is ready to go... Kramer chats about his next stop: Hanover, N.H. @dartmouthsports @DartFootball pic.twitter.com/fldzkHH3Ac

— Varsity Aces (@VarsityAces) December 20, 2017

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MWC Scouting has a Tweet about the "signing" of incoming Dartmouth freshman linebacker Joe Heffernan from Marquette University High School. The 6-1½, 207-pound Heffernan had 83 tackles including 10 for a loss last fall and 230 stops in his career.

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The American Football Coaches Association didn't show much love for the Ivy League in its two All-America teams with Yale linebacker Matthew Oplinger, a second-team selection at linebacker, the only Ivy representative on the team.

Legacy

The "Dartmouth" helmet introduced during "Buddy Teevens I", and the "D" letter sweater are dead giveaways that incoming freshman offensive lineman Griff Lehman has "Green" roots. That's dad Zach '95, a former Dartmouth nose guard and today headmaster at The Hill School, on the left.

Early Signing Day

Like Ivy League coaches, I wasn't sure quite how the Early Signing Day would play out for Ivy commits.

BGA has followed the regular Signing Day closely each year, chasing down and posting photos throughout what is annually a very, very, very long day. (Check out THIS LINK and click "newer" and "older" at the bottom to go back and forth and see out the old Signing Days went.)

I'm not sure how many Early Signing Day celebrations there are going to be today among the Ivy-bound football players, so apart from this one of incoming quarterback Doc Bonner that I just stumbled across on Twitter I'm not going to go crazy trying to dig them up and will simply post what shows up in my in box later today or tomorrow morning.

(For what it's worth, a visit to a couple of Patriot League football Twitter pages showed the one-time sister conference of the Ivies is promoting Early Signing Day action.)

You Make The Call

I don't know how they feel down at Brown, but it's a safe bet that a lot of Dartmouth folks had a pretty hard time swallowing what the Ivy League was selling in yesterday's press release that begins this way:

The Ivy League football schedule has been modified to enhance the excitement of the final weekend of the season, with historic regional rivalries closing the seasons for all eight schools.

Beginning with the Fall 2018 season, the schedule will feature exciting regional matchups – Brown-Dartmouth, Columbia-Cornell, Penn-Princeton – on the final weekend of play along with Harvard-Yale. 

“The storied-tradition of Ivy League regional rivalries has always been of great importance to our alumni, fans and teams,” said Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris. “We look forward to a fantastic final weekend of the Ivy football season, with these rivalry games adding to the excitement of the Ivy League title race.”

Green Alert Take: I don't want to get too political on you but, holy moly, that there is some serious, D.C.-level spin.

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Along with the release the Ivy League offered up its composite schedule for 2018. Here's the schedule for all eight teams:

BROWN
Sept. 15 at Cal Poly
Sept. 22 Harvard
Sept. 29 Georgetown
Oct. 6 at Rhode Island
Oct. 13 at Princeton
Oct. 20 Cornell
Oct. 27 Penn
Nov. 3 at Yale
Nov. 10 Columbia
Nov. 17 at Dartmouth

COLUMBIA
Sept. 15 at Central Connecticut
Sept. 22 at Georgetown
Sept. 29 Princeton
Oct. 6 Marist
Oct. 13 at Penn
Oct. 20 Dartmouth
Oct. 27 Yale
Nov. 3 at Harvard
Nov. 10 at Brown
Nov. 17 Cornell

CORNELL
Sept. 15 at Delaware
Sept. 22 Yale
Sept. 29 Sacred Heart
Oct. 6 Harvard
Oct. 13 at Colgate
Oct. 20 at Brown
Oct. 27 at Princeton
Nov. 3 Penn
Nov. 10 Dartmouth
Nov. 17 at Columbia

DARTMOUTH
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

HARVARD
Sept. 15 San Diego
Sept. 22 at Brown
Sept. 29 Rhode Island
Oct. 6 at Cornell
Oct. 13 Holy Cross
Oct. 20 Princeton
Oct. 27 at Dartmouth
Nov. 3 Columbia
Nov. 10 at Penn
Nov. 17 Yale (Fenway Park)

PENN
Sept. 15 Bucknell
Sept. 22 Lehigh
Sept. 29 at Dartmouth
Oct. 6 at Sacred Heart
Oct. 13 Columbia
Oct. 20 Yale
Oct. 27 at Brown
Nov. 3 at Cornell
Nov. 10 Harvard
Nov. 17 at Princeton

PRINCETON
Sept. 15 at Butler
Sept. 22 Monmouth
Sept. 29 at Columbia
Oct. 6 Lehigh
Oct. 13 Brown
Oct. 20 at Harvard
Oct. 27 Cornell
Nov. 3 Dartmouth
Nov. 10 at Yale
Nov. 17 Penn

YALE
Sept. 15 at Holy Cross
Sept. 22 at Cornell
Sept. 29 Maine
Oct. 6 Dartmouth
Oct. 13 Mercer
Oct. 20 at Penn
Oct. 27 at Columbia
Nov. 3 Brown
Nov. 10 Princeton
Nov. 17 Harvard (Fenway Park)

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Senior quarterback Jack Heneghan and junior linebacker Jack Traynor are among the 10 athletes Dartmouth is recognizing as Academic All-Ivy for the fall.

According to the Dartmouth release, Heneghan is an economics major with a 3.79 GPA while Traynor is an engineering major with a 3.73 GPA. (LINK)

Green Alert Take: Gotta think Dartmouth is going to take all the Jacks it can get given what Heneghan and Traynor have meant on the field and in the classroom.

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The STATS FCS All-America Team:

FIRST TEAM
*-To be determined by the winner of the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award on Jan. 5.
Offense
*QB - Jeremiah Briscoe, senior, 6-3, 225, Sam Houston State OR
* QB -Chris Streveler, senior, 6-3, 220, South Dakota
RB - Dom Bragalone, junior, 5-11, 230, Lehigh
RB - Josh Mack, sophomore, 6-1, 198, Maine
FB - Cal Daniels, junior, 6-2, 255, Stony Brook
WR - Keelan Doss, junior, 6-3, 206, UC Davis
WR - Nathan Stewart, sophomore, 5-11, 175, Sam Houston State
WR - Justin Watson, senior, 6-3, 225, Penn
TE - Dallas Goedert, senior, 6-5, 260, South Dakota State
OL - Austin Kuhnert, senior, 6-4, 304, North Dakota State
OL - Justin Lea, senior, 6-4, 290, Jacksonville State
OL - Brandon Parker, senior, 6-7, 309, North Carolina A&T
OL - Skyler Phillips, senior, 6-2, 315, Idaho State
OL - Aaron Stinnie, senior, 6-5, 309, James Madison
Defense
DL - Andrew Ankrah, senior, 6-4, 248, James Madison
DL - P.J. Hall, senior, 6-1, 305, Sam Houston State
DL - Darius Jackson, senior, 6-3, 242, Jacksonville State
DL - Jonathan Petersen, senior, 6-1, 240, San Diego
LB - Nick DeLuca, senior, 6-3, 245, North Dakota State
LB - Darius Leonard, senior, 6-3, 235, South Carolina State
LB - Brett Taylor, senior, 6-2, 230, Western Illinois
LB - Sione Teuhema, senior, 6-4, 260, Southeastern Louisiana
DB - Mike Basile, senior, 6-1, 200, Monmouth
DB - Davontae Harris, senior, 6-0, 205, Illinois State
DB - Taron Johnson, senior, 6-0, 185, Weber State
DB - Tremon Smith, senior, 6-0, 190, Central Arkansas
Special Teams
PK - Lorran Fonseca, junior, 5-11, 185, Nicholls
P - Joe Zema, grad, 6-2, 210, Incarnate Word
LS - James Fisher, senior, 6-2, 225, North Dakota State
KR - Juwan Petit-Frere, sophomore, 5-7, 170, Southeastern Louisiana
PR - Justice Shelton-Mosley, junior, 5-10, 195, Harvard
AP - Detrez Newsome, senior, 5-10, 210, Western Carolina
---
SECOND TEAM
Offense
*QB - Jeremiah Briscoe, senior, 6-3, 225, Sam Houston State OR
* QB - Chris Streveler, senior, 6-3, 220, South Dakota
RB - Roc Thomas, senior, 5-11, 193, Jacksonville State
RB - De'Lance Turner, senior, 6-1, 214, Alcorn State
FB - Andre Stoddard, junior, 5-10, 230, Wofford
WR - Jaelon Acklin, senior, 6-2, 190, Western Illinois
WR - Neil O'Connor, junior, 5-11, 190, New Hampshire
WR - Troy Pelletier, senior, 6-3, 210, Lehigh
TE - Andrew Vollert, senior, 6-5, 245, Weber State
OL - John Cook, junior, 6-4, 325, Central Arkansas
OL - Jamil Demby, senior, 6-5, 335, Maine
OL - Jacob Ohnesorge, senior, 6-3, 295, South Dakota State
OL - Timon Parris, senior, 6-5, 320, Stony Brook
OL - Matthew Schmidt, senior, 6-3, 290, Furman
Defense
DL - Anthony Ellis, senior, 6-1, 245, Charleston Southern
DL - Ahmad Gooden, junior, 6-1, 240, Samford
DL - Dalton Keene, senior, 6-4, 275, Illinois State
DL - Chris Terrell, sophomore, 6-3, 266, Central Arkansas
LB - Garrett Dolan, senior, 6-2, 240, Houston Baptist
LB - Jared Farley, senior, 5-11, 224, Northern Iowa
LB - Warren Messer, junior, 5-11, 229, Elon
LB - Christian Rozeboom, sophomore, 6-2, 225, South Dakota State
DB - Elijah Campbell, senior, 5-11, 193, Northern Iowa
DB - Raven Greene, senior, 6-0, 190, James Madison
DB - Robbie Grimsley, junior, 6-0, 191, North Dakota State
DB - George Odum, senior, 6-2, 187, Central Arkansas
DB - D'Montre Wade, senior, 6-0, 200, Murray State
Special Teams
PK - Trey Tuttle, freshman, 5-9, 190, Weber State
P - Keith Wrzuszczak, senior, 5-11, 212, Eastern Kentucky
LS - Hunter Winstead, senior, 6-0, 240, Liberty
KR - Desmond Hite, sophomore, 5-9, 178, Incarnate Word
PR - Xequille Harry, senior, 5-11, 160, Weber State
AP - Davion Davis, junior, 5-11, 180, Sam Houston State
---
THIRD TEAM
Offense
QB - Kyle Lauletta, senior, 6-3, 215, Richmond
RB - Corey Avery, senior, 5-10, 195, Sam Houston State
RB - Zane Dudek, freshman, 5-9, 190, Yale
FB - Jared Mohamed, senior, 6-0, 227, Cal Poly
WR - Elijah Marks, senior, 6-1, 175, Northern Arizona
WR - Kelvin McKnight, junior, 5-9, 188, Samford
WR - Jesper Horsted, junior, 6-4, 215, Princeton
TE - Ross Dwelley, senior, 6-5, 240, San Diego
OL - Ben Huss, senior, 6-2, 310, Duquesne
OL - Jacob Judd, senior, 6-3, 300, Western Illinois
OL - Brody Kern, senior, 6-2, 285, Delaware
OL - Zach Larsen, sophomore, 6-1, 300, Southern Utah
OL - Mitchell Sweigart, senior, 6-5, 290, Princeton
OL - Alex Thompson, senior, 6-4, 300, Monmouth
Defense
DL - Abdullah Anderson, senior, 6-4, 295, Bucknell
DL - Miles Brown, junior, 6-2, 320, Wofford
DL - Andrew Clyde, junior, 6-3, 275, Richmond
DL - Darin Greenfield, sophomore, 6-3, 235, South Dakota
DL - Jaison Williams, sophomore, 6-1, 225, Austin Peay
LB - Bryson Armstrong, freshman, 5-11, 201, Kennesaw State
LB - Brandon Bryant, senior, 5-11, 225, Lafayette
LB - De'Arius Christmas, senior, 5-10, 220, Grambling State
LB - Mario Jenkins, senior, 6-1, 245, Idaho State
LB - Shaheed Salmon, senior, 6-2, 232, Samford
DB - Marlon Bridges, sophomore, 6-0, 200, Jacksonville State
DB - Malik Duncan, senior, 5-10, 205, Saint Francis
DB - Danny Johnson, senior, 5-10, 194, Southern
DB - Rashad Robinson, junior, 5-11, 182, James Madison
Special Teams
PK - Marc Orozco, junior, 5-9, 170, Grambling State
P - Alex Pechin, junior, 6-0, 185, Bucknell
LS - Brandon Godsey, senior, 6-0, 220, South Dakota
KR - Jean Constant, sophomore, 5-9, 168, Bryant
PR - Khris Gardin, senior, 5-7, 180, North Carolina A&T
AP - John Santiago, junior, 5-9, 180, North Dakota

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The Dartmouth men's basketball team put on a good show last night on ESPNU, pushing Notre Dame before falling, 97-87. (LINK)

The Princeton men also did the Ivies proud, defeating preseason Top-10 USC, 103-93.

Early Signing Period Set To Start

College football's new "early signing period" kicks off tomorrow and runs for three days. It's yet to be seen what that will mean for Ivy League (which doesn't recognize signing day), Patriot and other FCS schools. From a STATS story by FCS guru Craig Haley:

The early signing period is expected to have a bigger impact with FBS programs than on the FCS level, especially because FCS programs often have to wait out players who are pursuing options with other schools. But many FCS programs will begin their Class of 2018 signings this week.

"I do think that you'll see as the years go on," James Madison coach Mike Houston said, "people will become a little more comfortable and kind of figure out a little bit what their strategy needs to be."

Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports has a column headlined, 5 things to know for college football's new early signing period that includes this:

The biggest question coaches still have is what percentage of players will sign this week? No one is sure, but all signs point to a high percentage. Ohio State expects to sign all of its recruits on Wednesday. So does Boston College.

And this:

One veteran coach pointed out there’s really only two types of kids who won’t sign in the early period. It’s either a recruit who’s holding out for a better offer or a five-star who wants more attention.

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While we weren't watching STATS updated its Top 25 at season's end. Yale managed to sneak into the rankings at No. 24. Columbia is among "others" receiving votes and comes in at 32. Dartmouth did not receive any votes.

New Hampshire closed out at No. 21. Central Connecticut was No. 35 and old friend Colgate tied for No. 40.

Rank	School	Votes	Prev
1	James Madison (14-0)	3825 (153)	1
2	Jacksonville State (10-2)	3591	2
3	Central Arkansas (10-2)	3456	3
4	North Dakota State (13-1)	3359	4
5	Sam Houston State (12-2)	3186	5
6	South Dakota State (11-3)	3110	6
7	North Carolina A&T (12-0)	2706	8
8	Wofford (10-3)	2684	7
9	Western Illinois (8-4)	2443	9
10	Stony Brook (10-3)	2287	10
11	Weber State (11-3)	2218	12
12	Southern Utah (9-3)	2046	14
13	Grambling State (11-2)	1843	13
14	Samford (8-4)	1781	17
15	Elon (8-4)	1719	11
16	South Dakota (8-5)	1332	15
17	Eastern Washington (7-4)	1316	18
18	Kennesaw State (12-2)	1223	22
19	McNeese (9-2)	1203	19
20	UNI (8-5)	931	24
21	New Hampshire (9-5)	656	16
22	Furman (8-5)	613	20
23	Illinois State (6-5)	416	21
24	YALE (9-1)	364	NR
25	Northern Arizona (7-5)	354	23

Others: Austin Peay (290),Nicholls (221),Monmouth (157),Delaware (80),Richmond (71),Sacramento State (69),COLUMBIA (48),Montana (32),Western Carolina (26),Central Connecticut State (21),San Diego (18),Youngstown State (13),North Carolina Central (8),Southern University (4),Howard (2),Colgate (2),Bethune-Cookman (1)

Coming And Going

The Dartmouth football office has been an Ivy League leader in producing videos like this and a lot of credit goes to Alex Dodds, the Hanover High School graduate who studied digital media at Endicott College and spent several years as the football program's video coordinator. Given that Alex is moving on, this is as good a time as any to revisit the Q&A he did with Green Alert Premium in 2016. Find that story HERE.

The College's job listing for a replacement is HERE.

Alex's role is mentioned in a fall Alumni Magazine story under the headline, The Digital Recruit; Social media and specialized web services are revolutionizing the way high school athletes find their way to Dartmouth. (LINK)

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Princeton coach Bob Surace wrote up a very nice tribute to each of his departing seniors HERE.

It doesn't take very good detective work to connect the dots and figure out what it means that senior quarterback John Lovett, senior defensive lineman Kurt Holuba and senior linebacker Mark Fossati were not among the players Surace wrote about. It means that Lovett (the 2016 Bushnell winner as Ivy League offensive player of the year), Holuba (the 2016 Bushnell finalist for defensive player of the year) and Fossati, one of the Ivy League's leading tacklers before being lost for the season early this year, hope to be back in uniform next fall.

Another All-America Team

The estimable Phil Steele has released his FCS All-America team and Ivy Leaguers dot the four (four!) teams:

Offensive Player of the Year: QB Chris Streveler, South Dakota, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year:: LB Brett Taylor, Western Illinois, Sr.
Offensive Lineman of the Year: OT Brandon Parker, North Carolina A&T, Sr.
Freshman of the Year: LB Bryson Armstrong, Kennesaw State

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
WR Keelan Doss, UC Davis, Jr.
WR Justin Watson, Penn, Sr.
WR Neil O'Connor, New Hampshire, Jr.
TE Dallas Goedert, South Dakota State, Sr.
OL Brandon Parker, North Carolina A&T, Sr.
OL Timon Parris, Stony Brook, Sr.
OL Jamil Demby, Maine, Sr.
OL Austin Kuhnert, North Dakota State, Sr.
OL Skyler Phillips, Idaho State, Sr.
QB Chris Streveler, South Dakota, Sr.
RB Josh Mack, Maine, Soph.
RB Roc Thomas, Jacksonville State, Sr.
FB Cal Daniels, Stony Brook, Jr.

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL Darius Jackson, Jacksonville State, Sr.
DL Jonathan Petersen, San Diego, Sr.
DL Ahmad Gooden, Samford, Jr.
DL Dalton Keene, Illinois State, Sr.
LB Darius Leonard, South Carolina State, Sr.
LB Brett Taylor, Western Illinois, Sr.
LB Nick DeLuca, North Dakota State, Sr.
LB Sione Teuhema, Southeastern Louisiana, Sr.
DB Davontae Harris, Illinois State, Sr.
DB D'Montre Wade, Murray State, Sr.
DB Taron Johnson, Weber State, Sr.
DB Mike Basile, Monmouth, Sr.

FIRST TEAM SPECIALISTS
K Lorran Fonseca, Nicholls, Jr.
P Joe Zema, Incarnate Word, Sr.
KR Juwan Petit-Frere, Southeastern Louisiana, Soph.
PR Justice Shelton-Mosley, Harvard, Jr.
AP John Santiago, North Dakota, Jr.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
WR Elijah Marks, Northern Arizona, Sr.
WR Nathan Stewart, Sam Houston State, Soph.
WR Davion Davis, Sam Houston State, Jr.
TE Andrew Vollert, Weber State, Sr.
OL Justin Lea, Jacksonville State, Sr.
OL Jacob Ohnesorge, South Dakota State, Sr.
OL Aaron Stinnie, James Madison, Sr.
OL Alex Thompson, Monmouth, Sr.
OL Zach Larsen, Southern Utah, Soph.
QB Kyle Lauletta, Richmond, Sr.
RB Detrez Newsome, Western Carolina, Sr.
RB Dominick Bragalone, Lehigh, Jr.
FB Connor Wentz, North Dakota State, Sr.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
DL P.J. Hall, Sam Houston State, Sr.
DL Andrew Ankrah, James Madison, Sr.
DL Anthony Ellis, Charleston Southern, Sr.
DL Richard Jarvis, Brown, Sr.
LB Jared Farley, Northern Iowa, Sr.
LB Warren Messer, Elon, Jr.
LB Garrett Dolan, Houston Baptist, Sr.
LB Christian Rozeboom, South Dakota State, Soph.
DB Tremon Smith, Central Arkansas, Sr.
DB Elijah Campbell, Northern Iowa, Sr.
DB Danny Johnson, Southern, Sr.
DB Marlon Bridges, Jacksonville State, Soph.

SECOND TEAM SPECIALISTS
K Lane Clark, Tennessee State, Sr.
P Ian Berryman, Western Carolina, Jr.
KR Darius Floyd, Prairie View A&M, Jr.
PR Davion Davis, Sam Houston State, Jr.
AP Detrez Newsome, Western Carolina, Sr.

THIRD TEAM OFFENSE
WR Jaelon Acklin, Western Illinois, Sr.
WR Troy Pelletier, Lehigh, Sr.
WR Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State, Sr.
TE Andy Schumpert, Furman, Sr.
OL Alex Light, Richmond, Sr.
OL Jacob Judd, Western Illinois, Sr.
OL Mitchell Sweigart, Princeton, Sr.
OL John Cook, Central Arkansas, Jr.
OL Matthew Schmidt, Furman, Sr.
QB Hayden Hildebrand, Central Arkansas, Sr.
RB De'Lance Turner, Alcorn State, Sr.
RB Zane Dudek, Yale, Fr.
FB Andre Stoddard, Wofford, Jr.

THIRD TEAM DEFENSE
DL Abdullah Anderson, Bucknell, Sr.
DL Khalen Saunders, Western Illinois, Jr.
DL Bilal Nichols, Delaware, Sr.
DL Eric Jackson, Central Arkansas, Sr.
LB Nick McBeath, Holy Cross, Sr.
LB Brandon Bryant, Lafayette, Sr.
LB Josh Buss, Montana, Jr.
LB Matthew Oplinger, Yale, Sr.
DB Tre Dempsey, North Dakota State, Sr.
DB Rashad Robinson, James Madison, Jr.
DB George Odum, Central Arkansas, Sr.
DB Jordan Brown, James Madison, Sr.

THIRD TEAM SPECIALISTS
K Trey Tuttle, Weber State, Fr.
P Austin Bernard, Samford, Sr.
KR Desmond Hite, Incarnate Word, Soph.
PR Xequille Harry, Weber State, Sr.
AP Davion Davis, Sam Houston State, Jr.

FOURTH TEAM OFFENSE
WR Kelvin McKnight, Samford, Jr.
WR Jesper Horsted, Princeton, Jr.
WR Daurice Fountain, Northern Iowa, Sr.
TE Ross Dwelley, San Diego, Sr.
OL Ben Huss, Duquesne, Sr.
OL Iosua Opeta, Weber State, Jr.
OL Daniel Cooney, San Diego, Jr.
OL Stetson Dagel, South Dakota, Sr.
OL Ross Demmel, Wofford, Sr.
QB Jeremiah Briscoe, Sam Houston State, Sr.
RB Corey Avery, Sam Houston State, Sr.
RB A.J. Hines, Duquesne, Soph.
FB Anthony Manzo-Lewis, Albany, Sr.

FOURTH TEAM DEFENSE
DL Chris Stewart, Sam Houston State, Jr.
DL Chris Terrell, Central Arkansas, Soph.
DL Darin Greenfield, South Dakota, Soph.
DL Jaison Williams, Austin Peay, Soph.
LB Thomas Costigan, Bryant, Jr.
LB Mario Jenkins, Idaho State, Sr.
LB Shaheed Salmon, Samford, Sr.
LB De'Arius Christmas, Grambling State, Jr.
DB Rock Ya-Sin, Presbyterian, Jr.
DB Jimmy Moreland, James Madison, Jr.
DB Malik Duncan, Saint Francis (PA), Sr.
DB Raven Greene, James Madison, Sr.

FOURTH TEAM SPECIALISTS
K Gunnar Raborn, McNeese, Jr.
P Keith Wrzuszczak, Eastern Kentucky, Sr.
KR Jean Constant, Bryant, Soph.
PR Khris Gardin, North Carolina A&T, Sr.
AP Elijah Marks, Northern Arizona, Sr.

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A name that might have been on the list if Dartmouth could have convinced him to come to Hanover? Brian O'Neill, son of former Big Green halfback Brendan O'Neill '72. The younger O'Neill, an All-ACC offensive tackle for Pitt, has declared for the NFL draft after earning his degree in finance. (LINK)

O'Neill is a former winner of the "Piesman Trophy." (LINK)

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Hanover High School, directly behind the south goal post at Memorial Field, offers the closest parking for Dartmouth football games. Not sure how much the school brings in, but the guess here is it's probably not quite what a high school near a Big Ten school rakes in each year ;-)

Pioneer High School's take for allowing cars to park on its property before the six Michigan Wolverine football games last fall? A cool $1.014 million dollars!

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Kudos to the Dartmouth men's ice hockey team for a headline-grabbing win. From the Dartmouth release (LINK):

Down three goals after the first period to the defending champion and second-ranked team in the nation? No problem.

That’s what the Dartmouth men’s hockey team managed to do on Saturday night at Magness Arena against No. 2 Denver, erasing a 3-0 first-period deficit to win, 5-4.

Dartmouth improved to 3-8-1 while Denver dropped to 10-4-4, which did not go over well with the Pioneer coach. (LINK)