If you haven’t checked it out already, take a click over to BGA Overtime for a report on Dartmouth spring football at the halfway point. The post features information on the new wide receivers coach and the new special teams coordinator, comments from Sammy McCorkle about a handful of young players who have caught his attention, and the head coach's thoughts about a handful of older players who might have been a little under the radar before this spring.
Editor’s Note: A special thank you to the Dartmouth football parents for the kind words and encouragement to keep Big Green Alert going in the form of BGA Overtime. It’s much appreciated.
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Standout defensive lineman Josiah Green, who finished his academic work at Dartmouth early enough to enroll and go through spring practice at Duke as a grad transfer, gets a mention for a tipped pass in a story headlined, Duke football spring finale features new QB1, stingy defense, young playmakers. (LINK)
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Nebraska's Matt Rhule was one of the first coaches opting not to hold a spring game rather than have other schools poach players who might open a few eyes during scrimmaging. Now Rhule has made something of an about-face and will hold a limited scrimmage featuring a select group of players – for exactly the right reason. Here’s part of what Rhule had to say in a FootballScoop story headlined, Matt Rhule and Nebraska will hold a special scrimmage for Huskers players projected to miss the 105 (LINK):
"We have some guys that will be playing their last time in that stadium. We have some guys that are battling to make that 105. I have a bunch of guys that, if they can't play here, they need some tape to go somewhere else."
And about his change of heart . . .
"I just decided, when (the NCAA) decided it was going to be 105. I owe it to those kids to give them one last chance to go out there and put some stuff on tape. Then, if they're not going to make it, we'll send that tape to all the schools they want, and they'll have more tape to send out."
Editor’s note: The proposed "House Settlement" is expected to limit rosters to 105 scholarship players and no longer allow walk-ons. At some schools that can mean upwards of 25 or 30 players will have to be cut ,and hope to find new homes if they want to continue their football careers.
Green Alert Take: Rhule deserves a lot of credit for giving players on the margins an opportunity.
Green Alert Take II: The fairest way for the Settlement to implement the roster cuts would be to grandfather in current players so that those on the roster this year are allowed to complete their careers, but no new walk-ons can be added in succeeding years.
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Congratulations to the Dartmouth equestrian team, which traveled to Ocala, Fla., and outlasted a “final four” that included Sweet Briar, Lynchburg and College of Charleston to win the National Collegiate Equestrian Association Single Discipline Championship. Find a Dartmouth release on the national championship HERE.
This excerpt from the NCEA website explained the competition format:
The top four-ranked Single Discipline teams will compete for the NCEA National Championship Single Discipline Team title. Each single discipline team will compete head-to-head in a bracketed format with four riders in each of the Events: Fences and Flat. The team that receives the most points (8 possible points available for each matchup) will advance to the next day.
For the curious: The NCEA features 28 schools. Dartmouth was the fourth seed.
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EXTRA POINT
I spent 10-15 minutes on the summit of my daily hike late yesterday afternoon watching three turkey vultures floating on the wind directly in front of me. It was absolutely mesmerizing the grace they showed as they danced back and forth in the wind. This is a still of one of the birds from video I shot.
