The Fearful Forecast will go up on BGA Overtime later today, and the Dartmouth-Yale preview will be posted on the site tomorrow. Visit the OT HERE.
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From a Yale athletic communications advance of Saturday's game at Dartmouth (LINK):
"You have got to defend the entire field with these guys," said Sean McGowan, Head Coach of Defense. "They have an experienced quarterback. Their left tackle will probably have the opportunity to play in the NFL. They have a really big, strong, physical tight end that's a really good pass catcher. Their running back is a physical runner. And then they have three receivers on the outside that really test you with great speed. So it's gonna be a great challenge."
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The Dartmouth has a story under the headline, Homecoming bonfire replaced with light show due to statewide burn ban. (LINK)
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Dartmouth has a Homecoming video that does not include any bonfire clips, although the orangish glow on the faces of some of the celebrants from years past is a pretty good clue as to what they were watching. ;-)
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Columbia Roar Lions blogger/podcaster Jake Novak's latest power poll looks like this (LINK):
1 Harvard
2 Dartmouth
3 Yale
4 Penn
5 Brown
6 Princeton
7 Columbia
8 Cornell
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Dartmouth Athletic Director Mike Harrity will serve on the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Oversight Committee. (LINK)
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EXTRA POINT
The hope was that the northern New England foliage would put on a show for out-of-towners coming to Hanover for Dartmouth Homecoming this weekend. That may be the case for folks flying into Boston or Manchester as they drive up I-89, but at least here at our Vermont hillside home the foliage this fall has been a dud. As I sit here at the BGA World Headquarters and look out at Mount Moosilauke, a lot of leaves have blown down and the dominant color among those that remain is dull brown. On the bright side, when the leaves are gone our mountain views are even better.
Dartmouth's highlight package from Saturday's game at Penn:
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It's little consolation for the Dartmouth side, but here's how Saturday's game was viewed from the Penn side. This is from a story in The Daily Pennsylvanian (LINK):
As the final whistle blew at Franklin Field last Saturday, the scoreboard reflected a result not seen since 2013: a Penn football home victory over Dartmouth. It was a watershed win for the Quakers, one that gave them a 1-0 start to Ivy League play, and one which Penn senior linebacker John Lista called “season-defining.”
“Not just for us, but for the whole program’s history,” Lista added.
Green Alert: It's a measure of how much respect Dartmouth football has earned that a victory over the Big Green is now a "watershed win," and "season-defining."
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Here are this week's Sagarin Ratings with last week's rating in parentheses.
97 Harvard (110)
159 Yale (136)
166 Dartmouth (147)
170 Penn (188)
180 Princeton (180)
189 Brown (203)
213 Columbia (206)
240 Cornell (222)
175 New Hampshire
219 Central Connecticut
246 Fordham
Dartmouth is favored by 1½ points per Sagarin.
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The Massey Ratings have Yale defeating Dartmouth, 31-28, with 55 percent confidence.
Green Alert Take: For perspective, Massey saw Dartmouth winning at Penn last week, 27-24, with 58 percent confidence. Sagarin also had Dartmouth as a three-point favorite.
Missed this disappointing news almost a month ago about former Ivy League defensive player of the year Flo Oriomlade '17, so I'll share it here in case you did as well. This is from a Calgary Herald story (LINK):
He may not be leading the team in sacks or tackles, but defensive tackle Folarin ‘Flo’ Orimolade is a mega beast for the Stampeders.
Or was until his season ended with an Achilles injury in the Labour Day Rematch.
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EXTRA POINT
I left my car outside last night because the forecast called for a drenching rain. Unless you live on a dirt road, you simply have no idea how dirty your car can get driving through thick clouds of dust during this drought. It seems no matter how often I clear it, my rear windshield is just about always caked with dust, the only visibility being through the protractor-shaped area cleared by the wiper.
How bad is the drought in here in Orange Country and around the state? From a Vermont Public story today headlined Hauling water and hoping for rain: Upper Valley farmers cope with extreme drought (LINK):
The federal government has already granted a disaster declaration for Orange and Windsor counties, and the state of Vermont recently requested a declaration for the entire state, which could bring some financial relief for farmers.
• The quarterback from the team you just faced being named the conference player of the week
• The return specialist from the team you just faced being named the conference special teams player of the week
Dartmouth suffered both fates as Penn quarterback Liam O'Brien was named the Ivy League offensive player of the week and Julien Stokes was named the special teamer of the week.
Because the Ivy League has unaccountably decided to simply list the award winners rather than share why they are being honored as it has in years past, we have to turn to the Penn website for these details (LINK):
O'Brien was excellent under center as Penn took down two-time defending champion Dartmouth Saturday at Franklin Field, accounting for all four of the Quakers' touchdowns with two through the air and two on the ground. He completed 76 percent (16-for-21) of his pass attempts for 147 yards and two TDs, while adding 99 rushing yards—falling one yard short of becoming Penn's first 100-yard rushing game by a QB since 2010—and another two scores. This is O'Brien's second career Ivy Offensive Player of the Week award.
And . . .
Stokes continues to dominant and showcase why he's in the conversation as the best return specialist in the nation, FCS or FBS. He ran back a 65-yard punt return midway through the fourth quarter that gave Penn a short field, allowing it to put the game out of reach. Stokes also had three kick returns for 76 yards, which included a 34-yarder that also led to points. He finished with 141 total return yards and has 100+ total return yards in three consecutive games.
Dartmouth linebacker Zyion Freer-Brown was named to the Ivy League honor roll.
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No video highlights from the Ivy League or Dartmouth to this point, so the best we can do is offer highlights out of Penn. (Warning to Dartmouth fans: You may want to skip these):
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This week's polls:
Stats Perform
W-L
Pts
Prev
1
North Dakota State
5-0
1,398
1
2
South Dakota State
5-0
1,340
2
3
Tarleton State
6-0
1,268
3
4
Montana
5-0
1,221
4
5
Montana State
4-2
1,207
5
6
UC Davis
4-1
1,036
7
7
Lehigh
6-0
1,000
9
8
Southern Illinois
4-1
968
10
9
Illinois State
3-2
899
6
10
Tennesee Tech
5-0
897
11
11
Idaho
2-3
779
12
12
Monmouth
4-1
768
14
13
North Dakota
3-2
764
15
14
Northern Arizona
4-2
529
13
15
Jackson State
4-1
491
17
16
Austin Peay
4-2
473
22
17
Rhode Island
4-2
465
8
18
Villanova
3-2
389
18
19
Abilene Christian
3-3
385
19
20
Lamar
4-1
333
20
21
West Georgia
5-1
299
16
22
HARVARD
3-0
280
25
23
South Dakota
3-3
233
21
24
Presbyterian
5-0
228
23
25
Mercer
4-1
184
NR
Dropped Out of Top 25: Youngstown State (24)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Youngstown State (3-2, 0-1 MVFC), 147; Stephen F. Austin (4-2, 2-0 Southland), 97; Southeastern Louisiana (4-2, 2-0 Southland), 52; Sacramento State (2-3, 0-1 Big Sky), 21; Gardner-Webb (3-2, 1-0 OVC-Big South), 16; Alabama State (4-2, 2-0 SWAC), 11; BROWN (2-1, 1-0 Ivy), 9; Furman (4-1, 2-0 SoCon), 7; North Carolina Central (4-2), 2
FCS Coaches
W-L
Pts
Prev
1
North Dakota State (26)
5-0
650
1
2
South Dakota State
5-0
621
2
3
Tarleton State
6-0
574
3
4
Montana
5-0
567
4
5
Montana State
4-2
530
5
6
UC Davis
4-1
499
7
7
Tennessee Tech
5-0
455
9
8
Lehigh
6-0
452
8
9
Southern Illinois
4-1
406
11
10
Illinois State
3-2
399
6
11
Monmouth
4-1
383
12
12
North Dakota
3-2
359
14
13
Idaho
2-3
306
15
14
Jackson State
4-1
269
17
15
Austin Peay
4-2
224
21
16
Northern Arizona
4-2
221
13
17
Villanova
3-2
211
19
18
Rhode Island
4-2
203
10
19
Mercer
4-1
164
22
20
Youngstown State
3-2
162
18
T21
Abilene Christian
3-3
140
23
T21
West Georgia
5-1
140
16
23
Presbyterian
5-0
130
24
24
Lamar
4-1
111
25
25
HARVARD
3-0
64
NR
Dropped Out: UIW (20)
Others Receiving Votes: Southeastern Louisiana, 52; Furman, 38; Stephen F. Austin, 33; South Dakota, 21; UIW, 19; Gardner-Webb, 12; Alabama St., 9; BROWN, 6; Elon, 6; North Carolina Central, 5; UT-Rio Grande Valley, 4; Lafayette, 3; Cal Poly, 2.
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Brown has been named the FCS national team of the week after its win over No. 8 Rhode Island. (LINK)
This is from a HERO Sports piece headlined FCS Week 6 Takeaways that considers the ramifications of Brown beating URI after being demolished by Harvard (LINK):
• Is Harvard that good? Or was Rhody just overrated?
• Harvard is 3-0 with three dominating wins, beating Stetson 59-7, Brown 41-7, and Holy Cross 59-24. Rhody beat Holy Cross 9-7 and lost to Brown.
• Rhody was picked to finish first in the preseason CAA poll. Brown was picked to finish last in the Ivy League preseason poll. This result may loom large for both conferences when it comes to playoff seeds and at-large bids.
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There will be no bonfire on the Dartmouth Green this Friday night but don't worry. It's not a Dartmouth policy change. From a college release under the headline Statewide Burn Ban Means Change of Plans for Homecoming (LINK):
The New Hampshire burn ban has prompted a change this year to Dartmouth Night on Friday, Oct. 10, when, traditionally, the first-year class parades around the Homecoming bonfire on the Green. This year, the celebration continues, but instead of open flames, the festivities will take the form of an interactive light and laser show set to a soundtrack performed by Dartmouth student DJs.
And . . .
Members of the Class of 2029 will receive light-up wristbands synchronized to the soundtrack, making them part of the show.
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EXTRA POINT
With the temperature hovering around an unseasonable 80 degrees yesterday, I popped the top on the '84 VW camper yesterday and wrote the BGA Overtime story at the little lake about five minutes from our home. When I finished I took a quick dip and found a true sign of fall in New England floating in the water.
