A 'Mouth'ful of Dartmouth-Monmouth

Dartmouth and Monmouth kick off today at 1 p.m. in Hanover. It looks like it should be in the mid-60s during the game with light rain possible starting around 3 p.m. (or earlier, depending on which site you believe ;-).

A streaming broadcast of the game is available on ESPN+ (or whatever they call it these days). Or you can listen to it HERE.

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Stop by BGA Overtime tonight for a game story, and tomorrow and Monday for follow stories. A Dartmouth-Monmouth preview went up on the site last night.

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Because a lot of you began stopping by BGA Overtime only with the start of the season, perhaps you missed a few stories you might find interesting. In addition to comprehensive coverage of spring football and the preseason, BGA Overtime posted these stories you can check out on a Saturday morning. With the BGA paywall replaced a couple of years ago by a donation button, these stories and all the others on the site are available to everyone:

• Profile of first-year defensive coordinator Jordan Belfiori (LINK)

• Profile of second-year offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery (LINK)

• Retired defensive coordinator Don Dobes knew the time was right (LINK)

• Kicker Owen Zalc back in good form (LINK)

• Safety Harrison Keith concentrating on football (LINK)

• QB Grayson Saunier put spring issues behind him (LINK)

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FCS Football Central on SI takes a look at key FCS games today and Dartmouth-Monmouth is one. Under the subhed Can Dartmouth contain Tra Neal and Gavin Nelson? the site has this (LINK):

Tra Neal and Gavin Nelson have turned into one of the most formidable offensive duos in the FCS over the past three games. They have combined for 500 receiving yards, which includes multiple explosive plays in a win over UAlbany last week. Dartmouth's defense frustrated a dominant Lehigh offense last Saturday, but faced backup quarterback Derek Morgan, who only attempted 13 passes. The battle between Monmouth's explosive wide receiver duo and Dartmouth's secondary will likely decide this game.

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Last night . . .

Harvard 14, Brown 10
The Crimson (2-0, 1-0 Ivy League) got three interceptions from Xaden Benson and a sharp performance from quarterback Charlie Smith to open the Ivy League season with a win over the Bears (1-1, 0-1 Ivy) before an announced crowd of 8,065 on a rainy and windy night at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket last night.

Smith completed 30-of-37 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in just his second collegiate start. His hot hand helped Harvard build a 14-0 halftime lead before Brown fought back in the second half.

The Bears made it a one-possession game on a touchdown with 8:16 remaining but saw their chances to complete the comeback end with Benson's final interception at the Brown 39 with 1:32 remaining. Bears QB James Murphy finished 18-of-24 for 121 yards with the three interceptions and no touchdowns.

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EXTRA POINT
As many of you know, for years I covered the Tommy Keane Invitational golf tournament as one of my regular freelance writing opportunities. With the unfortunate closing of Hanover Country Club, the TKI had to find a new home, and that required a change from its usual July dates.

The new dates conflict with Dartmouth football and while I originally tried to cover both football and golf, I think both assignments suffered so I've reluctantly given up covering the Keane. But this being the 50th renewal of the tournament honoring the Dartmouth golf coach and HCC pro from 1922-66, the tournament organizers asked me to write a piece about the first year of the event.

If you are interested, you can find my story on the TKI site where I chronicled the tournament for many years. Find the story HERE. Enjoy!

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And you get a two-fer today. Here's a pic Mrs. BGA took last night here at our Vermont hillside home looking south over New Hampshire mountains:

Ready Or Not

BGA Overtime had its Fearful Forecast picks for this weekend's games last night. Come back tonight for the Dartmouth-Monmouth preview. (LINK)

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For those thinking about coming to tomorrow game, you are in luck. Although the weather is not going to be what it was last week at Lehigh, neither is it going to be what it will be on the northeast coast. Three different services predict gametime temperature in the mid-60's with the chance of rain at 50 percent or less. The wind should be a gentle 5 mph or so.

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A reminder that the Harvard-Brown Ivy League season opener will be televised on ESPN2 tonight at 7. The game is being played at Centreville Bank Stadium, a soccer facility in Pawtucket, R.I., and is already sold out although it will be interesting to see the turnout if the predicted weather arrives.

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Monmouth's game notes have been posted HERE.

Dartmouth's game notes can be found HERE.

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An outlet that goes by ONNJ has a pretty thorough look at the Monmouth team and this week's game HERE. The piece concludes with this prediction: Monmouth 35, Dartmouth 24.

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Dartmouth sports information has a brief story on Owen Zalc being named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, aka the Academic Heisman. Find the story HERE.

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Here's what the Big Green will be wearing Saturday. Click HERE for a quick fashion show from Dartmouth.

Green Alert Take: I'm a traditionalist, but I don't get a vote ;-)

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EXTRA POINT
We have fluorescent lights in our basement that occasionally decide to come on only dimly. Give them an hour or two, or maybe a day, flip 'em on and they will work like a charm for months. Then rinse and repeat.

We also have fluorescents in our kitchen pantry and the other day it was their turn to go on walkabout. I dutifully went down to the basement and brought up a couple of spare bulbs we bought several years ago. Then I went out and fetched the stepladder from our garage, because our ceilings are very high.

When I started to pry the last cover off the lights they suddenly kicked on, bright as ever. Oops. Because they had been dark I'd forgotten to turn them off.

I  proceeded to turn the lights on and off several times and they worked just like they are supposed to work. They've performed perfectly ever since. Go figure.

This And That

Earlier in the week Dartmouth kicker Owen Zalc was recognized as the Ivy League special teams player of the week. Now he's one of 49 FCS players and a record 206 players from all levels named as semifinalists for the National Football Foundation's Campbell Trophy, often referred to as the "Academic Heisman."

Find the NFF press release listing all of the semifinalists HERE.

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The games have started but recruiting never stops.

Noah Dearman is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound wide receiver from Brownsburg High School in Brownsburg, Ind. He reports Dartmouth was his first DI offer.

Here's the Dartmouth recruiting class as reported by the players themselves:

DL Foster Calloway, 6-2½, 265, Mountain Heritage HS/Burnsville, N.C.

OL Oliver Costello, 6-5, 285, St. Paul's School/Plymouth, Mass.

RB Hezekiah Davis, 5-10, 185, Tampa Jesuit HS/Tampa, Fla.

WR Noah Dearman, 6-3, 185, Brownsburg HS/Brownsburg, Ind.

LB Odin Erickson, 6-2, 222, Louis County HS/Mineral, Va.

RB Chance Lassiter, 5-11, 195, Boswell HS/Fort Worth, Texas

DB Nolin Lewis, 6-1, 185, Norre Dame HS/Sherman Oaks, Calif.

DB Rowan Martin, 6-1, 180, Williston-Northampton School/East Longmeadow, Mass.

QB Webber Marx, 6-6, 210, St. Paul's School/Wellesley Mills, Mass

OL Nolan McIntyre, 6-6, 305, St. Annes Belfield/Charlottesville, Va.

OL Henry Reagan, 6-3, 275, New Canaan HS/New Canaan, Conn.

QB Richmond Saunier, 6-2, 195, Lafayette HS/Lafayette, La.

DE  KJ Sims, 6-3, 192, Seckinger HS/Buford, Ga.

LB Ezekiel Su'A, 6-1, 205, Mater Dei HS/Moreno Valley, Calif.

OL Brysen Terry, 6-6, 325, Webster Schroeder HS/Webster, N.Y.

TE Braedon Vetter, 6-4, 225, Williams HS/Burlington, N.C.

DL Tiger Xiong, 6-4, 235, Governor's Academy/Beijing, China

LB Bobby Wakefield, 6-2, 220, Charlotte Country Day/Charlotte, N.C.

DB Nicholas Washington 6-0, 185, River Bluff HS/Lexington, S.C.

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Dartmouth's Flores brothers – Jacob '16, John Paul '22 and Michael '23 – along with brother Charlie, a former Columbia player, run Triad NIL, which helps college players deal with the business of college athletics. In this new video Michael shares some of his story. To watch the quick short, click HERE.

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Dave Shula '81, a record-setting wide receiver at Dartmouth and later the Big Green's wide receivers coach, has returned to his role as president of Shula's Restaurant Group. Find a story HERE.

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You can be sure Dartmouth would like nothing more of Keggy the Keg than for it to go away, and for the most part it has. Sightings have been rare in recent years. Still, when stories come up like one headlined, Five unconventional mascots that capture the spirit of college football Saturdays, you can be pretty sure Keggy will get a mention. (LINK)

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EXTRA POINT
The temperature in our little Vermont town got down to a chilly 36 degrees last night. Usually when I'm sharing the temperature I will report it as 35.8 or 36.2, but I can't do that right now. I had to check online to see the overnight low, and they don't break the temperature down that far.

It seems the construction crew we had here last week moved our thermometer's outdoor sensor and it unfortunately it spent little too much time in a pool of water. Now it's kaput. But don't worry. When it gets down to 22.8 below zero this winter I'll be able to let you know. A replacement unit is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

Turning The Page To Monmouth

The Asbury Park Press has a lengthy look at Monmouth football with some Dartmouth info in advance of Saturday's game under the headline Monmouth football against Ivy power Dartmouth seeks 2nd straight on road HERE. The story begins with the New Jersey school's interesting nod to its opponent:

WEST LONG BRANCH -- In between the rattling high-intensity reps of Monmouth football's 11-on-11 session at practice on Tuesday is an unfamiliar sound. Mozart's Concerto No. 21 in C Major echoes through Kessler Stadium as an appropriate reminder of the Hawks' upcoming visit to the Ivy League. 

For what it's worth the writer predicts a 21-17 Monmouth win. 

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For a quick look at Monmouth, here are highlights from the Hawks' win at Albany last week. Monmouth is the team with the blue pants.

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FloFootball, which broadcasts CAA games, has a piece headlined 1 Month Down, CAA Football is Just Getting Started: Every CAA Game This Week. No breaking news about Monmouth-Dartmouth but if you are curious. find it HERE.

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Chuck Burton of The College Sports Journal takes a look at the Dartmouth-Lehigh game and includes a photo that clearly shows the Mountain Hawks' receiver was inbounds on the touchdown catch on the Lehigh side. What it doesn't show is if he was bobbling the ball as he slid out of bounds. (LINK)

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Jake Novak, who for many years did the Roar Lions Columbia football blog, has transitioned his coverage into a podcast, but he's still doing his weekly power rankings. Here's how he sees the Ivy League after one week (LINK):

IVY POWER RANKINGS
1. Harvard
2. Dartmouth
3. Yale
4. Columbia
5. Penn
6. Brown
7. Cornell
8. Princeton

For those of us who prefer to scan the written word for what interests us instead of listening to a full podcast, Jake has automated transcripts turned on. Here's a gently edited transcript of what he had to say about placing Dartmouth second:

(E)ven though they lost, I'm putting Dartmouth at number two. I would have felt very justified in putting them in at number one even if I were so inclined. I'm going to keep Dartmouth at number two for now because of the way that they played against Lehigh.

And Lehigh isn't just a good first place Patriot League team. They're much more than that. This is a Lehigh team that is in first place and is the best team in an improved Patriot League that now includes Villanova and William & Mary. Lehigh is still better than those guys, and I think significantly better. And for them to pull out a win against Dartmouth at home in a very, very close game, Dartmouth looks better to me than they did even before that loss. That's how strong a performance it was. So I'm putting him there in solidly at number two. 

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EXTRA POINT
It's that time of the year again. Yesterday Mrs. BGA and I got our flu and COVID shots. We actually got three shots but being married to a nurse, I didn't question what the third one was all about and just rolled up my sleeves.

Catching Up On The Weekend

BGA Overtime last night posted six (or seven?) observations coming out of the Lehigh game in a column called Your Mileage May Vary. Tonight the curmudgeons visit the site.

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Dartmouth placekicker Owen Zalc was chosen the Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week yesterday after booting field goals of 49 and 50 yards and hitting both of his extra points in the season-opening loss at Lehigh. It's the seventh such honor for the senior from Cary, N.C.

A post on the Dartmouth sports website notes that, "Zalc is the FCS active career leader in field goals made-per-game (1.32) and ranks second among active players in made field goals (41)." (LINK)

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A post on the unfortunately named website brobible goes into detail about the interception that sealed Lehigh's win Saturday. (LINK)

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The Dartmouth recruiting class has grown again with the addition of Nolin Lewis, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back from Notre Dame High School and Sherman Oaks, Calif. Per his Xwitter account he camped at a bunch of Ivies but Dartmouth was his first Division I offer.

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Here are the Sagarin Ratings for Ivy League teams (and Dartmouth's nonconference opponents) this week followed by their rating prior to the start of the season in parentheses:

120 Harvard (141)
136 Yale (140)
157 Penn (191)
161 Dartmouth (173)
192 Brown (219)
194 Columbia (218)
207 Princeton (197)
225 Cornell (223)

135 Lehigh (132)
161 Monmouth (185)
230 Merrimack (244)

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	FCS Coaches	W-L*	Pts	Prev*
1	Montana State (25)	4-0	649	1
2	South Dakota State	3-1	598	3
3	Tarleton State	4-0	566	5
4	Illinois State (1)	4-0	561	4
4	Montana	3-1	561	2
6	Stephen F. Austin	4-0	480	8
7	LEHIGH	4-0	461	7
8	North Dakota	3-1	459	6
9	UC Davis	3-1	439	11
10	Tennessee Tech	3-0	415	10
11	Austin Peay	3-1	378	14
12	South Dakota	3-1	366	12
13	Youngstown State	2-2	363	9
14	South Carolina State	4-0	303	16
15	Lamar	2-1	296	15
16	Idaho State	3-0	273	18
17	Northern Arizona	3-1	228	19
18	YALE	1-0	188	20
19	Richmond	3-1	104	NR
20	West Florida	2-1	97	17
21	Rhode Island	2-2	93	13
22	Villanova	2-2	85	23
23	Colgate	3-1	71	NR
23	Mercer	2-2	71	22
25	HARVARD	1-0	50	NR
	Dropped Out: William & Mary (21), Furman (24), Southern Illinois (25)
	Others Receiving Votes:  Southern Illinois (45), Campbell (41), Jackson State (39), Elon (38), Furman (37), Alabama State (14), Prairie View A&M (12), Stony Brook (12), Bryant (7), Central Connecticut State (6), DARTMOUTH (6), Incarnate Word (6), William & Mary (6), Abilene Christian (5), MONMOUTH (5), Southeastern Louisiana (4), Southeast Missouri State (3), UT Rio Grande Valley (3), Robert Morris (PA) (2), San Diego (2), Chattanooga (1), St. Thomas (Minn.) (1)

	STATS	W-L*	Pts	Prev*
1	Montana State (46)	4-0	1414	1
2	South Dakota State (10)	3-1	1363	2
3	Illinois State (1)	4-0	1261	5
4	Tarleton State	4-0	1254	4
5	Montana	3-1	1204	3
6	LEHIGH	4-0	1042	7
7	North Dakota	3-1	1041	6
8	South Dakota	3-1	987	10
9	Stephen F. Austin	4-0	965	12
10	UC Davis	3-1	919	11
11	Youngstown State	2-2	853	9
12	Tennessee Tech	3-0	842	13
13	Austin Peay	3-1	769	T14
14	Idaho State	3-0	671	15
15	Lamar	2-1	627	T14
16	South Carolina State	4-0	550	18
17	YALE	1-0	448	19
18	Northern Arizona	3-1	437	20
19	Rhode Island	2-2	390	8
20	West Florida	2-1	260	17
21	HARVARD	1-0	248	25
22	Campbell	3-1	195	NR
23	Villanova	2-2	169	22
24	Southern Illinois	2-2	116	24
25	Mercer	2-2	102	23
	Dropped Out: William & Mary (21)
	Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Alabama State (2-1): 72; Jackson State (3-0): 60; Colgate (3-1, 2-0 Patriot): 48; Richmond (3-1, 2-0 Patriot): 44; Elon (3-1, 1-1 CAA): 35; Stony Brook (2-2, 1-0 CAA): 29; Furman (2-2, 1-0 Southern): 19; William & Mary (2-2, 1-2 Patriot): 16; Southeastern Louisiana (2-2, 0-1 Southland): 14; Incarnate Word (2-1, 1-0 Southland): 14; Houston Christian (2-2, 1-1 Southland): 9; MONMOUTH (2-2, 2-0 CAA): 9; Morgan State (3-1): 5; Southeast Missouri (2-2): 4

Green Alert Take: Good on the coaches for crediting Dartmouth for its effort at Lehigh. As for the STATS poll, it is hard to fathom how Lehigh can be rewarded by moving up a slot for beating a Dartmouth team that somehow doesn't earn the two votes necessary to be in the ORV category by pushing Lehigh to the edge.

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It's Homecoming this week at Penn State and upwards of 108,000 people will fill Beaver Stadium for the game against Wisconsin. Why mention that here? Thanks for asking.

Penn State's very first Homecoming game was against Dartmouth. The Nittany Lions escaped with a 14-7 win over the Big Green in the game on Oct. 9, 1920. Some reports list the game as drawing 6,000 spectators while others say the new Beaver Field game attracted 12,000. (LINK)

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The NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) is made up of elite Division III colleges, and is sometimes referred to as the Little Ivy. Like the Ivies, the NESCAC plays fewer games than other DIII schools. Like the Ivies, the NESCAC held out against postseason play for football while its other sports were allowed to go on.

And like the Ivies, which did so last year, the NESCAC finally relented and will allow its football teams to go to the playoffs this year.

FootballScoop has picked up on another issue where the NESCAC treats football unlike the rest of its sports. From the post (LINK):

This fall marks the first season NESCAC teams are eligible for the NCAA Division III playoffs, ending a long stretch in which the league sat out the national tournament by choice. The conference champion earns an automatic bid, and other NESCAC teams can now land at-large spots in the 40-team bracket. Programs finally get to chase a national title, and they are being told to send players home to do it.

Football is the lone NESCAC sport subject to a conference-wide mandatory limit, while the other 22 sports let individual schools set their own roster sizes.

And . . .

The math is just part of the problem, there's also the basic human element of it that gets ignored. An 84-man roster in a physical fall sport means depth disappears fast once injuries hit, and it means telling walk-ons and developmental players who did nothing wrong that there is no spot for them.

Green Alert Take: Sound familiar? 

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EXTRA POINT
The autumnal equinox will occur at 8:05 tonight. The BBC explains that the autumnal equinox "is a precise moment in time when the Sun crosses the celestial equator and neither hemisphere is tilted towards or away from the Sun, meaning day and night are roughly equal in length across the world."

I'm not a fan of the autumnal equinox.

For what it's worth, the definition of the vernal equinox is exactly the same thing, and I'm a huge fan of it. ;-)