BGA: 05/2020

Sunday, May 31, 2020

From Coach Teevens

pic.twitter.com/SdqJIboRa9
— Buddy Teevens '79 (@BTeevens) May 31, 2020

Street & Smith's has hit the shelves and BGA's special correspondent, a football collector extraordinaire, has shared the publication's Ivy League and Patriot League predictions. Without further ado . . .

Street & Smith's 2020 Ivy League Football Prediction

1. Dartmouth

2. Yale

3. Princeton

4. Harvard

5. Penn

6. Cornell

7. Columbia

8. Brown

Green Alert Take I: Precious few preseason prognosticators go very far out on a limb and such is the case annually with Street & Smith's. The most significant movement from the 2019 standings in S&S's view will be Harvard moving from sixth last year to fourth in 2020, and frankly, picking the Crimson sixth would have been a bigger surprise. Fully half of Street & Smith's picks have teams projected to finish exactly where they finished last year and all of the others – except Harvard – are pegged to finish within one post of where they ended last year.

Green Alert Take II: Seeing Brown picked last makes me wonder if Street & Smith's doesn't appreciate the hard-to-overstate value of a premier quarterback in the Ivy League. I clearly recall a former coach at another school going to great lengths explaining to me how and why the QB is more important in the Ivies than in less academic conferences. In a nutshell, he called the Academic Index the salary cap of the Ivy League. Having seen QB EJ Perry in his first year at Brown and how that team played against Dartmouth in the final game of its initial season under James Perry, the feeling here is that Brown is the team most likely to surprise Street & Smith's.

A Look Back At Street & Smith's 2019 Ivy League Football Prediction

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

And How They Actually Finished
1. Dartmouth 6-1, 9-1
1. Yale 6-1, 9-1
3. Princeton 5-2, 8-2
4. Penn 3-4, 5-5
4. Cornell 3-4, 4-6
6. Harvard 2-5, 4-6
6. Columbia 2-5, 3-7
8. Brown 1-6, 2-8

As for the Ivy League's sister conference . . .

Street & Smith's 2020 Patriot League Prediction
1. Holy Cross
2. Colgate
3. Lafayette
4. Fordham
5. Bucknell
6. Lehigh
7. Georgetown

And finally, here's what S&S thinks of Dartmouth's nonconference opponents:
Towson – 4th in the powerhouse CAA
Marist – 7th in the (non)powerhouse Pioneer Football League
New Haven – Only the DII Top-25 is listed and Chargers do not make the cut

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EXTRA POINT
Those of you who have been hanging around this electronic precinct have watched That Certain Dartmouth '14 go from playing Little League with the boys to earning 12 varsity letters at Hanover High School, to graduating from Dartmouth, to putting her earth science major/education minor to work as a ranger at Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier Bay and Everglades National Parks. Here's the latest video she did from her current national park – Colorado's Black Canyon of the Gunnison – as she helps kids studying at home learn a little about geology:

Saturday, May 30, 2020

NOW They are Official

If you've been a regular visitor to this electronic precinct you've be seeing unofficial lists of incoming Dartmouth recruits almost since the start of the recruiting cycle.

The college's sports publicity office has released the official list, reproduced below:

Student-Athlete	Pos	Ht	Wt	Hometown	High School
Marquist Allen	DT	6-4	265	Woodland, Calif.	Davis Senior
Dario Arazi	DE	6-6	240	Brooklyn, N.Y.	Brooklyn Tech
Macklin Ayers	ILB	6-2	210	Elizabethville, Pa.	Upper Dauphin Area
Joshua Balara	OL	6-2	290	Dallas, Pa.	Dallas
Isaac Boston	WR	5-10	175	Springfield, Mass.	Springfield Central
Kyle Brown	OL	6-4	270	Marcellus, N.Y.	Marcellus
Danny Cronin	OLB	6-3	205	Elmhurst, Ill.	IC Catholic Prep
Jack Dyett	TE	6-5	210	Los Angeles, Calif.	Brentwood School
Trevon Erickson	OLB	6-2	225	Covington, Wash.	Kentwood
Tyler Green	RB	5-10	210	Lenexa, Kan.	Mill Valley
Thomas Hartnett	OL	6-4	305	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Central Catholic
Jace Henry	QB	6-4	235	Fairbanks, Alaska	Lathrop
Dylan Lacroix	DE	6-2	200	Lake Worth, Fla.	Park Vista Community
Devon Lingle	QB	6-2	205	Neptune Beach, Fla.	Duncan U. Fletcher
Cam Maddox	S	6-2	195	Monroe, N.C.	Cheshire Academy/Sun Valley
Tyson McCloud	NB	6-1	195	Coconut Creek, Fla.	North Broward Prep
Gannon McCorkle	DE	6-4	235	Odenton, Md.	Phillips Exeter/Arundel
Tevita Moimoi	RB	6-0	210	Menlo Park, Calif.	Sacred Heart Prep
Onye Onuoha	CB	6-1	200	Denver, Colo.	Green Valley Ranch
Ross Parrish	TE	6-4	230	Cincinnati, Ohio	Anderson
Vachon Raye	CB	5-11	165	Atlanta, Ga.	Booker T. Washington
Joey Richmond	RB	5-11	210	Glen Ellyn, Ill.	Glenbard West
Nic Sani	TE	6-6	245	Turlock, Calif.	Central Catholic
Nicholas Schwitzgebel	OL	6-3	280	Cleveland, Ohio	St. Ignatius
Paxton Scott	WR	6-1	185	Dallas, Texas	St. Mark's School of Texas
Ethan Sipe	OL	6-5	260	Nashville, Tenn.	Ensworth School
Leonard St. Gourdin	S	6-3	190	Malden, Mass.	Deerfield Academy
Jarmone Sutherland	WR	5-11	175	New Orleans, La.	Isidore Newman School
Wade Williams	QB	6-2	180	Brentwood, Tenn.	Brentwood Academy
Walk-ons
Jarom Miller	RB	5-10	190	Roosevelt, Utah	Union
Jack Noonan	RB	5-9	185	Weston, Mass.	Weston
Carr Urschel	LB	6-4	200	Dallas, Texas	St. Mark's

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Athlon has compiled a list of the FCS teams with the top winning percentage in the 20 years from 2000 through 2019. (LINK)

Curiously, the list included five teams that did not play the entire span in the FCS before moving up to the FBS ranks, including two that played just one season at the FCS level. Given that it seems absurd to include South Florida's winning percentage from a 7-4 record and Troy State's from a 9-3 record I've taken the liberty of removing all five teams that departed the FCS before 2019.

With that out of the way, here are the FCS schools with the best winning percentage since 2000:

1. North Dakota State, 181-35 (.838)
2. Old Dominion*, 46-14 (.767)
3. Kennesaw State, 48-15 (.762)
4. HARVARD, 150-49 (.754)
5. Montana, 198-67 (.747)
6. Dayton, 162-59 (.733)
7. San Diego, 160-63 (.717)
8. James Madison, 170-82 (.675)
9. McNeese, 155-76 (.671)
10. Bethune-Cookman, 151-75 (.668)
11. Jacksonville State, 156-79 (.664)
12. Grambling State, 155-79 (.662)
13. Eastern Washington, 164-84 (.661)
14. Central Arkansas, 109-57 (.657)
15. Northern Iowa, 166-87 (.656)
16. Duquesne, 142-78 (.645)
17. Wofford, 154-86 (.642)
18. PENN, 127-72 (.638)
19. Sam Houston State, 158-91 (.635)

Now, I'm sure you are wondering about Dartmouth, right?

The Big Green's record over the 20-year span: 91-108 (.455).

As it turns out, the years 2000-2019 perfectly tell the story of two remarkably distinct eras of Big Green football:

2000-2009 Dartmouth football record: 21-78 (.212)
2010-2019 Dartmouth football record: 70-30 (.700)

Between 2000 and 2009 the Big Green did not have a single winning record with a 5-5 finish in 2003 the only non-losing season.

From 2010 through 2019 Dartmouth has had just one losing record, a 4-6 mark in 2016.

Green Alert Take: I would gladly have taken the time to compile the 20-year records for every Ivy League team but the conference's football record book still has not been updated since the end of the 2017 season!

As for the schools that left the FCS but Athlon included in its list, here is where they placed along with their records:

5. Troy State*, 9-3 (.750)
9. Appalachian State*, 131-52 (.716)
10. Western Kentucky*, 61-26 (.701)
11. Coastal Carolina*, 114-54 (.679)
12. Georgia Southern*, 119-57 (.676)
24. South Florida*, 7-4 (.635)

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EXTRA POINT

Watching news reports about the long-awaited launch of Americans into space from American soil, I've found myself snickering at the seriously strange space suits the astronauts will wear. Honestly, add a few feathers and they'd look like something Elton John would wear.

But maybe I'm being too harsh.

I remember how ridiculous it seemed when football officials switched from knickers to long pants in 2012. Now if you were to see an official trot out on the field looking like the fellow off to the side you might laugh.

Maybe those astronaut uniforms will grow on me ;-)

Friday, May 29, 2020

Busy Friday

The sports page of The D features a couple of stories regarding what's to come – or not come – including a column under the headline, Thinking About Sports: The Fall Sports Dilemma. From the column:

Dartmouth has a high proportion of athletes in the undergraduate student body, and a good number of those athletes — most notably the football team — play fall sports. So, if Ivy League sports were to resume, would that mean that all fall athletes would be guaranteed spots on campus?

That would likely prove problematic. Mainly, there’s the basic issue of fairness: Why should athletes be guaranteed spots on campus, especially when that would mean that a student’s chances of living on campus would decrease if he or she is not an athlete? If the College were to make that decision, it would implicitly give preferential treatment to athletes — and I’m pretty sure that’s not a message Dartmouth or any other Ivy League school would want to send.

And this caveat:

Of course, this is all contingent on the fact that the Ivy League will choose to have a fall sports season at all. Remember that back in March, the Ivy League was the first NCAA conference to cancel its basketball tournaments, and its cancellation of spring sports preceded similar cancellations across the NCAA and professional sports landscape. My guess is that the conference will likely be among the last to resume any kind of sports schedule.

Two football recruits are mentioned in a Dartmouth story headlined, Incoming student-athletes train remotely with fall term competitions in limbo. From the story:

Incoming football player Macklin Ayers ’24 said that he envisions a scenario where the team could be forced to cancel its season or pivot to a “limited schedule” if other schools do not play this season. Ayer’s soon-to-be teammate, quarterback Jace Henry ’24, agreed that the status of the football season is out of Dartmouth’s hands, and he has mentally steeled himself for a worst-case scenario.

“It would suck to not be able to play football for my first college season, but training-wise, I'd be on the same grind, getting ready for the next season,” Henry said, “It's always 24/7, year-round. Always got to prepare and be ready.”

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From incoming recruits to outgoing players, both Isiah Swann and Niko Lalos are ever-so-briefly mentioned in NFL stories.

In a Bengals.com round table under the headline, Which Position Group Are You Most Excited To See In Training Camp one of the contributors pointed to cornerback, the position Swann plays. After calling it "one of the deepest (positions) on the team," the analyst points out that, "Of the Bengals cornerbacks who played 100 or more snaps last season, only William Jackson III and Darius Phillips returned for 2020."

He goes on to say:

There is a lot of intrigue as well with (former CFL standout Winston) Rose and Isiah Swann, the undrafted free agent from Dartmouth.

An SI Giants Country posting under the headline, Defensive Line Preview | A Team Strength, but for How Long includes this about Lalos' position group: "Despite appearing to be the most stable and strongest unit on the Giants, the defensive line has several question marks that will need to be answered over the coming months."

From the story:

. . . (T)he Giants collection of defensive linemen, other than for veteran Austin Johnson and undrafted rookie free agent Niko Lalos, remains unchanged from the end of last year.

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HERO Sports offers up its preseason All-America team and two Ivy Leaguers get a mention. (LINK)

Columbia's Mike Roussos is the second-team punt returner and Brown quarterback EJ Perry is, strangely, the third-team "athlete."

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And finally, in the best "bury the lede" tradition, here's the eye-catching story of the day: Brown University announced yesterday it is dropping 11 varsity sports and adding two.

With the stated intention of redistributing limited resources to improve its competitive posture, the school's announcement says (LINK):

Brown will cease training, competition and operations at the varsity level for men's and women's fencing; men's and women's golf; women's skiing; men's and women's squash; women's equestrian; and men's track, field and cross country (which are three varsity sports under federal Title IX rules governing access to opportunities in sports).

Per The Excellence in Brown Athletics Initiative report, the school had been fielding 38 sports, the third-largest number in the country. The release goes on to say:

. . . (T)he University will maintain its current operational budget for varsity athletics, with operating funds made available by the reduction in varsity teams being allocated strategically within the Department of Athletics. Brown will continue to recruit the same number of varsity athletes so that rosters can be right-sized, and the smaller number of varsity teams will support stronger recruiting in the admissions process, allowing for deeper talent on each team.

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Your Mileage May (And Should) Vary

HERO Sports has posted its FCS Top-25 (LINK) with two Ivy League teams making the rankings. Another is in the Also Receiving Votes category. Wanna guess?

1. North Dakota State
2. South Dakota State
3. Northern Iowa
4. Sacramento State
5. James Madison
6. Weber State
7. Montana
8. Villanova
9. Montana State
10. Central Arkansas
11. Kennesaw State
12. Illinois State
13. Austin Peay
14. Furman
15. Delaware
16. PRINCETON
17. New Hampshire
18. Eastern Washington
19. North Carolina A&t
20. Florida A&m
21. The Citadel
22. Southern Illinois
23. Sam Houston State
24. Albany
25. YALE
Also Receiving Votes:
(Alphabetical): Alcorn State, Chattanooga, DARTMOUTH, Elon, Nicholls, Portland State, SEMO, UT Martin, Wofford

Here's what HERO wrote about Princeton:

True, the Tigers lost a special quarterback in Kevin Davidson, but the defense has a solid contingent back and the skill-position talent on offense looks great. If the QB position turns out to be strong -- which it historically has been at Princeton -- watch out Ivy League.

And here's what it wrote about Yale:

The Bulldogs have a tough defense back and have been one of the most successful Ivy League programs in the past few years. Expect more greatness in 2020.

Green Alert Take: I'll buy the bit about Princeton and quarterbacks, although that's a big IF. Yale and it's tough defense? Not so much. The Bulldogs were fifth in the Ivy League in scoring defense last year and sixth in total defense. That's in an eight-team league.

The intro to the HERO pieces notes, "We did a deep dive into nearly 60 FCS teams and their resumes -- percentage of offensive and defensive production coming back, number of returning starters, all-conference players, All-American players, how many starting OL are back, is the QB back, injured standouts returning, transfers, how did they do last year, were they competitive in losses, etc."

Green Alert Take II: Uh, and how about the other 60-or-so programs?

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The Boston Herald has revealed its offensive MIAA Eastern Mass. Football All-Decade Team drawn from players who competed between 2010 and 2019 and played at least two years at MIAA schools. Four quarterbacks make the list including current Brown QB EJ Perry and Jonathan DiBiaso, who spent two seasons at Dartmouth (HERALD STORY):

From the story:

Jonathan DiBiaso, Everett (2008-2011)

DiBiaso shattered records during his time under center for the Crimson Tide. The two-time Boston Herald All-Scholastic won a pair of state championships, closed out his career with consecutive undefeated campaigns, was named Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year in 2011, and finished his senior season with 44 touchdowns. At the conclusion of his career in 2011, his 103 career touchdowns were a Massachusetts record.

Where Are They Now: DiBiaso spent a year at Dartmouth before ultimately graduating from Tufts University. He now works at Boston College for the football program as an Offensive Graduate Assistant Coach.

DiBiaso was injured as a freshman and didn't not see any varsity time with the Big Green as a sophomore. He ultimately transferred to Tufts, where he would go on to appear in four games. Find his Dartmouth bio HERE.

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Per ESPN.com the recruiting "dead period" imposed by the NCAA in response to the pandemic has been extended until July 31. From the story (LINK):

For football programs, this decision means there will be no official visits this spring and voids the quiet period at the end of July. The sport already had a dead period on its regular calendar from June 22 to July 24, but would have been allowed to have prospects on campus from June 1 to June 21 as well as July 25 to July 31.

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Remember that recent BGA Daily posting about the evolution from The Goat (not good) to The GOAT (greatest of all time)? Apparently someone at Sports Illustrated snuck a peek at BGA and decided to follow up.

OK, we both know BGA wasn't the inspiration for the story but SI did have a piece one week to the day later explaining the change in meaning. Find the SI story HERE.

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From The Dartmouth (LINK):

This year’s virtual commencement speaker will be Salman Khan, founder of the free online education platform Khan Academy, Dartmouth announced on Thursday. The College selected Khan as commencement speaker before the switch to remote learning.

Green Alert Take: Wow, is that ever some interesting timing!

The story notes that, "All addresses and performances, including Khan’s, will be pre-recorded," and, "Diplomas for the Class of 2020 will be mailed to graduates this summer, along with commemorative programs."

Green Alert Take: I suppose I understand the pre-recorded decision. It's unfortunate but it's one measure the college can take to reduce the chances of a technological glitch during the virtual ceremony. And yet it is still a little disappointing that the speeches and performances won't be live. The mention that diplomas and "commemorative programs" will be mailed out really puts things in perspective.

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EXTRA POINT
Yesterday was a landmark day as I crossed the 50-mile mark on the tank of gas I put in my Honda Fit roughly two months ago. Virtually all of those miles are from the three-mile round trip to our little post office (which closes at 11 a.m. ;-)

Given that kind of minimal driving I haven't been on campus or in Hanover since the craziness began. But Mrs. BGA, who drives through Hanover each day on her way to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center ,mentioned last week something novel (for Hanover) that she noticed. A story in The Dartmouth fleshed out the details:

(I)n accordance with (Governor Chris) Sununu’s May 1 announcement allowing restaurants to open outdoor dining areas on May 18 as long as tables were six feet apart, some Hanover restaurants, including Boloco, Lou’s Restaurant & Bakery, Murphy’s on the Green, Pine and Umpleby’s, have begun offering socially distanced outdoor dining to patrons.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Athletic Excellence Celebrated

Dartmouth held a virtual edition of its annual Celebration of Athletic Excellence earlier this week and football's Isiah Swann and Brandon Hester won two of the major awards. (Dartmouth Release)

Swann, an All-America corner, was presented with the Alfred E. Watson Trophy as Dartmouth's top male student-athlete. Find his Dartmouth football bio HERE.

Hester was presented with the Timothy Wright Ellis 1955 Memorial as "the man showing extracurricular and scholastic drive, spirit, loyalty and amiability." Nominations and voting is done by the captains of the men's teams. Find his Dartmouth football bio HERE.

From the Dartmouth release on Hester:

While injuries stifled his development on the gridiron, Hester never changed the outgoing, gregarious personality that defined him on campus. He was a teammate who always looked out for the best in other people and gave his best effort for the betterment of the team. A co-founder of the Dartmouth Real Estate Club, Hester was also involved with Thetford Mentors as well as the Aspire-STEPS program, plus was a member of the Christian Union. On top of that, he is essentially a campus barber, giving out haircuts to people in need of sharpening up. His head coach, Buddy Teevens, had this to say about Hester: "He is a loyal friend who makes people feel immediately at ease. When reading the description of this award, Brandon instantly came to my mind. He is so deserving as his positive presence has touched so many parts of campus."

And on Swann:

Despite missing the first three games of the season with various injuries, Swann was once again a tremendous presence on the defensive side of the ball. He led the Ancient Eight in interceptions — even with the missed playing time — and ranked among the top 20 nationally in passes defended. It was his interception in the end zone during the final seconds of the season finale at Brown that clinched Dartmouth's record 19th Ivy League title with the 29-23 victory. Swann was an All-American for the second straight year as determined by the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association and STATS, while being named one of the 25 finalists across the country for the defensive player of the year award. A unanimous All-Ivy League First Team selection and a member of the Division I All-New England Team for the second consecutive season, he set program records for interceptions in a season and a career as well as career pick-sixes. After the season, Swann became the first Big Green player in 16 years to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl, then was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as a free agent.

Like other award winners, the football players were featured on Twitter accepting their awards:

And the winner of the Alfred E. Watson Trophy as the male athlete of the year is …

Isiah Swann of @DartFootball!#BigGreenCoE pic.twitter.com/HxSQOfwHXx
— Dartmouth Athletics (@dartmouthsports) May 26, 2020

And the winner of the Timothy Wright Ellis 1955 Memorial Award is …

Brandon Hester of @DartFootball!#BigGreenCoE pic.twitter.com/okqxgrrXip
— Dartmouth Athletics (@dartmouthsports) May 26, 2020

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The screenshot posted below is from Draft Diamonds, which promotes players from smaller schools. It cracks me up, not because Drew Estrada isn't deserving. He absolutely is.

Rather because of the headline. You will see Dartmouth University surprisingly often but not usually in such big, bold type. Check out the full Q&A with Estrada HERE.

Green Alert Take: A note to potential recruits. When you Tweet about your "offer," it's from Dartmouth College. Funniest I've seen was one prospective Big Green player who referred to an offer from "The University of Dartmouth College."

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Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens is going to have a little extra time on his hands with breaking news that the Manning Passing Academy, scheduled for next month in Thibodaux, La., has been canceled because of the pandemic. (LINK) Teevens is the camp co-director.

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