Week Zero

It has been a long time coming but former Dartmouth defensive lineman TJ Simpson '20 will be back on the field this week as a graduate transfer at Indiana State. The Sycamores, who did not play in the spring, take on Eastern Illinois Saturday at 6 p.m. in Terra Haute in what is referred to as a "Week Zero" game. Find Simpson's ISU bio HERE.

A 6-foot-3, 240-pound product of Miami Central High School, Simpson posted 13 tackles including 1.5 sacks for the 2019 Ivy League co-champions. He had 22 tackles in his Big Green career. Find his Dartmouth bio HERE.

Simpson is joined on the ISU roster by former Columbia defensive back Hunter Lunsford and former Cornell wide receiver Phazione McClure. The Ivy Leaguers are among 27 transfers on the Sycamore roster including players from Michigan, Minnesota, Purdue and San Diego State.

Simpson is one of at least four Dartmouth players finishing their careers as grad transfers. Wide receiver Drew Estrada is at Baylor, defensive lineman Seth Simmer is at Samford and running back Caylin Parker is at Albany.

Dartmouth, of course, is still 24 days away from opening its season at Valparaiso on Sept. 18.

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The SI FanNation site Giants Country has a story headlined, 9 Giants on the Bubble Heading into the Final Preseason Game. Dartmouth product Niko Lalos is one of the nine. From the story (LINK):

Lalos being on this list isn't a referendum on his skillset. I always thought he was destined to be a practice squad player again, only called up after injuries.

However, with the buzz and play of fellow defensive lineman David Moa, I have been wondering who the Giants value more. Both Moa and Lalos can coexist on the practice squad together, but if injuries do happen, who would get called up first?

Accompanying the story: 

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No official word yet on the severity of the injury suffered last week by former Dartmouth linebacker Flo Orimolade in the Calgary Stampeders game. In searching out information I came across this video from the previous week:

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BGA Premium began last night's practice report with a look at placekicker Connor Davis. CLICK HERE to reach the site and pull down the 2021 menu to access the daily practice reports. The Big Green will finish off its first four-day run of practices at 3 this afternoon, have a break tomorrow and then return to the field Friday.

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With Dartmouth sports teams back on campus and women's soccer hosting Holy Cross Friday night and men's soccer entertaining Southern New Hampshire Saturday it's worth keeping an eye on the college's COVID-19 Dashboard. It reported 29 active cases among students on Aug. 23 and added two more yesterday. From the site (LINK):

Since Aug. 17, Dartmouth has identified two clusters of people with COVID-19 in the student population. The first cluster has at least 10 individuals. The second cluster, identified on Aug. 21, has at least five individuals. The state of New Hampshire defines a cluster as three or more individuals confirmed with COVID-19 who are part of a related group of individuals who had the potential to transmit infection to each other through close contact.

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EXTRA POINT
Happy National Banana Split Day. As Casey Stengel said long before Google, "You could look it up."

It's also the 105th anniversary of the National Park System, which has special meaning in this house with a ranger in the family.