Questions? Who Has Questions?

The final practice of the week will mark the midpoint of spring practice and a good time for the next edition of Questions For Coach. If you have something you'd like me to ask Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens, email it this way by CLICKING HERE. That will address an email with the subject line, QuestionsForCoach. Then just type up your question.

If enough questions come this way the Q&A will be part of the final practice report of the week.

Practice resumes today with the fourth of the 12 sessions the Ivy League allows in the spring. 

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Even without knowing which fifth-years are returning for their COVID-19 super senior season, HERO Sports has gone out on a limb and made predictions for each FCS conference race next fall. (LINK)

The site predicts Week 2 Dartmouth opponent Sacred Heart to win the Northeast and traditional opponent (though not this year) Holy Cross to repeat as Patriot League champion.

And who does HERO pick in the Ivy League? Here's what the site says of its selection to win the Ancient Eight in 2022:

Dartmouth has to replace standout QB Derek Kyler but brings back its rushing QB Nick Howard (team-high 787 yards rushing and 15 TDs) and leading WR Paxton Scott. 

The team looks to reload at numerous spots, losing seven starters on both offense and defense. But 2021 was an indication that Dartmouth has won a record 20 Ivy League titles for a reason. Dartmouth had just four total starters returning in 2021 and still won a share of the championship.

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Speaking of championship seasons, Dartmouth sports publicity has a recap of the awards handed out at the 2021 season banquet held earlier this month HERE.

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Pro Football Network takes a look at Baylor candidates for the NFL and includes this about wide receiver/return specialist Drew Estrada, the grad transfer from Dartmouth who helped the Bears to a Sugar Bowl championship last fall (LINK):

Positives: Consistent underneath pass catcher with average size and speed. Smooth releasing off the line of scrimmage, stays low exiting breaks, and works to make himself an available target. Adjusts to errant throws, tracks the pass in the air, and extends to make the reception away from his frame. Knows where he is on the field and lays out for the difficult grab.

Negatives: Plays to one speed and lacks a burst. Needs space to work and lacks great upside.

Analysis: Estrada was a solid receiver for Dartmouth before turning in a productive campaign last season at Baylor. He lacks upside, but Estrada comes with solid pass-catching skills and can make a roster as a fifth receiver if he produces returning punts this summer.

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A University of Virginia website has a story with John Paul Flores, who will graduate from Dartmouth this year and play for the Cavaliers next year. From the story LINK:

“We talk probably once a week, getting on Zoom and going over the playbook they are installing," Flores said. "Along the lines of working out and drills, I’m on my own. Virginia has a workout sheet I’ve been following exactly. As far as drills, Coach Tujague has done a great job of guiding me on what fundamentals he teaches and what he wants the drills to look like.”

And . . .

Flores, who expects to play tackle at UVA, says he “probably will be the last man on campus” this summer because he graduates from Dartmouth on June 12. However, he is confident he can make a smooth transition into fall camp.

“Everyone runs some version of gaps, slide protections, man protections. It just has different names at different places,” said Flores, who has watched all of the film the Virginia coaches have sent this spring. “Growing up in a football family, I’ve been around a lot of ball, and I think having played four years already has prepared (me) . . ."

(Huge thanks for the link!) 

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A HealthMatch story under the headline, 10 athletes who have promised to donate their brains for research includes familiar names like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Abby Wambach, Harvard grad and longtime NFL lineman Matt Birk as well as former Dartmouth standout Reggie Williams. From the story (LINK):

Severe mood swings convinced Williams he has CTE, and in 2020, he announced he would donate his brain to research. “I want to do anything I can to make football safer and help the next generation of athletes,” he said. “You can’t give up because there are ways to manage (CTE) symptoms and live a healthy life.”

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And in the likley event you didn't watch the entire 1986 Dartmouth highlight video linked hear yesterday and missed the longest TD pass in school history, a 98-yarder from David Gabianelli to Craig Morton, you can go directly to that play if you click HERE.

(Be sure to come back tomorrow for links to clips of not one but two 97-yard touchdown runs by the same Dartmouth player in the same season.)

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From The Dartmouth (LINK):

COVID-19 cases on campus continue to increase — the College COVID-19 Dashboard reported 199 active COVID-19 cases, up from the 155 reported on April 6. The figure includes 133 undergraduates, 42 graduate and professional students and 24 faculty members and staff. The biggest jump in active cases comes from undergraduates, which increased by 55 cases from last Wednesday.  

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EXTRA POINT 
Promise, this is the last mention of mud season until next year but it's a story that is hard to believe. A Vermont Public Radio host's car was trapped in mud less than one mile from her house at 8:45 p.m. in the middle of March. When a tow truck operator was dispatched to pull out a seemingly abandoned car at 4 a.m., he found the driver with the car, unconscious and "inverted out the driver's side window." From the story:

She was wrapped in a dirty sleeping bag. She had one leg stuck through the driver’s side window of her car, lodged beneath the steering wheel. Her face, buried in the mud, was obscured.

“You could hear gurgling,” (the tow truck driver) said. “She had a very, very faint, shallow heartbeat, just barely breathing. Her airways and all that, her nose, everything was full of mud.”

She's well on her way to recovery now. Read the story HERE.