The first week of football for Dartmouth's 2022 nonconference opponents finished with the three teams going a combined 2-1, although neither winner was particularly dominant.
Valparaiso 20, Indiana Wesleyan 17
Valparaiso jumped out to a 17-3 lead over NAIA Indiana Wesleyan and then needed a 50-yard field goal with 1:36 remaining to salvage a home win. IW had a 54-yard attempt at the end to force overtime that came up short.
Beating an NAIA school may not sound terribly impressive but keep in mind Valparaiso actually lost to Indiana Wesleyan a year ago.
Aaron Dawson, Valpo's transfer running back from Central Connecticut, carried 22 times for 147 yards for the Beacons.
Attendance was 3,260.
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Lafayette 6, Sacred Heart 0
The Pioneers outgained homestanding Lafayette in total yards, 310-113, but couldn’t punch the ball in the end zone from up close in dropping their opener.
Sacred Heart had three cracks from the 1-yard line in the closing seconds but came up empty. the Pioneers turned the ball over two times inside the Lafayette 40 on the day and were hampered by eight penalties.
Preseason All-American Malik Grant managed just 46 yards on 21 carries for Sacred Heart, whose offensive line lost its best two blockers from a year ago to an NFL contract and a grad transfer.
Sacred Heart limited Lafayette to eight yards passing.
Attendance in Easton, Pa., was 5,255.
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And from Thursday . . .
New Hampshire 31, Monmouth 21
Trailing 21-17 entering the fourth quarter, New Hampshire grabbed the lead on a seven-yard Dylan Laube run with 6:20 remaining and then locked the game up when Randall Harris picked off a fourth-and-11 Monmouth pass deep in the Hawks' own end with just over four minutes left and returned it 25 yards for a pick six.
New Hampshire also had a 35-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Wildcats quarterback Max Brosmer, returning from an injury that sidelined him last year was 18-for-35 for 272 yards with an interception. Laube, New Hampshire's standout running back, managed just 63 yards on 16 carries with one going for 21 yards and the other 15 for a total of 42. He did run for two touchdowns.
Attendance in Durham was 8,703.
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Down in New Orleans, UMass took a 42-10 beating from Tulane but Dartmouth transfer linebacker Jalen Mackie led the Minutemen with nine tackles, including seven solos and one for a loss.
Elsewhere in games featuring former Big Green players, tight end Robbie Mangas caught one pass for four yards for Buffalo in a 31-10 loss at Maryland.
Corner Isaiah Johnson had two tackles for Syracuse in a 31-7 win over Louisville.
Down in Charlottesville offensive lineman John Paul Flores helped Virginia rack up 505 yards with 259 rushing and 246 passing in a 34-17 win over Richmond.
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Dartmouth is still two weeks from opening but there were two stories from the Big Green's first scrimmage of the preseason yesterday on BGA Premium. One featured observations from a masked mystery guest. ;-)
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The NCAA has a story headlined FCS wins vs. FBS teams: All-time victories, upsets, wins vs. ranked teams. While all-time goes back to just 1978, it’s jarring to see Dartmouth listed three times. Here’s the jarring part: Dartmouth is the FBS team in the listing (LINK).
The games:
1978: Boston University 20, Dartmouth 17
1980: New Hampshire 24, Dartmouth 7
1981: UMass 10, Dartmouth 8
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The Boston Herald has a football preview of sorts that includes short capsules on both Harvard and Dartmouth. (LINK)
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EXTRA POINT
Traffic on I-91 heading back home after Dartmouth's scrimmage yesterday morning was heavy. Keep in mind, we're talking by local standards. Over the 23 miles I was on the highway perhaps two dozen cars passed me. (I didn't pass any, but that's a story for another day ;-)
Traffic on I-91 heading back home after Dartmouth's scrimmage yesterday morning was heavy. Keep in mind, we're talking by local standards. Over the 23 miles I was on the highway perhaps two dozen cars passed me. (I didn't pass any, but that's a story for another day ;-)
Here's what was interesting. Of all the cars that passed me, not one was from Vermont. There was one with New Hampshire plates and all the rest were from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
Vermont is clearly quite a draw for tourists and visitors over Labor Day but just wait until foliage season when the leaf peepers coming to the north country!
