Saturday's game at Sacred Heart will not be available on ESPN+ but you can still catch the game via NEC Front Row, the Northeast Conference's streaming service. The 2 p.m. kickoff from Fairfield, Conn., should be available at this LINK. For FAQs and more information on NEC Front Row, click HERE.
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The Dartmouth-Columbia game on Oct. 22 will be carried by ESPN+ but the Roar Lions 2022 blog is reporting HERE that it appears it will also be available on SNY (SportsNet New York).
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BGA Premium subscribers read last night (or this morning ;-) about Dartmouth kicker Ryan Bloch's round-about route to going 5-for-5 on extra points against Valparaiso. The local Valley News also wrote about Bloch HERE.
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Jake Novak's Roar Lions blog also has his picks for the weekend and regarding Dartmouth-Sacred Heart, he writes (LINK):
Dartmouth -16 1/2 at Sacred Heart
This shouldn't be too much of a heavy lift for the Big Green. But I do wish the spread were about two points smaller. Oh well, I'll take it.
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In a FanNation piece, UCLA coach Chip Kelly has this to say about Jake Bobo, his transfer wide receiver from Duke (LINK):
His dad was a linebacker at Dartmouth College, so his dad and mom—his mom was an outstanding hockey player at Dartmouth, so they went to Dartmouth together, so he comes from an athletic football family
Actually, his dad Mike '92 was a wide receiver at Dartmouth who led the Big Green in receiving in both 1990 and '91. As a senior captain of Buddy Teevens' 1991 Ivy League champions he caught 55 passes for 725 yards and 10 touchdowns, a school record he shares with Craig Morton '89.
Jake Bobo leads UCLA with 168 receiving yards on 11 catches, second on the team. He’s averaging 15.3 yards per catch, best on the team, with one touchdown.
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On the subject of sons of former Dartmouth athletes off to a good start in FBS football this year, the Rivals Transfer Portal site leads off a story headlined Five Big Ten transfers off to a hot start in 2022 with a photo and discussion of Indiana quarterback Connor Bazelak, who has the Hoosiers off to a 3-0 start. Bazelak transferred from Missouri. (LINK)
Bazelak's father, Len '88, holds the all-time Dartmouth record for 3-point shooting accuracy, hitting 46.6 percent of his attempts. He played with all-time Big Green scoring leader Jim Barton '89, who is next at 45.5.
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Deeper in the Five Big Ten transfers off to a hot start in 2022 piece is a mention of JD DiRenzo, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound starting left guard for 3-0 Rutgers. He transferred from Sacred Heart after last season, one of the reasons why the Pioneer offense has scored just three touchdowns in three games. Another reason: 6-3, 290 offensive lineman Josh Sokol is on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad this year. And a third reason? Star running back Julius Chestnut is a rookie with the Tennessee Titans.
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From FCS Football:
Leading Conference Win Percentage
.875 - Ivy (7-1)
.789 - CAA (15-4)
.737 - Big Sky (14-5)
.727 - SoCon (8-3)
.667 - ASUN (8-4)
.650 - MVFC (13-7)
.636 - WAC (7-4)
Green Alert Take: It's early and the Ivies don't exactly have the toughest nonconference schedules, but you can only play who is on your schedule.
Green Alert Take II: The Ivies are better than people think but given the scheduling you almost wonder if they are afraid to let people know it.
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One of the lame excuses given for the Ivy League not allowing its football teams to go to the NCAA playoffs is that it would make the season too long. That came to mind reading that the Penn State women's ice hockey team opens play against Wisconsin tonight. The women's Frozen Four will be March 17 and 19.
Green Alert Take: And the Ivy presidents think a 10-week football schedule is too long?
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This one is personal.
I've written here before about my childhood friend Tom Odjakjian, a Lafayette grad who got his start as assistant sports information director at Princeton, worked for the ECAC and went on to become "the architect behind the creation of ESPN’s basketball Championship Week and football Bowl Week."
Rightly acclaimed as one of the nicest people on the planet, OJ announced yesterday he will be retiring next month after serving as associate commissioner of the Big East and now as Senior Associate Commissioner for Broadcasting and Digital Content. (LINK). While I was disappointed the man once called "The Most Influential Person in College Sports," never had the chance to take the Ivy League to new heights the way I knew he could have if only they had tapped him, I'm thrilled he'll now have the chance to spend more time with his wonderful family. Congratulations, old friend.
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EXTRA POINT
Following up on last week's hope that Jake from State Farm and Lily ride off into the sunset together, I kind of think the LiMu Emu guy Doug and Flo deserve each other, don't you?
