Thank You

 HANOVER – Hard as it is for me to believe, this was the 20^th season of Big Green Alert. I never imagined it would last this long.

First and foremost of the people I need to thank is Sammy McCorkle. It would have been easy as a first-year head coach a couple of seasons back for him to say he wouldn’t be comfortable having someone show up at every single practice continuously jotting things down in a notebook. But he took my presence in stride and has been incredibly generous with his time since Day One, always jogging over after practice to answer whatever inane questions I might have.

Your Mileage May Vary – Week 10

 HANOVER – Here’s your “Season-Ending Six,” with a bonus tossed in for good measure.

1) A study of the 2013 college football season determined that teams that won the turnover battle won the game 73 percent of the time. Brown came into Saturday’s contest having won all four games in which it had fewer turnovers, and having lost all four games in which it had more. (In one game, the turnovers were even.) Nothing changed against Dartmouth. Brown won the turnover battle by turning the Big Green over four times and the ball over twice, and won the game.

As Playoff Picture Clears, Dartmouth Focuses On Reflection and Reset

 HANOVER – Several dozen or more football teams gathered in their football complexes Sunday to watch the FCS playoffs selection show. Dartmouth had a regular team meeting planned, but the Big Green could be excused if tuning in to ESPNU to see which teams made the cut, and who they would be playing was not on the agenda.

Thanks to Saturday’s win over Harvard, Yale knew it was in the field, and learned it would be playing at 15-seed Youngstown State, with the winner going on to face second-seeded Montana State. Harvard, widely expected to be a top-eight seed before being battered by the Bulldogs, was one of the “last four” in the field as an at-large entry, and will play at 12-seed Villanova Saturday, with the winner advancing to a matchup with fifth-seed Lehigh.

Big Green Comes Up Short At Brown

 PROVIDENCE, R.I. – It’s precious little consolation for the Dartmouth football team on a day that didn’t finish the way the Big Green hoped, but as it turned out, a win wouldn’t have brought a bid to the FCS playoffs anyway.

Minutes after an interception in the corner of the end zone with 1:53 remaining and a Brown first down put the finishing touches on the Bears’ surprising 35-28 win over Dartmouth Yale put the finishing touches on the Big Green’s season. The Bulldogs not only grabbed a piece of the Ivy League title from Harvard with a 45-28 beat down but also claimed the conference’s automatic berth in the playoffs. That, in turn, means the previously undefeated Crimson now has the inside track for an at-large bid if the Ancient Eight is to get one.

Eyes On Brown, Ears On Harvard-Yale

 PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle promises his team will be 100 percent focused on the field during Saturday’s game at Brown.

It will probably be different for friends, family and alums in the stands.

Cell phones in the visiting bleachers at Brown Stadium figure to be lighting up throughout the afternoon delivering out-of-town scores because, for the third year in a row, the Harvard-Yale game will have an impact on the Dartmouth season. For the first time, however, not with regard to the Ivy League title.

Fearful Forecast For Week 10

 HANOVER – It’s the final week of the season and coming off a 4-2 performance it’s time for a big finish.

The good news is I’m pretty confident in five of my six picks.

The better news? I’m least confident in the one pick that you will most want me to have wrong.

The Optimist And The Pessimist - Week 10

 HANOVER – It was a little brisk, but The Optimist and The Pessimist enjoyed their annual visit to the top of the stadium last week. With Cornell in the books and Brown on tap they spent Tuesday morning back at their usual table, at their usual meeting place, having their usual back-and-forth, perhaps for the last time this fall. Or perhaps not. 

Your Mileage May Vary – Week Nine

 HANOVER – A baker’s half dozen opinions and observations after Week 9 of the Dartmouth football season:

1) Junior quarterback Grayson Saunier did another solid job protecting the football against Cornell. As Big Red coach Dan Swanstrom said, Saunier “never put the ball in jeopardy once.” After throwing four interceptions in the Big Green’s first three games this fall, Saunier now has gone six games without being picked off. As a team, Dartmouth hasn’t had a single turnover in the last four games after turning it over nine times in the first five. That's a sign of a very good team.