HANOVER – Here’s your weekly six-pack-plus of thoughts and observations after Dartmouth dismantled Columbia Friday night. As always, your mileage may vary. ;-)
1) The Columbia game was a statistical anomaly. How many times will a team run just five plays in the first quarter? Not many. Now, how many times will a team run just five plays in the first quarter and lead 21-0? Most people would have said never until Friday night. Likewise, how many times will a team have more punts than it had in any game all season, and win by 46 points?
3) Dartmouth has 10 sacks this year with linebacker/edge rusher Teddy Gianaris leading the way with three. While the defensive line has been solid, it has accounted for just 2.5 sacks with Bruce Williams and Joe Onuwabhagbe having one each, and Keoni Perkins being credited with a half sack. Ejike Adele had six sacks last year by himself, and Josiah Green had three.
4) The lede of yesterday’s BGA Overtime story dealt with the impact Matisse Weaver has made with his directional kickoffs. Here’s what the story did not mention. Weaver is also talented enough in field goal/pat kicking that he was neck-and-neck with Owen Zalc for that role when the two were freshmen. Then coach Buddy Teevens said at the time it was pretty much a game-week decision to go with Zalc, who went on to become the Ivy League rookie of the year. It was that close.
5) It’s always interesting when a team arrives out of nowhere to win a championship the way Columbia did in 2024. Programs that build steadily are much less likely to fall off the edge of a cliff the way the Lions have this year. Granted, Columbia made steady improvement with the arrival of Al Bagnoli in 2015, and quarterback injuries certainly played a part in this fall’s struggles, but because the Lions’ skipped a couple of rungs on the ladder last year that slide this year probably isn’t as much of a surprise as some would have you believe.
6) When I was at one of my newspaper jobs, a young writer asked a coach whose team had won the first game of a doubleheader but blew a lead in the final inning of the nightcap if his team accomplished what he hoped. I almost took a step back as the writer was finishing up his question. The coach’s response went about like I expected. I had to stifle a laugh when a young writer asked coach Sammy McCorkle Saturday night if he was already thinking about the FCS playoffs. The good thing is McCorkle’s team had won (although I know him well enough to know even if they had lost I wouldn’t have had to take that step back ;-). It was no surprise at all that McCorkle answered with two one-word “sentences.” He said:
“Nope.
"Harvard.”
And you knew it was coming . . .
7) OK, I get it. You can’t predict the future. But the Ivy League Friday night TV schedule featuring now 1-5 Columbia three times and now 6-1 Dartmouth just once is a disaster. I’m no fan of “flexible” scheduling and I suppose it wouldn’t be possible to adjust the broadcast schedule on the fly because of class schedules, hotel reservations and transportation issues, so the Ivy League is stuck. The expectation here is that ESPNU broadcasters Eric Frede and Jack Ford better have a lot of backup material ready in another week when Harvard visits Columbia.
#
Editor's Note: Given that Harvard is probably the busiest week for BGA and BGA Overtime readership, this is a good time to thank everyone who has encouraged me to keep this site going. It seems whenever my enthusiasm begins to wane and I wonder if all the work I put in is worth it, I hear from a few of you - as I did last week - and it charges my batteries. So thank you again and keep reading!