HANOVER – With the benefit of video review and 48 hours to reflect on the first scrimmage of the camp, Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle gave it a passing grade after Friday’s practice, much as he did in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday’s action.
“We had some guys step up that we need to step up, guys that we’re counting on to play for us this year,” he said. “Assignment-wise, we didn’t have many busts, which was good. We’ve still got some stuff we’re putting in, but overall I thought the guys knew where to be and how to line up.
“I liked the physicality. The guys did a good job of getting after each other. That’s always important and will be important for us this fall.”
The problem with an intrasquad scrimmage, of course, is that what one side of the ball does well often comes at the expense of the other side of the ball. That was the case in one aspect of the scrimmage.
“The offense had some big plays,” McCorkle said. “Defensively we’ve got to limit that, but the good thing is it was a lot of stuff we can correct. It wasn’t about ability. It was stuff we can fix.”
The Big Green took steps in that direction Friday.
“The defense had good energy today,” McCorkle said. “I thought their effort was good. There was no loafing.
“We didn’t have the young guys because they are in orientation, so it was like being back in spring ball. We had fewer guys at some positions defensively, and they stepped up.
“Guys had to play a lot of snaps because we didn’t have many subs and they took on the challenge. I thought they played hard and I told them that afterwards.”
While the defense was having a good day, the offense that might have had the edge on Wednesday had a hard time getting going.
“They were sluggish today. Very sluggish,” McCorkle said. “I don’t know if they were patting themselves on the back and feeling good about themselves from the scrimmage, but they came out today and got humbled a little bit.
“We can’t have that. We’ve only got so many practices left before the first game, and you can’t waste a day. I thought we didn’t meet our standard today offensively.”
ANYONE DESERVE A MENTION?
McCorkle: “I thought (defensive ends) Gergely Hudak, Chris Chol, and Keoni Parkins played almost every snap and did a great job.
“I thought our linebackers, Matty Boydell and Sean Chester showed up a bunch.”
And offensively?
“Eh, eh,” said McCorkle, moving on to another thought before stopping himself. “Luke Rives had a nice day. He had a couple nice catches today, for sure.”
MAKING PLAYS
Both the offense and the defense had highlight reel-worthy plays on a muggy morning on Blackman Fields.
On the offensive side, Rives broke free deep down the middle on one play from scrimmage. Quarterback Grayson Saunier loaded up and fired a spiral that appeared to be a stride too long. But Rives dove straight down the field, pulled the ball in with two hands fully extended, and all-but somersaulted without the ball coming loose.
A defensive highlight came in the red zone when a receiver went up for a pass at the goal line that had the look of a touchdown. But Ethan Couvertiere arrived from behind and spiked the ball like Dikembe Mutombo at the net. The ball caromed several yards up the field where Lou Lamar alertly caught it and took off up the right sideline.
IN THE NEWS
Reports earlier in the week suggested the FCS might be on the verge of allowing teams in the division to share a spring practice with another team in the FCS. For a number of years when Buddy Teevens was at Dartmouth and good friend Tim Murphy was at Harvard, the two programs would have a full-contact (except for quarterbacks) preseason scrimmage in the fall but the NCAA did not allow that type of thing in the spring.
Should the change be approved, would McCorkle embrace the opportunity to practice against another team in the spring?
“There are so many rules changes and ideas and you don’t always know what’s true and what isn’t,” McCorkle started. “But I know there’s talk of that. I guess the FCS could do it, but the Ivy League might put a stop to it if it is allowed.
“Obviously, we’ll talk about that as coaches and with the Ivy League if it is an option.”
Even if it is, McCorkle isn’t ready to commit to a joint practice.
“I don’t know if we would do it,” he said. “The tough part is we have limited practice days in the Ivy League compared to other teams. I remember when I was coaching high school and you’d have these jamborees in the spring. It was great to have games, but you would end up preparing and scheming for the team you are scrimmaging instead of working on fundamentals.
“Now, if we have more practice days, it would be a different story. But I think we’d have to add days for it to be wise for us to do that.”
ONE MORE THING
Long after freshman football the Ivy League abolished freshman football in 1993, Dartmouth continued to run a junior varsity program. Some years the Big Green would play as many as four games so the young players could have a little fun and gain experience. And to allow the coaches to see how otherwise untested players responded in live action.
Because those games counted against the number of games a player could compete in and still save his redshirt for a potential grad transfer year, the jayvee program was abandoned.
With the new "five years to play five seasons" rule making redshirting a thing of the past, that reason for not playing jayvee games is no longer a factor.
McCorkle offered a couple of other reasons why he would not favor bringing jayvee football back.
“It was good for certain individuals at the game, but I think you’re going to see more and more guys in the Ivy League play a little bit earlier,” he said. “The talent pool has gotten better, and first-years that are coming to Ivy schools are coming in with the idea of contributing and playing at the varsity level early.
“It’s a numbers thing, too. We don’t have 120 guys anymore. We’ve got 110, so health and depth is critical.”
To that end, McCorkle brought up a very promising transfer quarterback from Illinois who saw his career ended with an injury in a JV game that he petitioned the coaches to play in.
“Remember Jimmy Fitzgerald, right?” McCorkle said. “You don’t want something crazy happening in one of those games that cost a guy a season.”
ON TAP
The Big Green will be at full strength when it returns to action Saturday morning. Oops, make that Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve moved it to the afternoon so we can be out in the sun a bit,” McCorkle said. “I was glad the sun came out and heated it up today because we’re going to be playing in the middle of Pennsylvania, and it is going to be hot.
“It was good for us today. I thought I was back in Gainesville for a little while, but they need that. They need to sweat and know what it’s like when fatigue sets in. So we’ll be practicing in the afternoon to try to simulate the heat they are going to play in as much as possible.”
SCENES FROM PRACTICE
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| Steve Simkins – BGA photo |
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| Punter Luke Armistead awaits the snap. – BGA photo |
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| Owen Zalc's kick evades Christian Harris. – BGA photo |
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| Will Prince gets a good push. – BGA photo |