Feast or famine in NIRA D1 this week.

Feast would be Quinnipiac at Dartmouth, a game in which Dartmouth is favored but Quinnipiac is inching its way closer and closer. Yes they lost to Harvard, but scored three tries. Yes they lost to Army, but scored three tries and showed some improvement on defense. Quinnipiac has to focus on little things here, little victories, because a) that's how they will win and b) even if they don't win this leads them into the second half of the season where the Bobcats could go 4-0. Confidence is where you find it.

Dartmouth, for their part, usually do a good job of not taking opponents lightly, and this is their home opener so ...

Famine would be Brown vs Army being postponed, with injuries and illness slamming the Brown lineup this game will be made up later. 

In the middle would be Princeton at Harvard, which looks at first glance to be a comfortable home win for the Crimson. Princeton has just started its NIRA journey and it's been a rough road so far. Again ... little victories. 

DIII and Non-Conference

Mighty Bowdoin hammered Colby last week. The result was officially 28-0 but unofficially 60-5 (Colby needed extra players and brought some from Colby-Sawyer). Nine different Polar Bears scored in that game. Now they face Castleton and Bowdoin has to be favored here, too.

These non-conference games spell out the improving quality of NIRA sides. West Chester, the other 2021 DII finalists, get their chance with Navy this week. Expect another tight one. Mount St. Mary's, having been hit hard by Harvard will play a doubleheader with rebuilding Long Island University and then perennial D1 contenders Virginia. Once again we get to see how the different divisions balance out.

Davenport vs Adrian is a development game, This is because Davenport has a ton of experience in high level women's college rugby and Adrian doesn't have much. But last year this was a competitive game (and the B-side clash was a tie). And also while Adrian did lose to Michigan 10-7 on September 7, they beat the Toledo Celts women's team 73-0 (!) last week.Gabby Jex scored four tries. Molly Cherry scored 23 points. So keep on eye on that game.