Dartmouth's Cavanaugh making comeback
With spring practice well underway for the Big Green, fifth-year senior strong safety Kyle Cavanaugh is glad to be back on the field after missing last season and is ready to compete for Dartmouth this upcoming fall.
Cavanaugh started his collegiate career with back-to-back starts before being forced to the sideline with an injury and missing the final eight games of the season. He showed his talent in that first game against Colgate with six tackles and an interception and followed that with nine stops against the University of New Hampshire a week later. Once again in 2006, he appeared in the first two games before suffering a leg injury that put him out the rest of the season.
This season Cavanaugh is grateful to be able to continue to play the game he loves."It's been a real blessing to be out there on the field this spring and to be healthy," said Cavanaugh. "I really haven't been healthy my entire time at Dartmouth. Coming in as a freshman I had a knee injury I was playing through and it's been one thing after another since that. It was frustrating and really broke me down, but I'm so thankful for it all because God used those injuries to draw me to Him and make Him my number one priority in life."
Dartmouth secondary coach Sammy McCorkle has praised Kyle for his mental toughness and his ability to move forward after missing all of last season due to unfortunate injury.
"Kyle
has done a very good job of not dwelling on the past with injuries and
is taking each day one at a time," said McCorkle. "He has learned from
experience how precious each play can be and plays full speed with each
one now. The winter and spring term in the weight room has played a
huge role in his recovery and in the way he is playing this spring."
Spring practice for the Big Green has had a new look on the defensive side with new concepts, and Cavanaugh says strength and conditioning has also been an improvement from a season ago.
"We've been putting in a new defense this spring, some new plays and concepts so we've really been working on getting that down," mentioned Cavanaugh.
"We've also been working a lot on our strength this off-season, and I think those results are pretty evident. The biggest thing for us though has been working on the mental aspect of the game -- focus and toughness."
With the disappointment of last season for the Big Green, Cavanaugh believes the pieces are in place for the defense to step up and play with the attitude that the team competes on every down and every minute of each game.
"The talent and athletes are there," said Cavanaugh. "We need to have the discipline to do our assignments, play with the proper technique, and take care of business off the field. We need to play with tenacity and have the attitude where we demand perfection from ourselves and play with a never-die attitude."
Cavanaugh mentioned that the team must come out and set the tone early with physical play and a mental toughness no matter the situation. "If someone makes a mistake, someone else step up and make the play," said Cavanaugh. "If one unit of the team is playing poorly, the others have to take it upon themselves to rally and keep us in the ball game."
The pieces are in place for Cavanaugh to make an impact in his final season. With all the work in the weight room and getting back in to game shape, he has high hopes that he will close out his career with the Big Green on a positive note.
Story courtesy of Dartmouth athletics.
Spring practice for the Big Green has had a new look on the defensive side with new concepts, and Cavanaugh says strength and conditioning has also been an improvement from a season ago.
"We've been putting in a new defense this spring, some new plays and concepts so we've really been working on getting that down," mentioned Cavanaugh.
"We've also been working a lot on our strength this off-season, and I think those results are pretty evident. The biggest thing for us though has been working on the mental aspect of the game -- focus and toughness."
With the disappointment of last season for the Big Green, Cavanaugh believes the pieces are in place for the defense to step up and play with the attitude that the team competes on every down and every minute of each game.
"The talent and athletes are there," said Cavanaugh. "We need to have the discipline to do our assignments, play with the proper technique, and take care of business off the field. We need to play with tenacity and have the attitude where we demand perfection from ourselves and play with a never-die attitude."
Cavanaugh mentioned that the team must come out and set the tone early with physical play and a mental toughness no matter the situation. "If someone makes a mistake, someone else step up and make the play," said Cavanaugh. "If one unit of the team is playing poorly, the others have to take it upon themselves to rally and keep us in the ball game."
The pieces are in place for Cavanaugh to make an impact in his final season. With all the work in the weight room and getting back in to game shape, he has high hopes that he will close out his career with the Big Green on a positive note.
Story courtesy of Dartmouth athletics.
