That's A Wrap

The only real drama on the final day of the Ivy League season took place in Providence with none of the other three games going down to the wire. Here's the final roundup:

Yale 45, Harvard 28

Josh Pitsenberger ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns, Dante Reno completed 15-of-19 passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns, and Nico Brown caught eight balls for 189 yards as the Bulldogs claimed the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs with a commanding win over previously unbeaten Harvard. The win was the sixth in a row for Yale since a last-second loss at Dartmouth, and fourth in a row over the Crimson. The Bulldogs jumped out to a lead of 17-0 early in the second quarter and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way. They made sure by eschewing a field goal on the final play of the first half and giving the ball to Pitsenberger on the one-yard line for a touchdown that gave them a 31-14 lead going into the locker room. A Yale Bowl crowd of 52,497 saw the home team improve to 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the Ivy while dropping Harvard to 9-1 and 6-1. Jaden Craig threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Crimson.

Columbia 29, Cornell 12

The Lions’ Griffin Johnson carried 29 times for 203 yards and a touchdown to help Columbia snap a seven-game losing streak while claiming its fifth consecutive Empire State Bowl win. Michael Walters added 58 yards and a touchdown as Columbia pierced the Cornell defense with a season-high 253 yards on the ground. The Lions’ Justin Townsend collected 2.5 sacks to run his career total to 23, breaking the old school record of 22. A crowd of 3,212 at Schoellkopf Field saw Columbia improve to 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the Ivy League. Cornell finished out at 4-6 and 3-4.

Penn 17, Princeton 6

Jared Richardson had 12 catches for 95 yards to become just the sixth player in school history to top 1,000 yards in a season as the Quakers (6-4, 4-3 Ivy) scored 10 unanswered points in the second half to finish the year tied with Dartmouth for third in the Ivy League. Bisi Owens added five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown for Penn, which had dropped its last two games. Princeton (3-7, 2-5) was held to 227 yards of total offense with freshman wide receiver Josh Robinson collecting five passes for 68 yards. The Tigers closed out the season with five consecutive losses, with three of the games decided by three points each. Attendance for the finale at Franklin Field was 3,093.

New Hampshire 33, Maine 27

The Wildcats scored 24 points in the second quarter as they ran their winning streak to five games and kept their hopes alive for an FCS playoff berth. New Hampshire got four field goals from sophomore Nick Reed, including a school-record 55-yarder, as they retained the Brice-Cowell Musket, awarded each year to the winning of the border war between the rivals. UNH is now 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the CAA. Maine falls to 6-6 and 5-3. Attendance in Durham was 6,876.

Central Connecticut 35, Mercyhurst 28

The Blue Devils recovered a fumble at the Mercyhurst 12 early in the fourth quarter and quarterback Brady Olson made it hurt with an eight-yard  pass to Elijah Howard for the touchdown that clinched the NEC championship before 2,015 at CCSU. Howard finished with 163 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and four catches for 25 yards and the touchdown through the air. The NEC title is the Blue Devils’ second in a row and fourth in the last eight years. Central Connecticut improved to 8-4 overall and 6-1 in the NEC while Mercyhurst fell to 5-7 and 4-3.

Merrimack 27, Fordham 26

The Warriors scored two touchdowns in the final 7:53, including the game winner with 2:56 remaining to thrill a crowd of 1,964 in North Andover. Trailing by 13 points entering the fourth quarter, Merrimack cut into the Rams' lead with a 66-yard touchdown pass before picking off a pass on the first play of the ensuing Fordham drive at the visitors’ 29.  A five-yard touchdown pass then gave the Warriors the lead before a strip sack with 1:53 remaining ended the Rams’ hopes of salvaging the win. Fordham finished the season 1-11 overall and 1-6 in the Patriot League. Playing as an independent, Merrimack stopped a five-game slide and closed out at 4-8.

And your final standings:

Editor's Note: Although Yale defeated Harvard to claim the Ivy League's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, the Crimson is listed first in these standings. The second factor in determining the order in which the teams are listed is overall record. That's why Dartmouth is listed ahead of Penn, and Brown ahead of Princeton. 

#

EXTRA POINT

Griff the Wonder Dog is an absolute hero. We left the house at 6 a.m., yesterday and didn't arrive home until 8 or so, and it was no issue. We opened the door when we got home and Griff rushed out to quickly take care of business before rushing back inside equally fast for his delayed dinner. That out of the way, he headed back out to finish things off and sniff around for a bit before coming back inside to fall asleep in front of the TV while we watched a replay of Penn State's win over Nebraska.

We were about halfway through that game when Griff stood, headed to the stairs, and retired for the night in his bed. We still had a half of football left but the old boy knows when he's done for the day and called it quits. Gotta love that guy.

This Is It

Today's schedule:

Harvard at Yale, Noon

Princeton at Penn, 1 p.m.

Columbia at Cornell, 1 p.m.

Also . . .

Fordham at Merrimack, Noon

Mercyhurst at Central Connecticut, Noon 

Maine at New Hampshire, 1 p.m.

# 

Find Dartmouth's game notes HERE.

#

The BGA Dartmouth-Brown preview headlined Eyes On Brown, Ears On Harvard-Yale can be found HERE.

#

Heading for Providence in a few minutes.

For those of you new to this electronic precinct, the deal Mrs. BGA and I worked out years ago is this:

• I drive to the game.

• As a huge breakfast fan, she gets to pick where we eat.

• I sit in the back of the car with my laptop and headlamp writing the game story while she drives home.

Given that we've got to get on the road, that's it for today.

#

EXTRA POINT

In case you are wondering, breakfast will be at the famous Modern Diner in Pawtucket, less than 10 minutes from Brown Stadium. As the website says, the Modern diner "was chosen to be the first diner in the nation to be accepted on the National Register for Historic Places."

Want to see why Mrs. BGA has the Modern Diner on her radar every other year? Check out the breakfast presentations HERE. They look almost too nice to eat.

A Day Away

Brown's notes for Saturday's game have been posted. Dartmouth's should go up later today.

Click HERE to view Brown's notes.

#

Same standard, same fire. Coach McCorkle talks Brown and closing the regular season the right way.#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/WD98Ud6lh8

— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) November 20, 2025

#

The BGA Overtime preview of Green-Brown Tussle will go up this evening. 

#

Here's what the "Big Green and Black" will be wearing at Brown:

Graphic courtesy of Dartmouth

#

HERO Sports has predictions for two games with playoff implications HERE. From the posting:

Dartmouth at Brown

Dartmouth is 7-2 with two currently-ranked wins over UNH and Yale. The Big Green will have an argument for the playoffs if it wins an eighth game on Saturday. 

Prediction: Dartmouth 31-21

And . . .

Harvard 24-17

Finally, “The Game” has FCS playoff implications. 

Harvard is 6-0 in Ivy League play, while Yale is 5-1. The winner on Saturday earns the auto-bid. If Yale were to win, the Ivy League’s chances of being a multi-bid league increase with Harvard likely getting an at-large bid at 9-1. If Yale loses, it likely won’t make the playoffs at 7-3 with a head-to-head loss to Dartmouth, who could potentially hit eight wins. A 10-0 Harvard team looks to have a shot at a Top 8 seed.

Bubble teams should be rooting for Harvard.

And their prediction: Harvard 24-17. 

#

CNN reporter Harry Enten, a Dartmouth grad, has a piece titled The nerds will finally go to the college football playoffs HERE.

#

At the conclusion of the final (?) practice of the fall yesterday, head football trainer Ben Schuler announced that Zyion Freer-Brown, a 6-foot-1, 240-pound senior linebacker from Lorain, Ohio, has been chosen the 2025 winner of the Hard-Nose Award.

From the description of the honor Freer-Brown won:

"Chosen by the Athletic Training Staff, the recipient of this award that has fought through hardship the right way in conjunction with the Athletic Trainers and contributed to the team!"

Freer-Brown has overcome a heart issue, a broken ankle, a foot injury and AC joints problems to lead the Big Green in tackles this fall with 75.

All-Time Hard-Nose winners: 

2025 – Zyion Freer-Brown
2024 – Nick Marinaro, Kyle Brown

2023 – Sam Koscho

2022 – Nick Howard

2021 – Donald Carty

2021 – Tanner Cross

2019 – David Chalmers

2018 – Andrew Yohe

2017 – Darius George

2016 – Flo Orimolade

2015 – Eric Wickham

2014 – AJ Dillione

2013 - Chase Womack, Elliot Kastner

2012 - Garrett Wymore

2011 - John Gallagher

2010 - Luke Hussey

2009 - Peter Pidermann

2008 - Joe Battaglia

2007 - Taylor Layman

2006 - Joe Gibalski

2005 - Charles Ganske

2004 - Derham Cato

2003 - Lyle Campbell

2002 - Bob Reeves

2001 - Matt Mercer

2000 - Dan Hutchinson

1999 - Tom Reusser

1998 - Kyle Rogers

1997 - Keith Lockwood

1996 - Jeff Schmitt

1995 - Taran Lent

1994 - Josh Bloom

1993 - Chris Umscheid

1992 - Neal Martin

1991 - Al Rosier

1990 - Tim Meier

1989 - Harris Siskind

1988 - David Gazzaniga

1987 - Lance High

1986 - John Randolph

1985 - Slade Schuster

1984 - Harry Bourque

1983 - Mark Pare

1982 - Gary Spiegelman

1981 - John Merriman

1980 - Tom Marek

1979 - John Clark

1978 - Nigel Key

1977 - Dave Casper

1976 - Jim Lucas

1975 - Dan Murphy

1974 - Brian Wroczynski

1973 - Rick Gerardi

1972 - Doug Jaeger

1971 - Brendan O’Neill, Stu Simms

1970 - Giff Foley

Zyion Freer-Brown shares the moment with his "brothers" after winning the award.

#

EXTRA POINT

I do not have Sirius radio in my car, but maybe once a year the service goes live for several weeks to try to tease me into subscribing. Good luck with that.

I hit the Sirius button yesterday to see if there was an ongoing trial ahead of tomorrow's long drive to Providence. There wasn't. Instead, the service was running an ad bragging that if you take out a subscription you can get "ad-free music channels." I had to laugh.

Maybe music channels are "ad-free," but I'm here to tell you the sports channels weren't during the trials I've had. Ten minutes of someone talking about a "nasal irrigation system" was enough to turn me off the radio – and probably Sirius forever. Ewww.

To the Playoff or Not to the Playoff? That is the Question

No game notes posted yet so we lead off today with what the Wise Guys think this week.

Per FanDuel, Dartmouth is favored at Brown by 7½ points.

Also . . .

• Harvard is an 8½-point favorite at Yale.
• Penn is a 4½-point home favorite against Princeton.
• Cornell is a 7½-point home favorite against Columbia.

#

The boiling hop topic for the next few days is Dartmouth's chance to land an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs.

To start, here's what Craig Haley of StatsPerform wrote (LINK). And yes, italics are mine. ;-)

The Ivy League’s first-ever automatic bid to the FCS playoffs will go to the winner of No. 8 Harvard (9-0, 6-0) at Yale (7-2, 5-1) – the 141st edition of The Game, but first played 150 years ago on Nov. 13, 1875. Harvard would surely get an at-large bid if Yale claims the auto-bid. If the Crimson complete a perfect season, the door could open for Dartmouth (7-2, 4-2) to gain an at-large bid, as it owns wins over Yale and fellow playoff hopefuls New Hampshire and Central Connecticut State.

#

FCS Football Central on SI.com sees the Ivy League playoff picture this way (LINK):

Locks: Harvard

Harvard moves into "Lock" status after a dramatic win over Penn, moving the Crimson to 9-0 overall. Even if the Crimson loses to Yale this weekend, a 9-1 Harvard team will still have the resume to make the field as an at-large. With a win, the Crimson will have a solid case to receive one of the final Top 8 seeds at 10-0 overall. Harvard would also win the Ivy League championship outright with a victory on 

Should Be In: None

Work To Do: Dartmouth, Yale

Yale is the only team in the conference that can make the field as an auto bid. A win over Harvard would earn the Bulldogs a share of the conference title and secure an automatic bid to the playoffs. With a loss, Yale would be eliminated at 7-3 overall.

Dartmouth got some much-needed help this weekend and is on a trajectory to possibly be one of the last four teams in the field. The Big Green will face Brown this weekend and have a chance to finish 8-2 overall. They also hold a head-to-head win over New Hampshire and the potential NEC champion in Central Connecticut State. They will still need some help, but don't overlook this team making the field on Selection Sunday.

The biggest change since last week is Harvard's moving into the "Lock" category.

#

A reporter for WDAY-TV, the ABC television affiliate in Fargo, N.D. predicts good news for Dartmouth if Harvard defeats Yale (LINK): 

• Sacramento State (7-4) at UC Davis; win and likely in, lose and out

• UC Davis (7-3); win and in, lose and will be sweating

• Northern Arizona (7-4); win and in

• William and Mary (7-4); win and hope

• New Hampshire (7-4); win and be right on the bubble (possibly team number 25)

• Dartmouth (7-2); win and in (they have win over NewHampshire

• Youngstown State (7-4); win and in

• North Dakota (7-4); win and in (Have win over Youngstown)

• South Dakota State (7-4); win and in

• Austin Peay (7-4); win and in

This site, like several others, has Dartmouth facing off against Rhode Island with the winner going on to play No. 6 Tennessee Tech.

#

A word of caution for those who consider the Dartmouth-Yale debate for an at-large bid a slam dunk based entirely on the Big Green defeating Yale on a 51-yard field goal with no time left. This from Stewart Mandel, editor-in-chief of college football coverage for The Athletic is with regard to the FBS playoffs but is worth considering:

I’ve always felt head-to-head results matter, but they come in all shapes and sizes. Going to another team’s stadium and beating them carries more weight with me than beating them at home. Losing on a last-second field goal is a lot more excusable than losing by 21. 

Green Alert Take: Dartmouth's wins over New Hampshire (7-4) and likely playoff team Central Connecticut (7-4) are surely of greater value than Yale's wins over Holy Cross (2-9) and Stonehill (3-8). The Big Green's final nonconference win over Fordham (1-10) doesn't help the resume and Yale's loss at  Lehigh (11-0) shouldn't be that damaging.

Green Alert Take II: This year's schedules were made up before the Ivy League knew it would be allowed to participate in the FCS Playoffs. It will be interesting in coming years to see if any of the schools move to play a more difficult schedule to improve either their seeding as Ivy champion, or chances for an at-large bid to the playoff.

#

A link to this full Dartmouth Visited (1956) video popped into my in box yesterday. While this site has posted a link to this film before, this time around we'll go directly to perhaps the most interesting part  for visitors to this electronic precinct:

#

EXTRA POINT

Speaking of my "in" box, an email arrived from a local fuel oil rewards program this week offering a little help at the pump. The subject line of the email read:

Did you remember to use your 10¢/gal bonus?

We didn't forget. We'll be stopping by in the next week or so to gas up the 1984 VW poptop camper bus before putting it away for the winter.

And the next time we buy gas? Being EV drivers, that won't be until we pull the VW out of storage in the spring and take it on its first long drive of 2026. ;-)

In The Running

Harvard's dramatic win over Penn Saturday eliminated Dartmouth from the Ivy League race but the Big Green is solidly in the running for a berth in the FCS playoffs. Here's where Dartmouth's stands per three outlets.

#

FCS Football Central (LINK)

Last Four In:

Lamar

Northern Arizona

Southeastern Louisiana

Dartmouth

First Four Out:

South Dakota State

New Hampshire

Gardner-Webb

William & Mary

Interestingly, look who FCS Football Central has Dartmouth playing if it advances! 

Click bracket to enlarge it.

From the accompanying story:

Dartmouth is the final team in the field in these projections, finishing 8-2 overall. They will have the head-to-head win over New Hampshire, which is also on the bubble, along with a win over Central Connecticut State, which is in the field as the NEC champion. If I were the committee, I would take an 8-win Dartmouth over a 7-5 SDSU on a five-game losing streak.

#

HERO Sports put Dartmouth in the second group (LINK).

First Four Out:

Ordered from the best chance to make the bracket out of this group to the worst chance.

25. South Dakota State

26. Dartmouth

27. New Hampshire

28. Southern Utah

#

From Football Scoop (LINK)

Ivy League

The 141st Game between Harvard and Yale will decide the 69th Ivy League championship and the grand old conference's first FCS playoff bid. It would be better for the conference's hopes of advancing if Harvard won; the Crimson are 9-0 and in line for a top-16 seed, which means a home game in the first round and perhaps even the second depending on what happens elsewhere this weekend. Yale is 7-2 and, due to the Ivy's lack of general schedule strength, not on the radar for an at-large bid. Problem is: Yale has won three straight and six of the last eight, including a 34-29 upset in Cambridge that cost the Crimson an outright Ivy League title. Dartmouth, with a win over likely NEC champ Central Connecticut and 7-4 New Hampshire, has a better shot at an at-large than Yale. 

Champ: Harvard/Yale winner

At-large: Harvard (if it loses to Yale)

On the Bubble: Dartmouth

#

A posting out of Dartmouth:

The writing at the bottom is small so here's a little help. The last time Dartmouth had two players with 10 or more touchdowns in the same season it was tailback Greg Smith and quarterback Jon Aljancic, who each had 10 while helping the Big Green go 10-0 in 1996.

#

At the end of yesterday's posting about the Ivy Leaguer player of the week honors, I wrote the following in regard to the conference offering absolutely no information on what the players accomplished to earn the honor:

Green Alert Take: As usual this fall, the Ivy League release offered no information on what each of the players of the week did to earn the distinction. Sorry, but that's a failure by the league office.

That came to mind this morning when my "in box" included something about a former Dartmouth player being named the offensive player of the week at his current school. While the Ivy League office couldn't be bothered to do anything more than list names, here's how the Division III Middle Atlantic Conference office recognizes its players of the week:

Logan Klitsch (Lebanon Valley / Jr., QB / Robesonia, Pa.) accounted for all five touchdowns in Lebanon Valley’s 38–35 rivalry win at Albright, securing the Dutchmen a berth in the Bowl Series. The junior threw for a career-high 321 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 78 yards and another score. He then engineered a 10-play, 71-yard drive in the final 1:34 to set up the game-winning 25-yard field goal as time expired.

Green Alert Take: The Ivy League needs to do better.

#

This week's Sagarin Ratings among all DI teams, with last week's rating in

parentheses:

104 Harvard (98)

141 Yale (138)

157 Dartmouth (157)

188 Princeton (186)

190 Penn (198)

203 Cornell (199)

211 Brown (213)

232 Columbia (231)

144 New Hampshire (153)

199 Central Connecticut (196)

252 Fordham (250)

Sagarin has Dartmouth favored over Brown by 6 points. The service has Harvard as a 2½-point favorite at Yale.

#

Massey Ratings of only FCS teams with last week's rating in parentheses:

7 Harvard (7)

24 Yale (29)

28 Dartmouth (30)

47 Penn (51)

62 Princeton (54)

66 Cornell (68)

67 Brown (74)

90 Columbia (87)

Massey has Dartmouth winning at Brown, 31-24, with 70 percent confidence. And Massey has Harvard winning at Yale, 30-27, with 60 percent confidence.

#

Do not think winning isn't important at Dartmouth or in the Ivy League. Something like this doesn't happen nearly as often as it does in big-time schools, but the Big Green is making a "leadership change" in the men's soccer program. The college has announced that coach Bo Oshoniyi is being let go after posting a 34-55-20 overall record and a 17-25-7 Ivy mark over seven years at the helm.

#

EXTRA POINT

I received an email yesterday informing me that the book I borrowed from the Vermont state library on my Kindle is due in a couple of days. Given that today is the only day of the week when I don't post to BGA Overtime, I'll probably have time to finish it today. If not, I'll turn off wifi on the Kindle and the book will still be available until I turn the wifi back on, at which point it will disappear. I wasn't sure that was OK when I learned the trick several years ago before I found this online about what happens at the due date:

"The license automatically expires on the library’s servers and the loan is considered returned when the due date hits. The book is returned to the next person in line immediately — regardless of whether your Kindle is connected to wifi. Your Kindle will still show the book until it reconnects, but the file is basically a 'dead' copy."