Looking Ahead

FCS Untapped has posted its preseason Ivy League forecast.

Green Alert Take: If there are any surprises it might be that Brown is in the fifth spot and Princeton is seventh, although you could argue neither is a stretch based on how last year finished. For what it's worth, this called a "poll," but no explanation is offered on who voted in the poll.

#

Kudos to the Ivy League for updating its football record book much earlier than usual, which allowed it to build a list of former Ivy players in NFL camps as they open.

Unfortunately, the only Dartmouth player listed is Delby Lemieux. Josiah Green '25 and Tyron Herring '23 were overlooked, perhaps because they were grad transfers at Duke and Delaware, respectively, and are listed as such by their teams.

Green Alert Take: Given the absence of Herring and Green on the list, it shouldn't be a surprise if there are at least a few more Ivy Leaguers in camps than listed below.

YALE (8)
Kiran Amegadjie, Bears

Nick Gargiulo, Broncos

Jackson Hawes, Bills

Foye Oluokun, Jaguars

Wande Owens, Bills

Joshua Pitsenberger, Texans

Rodney Thomas, Seahawks

Mason Tipton,  (Saints

HARVARD (6)

Anthony Firkser, Commanders

Truman Jones, Titans

Kyle Juszczyk, 49ers

Tyler Ott, Commanders

Jacob Rizy, Patriots

Chris Smith, Lions

PRINCETON (4)

Henry Byrd, Vikings

Stephen Carlson, Bears

Jalen Travis, Colts

Andrei Iosivas, Bengals

DARTMOUTH (3)

Delby Lemieux, Vikings

Josiah Green, Buccaneers

Tyron Herring, Browns

BROWN (2)

Michael Hoecht, Bills

Ty Pezza, Ravens

PENN (1)

Justin Watson, Texans

COLUMBIA (1)

Dante Miller, Giants

CORNELL (1)

Hunter Nourzad, Chiefs

#

EXTRA POINT
Did you know if you "right click" and drag on Google Maps, you can measure distances? You can trace a road on satellite view, or measure distances as the crow flies.

It's just another way to waste time on the computer. ;-)

In case you are curious, here is our view of Mount Moosilauke in winter:

So, how far is it from here to there as the crow flies? I wouldn't have a clue, but with help from Google Maps' satellite view, it's 15.25 miles.

Now go measure something. It's Saturday. You've got the time. ;-)

Accuracy Counts

 On a slow Friday, here are the top-10 passers in Ivy League history in terms of completion percentage (with a minimum of 220 completions):

Pct	C-A	Name	School	Yrs
70.3	220-313	Jackson Proctor	Dartmouth	2021-24
69.3	362-522	Derek Kyler	Dartmouth	2017-21
67.5	282-418	James Murphy	Brown	2023-
67.1	294-438	Liam O’Brien	Penn	2022-25
66.5	336-550	Jason Garrett	Princeton	1987-89
65.7	246-374	Kevin Davidson	Princeton	2016-19
65.2	230-353	Grayson Saunier	Dartmouth	2023-
65.1	627-963	Alex Torgensen	Penn	2013-16
64.8	651-1004	Gavin Hoffman	Penn	1999-01
64.5	655-1015	Chad Kanoff	Princeton	2013-17

Of note . . . 

• Dartmouth, Princeton and Penn dominate the top-10 with three QBs apiece.

• Given changes in offense, Princeton's Jason Garrett is the outlier, playing more than 35 years ago.

• Penn's Gavin Hoffman and Alex Jorgensen, and Princeton's Chad Kanoff piled up the attempts compared to others in the top-10.

#

An A to Z story headlined Ohio State fans claiming Tennessee went too far in landing David Gabriel Georges are forgetting or omitting a couple of important things  includes yet another mention of a potential Dartmouth target (LINK):

Ohio State upped the ante in their pursuit of Gabriel Georges back in June, whey they offered his friend and Baylor teammate Jordan Darren Djila Tchuisseu a scholarship.

To be clear, Darren Djila Tschuisseu's offer list includes the following programs: Georgia State, Kennesaw State, UT-Martin, and Dartmouth. Not one single Power Four offer to be seen. So it's pretty clear that Ohio State was willing to burn, effectively, two scholarships on one player. That's not insignificant by any means.

#

Have you missed daily Columbia and Ivy League coverage offered for years by Jake Novak on his Roar Lions blog? He's transitioned to audio reports, which might not be as easy to find. Here are a few of his more recent "takes:"

• Interview with Columbia head coach Jon Poppe (LINK)

• Analysis of that interview (LINK)

• Pre-release of newcomer list and mention of a new QB (LINK)

• A look at the Columbia freshman class (LINK)

• Musings on the full Columbia schedule (LINK)

Green Alert Take: If you are like me and prefer to scan text looking for nuggets of interest to read rather than listening through a whole program, there's a link below each recording with a transcript. It's not as convenient as a regular blog post, but if you'd rather read than listen, it's there.

#

Former Yale player Mason Shipp, who spearheaded the successful pitch that led to Ivy League football being allowed to participate in the FCS playoffs, has a video sharing why he believes bright and accomplished high school players should choose the Ivy League over playing in the Power 4:

#

When I was sports editor of the daily newspaper in Carlisle, Pa., Washington's NFL franchise (see what I did there?) held its preseason camp in town at Dickinson College. For a small paper, that was content gold. It also was fun to see the players around town and at local establishments like the venerable Gingerbread Man (which I discovered on our vacation in late spring still exits).

With NFL camps opening, this is the perfect time to revisit this short NFL Films piece narrated by John Facenda. It brings a smile to see it includes a quick clip of Carlisle:

NFL Summer, 52 Years Ago

John Facenda recounts the sights and sounds of training camp in 1974. pic.twitter.com/G5eNR3KdTF

— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) July 24, 2026

#

EXTRA POINT
We were part of a crowd of thousands who flocked to Lake Morey Country Club last night to watch Duluth, Minn., band Trampled by Turtles put on a rollicking show. 

Green Alert Take: I've encouraged former linebacker Gordy Quist '02 to think about bringing his Austin-based Band of Heathens to Lake Morey next summer. In our last exchange he said he's looking into it with his bandmate (and former teammate) Trevor Nealon as they approach their 25th reunion.

The Countdown Continues

Dartmouth opens the 2026 preseason exactly one month from today, on Aug. 22. As has been the case every season since 2005, BGA will feature extensive, in-person coverage from the start of preseason until the finale against Brown on BGA Overtime. Be sure to catch up on what you might have missed this spring sometime over the next month to be ready to go when coverage for the new season kicks off.

#

NFL Draft Yoda believes he may have discovered a gem in Chris Corbo '26, the Dartmouth tight end who grad transferred to Georgia Tech. Here are a couple of his thoughts from the video:

My big question, the big question everybody's going to have, is he coal? Is this coal or is this a diamond? You know, he shined at Dartmouth, but Dartmouth is not Georgia Tech. Dartmouth is not the NFL.

If Corbo goes to Georgia Tech and looks like the same player in the ACC that he did at Dartmouth, the NFL is going to notice and they're going to notice fast because 6-foot-5, 250 something pound tight ends who can block, catch, separate, and win contested catches don't stay hidden forever. 

And . . .

The only thing that's missing is the Power 4 proof. And that's what 2026 is about. If Corbo goes to Georgia Tech and proves that Dartmouth tape translates to the ACC, he will be a secret he won't be a secret for very long.

#

Remember that post back on June 21 about Ohio State offering a scholarship to a potential Dartmouth recruit? There was a lot of talk about the Buckeyes using the offer as a way to lure his high school teammate, friend and fellow Canadian to Columbus. (LINK) 

It turns out the ploy didn't work because running back David Gabriel Georges has chosen Tennessee over the Buckeyes. From an SB Nation story about the latest developments (LINK):

(M)ake no mistake: Ohio State wanted (Georges) BADLY, and they made some eyebrow-raising moves in the process as well. In addition to a seven-figure NIL offer, they offered a scholarship to Gabriel Georges' friend and teammate, Jordan Darren Djila Tchuisseu, a fellow native Canadian. That's something that Tennessee did not do, as Darren Djila Tchuisseu held offers from programs like Georgia State, Kennesaw State, UT-Martin, and Dartmouth. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out.

Green Alert Take: So you're saying there's a chance?

#

The Dartmouth helmets don't work, the field surface isn't accurate, the stadium isn't even close to accurate and you won't like the final score, but you might still get a kick out of watching a little of this video football game between the Big Green and Lehigh. Spoiler alert: Lehigh wins, 21-13 in this pre-creation.

#

Players of note chosen to the FCS Central preseason All-America first- and second-teams (LINK):

FIRST

RB - Luke Yoder (Lehigh)

TE - Ryder Kurtz (Cornell)

DB - Abu Kamara (Yale)

DB - Damien Henderson (Harvard)

SECOND

OL - Aidan Palmer (Lehigh)

DL - Ike Odimegwu (Brown)

LB - Sean Line (Harvard)

# 

EXTRA POINT
I mowed for the first time last night with the new blades I put on the tractor last week. I'm happy to report they didn't go flying off like boomerangs and come back to cause me harm, and they seemed to do a fine job cutting the grass. I'm still wondering if I put one of the spacers back on upside down, but so far, no harm, no foul.

And Another

Add to the growing list of Dartmouth commits who will play their final year of high school football this fall a tight end with an impressive offer sheet that includes FBS schools.

Announcing for Dartmouth is 6-foot-4, 225-pound Braeden Vetter of Williams High School and Burlington, N.C. In addition to Yale, Columbia and Brown, his offer sheet includes Memphis, Miami University, UNC Charlotte, Arkansas State, Liberty, Delaware, Mercer, Austin Peay, Furman, Campbell, The Citadel and Colgate. He's coming off a junior season in which he caught 19 passes for 265 yards and five touchdowns.

#

Since focusing on his Jake's Takes audio substack, we haven't heard much from longtime Roar Lions blogger Jake Novak, but he recently posted a 13-minute discussion of the 2026 Columbia schedule that you may find interesting. Here's a transcript of his comments on the fall's  matchup with the Big Green on the northern tip of Manhattan (LINK):

October 24th is Homecoming against Dartmouth, and that game will be at 1.30. Columbia likes to make the Homecoming game start a little bit later so that people have more time to arrive, enjoy the Homecoming festivities under the big tent. 

Objectively, Columbia does probably a better job at their Homecoming situation than any other school in the Ivy League. The other schools just sort of expect you to do it yourself. They have better tailgating opportunities anyway. Of course, Columbia doesn't really have much chance to do any kind of tailgating, with that small lot adjacent to the baseball field. So Columbia has got to do it for us. And they do. The way that they put the tent up, the way that they put together all the Homecoming festivities for families and for kids, they do a really great job. So that should be a fun day. 

October 24th, 1.30 p.m. kickoff against Dartmouth. And just as a little bit of a teaser, I may be picking Dartmouth to win the Ivy League this year.

So this could be a huge game on a lot of measures.

#

From a story in The Athletic headlined Thoughts on the Vikings’ 45 offensive players ahead of training camp (LINK):

Delby Lemieux, OL: The Dartmouth grad became one of the more interesting prospects at the Senior Bowl. Lemieux has NFL upside but requires sizable development.

#

The HERO Sports countdown to the FCS opener featuring the best players in the country recognized seven Ivy Leaguers among the first 36 players chosen, but none in the next 26. That streak ends with Penn safety Ty Cortes being selected for the number 37. Here's the list of Ivy Leaguers chosen to date (LINK):

96: Yale DT Jaylin Tate
86: Cornell TE Ryder Kurtz
85: Columbia WR Titus Evans
77: Harvard OL Spencer Doan
75: Penn OL Luke Sacchetti
71: Harvard OL Thomas O'Brien
64: Princeton OL Barrett Eddlemon
37: Penn S Ty Cortes

Dartmouth's best chance to have a player named might be No. 24 Harrison Keith, the All-America safety, although there will be running backs with big stats who might edge him out. Kicker Owen Zalc was honored at No. 35 before last season, but he's probably not going to repeat this summer.

#

Given the nature of the sport, it's hard to imagine the Harlem Globetrotters spawning a football equivalent so we'll close today with a look at the baseball equivalent featuring a former Dartmouth pitcher.

Right-hander Clark Gilmore '24 pitched at Notre Dame after collecting his Dartmouth degree and is now making people smile as a member of the Indianapolis Clowns, who play "Banana Ball." The Hartford Courant has a story on the Clowns and Party Animals playing three games in Connecticut this weekend and it centers around Gilmore, a Connecticut native. Find the story HERE, and Gilmore's Dartmouth bio HERE.

The Dartmouth had a Q&A with Gilmore this spring explaining how he came to play with the Clowns HERE. 

Earlier this fall a Gilmore trick pitch went viral on the internet. You may have to watch this twice to see how he delivers the ball:

#

EXTRA POINT
Before heading to the weekly concert last night at the little town south of us, I pulled up a YouTube video of the group that was performing. When we learned their concert would be inside I made sure we left early so we could claim a prime seat . . . in the back row.

See, the town hall the group would be playing in was small – and the speakers were not.

As sometimes happens, the concert drew only a fraction of the usual crowd but what surprised us was the number of young children and toddlers it included, most kitted out with hearing protection. Given that band's promotional materials said they had added nine children since they last performed together, it didn't take long to figure out who the kids belonged to.

Seeing that the band outfitted their kids with ear protection signaled to us that our decision to come early so we could sit as far from the speakers as we could was probably a smart one. And it was.

One Of 1000

Harrison Keith, Dartmouth's 6-foot, 205-pound senior safety from Fairfield, Conn., is one of 41 FCS players nationwide to be named to the Shriners Children's East-West Bowl 1000 watchlist for the Feb. 4, 2027 game in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Harrison Keith

Keith was a second-team, All-Ivy League selection last fall after he tied for the team lead with four interceptions and was fourth on the squad with 46 tackles. A third-team AP All-American, he was selected one of the Big Green's tri-captains in the spring and was awarded the program's Stubby Pearson Award for character, leadership, academic standing and performance on the football field.

Find Keith's Dartmouth bio HERE.

Also named to the Shriners watchlist is Chris Corbo '26, the former Dartmouth tight end now a grad transfer at Georgia Tech.

Other Ivy Leaguers among the 1,000:

• Ryder Kurtz (Cornell, TE)

• Samuel Musungu (Cornell, WR)

• Damien Henderson (Harvard, CB)

• Spencer Doan (Harvard, OT)

• Abu Kamara (Yale, S)

One other selection to the 1,000 who Dartmouth will face this fall is running back Luke Yoder of Lehigh.

#

Your mileage may vary, but you could have some fun with this one.

Assigning all returning first-team, All-Ivy League players five points, second-teamers three points and honorable-mention selections one, here's how Ivy League teams stack up for the fall:*

31 points – Harvard

21 points – Yale

20 points – Princeton

14 points – Brown

9 points – Dartmouth

8 points – Penn

3 points – Columbia

3 points – Cornell

* Does not take into account potential fifth-year returnees or players with eligibility remaining who have elected not to return.

#

Following up on last week's complaint about American sportscasters and sportswriters copying the English with sentences like "England are (unmistakably) through," this is from yesterday's newsletter from The Athletic:

Green Alert Take: No, I cannot see that text taking shape. What I could see is, "If Argentina gets to penalty kicks and wins . . . "

#

EXTRA POINT
This is from the ABC TV station in Manchester, N.H., and will bring a smile:

If that doesn't work for you click HERE to watch the video.

Plus One

The list of rising high school seniors announcing for Dartmouth has grown again. The latest addition is Foster Calloway, a 6-foot-2½, 265-pound defensive lineman from Burnsville, N.C. and Mountain Heritage High School.

Calloway chose Dartmouth over offers from Wesleyan, Middlebury, Lenoir-Rhyne, Ferrum, Missouri University of Science and Technology, UVA Wise and Minot State.

#

Here's the unofficial list of Big recruits so far, keeping in mind there may well be others BGA hasn't yet ferreted out:

DL Foster Calloway, 6-2½, 265, Mountain Heritage HS/Burnsville, N.C.
OL Oliver Costello, 6-5, 285, St. Paul's School/Plymouth, Mass.
RB Hezekiah Davis, 5-10, 185, Tampa Jesuit HS/Tampa, Fla.
LB Odin Erickson, 6-2, 222, Louis County HS/Mineral, Va.
DB Rowan Martin, 6-1, 180, Williston-Northampton/E. Longmeadow, Mass.
QB Webber Marx, 6-6, 210, St. Paul's School/Wellesley Mills, Mass
OL Henry Reagan, 6-3, 275, New Canaan HS/New Canaan, Conn.
QB Richmond Saunier, 6-2, 195, Lafayette HS/Lafayette, La.
DE  KJ Sims, 6-3, 192, Seckinger HS/Buford, Ga.
OL Brysen Terry, 6-6, 325, Webster Schroeder HS/Webster, N.Y.
LB Bobby Wakefield, 6-2, 220, Charlotte Country Day/Charlotte, N.C.

As always, additions and corrections are encouraged via the contact form over to the right.

#

Tom Friend has a terrific story in Sports Business Journal about the Rabil brothers – Mike '06 and Paul – and how their intertwined lives led them to start the Premier Lacrosse League. A lengthy piece worthy of the old Sports Illustrated, it begins this way:

Mike and Paul or Paul and Mike. It’s not important whose name comes first — although they did once almost come to blows over it — it’s whether, as blood brothers, they can make the Premier Lacrosse League last. One is quick-tempered (Mike), the other hot-tempered (Paul). One says he is pathologically optimistic (Paul), the other lives by the credo Only the paranoid survive (Mike). They are yin and yang, they are Mike and Paul or Paul and Mike Rabil. And, if they’re still sharing bedrooms 30 years later (for the sake of the bottom line), it’s all because of the townhome.

Find the story on SBJ HERE.

#

A story in the Analyst headlined For Openers, FCS Football Will Seek to Deliver on Week 0 Spotlight includes mention of two games on Aug. 29 featuring Dartmouth opponents – Lehigh and Monmouth.

From the column (LINK):

Week 0: Saturday, Aug. 29

Lehigh at Holy Cross – One of these two teams has won an outright or gained a share of the Patriot League title in nine of the past 10 seasons. 

Monmouth at Tennessee Tech – This first-time matchup features two of the FCS top-10 scoring offenses from a year ago. Monmouth will be under a head coach (Jeff Gallo) other than Kevin Callahan (33 seasons) for the first time.

#

A huge thank you to those who continue to support BGA and BGA Overtime. I've heard from a few of you in recent days and I want you to know how much I appreciate your help and kind words as I gear up for another season that begins with the first fall practices just over a month away.

#

EXTRA POINT
They are still a 5½-hour drive away but That Certain Dartmouth '14 and That Fellow Who Roots For A Baseball Team That Shall Not Be Named have come east.

After three-plus years at Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park and stops at Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Black Canyon (in addition to the Everglades and Alaska's Glacier Bay), TCD'14 has landed at Maine's Acadia National Park – sort of. She will continue working remotely in the park as the Bryce Canyon planner while That Fellow starts his now position at the crown jewel of eastern national parks.

It will be an adjustment for the couple, who have lived and worked in the mountain west for the better part of a decade, but we are happy to have them back in their native New England and excited for what the future will bring for them!

Interesting

It is a bit of an understatement to say that Ivy League football is not really known for its out-of-conference scheduling. That said, four Ivy games show up in an NCAA.com story headlined Top 25 nonconference games in the 2026 FCS season, and one of those happens to feature Dartmouth. From the story (LINK):

Week 3

• Dartmouth at Lehigh

• Harvard at New Hampshire 

The Ivy League enters the fray in Week 3 with Darmouth and Harvard facing some quality opponents. The Big Green didn't win a share of the Ivy last year, but are perennial contenders atop the conference. Harvard made the playoffs last year before a blowout loss in the first round. There's no better test for the two Ivy League contenders than Lehigh — last year's No. 5 seed — and a CAA-contending New Hampshire.

The other Ivy games mentioned:

Week 5
• Brown vs Rhode Island

Week 7
• Rhode Island at Yale

#

Former Dartmouth defensive lineman Josiah Green '25, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after one year as a grad transfer at Duke, talks about flattening the Tampa Bay Rays' mascot at a baseball game (1:02), about playing at Dartmouth and choosing where to grad transfer (2:52), about wanting to get into real estate and open his own gym (5:28), about why Ivy League players are valued in the grad transfer pool (6:50), about his "freak tendencies (8:53), about always being underestimated (16:12), about draft day (16:56), about ending up in Tampa Bay (19:33) and a lot more. 

Here's Green laying out the Rays' mascot:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Matthew Hewitt | Buccaneers Content (@bucstracker)

#

EXTRA POINT
I don't know about you, by I'm going to be glued to the TV today for an international sporting event. 

Yup, they are playing the final round of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on England’s northwest coast. Rooting hard for Sam Burns.

About the only thing that could make the day better is heavy rain and a stiff wind coming in off the Irish Sea as the leaders head for the back nine.

Anything else going on today?