Massey Says . . .

You know you've been waiting for this. Yup, it's time again for the . . .

Here's where the computer has for Ivy League and Dartmouth nonconference opponents in the overall FCS landscape (LINK):

16 Yale
22 Harvard

26 Lehigh

32 Monmouth

38 Dartmouth

53 Penn

55 Princeton

69 Brown

77 Columbia

78 Cornell

90 Merrimack

Here's how Massey has the Ivy League shaking down:

Yale 7-0

Harvard 6-1

Dartmouth 5-2

Princeton 4-3

Penn 3-4

Brown 2-5

Columbia 1-6

Cornell 0-7

Green Alert Take: Keep in mind, if there's one thing we've learned about the Massey Ratings over the years it is that they don't play favorites.

Massey has Dartmouth limping out to a 1-3 start but then going 5-1 the rest of the way for a 6-4 record overall and 5-2 in the Ivy League. Here are the game-by-game predictions for Dartmouth (with the machine's confidence in the result):

At Lehigh 28, Dartmouth 21 (66 percent confidence)

Monmouth 28, at Dartmouth 27 (51 percent)

At Dartmouth 28, Penn 23 (63 percent)

At Yale 30, Dartmouth 21 (74 percent)

At Dartmouth 31, Merrimack 17 (83 percent)

Dartmouth 27, at Columbia 21 (66 percent)

Harvard 28, at Dartmouth 25 (56 percent)

Dartmouth 24, at Princeton 21 (54 percent)

Dartmouth 28, at Cornell 22 (65 percent)

At Dartmouth 28, Brown 20 (71 percent)

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Silver and Black Pride, a site that follows the Las Vegas Raiders has a piece titled Summer Scouting: TE Rankings; Previewing possible 2027 Michael Mayer replacements in NFL Draft that has Dartmouth grad Chris Corbo, a grad transfer this fall, as its third-ranked tight end in the nation. From the writeup on Corbo (LINK):

Corbo is someone to know, and I may be a bit high on his ranking but I have faith. The former Dartmouth standout had 32 receptions, 315 yards, and 7 TD in 2024 then 45/516/4 in 2025. He has great size, incredible length, and he moves well for someone at his size as well. Corbo fires off the line of scrimmage, has a quick second step, and his explosiveness out of cuts is also exceptional which is where Corbo wins. He’s a high end route runner who uses his lower body agility, football IQ, and ability to diagnose coverages/leverage to his advantage. Corbo does a good job coming back tot he ball, has strong hands, and he can win majority of contested catches with good YAC skills as well. Corbo wins a ton in the run game, often off his athleticism but advanced technique, though there’s a question mark on his power profile. Corbo is someone to watch, and he has a chance to be a longtime NFL player, and may project best as an elite TE2.

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On the subject of grad transfers, the Wyoming News calls Teddy Gianaris '26, one of the "likely frontrunners heading into fall camp," at defensive end for the Cowboys. (LINK) 

A story out of South Dakota suggests the Coyotes' quarterback situation "appears to center around two experienced redshirt seniors," with one being Dartmouth grad Jackson Proctor '25. From the story (LINK):

After spending four seasons at Dartmouth, including a redshirt year, Proctor transferred to Northern Illinois last season but did not use a year of eligibility. Now entering his final collegiate season, Proctor arrives in Vermillion looking to seize the starting job.

And this from a preview of the Abilene Christian defensive line features a familiar name that I still have trouble spelling (LINK):

Dartmouth transfer Joe Onuwabhagbe was a Phil Steele 4th Team All-Ivy selection last year, posting 18 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, and 3 sacks.

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Yet another internet presence whose opinions you can buy or sell has this prediction for the FCS Playoffs this fall:

That's Yale as a 16-seed playing the Southern Illinois Salukis.

The same site has another Ivy among the "first four out:"

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EXTRA POINT
I began my first cross country bicycle ride in Seattle and the second in Los Angeles. I started on the West Coast for two primary reasons. First was the "myth" of the prevailing westerly winds. (I say "myth" because I've never forgotten fighting the wind blowing into my face through eastern Montana and much of North Dakota.)

The second reason for starting in the west was it made it much harder to give up. I mean, seriously, you have to get home somehow, right?

Atop the Beartooth Pass outside of Yellowstone

I bring that up because I had a dream last night that I was the proud owner of a fancy, new, high-tech bicycle, and set off on my third cross country ride. This time, however, I was riding from east to west.

I hadn't gotten very far when I awoke so I'm hoping I can daisy chain a few nights of dreams together and find out if the wind is an issue, and whether I indeed stick with it starting in the east.

Unfortunately, I'm more confident that I could handle the ride than that I will be able to resume the dream. ;-)

Closing In On It

For the record, Youngstown State had its first day of preseason camp yesterday (in anticipation of its Aug. 27 opener against Mercyhurst), the Ivy League will release its preseason poll next Monday, and the Ivy football media day will be the following Monday.

Dartmouth doesn't begin preseason camp until August 22, but your true sign that football – not that futbol stuff – is right around the corner would be this:

Dartmouth has a blurb about it annual Football 101 for kids on its website HERE.

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Four Dartmouth opponents in the preseason top-25? This poll has Lehigh at No. 13, Yale at 16, Harvard at 18 and Monmouth at 24.

But wait just a second . . .

I had to do a bunch of digging to find out that CSG refers to, uh,  College Sports Guys, whoever they are.

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The NCAA.com website, which should be a little more credible, posted a piece headlined 49 players to know for the 49th season of FCS football that includes four players Dartmouth will face this fall. (LINK):

Quarterback

• Dante Reno, Yale

• Frankie Weaver, Monmouth

Running Back

• Luke Yoder, Lehigh

Defensive Back

• Abu Kamara, Yale

In case you are wondering, the FCS began play in 1978 as Division I-AA and was renamed the Football Championship Subdivision in 2006. 

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EXTRA POINT

What really intrigues me about this graphic I stumbled across yesterday isn't so much when the artists, thinkers, leaders, "baddies" and more who are listed were alive, but who else was walking the earth at the same time. For example, did you know that Joan of Arc and Johannes Gutenberg were contemporaries? How about Sitting Bull and Dostoyevsky? Or Edgar Allen Poe and Karl Marx? Or Isaac Newton and Captain Kidd?

Click HERE for a clear version of the original graphic, but consider yourself forewarned you can waste a lot of time looking this thing over.

Agree To Disagree?

Your mileage may will vary regarding a USA250 piece from USA Today headlined The 10 greatest college athletes from New Hampshire ranked. (LINK)

Here's the list:

Reggie Williams, Dartmouth football

Red Rolfe, Dartmouth baseball

Joe Dudek, Plymouth State football

Jerry Azumah, New Hampshire football

Bob MacLeod, Dartmouth football

Rudy LaRusso, Dartmouth basketball 

Jay Fielder, Dartmouth football

Gail Koziara, Dartmouth basketball 

Jason Krog, New Hampshire ice hockey

Ricky Santos, New Hampshire football

For me, the most obvious overlooked athlete is runner Abbey D'Agostino '14, who won seven NCAA titles.

For a Dartmouth Alumni Magazine listing of what it considered in 2022 to be the school's top 15 men's and women's athletes, click HERE.

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Interestingly, Flo Sports, the streaming network that does not cover Ivy League football, has a piece headlined What You Should Know About Ivy League Football Heading Into 2026; Here's five things you should know ahead of the 2026 Ivy League football season. Among those five things (LINK):

Ivy League Offensive Player Of The Year Candidates
• Xaviah Bascon, Harvard RB
• Dante Reno, Yale QB
• Jaxton Santiago, Yale WR

Green Alert Take: I'd have to include Dartmouth QB Grayson Saunier on that list, and if Brown can win a few more games, quarterback James Murphy will have a shot with the numbers he will put up in that high-flying offense.

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Delby Lemieux '26 and Josiah Green '25 seem to be getting the most attention but Tyron Herring '23, who spent a couple of seasons as a grad transfer at Delaware, is in camp with the Cleveland Browns. Here he is working out with the Cleveland rookies. (LINK) The Packers and Patriots had previously signed Herring to contracts.

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Speaking of Green, the Bucs Wire had a piece several days ago headlined One Buccaneers sleeper to watch in each defensive position group and the former Dartmouth standout who spent a grad transfer season at Duke is the choice on the defensive line. From the story (LINK):

Green is the defensive line sleeper to monitor. Listed at 6-foot and 284 pounds, the rookie from Duke gives Tampa Bay another interior defender to evaluate during camp.

His challenge will be playing with consistent leverage, holding his ground against stronger offensive linemen and creating enough disruption to stand out in a crowded defensive front. Interior defensive linemen can be difficult to evaluate without pads, so Green’s most important work may come once the physical portion of camp begins and preseason games arrive.

If he can show toughness against the run and enough quickness to affect the pocket, he could earn a longer look.

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As for Lemieux, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which should have a better grasp of the Vikings roster than the various fan sites, has an early projection of the team's 53-man roster as training camps up. Here's how the paper of record sees the offensive line shaking out (LINK):

Offensive linemen (10)
T Christian Darrisaw, G Donovan Jackson, C Blake Brandel, G Will Fries, T Brian O’Neill, T Ryan Van Demark, C Michael Jurgens, G Joe Huber, T Caleb Tiernan, C Gavin Gerhardt

Waived: T Walter Rouse, G/C Vershon Lee, G/C Henry Byrd, OL Tomas Rimac, OL Tristan Leigh, OL Delby Lemieux

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And in case you are wondering Isaiah Johnson '22, who saw action in four games last fall with the Miami Dolphins, was released by the team in May after failing a physical following an ACL tear in December. A corner, Johnson spent two seasons as a grad transfer at Syracuse after collecting his Dartmouth degree.

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EXTRA POINT
Spotted this yesterday, and with the movie Coyote vs. ACME opening tomorrow (TRAILER) I thought those of you of a certain age would appreciate these rules established by Chuck Jones, who directed the original cartoons in which Wile E. Coyote chased  (LINK).

1. The Road Runner cannot harm the coyote except by going “Beep-beep!”

2. No outside force can harm the coyote—only his own ineptitude or the failure of the Acme products.

3. The coyote can stop any time—if he were not a fanatic. (Repeat: “A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim.”–George Santayana)

4. There may be no dialogue ever, except “beep-beep!” The coyote may, however, speak to the audience through wooden signs that he holds up.

5. The Road Runner must stay on the road —otherwise, logically, he would not be called “Road Runner."

6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters—the southwest American desert.

7. All materials, tools, weapons, or mechanical conveniences must be obtained from the Acme Corporation.

8. Whenever possible, gravity should be made the coyote’s greatest enemy.

9. The coyote is always more humiliated than harmed by his failures.

Summ, Summ, Summertime

With the "dog days of summer" upon us, Dartmouth football has posted a quick video showing why this isn't the worst place to spend the hottest days of the year:

Upper Valley Summers > anywhere else.#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/C7l6nifEg7

— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) July 25, 2026

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Among those who might agree is an Appalachian Trail "through hiker" who used the Memorial Field grandstands at Buddy Teevens Stadium to dry out his tent after grabbing rewards offered to AT through hikers by Lou's, Ramunto's and Red Kite candy. Find his daily diary entry about arriving in Hanover and visiting the stadium HERE.

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The Analyst has a story headlined Dateline Upset City: 10 Potential FCS vs. FBS Wins to Watch for in 2026. (LINK)

No game featuring an Ivy League team is listed, but not because they couldn't pull off an upset against a UMass or a Nevada, but for the most obvious reason: No Ivy League team is playing an FBS team again this year. Wouldn't it be fun if they were?

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For those of you following Bond Almand '26 on his bike ride to every NFL stadium, he's currently in Greenwood, S.C., heading toward Charlotte,. He's upped his average daily distance in the eight days since we last posted about him from 164.26 miles per day to 173.82 miles per day. He has biked almost 1,500 miles since we last checked up on him. Find his current position and route HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
One of the highlights of our trip on Route 66 last summer was a dreamy night at the iconic Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M. A video blogger and his "Pops" stayed at the vintage motel earlier this year and this clip was a reminder of how lucky we were to spend a night at the place last year, sitting in front of our room under the neon lights while music from the '40s wafted quietly over the property. Not only that, but we were able to charge our EV for free next door, where the Blue Swallow owner had installed a charger at a long "retired" filling station.

Check out the Blue Swallow:

And if you happen to watch the whole video, like the vloggers, we did enjoy a steak meal at The Big Texan (with the same musicians from the video singing to us) – no we did not try to eat the 72-ounce steak – and we also added paint to the cars at Cadillac Ranch. The Blue Hole and the world's largest totem pole were stops we made as well. Oh, and we also drove our car through the Route 66 sign in Grants, N.M.

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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

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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

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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)

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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.