This Is Big

BREAKING . . .

As of this posting, Jake Novak's Roar Lions site covering Columbia football hasn't updated. Be sure to click through to Jake's "Breaking News Podcast" later this morning for a development of significant interest to all Ivy League football fans. Access the podcast through the Roar Lions site HERE. 

10 a.m. UPDATE: The post has gone live HERE.

Editor's Note: Jake was kind enough to share the news with me this morning. Sorry for the tease, but he did the leg work so it's his news to break. I'll have a thought or two tomorrow. I can tell you this much: You will be pleased with what he reports.

#

On three consecutive days last month, BGA posted charts listing the full 2026 Dartmouth offensive, defensive and special teams players, as well as players lost to graduation. (Those charts started HERE.)

Today, a look at the final Big Green depth chart for last year's game at Brown. Year in school and measurements are from last fall. Graduated seniors are denoted this way.

OFFENSE
Wide Receiver
2 Nick Lemon (5-11, 200, Jr.)
83 James Elliott (6-2, 210, So.)
Left Tackle
75 Delby Lemieux (6-4, 295, Sr.)
60 Julian Sutton (6-4, 300, So.)
Left Guard
77 Cam Davenport (6-4, 345, Jr.)
68 Francisco Caballero (6-3, 300, Jr.) or
78 Godson Ajoku (6-5, 330, Jr.)
Center
66 Maxwell Wentz (6-4, 295, Sr.)
74 Michael Betsy (6-4, 295, Sr.)
Right Guard
69 Konstantin Spörk (6-5, 305, Sr.)
55 Max Livingston (6-3, 285, Jr.)
Right Tackle
72 Vasean Washington (6-5, 285, Sr.)
71 Will Prince (6-5, 275, Jr.)
Tight End
7 Chris Corbo (6-5, 250, Sr.)
89 Sean Ward (6-5, 255, Sr.)
Quarterback
16 Grayson Saunier (6-2, 215, Jr.)
13 Woods Ray (6-2, 210, Jr.) 
Running Back
15 D.J. Crowther (5-11, 215, Sr.)
10 Desmin Jackson (5-10, 185, Sr.)
Wide Receiver
19 Grayson O'Bara (6-1, 190, Sr.)
82 Jonathan Nelson (5-9, 185, Jr.)
Wide Receiver 
85 Ky'Dric Fisher (6-0, 185, So.)
14 Luke Rives (5-11, 175, So.)

DEFENSE
End
93 Jabari Johnson (6-3, 260, Sr.)
44 Joshua Johnson (6-2, 265, Jr.)
Nose Guard
1 Dakota Quiñonez (6-1, 285, Sr.)
97 Keoni Perkins (6-3, 255, Jr.)
End
94 Joe Onuwabhagbe (6-2, 265, Sr.)
95 Bruce Williams (6-2, 250, Jr.)
Strong Side Linebacker
51 Thaddeus Gianaris (6-2, 240, Sr.)
57 Cameron Lee (6-5, 235, Jr.)
Middle Linebacker
53 Nico Schwikal (6-3, 235, Sr.)
33 Johnny Riley (6-2, 215, So.) (or)
52 Sean Chester (6-3, 230, So.)
Weak Side Linebacker
0 Zyion Freer-Brown (6-1, 240, Sr.)
50 Steve Simpkins Jr. (6-2, 230, Jr.)
Nickel
13 Tyson Grimm (6-1, 215, Sr.)
22 Samuel Washington (6-3, 205, Jr.)
Corner
5 Patrick Campbell (6-0, 195, Jr.)
3 Jamal Cooper (5-11, 190, Sr.)
Strong Safety
9 Sean Williams (5-9, 190, Sr.)
8 Cameron Best-Alston (6-3, 215 Jr.)
Free Safety
24 Harrison Keith (6-0, 205, Jr.)
26 No'Koi Maddox (6-1, 205, So.)
Corner
27 Niquis Ratcliff (6-2, 195, So.)
12 Thai Brown (5-11, 175, So.) 

SPECIAL TEAMS
Placekicker
35 Owen Zalc (5-10, 165, Jr.)
5 Julian Coviello (5-10, 200, Jr.)
Holder
13 Woods Ray (6-2, 210, Jr.)
16 Grayson Saunier (6-2, 215, Jr.)
Kickoffs
37 Matisse Weaver (5-10, 200, Jr.)
35 Owen Zalc (5-10, 165, Jr.)
Kickoff Return
14 Luke Rives (5-11, 175, So.)
10 Desmin Jackson (5-10, 185, Sr.)
Punt Return
9 Sean Williams (5-9, 190, Sr.) or
4 Ian Scott (5-11, 175 Jr.)
Punter
36 Luke Armistead (6-1, 190, So.)
35 Owen Zalc (5-10, 165, Jr.)
Long Snapper
31 Andy Belles (6-3, 205, Jr.)
89 Sean Ward (6-5, 255, Sr.)

Green Alert: Keep in mind that depth charts aren't always accurate. Much more helpful would be snap counts, but those are unavailable to the public.

#

HERO Sports continues its dog days of summer content with its best players at various positions and for the second year in a row, the best tight end in the nation per the outlet is from the Ivy League.

Last year it was Dartmouth's Chris Corbo, who parlayed a big season into a grad transfer to Georgia Tech. This year the tight end recognized as the best in the country is Cornell's Ryan Kurtz. From the HERO writeup (LINK):

Kurtz is a two-year All-American and All-Conference selection entering his senior season. He tallied 36 receptions for 441 yards and four touchdowns in 2024, earning AP All-American Honorable Mention and All-Ivy League Honorable Mention accolades. Last season, the 6-foot-5 and 233-pounder was named to the All-Ivy League Second Team and earned All-American honors from the AP, Stats Perform, and FCS Football Central after hauling in 44 receptions for 523 yards and four touchdowns. Kurtz graded out as PFF’s No. 10 FCS tight end.

 Seamus Gilmartin of Harvard is ranked the No. 3 tight end in the nation and Brown's comes in at No. 18.

Other Ivy Leaguer's ranked to date by HERO:

Offensive line
10. Thomas O’Brien, Harvard
13. Spencer Doan, Harvard
16. Barrett Eddlemon, Princeton
28. Justin Selbert, Princeton

Wide Receiver
6. Samuel Musungu, Cornell
11. Brady Blackburn, Harvard

Linebacker
6. Sean Line, Harvard
19. Phoenix Grant, Yale
26. Chase Christopher, Princeton

Zyion Freer-Brown, the former Dartmouth standout now at The Citadel, was ranked No. 23 at linebacker.

#

Also in the news, Yale safety Abu Kamara is one of 5 Preseason Favorites For The 2026 Buck Buchanan Award emblematic of the nation's best defensive player at the FCS level. From the story (LINK):

Kamara is an elite safety who got his chance to shine in the postseason last year. In the two playoff games, Kamara had 11 total tackles, tallied three pass breakups at Youngstown State, and had two forced fumbles and two pass breakups at Montana State. In 12 total games, he recorded 76 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, two interceptions, and 13 pass breakups. Kamara was named to the All-Ivy League First Team and was the Ivy League’s Defensive Player of the Year. He also earned a spot on a few All-American teams.

# 

EXTRA POINT
It was right around this time of year back when we lived on the shoulder of Moose Mountain that I would return a book to our little Etna town library and warn the librarian, "I'll see you at the end of November."

I do most of my reading on a Kindle these days, but Ivy League previews and Dartmouth football will still take precedence in another week or so. I'm just hoping none of my e-book "holds" come through before Thanksgiving, or I may lose my place in the queue.

All Good

It's grad transfer update day, and there's big news on three fronts.

#

The hype train for former Dartmouth tight end Chris Corbo '26 is picking up steam. The grad transfer at Georgia Tech has been named a nominee for the Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end before playing a down at the FBS level. From the STORY:

In his first season at Georgia Tech as a graduate transfer from Dartmouth, Corbo was a two-time first-team NCAA Division I FCS All-American as a member of the Big Green (2024 and 2025). The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder caught 86 passes for 912 yards and 13 touchdowns in three seasons at Dartmouth, including 45 receptions for 516 yards and four scores during his second-straight All-America campaign in 2025. He caught 32 passes for 315 yards and a career-high seven touchdowns when he was named All-America for the first time in 2024.

Off the field, Corbo graduated from the Ivy League school in three-and-a-half years with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and is pursuing an MBA at Georgia Tech.

#

Former Dartmouth corner Jordan Washington '25, who spent last season at Stanford, has been signed by the Seattle Seahawks after spending time with the team during the spring as an undrafted free agent. From a story HERE:

Before transferring to Stanford, Washington played four seasons at Dartmouth. He appeared in 28 games over his final three seasons there and accumulated 72 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 20 passes defensed. He also recorded his first college interception in Dartmouth’s 2024 finale against Brown and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown.

Stanford listed Washington at 6 feet and 200 pounds, giving him useful size for an outside cornerback. Available 2025 statistics credit him with eight tackles and two pass breakups during his final college season.

His overall production does not guarantee anything in Seattle, but 20 pass breakups at Dartmouth point to the trait the Seahawks will want to evaluate most closely: whether Washington can consistently contest throws against NFL receivers.

#

Former Dartmouth linebacker Joe Heffernan '22, who overcame a lot in his Dartmouth football career, has joined the University of Georgia coaching staff as a defensive quality control assistant.

Heffernan led Dartmouth in tackles with 98 in 2022, making the All-Ivy League second team and receiving the Lester Godwin Award as the "senior football player who, through extraordinary perseverance, has risen above personal disadvantage to contribute measurably to the team."

After graduating with a degree in economics he spent one season at Duke, earning an MS degrees in Management from the Fuqua School of Business. He then went to the University of Louisiana for two years as the senior defensive analyst for the Sun Belt program.

Find a story I wrote about the challenges Heffernan faced at Dartmouth HERE.

#

EXTRA POINT
Each year I pull together charts on each Dartmouth opponent for BGA. I have them on a spreadsheet that calculates percentages and averages. Pretty basic stuff.

You'd think as year 21 of BGA approaches when I pull up the spreadsheets I'd remember how to update them. Think again.

Ever since taking Fortan IV in college I've enjoyed worth with computers, but when I dug the spreadsheets out earlier this week in anticipation of preseason it was as if I'd never seen them before. Oh well. Look for them in a couple of weeks on BGA Overtime.

The List So Far

As promised yesterday, here are Dartmouth commitments that have been posted on BGA, listed this time by anticipated position.

Offensive Line

Brysen Terry, 6-6, 325, Webster Schroeder HS/Webster, N.Y.

Henry Reagan, 6-3, 275, New Canaan HS/New Canaan, Conn.

Oliver Costello, 6-5, 285, St. Paul's School/Plymouth, Mass.

Tight End

Braedon Vetter, 6-4, 225, Williams HS/Burlington, N.C.

Running Back

Chance Lassiter, 5-11, 195, Boswell HS/Fort Worth, Texas

Hezekiah Davis, 5-10, 185, Tampa Jesuit HS/Tampa, Fla.

Quarterback

Richmond Saunier, 6-2, 195, Lafayette HS/Lafayette, La.

Webber Marx, 6-6, 210, St. Paul's School/Wellesley Mills, Mass.

Defensive Line

Tiger Xiong, 6-4, 235, Governor's Academy/Beijing, China

Foster Calloway, 6-2½, 265, Mountain Heritage HS/Burnsville, N.C.

Defensive End/Edge

KJ Sims, 6-3, 192, Seckinger HS/Buford, Ga.

Linebacker

Bobby Wakefield, 6-2, 220, Charlotte Country Day/Charlotte, N.C.

Odin Erickson, 6-2, 222, Louis County HS/Mineral, Va.

Defensive Back

Rowan Martin, 6-1, 180, Williston-Northampton School/East Longmeadow, Mass.

Editor's Note: Positions are per commitment graphics. Corrections and new names are encouraged.  If you have a new name or corrections to send along, click HERE and your email client will bring up a new email addressed to me with the subject line Recruiting. I'll make the changes or additions anonymously. Thanks!

#

The Ivy League has announced the format for its Aug. 10 virtual media day and you will be able to watch it on X Live. Find an Ivy League release HERE. You can view the media day HERE.

Representing Dartmouth will be head coach Sammy McCorkle, senior safety Harrison Keith, and senior defensive end Joshua Johnson.

Scheduled times for each school:

Welcome (11-11:10 a.m.)

Brown (11:10-11:30 a.m.)

Columbia (11:30-11:50 a.m.)

Cornell (11:50 a.m.-12:10 p.m.)

Dartmouth (12:10-12:30 p.m.)

Harvard (12:30-12:50 p.m.)

Penn (12:50-1:10 p.m.)

Princeton (1:10-1:30 p.m.)

Yale (1:30-1:50 p.m.)

Green Alert Take: Like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin, I always listen to the virtual media day hoping the coaches will actually name names, instead of falling back on platitudes about how hard the team worked in the offseason and how much the players like each other. Who is vying for quarterback? Which defensive end will be a monster this fall? What's your biggest concern? Which team do you think the media poll most undervalued? Here's hoping host Jack Ford asks probing questions instead of just waxing poetic about the Ivy League.

Green Alert Take II: One year the Ivy League office actually took my suggestion and asked each coach two questions I pitched. What position or positional area do you expect to be the greatest strength of your team? And, what position or positional area do you see as the greatest challenge for your team? Unfortunately, the moderator asked the question but then just let the coaches wander back to the usual clichés.

Green Alert Take III: It was a royal pain driving down to New Haven each year for the preseason media day at the Yale Golf Course, but guess what? I got the answers I needed to do a professional job covering Ivy League football. After opening remarks for each coach, there were breakout sessions where we would sit at tables with the individual coaches and push to get real answers. That kind of media day also gave coaches a chance to put a face with a name. Bottom line: I hated those in-person media days – and boy do I miss them.

#

EXTRA POINT
Happy belated National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. What's that? Iit was yesterday and I missed it? Oops. But hey, there's always next year, right?

Add One More

To the list of Dartmouth commits add the name of Chance Lassiter, a 5-foot-11ish, 195ish-pound running back from Boswell High School in Fort Worth, Texas. Lassiter's offers include Harvard, Texas Tech, Idaho and Southeast Missouri.

Lassiter runs the list of Dartmouth commits posted on BGA to date to 14. Check back tomorrow for the full list.

#

Keeping an eye on the HERO Sports uniform countdown, the thought was Dartmouth safety Harrison Keith would have a shot at being the selection with 24 days until the first FCS game. Although there are surely a good number of talented No. 24 running backs with shiny stats, the Big Green safety indeed got the call:

The list of Ivy Leaguers recognized to this point as the best in the FCS wearing their number:

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

35 Harvard LB Sean Line

29: Harvard K Kieran Corr

27: Princeton CB Evan Haynie

24: Dartmouth S Harrison Keith

#

The venerable Phil Steele football magazine has named its preseason teams and Harrison Keith was joined by quarterback Grayson Saunier as a first-team selection.

Green Alert Take: Keith and Saunier were the only Dartmouth players to be selected on either the first or second team. That's astonishing when you count 'em up and Harvard had eight first-team selections and 11 second-team picks. Princeton had eight first-team picks and three on the second team. Brown had six first-team selections and five second-team.

PHIL STEELE Preseason All-Ivy League

	OFFENSE
	FIRST TEAM
QB	Grayson Saunier	Dartmouth
RB	Xaviah Bascon	Harvard
RB	Matt Childs	Brown
WR	Sam Musungu	Cornell
WR	Brady Blackburn	Harvard
WR	Josh Robinson	Princeton
TE	Ryder Kurtz	Cornell
OL	Spencer Doan	Harvard
OL	Thomas O'Brien	Harvard
OL	Barret Eddlemon	Princeton
OL	Justin Selbert	Princeton
OL	Tare Porbeni	Princeton
	SECOND TEAM
QB	James Murphy	Brown
RB	Ethan Clark	Princeton
RB	DJ Gordon	Harvard
WR	Trevor Foley	Brown
WR	Titus Evans	Columbia
WR	Jaxton Santiago	Yale
TE	Seamus Gilmartin	Harvard
OL	Quinton Lewis	Yale
OL	Brandon Sullivan	Harvard
OL	Enzo Agostini	Harvard
OL	Luke Sacchetti	Penn
OL	Danny Thompson	Brown

	DEFENSE
	FIRST TEAM
DL	Ike Odimegwu	Brown
DL	Jack Middleton	Brown
DL	Zairion Jackson-Bass	Yale
DL	Jaylin Tate	Yale
LB	Sean Line	Harvard
LB	Phoenix Grant	Yale
LB	Chase Christopher	Princeton
LB	Dorsey Benefield	Harvard
DB	Abu Kamara	Yale
DB	Damien Henderson	Harvard
DB	Harrison Keith	Dartmouth
DB	Torian Roberts	Princeton
	SECOND TEAM
DL	Josh Fedd	Harvard
DL	Jake Darling	Harvard
DL	Keller Patterson	Columbia
DL	Luke Walker	Columbia
LB	Tommy Dunn	Brown
LB	Charlie Newton	Columbia
LB	AJ Pigford	Princeton
LB	Ethan Carson	Harvard
DB	Brandon Webster	Yale
DB	Jack Donahoe	Harvard
DB	Evan Haynie	Princeton
DB	Miles Brophy	Brown

	SPECIALIST
	FIRST TEAM
K	Kieran Corr	Harvard
P	Brady Clark	Princeton
KR	Jayden Drayton	Penn
PR	Josh Robinson	Princeton
AP	Matt Childs	Brown
LS	Michael Pedrotti	Brown
	SECOND TEAM
K	Noah Piper	Yale
P	Tommy Sleeman	Columbia
KR	Jordan Harris	Harvard
PR	Brendan Lee	Cornell
AP	Xaviah Bascon	Harvard
LS	Jack Baade	Harvard

#

The Stats Perform FCS preseason poll has come out and Dartmouth will face three opponents in the top-25 and another that just misses (LINK):

13. Lehigh

18. Yale

22. Monmouth

28. Harvard

Also of regional interest:

7. Rhode Island
29. New Hampshire 

#

TalkSPORT has story about recent Dartmouth grad Bond Almand's latest feat headlined, Inside college grad’s absurd world record bid to visit all 30 NFL stadiums on a bicycle in 65 days. Find the full story HERE.

#

EXTRA POINT
As if the preseason polls and preseason all-conference teams aren't enough of a reminder that the football season is right around the corner, my hike a couple of days ago provided another hit that fall is on the way:

When Mrs. BGA sees a tree starting to turn at this time of year, she tries to convince herself that we still have a lot of summer left by commenting on the "poor, sick tree." We are still a long way from the foliage season but, as one "poor, sick tree" reminds us, football season just about here.