'Life Is Good Today'

Be sure to stop by BGA Overtime tonight for a preview of Dartmouth-Penn.

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In Wednesday night's BGA Overtime Q&A with Sammy McCorkle, the Big Green coach responded to this question: "The current senior class is the last one to be recruited under Buddy Teevens. Even as you put your own stamp on the Dartmouth Way, how do you keep alive the most meaningful messages and lessons that were at the heart of BT as a coach?"

I find myself thinking about that this morning and smiling.

First, an admission. Dartmouth, probably like most football programs, plays loud music throughout practice. It's fair to say it's not music from my play list, and so I pretty much filter it out.

Yesterday, however, I found myself tapping my toes and singing along while the boom box at the 50-yard line blasted Jimmy Buffet singing about cheeseburgers, and Zac Brown telling us he has, "not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today. Life is good today."

It wasn't until practice was over and I was talking with Sammy McCorkle that he reminded me. The music choice was a subtle homage to Buddy Teevens on what would have been his 70th birthday.

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The Dartmouth never did have a story about last week's game against Monmouth, but it has a photo essay HERE.

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Dartmouth usually plays it down the middle with its uniform choice with the old guard in town for Homecoming. ;-)

🟢⚪️ For Homecoming#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/KBH1TQqaBq

— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) October 1, 2026

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Podcaster Jake Novak follows not just Columbia football but the entire Ivy League and here's a transcript of what he has to say about tomorrow's Dartmouth-Penn game (LINK):

Dartmouth, as you know, is my pick to be the number one team right now at this point in the Ivy League season. They are a 7.5-point favorite against Penn, and I like Dartmouth to cover that. I don't know if they're going to wallop Penn. I'm not looking for them to win by 21 points, but I do think they can win by two scores. ... Compared to Lehigh and Monmouth,the first two opponents Dartmouth's played, Penn's going to seem like a slower team. They're going to seem like a team with fewer weapons. Penn's defense is maybe better than what they faced against Monmouth, that's for sure. But I don't think that Dartmouth's going to be overwhelmed by Penn in this game.

I just don't see Penn with the overall weapons right now. I think that their defense has improved, but I'm just not seeing it on the wide receiver and the running back corps right now. I don't know if they have enough to keep up with Dartmouth and they have a scoring machine there.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer has a piece about Penn coach Ricky Santos starting freshman quarterback Miles Teodecki in his first season with the Quakers. Santos, who is returning to the state where he led the University of New Hampshire to great heights as a player and coach, said of his young QB's rough outing last week against Lehigh (LINK):

"The game moved fast for him. And the quickest way for you to get sped up is to get hit in the mouth and get sacked a couple times, and the ball's going to come out of your hand a lot quicker than the next time, I promise you that."

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Not much new in it, but the Ivy League web page has a few sentences about Week Three of the Ivy League season HERE. 

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Back to the grad transfer thing. After yesterday's post, a friend of BGA reminded me that Marques White is still playing. I then added this to yesterday's roundup. In case you missed it:

• Edge rusher Marques White '23, has nine tackles, with three for a loss, 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries and one breakup for SMU. He's seventh on the team in tackles. Hampered by injuries at Dartmouth, he spent five years in Hanover, then one at McNeese State and one at UMass before landing at SMU for his eighth season of college football.

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Running back DJ Crowther '26 is the subject of a piece on the South Florida website HERE, and not surprisingly, he's featured prominently in a piece CBS Sports piece headlined College football's hidden gems: 10 FCS transfers who are shining in the FBS spotlight, led by Iowa's Tony Diaz HERE. From the CBS story:

Crowther nearly hit 1,000 yards last season as a breakout star at Dartmouth and has quickly emerged as a playmaker at the FBS level. 

The senior is averaging 6.4 yards per carry for the Bulls, including 143 yards in a 14-6 win over Bowling Green. Crowther also caught three passes for 51 yards over the past two games, unlocking yet another piece of Brian Hartline's offense.

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In a podcast interview Jackson Proctor '25, now the wildcat quarterback at South Dakota, offered this about landing at Dartmouth out of high school (LINK):

COVID hit Washington State pretty hard and I didn't really get a senior season and honestly it kind of opened up my perspective to just the next 40 years of my life. A lot of people talk about their 40-year plan, but just being able to go somewhere that is as prestigious as as Dartmouth is and being able to get a degree from there was really important to me . Not to mention they have a really good football program, the most championships in the Ivy League. I thought I could really grow as a person and a football player there and eventually won three Ivy League championships, which was pretty cool.

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EXTRA POINT
It was on this day in 1950 that these guys came into the world (LINK).

Questions And Answers

Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle took time last night to answer questions you submitted to BGA Overtime. Among other things, he discussed whether he thinks opening with a couple of teams that were 21-2 in the regular season last year helps or hurts. He explained why he thinks more potential group of five recruits could end up in the Ivy League in coming years, why he's in favor of next year's schedule change, and what it means to have a record number of freshmen on the travel team. All that and more in last night's BGA Overtime Questions for Coach post.

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Penn's game notes for Saturday afternoon have gone up. Find them HERE.

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It's been a minute since we've checked in on the Massey Ratings. As Dartmouth begins its Ivy League season, here's what Massey predicts for the rest of the Big Green's season (LINK):

Dartmouth 28, Penn 24 (63 percent confidence in prediction)
Yale 31, Dartmouth 24 (71 percent)
Dartmouth 31, Merrimack 17 (87 percent)
Dartmouth 28, Columbia 24 (63 percent)
Harvard 27, Dartmouth 24 (60 percent)
Dartmouth 24, Princeton 23 (50 percent)
Dartmouth 27, Cornell 24 (58 percent)
Dartmouth 28, Brown 20 (74 percent)

Massey has Yale and Harvard finishing tied for the Ivy League title at 6-1 with the Bulldogs grabbing a share with a 28-27 win over the Crimson in the finale at Fenway Park.

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The Daily Republic out of Mitchell, S.D., has a story under the headline Jackson Proctor turns backup quarterback role into offensive spark for Coyotes that explains how the former Big Green standout has found a way to help a top-25 South Dakota team despite not winning the starting nod. From the story (LINK):

"Obviously, my role is a little bit different than I kind of anticipated, but being able to just bring juice for the guys and show my electric ability on the field has been great," Proctor said. "There's a lot of different things that I can do really well, and defenses have had a hard time kind of figuring out what we're doing when I'm in the game. So, I am just going to continue to make it hard on them, and give our team the best opportunity to win the football game."

And . . .

"Jackson is a guy that sacrificed a lot and left the place where he had a ton of success, and they were winning a bunch of football games and he was all-conference, but he made a decision to come here," (USD first-year coach Matt Vitzthum) said. "And obviously, when Austyn won the starting job, he easily could have pointed fingers and complained. Instead, he has embraced his role from the jump, and we are going to continue to use Jackson in a lot of different ways. He has been extremely important to our football team." 

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Speaking of Dartmouth grad transfers . . .

• Tailback DJ Crowther '26 leads undefeated South Florida in rushing with 325 yards (81.3 yards per game), a 6.4-yard average carry, and a team-high five touchdowns. 

• Through five games wide receiver Daniel Haughton '26 leads Furman with 21 receptions for a team-high 234 yards, with one touchdown.He's also rushed four times for 20 yards.

• Linebacker Zyion Brown '16 tops The Citadel in tackles with 36, including two sacks, 3.5 stops for a loss, one interception and one breakup.

• Linebacker Micah Green '25 is second on the Merrimack tackle list with 25 stops including two tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.

ª Tight end Chris Corbo '26 has five catches for 42 yards through four games at Georgia Tech.

• Wide receiver Grayson O'Bara '26 has two catches for 52 yards at 2-2 North Texas.

• Corner Patrick Campbell '26 has appeared in three of four games at Virginia and has three tackles.

• Dakota Quiñonez '26 has three tackles as a defensive lineman at Duke.

• Edge rusher Teddy Gianaris '26 has one tackle in four games at Wyoming.

• Blocking tight end Sean Ward '26, has appeared in three of four games at Ball State.

• Center Max Wentz '26 has not seen action at Ball State and offensive lineman Vasean Washington '26 hasn't yet appeared with Ohio State. Safety Sean Williams '25 hasn't played yet for Arkansas.

Green Alert Take: Who did I forget? Let me know in the contact box off to the right.

UPDATE

I knew I forgot someone and thanks to a loyal reader for the reminder.

• Edge rusher Marques White '23, has nine tackles, with three for a loss, 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries and one breakup for SMU. He's seventh on the team in tackles. Hampered by injuries at Dartmouth, he spent five years in Hanover, then one at McNeese State and one at UMass before landing at SMU for his eighth season of college football.

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EXTRA POINT
Our hummingbird feeder hasn't had a visitor for a couple of weeks now and won't until next spring. Honestly, until we put the feeder up I never gave thought to hummers heading south. I knew robins disappeared for the winter, but not hummingbirds.

An interactive map headlined Thousands of Backyards, One Journey;  Follow the hummingbirds' path, backyard by backyard reveals that our hummingbirds left right on time. If you are curious when you might spot them for the last time, check out the map HERE.  

Last Chance For Questions

Thanks to everyone who sent along questions for Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle!

I'm still sorting through your emails to find the most interesting questions, so if you have a one you'd like me to ask, it's not too late. Click HERE to send it along.

The only thing I ask is that your questions do not pertain to playing time for individual players.

The BGA Overtime Q&A with coach McCorkle will go up tonight.

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The Optimist and The Pessimist went up on the Overtime site last night HERE (and I have to admit I'm a little disappointed they took a shot at me).

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Following up on a recent discussion of Dartmouth football scheduling, the Future Schedules site posted yesterday that Dartmouth will host Central Connecticut in 2030.

With that game set, here's everything we know about Dartmouth's nonconference scheduling between now and 2030:

2027 – Sept. 25 at New Hampshire; Oct. 16 at Central Connecticut 

2028 – Sept. 23 New Hampshire

2029 – Sept. 15 at Towson

2030 – TBA Central Connecticut 

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Jake Novak, whose Roar Lions Columbia blog has morphed into part of Jake's Takes podcast, has posted his weekly power rankings and, perhaps to the surprise of many, he has 0-2 Dartmouth atop the pile. Here's how he sees the Ivy League entering week three of the season:

1. Dartmouth
2. Harvard
3. Columbia
4. Princeton
5. Cornell
6. Yale
7. Penn
8. Brown

Jake's reasoning:

I know I've got a controversial choice to put at number one. All week I was thinking, or at least three days since the games ended on Saturday, I've been thinking, well, I'll put Dartmouth at number two and tell everyone that I could easily put them at number one, but why bother? I'm going to put them at number one because despite the fact that they're 0-2, the Big Green have played two excellent, excellent opponents. And could have won both of those games.

And . . .

I think that they're going to very much make a statement on Saturday against Penn. And speaking of Penn, this Dartmouth team could be very reminiscent of some Penn teams over the years that used to also have trouble in their early non-conference schedule. 

I can remember especially the 2012 Penn team not being able to win early on in the season in the non-conference schedule, but then doing just enough to win a championship that year. They did that a couple of other times during Al Bagnoli's tenure. And I just think that we could be looking at that again. 

To me, Dartmouth looks like a more complete team than any of the other teams in the league right now, at least after two weeks. 

Check out Jake Novak's full Ivy League power ranking podcast HERE. 

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As long as the subject is rankings/ratings, here's how Sagarin sees the Ivy League among all DI teams (FBS and FCS) after two weeks (LINK)

140 Harvard
159 Dartmouth
160 Princeton
161 Yale
183 Penn
187 Cornell
198 Brown
208 Columbia

Sagarin has Dartmouth as a six-point favorite at home against Penn ,and Princeton a four-point favorite at Columbia in conference games this week.

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Another sign of the Apocalypse in college football from an ESPN story:

A former Auburn football staff member has been accused of stealing trade secrets from the Tigers and sending them to their competitors, according to court records.

David Rudolph Jenrath, 24, turned himself into authorities Monday and was charged with theft of trade secrets and computer tampering, which are both felony charges.

Read the full story HERE. 

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Watched this last night and loved every minute of it. ;-)

RICE IN HIS VEINS.

It was a night to remember for @BigGreenBSB’s Ben Rice, who went 4-for-5 with two homers, including a grand slam, and six RBI for the @Yankees in Tuesday night’s AL Wild Card opener. 🌿⚾️ pic.twitter.com/oxLy6fcT9t

— Ivy League (@IvyLeague) September 30, 2026

Green Alert Take: Still feel a little cheated that the pandemic cost us the chance to see Ben Rice '22 really blossom as a Dartmouth catcher.

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EXTRA POINT
The low temperature here at our Vermont hillside home yesterday was 57.1 degrees and the overnight low was 52.9. I know this because our new indoor-outdoor thermometer arrived at our PO box yesterday morning and I hooked it up yesterday afternoon. As you may recall if you made it to the extra point last Thursday (LINK) our old thermometer did not survive the little construction crew we had here for a week or so.

The new thermometer is called a "weather station" but that's a little hyperbole. It does add barometric pressure and humidity, but really, it's all about the temperature. It does have a color screen and big numbers you can see from across the room, so there's that.

Now I just have to figure out how to get it to receive the digital time code radioed out from Fort Collins, Colo., because I know it's no 10 p.m. as I write this. ;-)

Got Questions?

This is a last-minute idea but with the Ivy League season opening up for the Big Green this week, I thought I'd see if you have any interest in a Questions For Coach post on BGA Overtime. If I get enough good questions, I'll ask them of Sammy McCorkle after Wednesday's practice and post the Q&A Wednesday night. Again, this is short notice so if you have questions, email them this way today!

Click HERE to send along a question and I'll ask it for you. The only restriction would be that you not ask about playing time for individual players.

A reminder that the Q&A will only go up if enough interesting questions are submitted.

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I don't often cannibalize BGA Overtime for this page but I thought those of you who don't visit the other site regularly might find these numbers interesting.

Here is what two data-driven services found when ranking the strength of schedule for Ivy League teams based only on their first two opponents:

Massey (link)
26. Dartmouth
31. Cornell
83. Yale
84. Penn
93. Harvard
95. Brown
97. Princeton
106. Columbia

Warren Nolan (link)
12. Dartmouth
37. Penn
46. Cornell
88. Brown
102. Princeton
103. Yale
117. Harvard
127. Columbia

Green Alert Take: There are 128 FCS schools in those rankings. Here's what I wrote last night over on Overtime."Debate the merits of each system if you must, they certainly agree that 0-2 Dartmouth has had the toughest schedule and 2-0 Columbia the easiest."

Oh yeah, the schedule musing was part of last night's Your Mileage May Vary After Monmouth posting on BGA Overtime. Tonight the two curmudgeons will visit the site again with their weekly conversation.

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The ONNJ site has a story headlined Unpacking Monmouth University’s 31-28 Comeback Win At Dartmouth HERE.

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Myles Craddock’s First Career 100 Yard Game!#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/x0mEWgUM2K

— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) September 28, 2026

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Still no story in The Dartmouth, but The Daily Pennsylvanian is already looking ahead to this week's matchup with predictions for the game HERE.

Spoiler alert: The four pickers are split down the middle with Penn winning by 17-13 and 20-16, and Dartmouth winning by 24-10 and 21-13.

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Good news. The bonfire is returning Friday night after a year's hiatus because of drought. The college news service has a story HERE.

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This week's polls:

	FCS Coaches	W-L*	Pts	Prev*
1	Montana St. (25)	5-0	625	1
2	South Dakota St.	4-1	590	2
3	Tarleton St.	4-0	568	3
4	Montana	4-1	550	4T
5	Stephen F. Austin	5-0	521	6
6	LEHIGH	5-0	484	7
7	North Dakota	4-1	467	8
8	Tennessee Tech	4-0	429	10
9	Austin Peay	4-1	420	11
10	Youngstown St.	3-2	386	13
11	Illinois St.	4-1	370	4T
12	South Carolina St.	5-0	329	14
13	Lamar	3-1	322	15
14	Idaho St.	4-0	311	16
15	UC Davis	3-2	236	9
16	South Dakota	3-2	223	12
17	Richmond	4-1	196	19
18	West Florida	3-1	193	20
19	Northern Arizona	3-2	175	17
20	Colgate	4-1	155	23T
21	Mercer	3-2	117	23T
22	HARVARD	2-0	82	25
23	Jackson St.	4-0	72	NR
24	Campbell	4-1	71	NR
25	Southern Illinois	3-2	57	NR
	Dropped Out: Yale (18), Rhode Island (21), Villanova (22)
	Others Receiving Votes:  Elon, 55; YALE, 22; Alabama St., 19; Prairie View A&M, 17; Southeastern Louisiana, 14; UT Rio Grande Valley, 7; Furman, 6; MONMOUTH, 6; Chattanooga, 5; Stony Brook, 5; Cal Poly, 4; DARTMOUTH, 4; St. Thomas (Minn.), 4; Cal Poly, 4; Delaware St., 3; Villanova, 2; Bryant, 1; Northern Iowa, 1; UIW, 1

	STATS	W-L*	Pts	Prev*
1	Montana State (49)	5-0	1417	1
2	South Dakota State (8)	4-1	1365	2
3	Montana	4-1	1284	5
4	Tarleton State	4-0	1273	4
5	North Dakota	4-1	1105	7
6	LEHIGH	5-0	1093	6
7	Stephen F. Austin	5-0	1078	9
8	Youngstown State	3-2	1035	11
9	Tennessee Tech	4-0	950	12
10	Illinois State	4-1	905	3
11	Austin Peay	4-1	876	13
12	Idaho State	4-0	777	14
13	South Dakota	3-2	756	8
14	Lamar	3-1	702	15
15	South Carolina State	5-0	637	16
16	UC Davis	3-2	558	10
17	West Florida	3-1	409	20
18	Campbell	4-1	385	22
19	Northern Arizona	3-2	371	18
20	HARVARD	2-0	305	21
21	Southern Illinois	3-2	249	24
22	Colgate	4-1	222	NR
23	Mercer	3-2	147	25
24	Richmond	4-1	134	NR
25	Jackson State	4-0	103	NR
	Dropped Out: Yale (17), Rhode Island (19), Villanova (23)
	Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Alabama State (3-1, 1-0 SWAC): 88; Elon (4-1, 2-1 CAA): 78; Stony Brook (3-2, 1-0 CAA): 45; YALE (1-1, 0-1 Ivy): 42; Southeastern Louisiana (3-2, 1-1 Southland): 38; Northern Iowa (2-2, 1-0 MVFC): 29; MONMOUTH(3-2, 2-0 CAA): 24; Rhode Island (2-3, 1-2 CAA) 10; Villanova (2-3, 1-2 Patriot): 6; Morgan State (3-1): 5; William & Mary (2-3, 1-2 Patriot): 5; CORNELL (1-1, 1-0 Ivy): 2

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The Analyst has a piece headlined The Longest Winning Streaks in FCS History that includes this (LINK):

Additional 20-Game Unbeaten Streaks
Dartmouth (1995-97) – 22 Games
21 Wins, 1 Tie
Start: Lafayette 14-7 (1995); Tie: Princeton 10-10 (1995); End: Lehigh 46-26 (1997)

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Per a story on HogSports, former Dartmouth safety Sean Williams '26 (right in photo above) hasn't yet played for Arkansas as a grad transfer as the case regarding his eligibility and that of teammate Caleb Wooden – who has played – proceeds through the courts. Find a story HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
When I got to the top of the mountain yesterday on my daily hike I found a fellow who had pitched a small tent and was trying to get a campfire started while his Siberian husky-pitbull mix looked on. I asked him (the man, not the dog) about spending the night on the mountain and he said he'd just bought the tent and wanted to see how it did in the rain.

When I walked over for a closer look at the tent he told me it was nothing fancy and he bought it "at Walmart for like $60." I asked if he had a ground cover under the tent, and while he said he did, my sense is he wasn't sure what I was asking about and the tent was on bare ground. His hope, he said, was to watch Monday Night Football on his phone while in the tent.

Because I have spent more than enough time on that mountain to know where water puddles up when it rains, I gently suggested he might want to move his tent to higher ground. He didn't seem to in any hurry to move it.

As I said, I've spent a lot of time on top of that mountain and I'm here to tell you if he wanted to see how the new tent did in the rain, he certainly found out.