Thursday, May 07, 2026

Final Call For Questions


If you have a question you'd like me to ask Sammy McCorkle, you still have time to send it along. I'm heading to practice late this afternoon so if you have something you'd like me to ask for you before then, click HERE. That will create a blank email to me with the subject line Questions for Coach. I'll ask your questions anonymously, and post his responses on BGA Overtime  tonight.

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A site called Viking Territory has a piece headlined Pretty Quietly, The Vikings Added 1 More Newcomer for Center Competition that offers up an analysis of how former Dartmouth offensive lineman Delby Lemieux fits with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent. From the story (LINK):

A touch small, Mr. Lemieux is a smart player who boasts very good athleticism; his 9.33 RAS Score is elite. Operating at center in a scheme like Minnesota’s means needing those two things: brains and movement abilities. Likewise, the detail about being a captain is worth remembering, as well, since being a center means needing to be a leader. Rounding out the optimism is that Lemieux must be a worker. Very few go from being an Ivy League lineman who wasn’t ranked going into college to an offseason NFL roster. Clearly, Lemieux isn’t allergic to work.

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BGA Overtime had a bit about Tuesday night about Dartmouth football players and their involvement in the bone marrow matching effort. This is from the program's social media:

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Several weeks ago BGA posted a series of statistical charts, but punting was not included because it hadn't been compiled on the Dartmouth or Ivy League football websites. That being the case, I went back and pulled together the punting averages, number of punts and season-longs for the leading punter each year back to 1960. Here are the top 20 season averages for the players who led the team in punts each year:

Yr

Name

Avg

No.

Long

2001

Alex Ware

42.9

39

73

2025

Luke Armistead

42.7

26

58

1999

Wayne Schlobohm

42.3

55

60

2024

Davis Golick

41.4

40

62

2008

Brian Scullin

40.8

55

62

1997

Wayne Schlobohm

40.6

72

58

1998

Wayne Schlobohm

40.1

74

71

1981

Rick Bayless

39.3

40

55

1982

John Corbett

39.1

36

54

1966

Tom Pyles

38.9

  33

-

2014

Ben Kepley

38.9

39

58

2000

Alex Ware

38.7

37

66

2002

Alex Ware

38.5

47

57

2003

Grant Wagner

38.1

59

61

1996

Wayne Schlobohm

37.9

58

68

1984

Elwyn Fields

37.7

46

48

1988

Rob Hubbard

37.7

46

62

2010

Daniel Barstein

37.6

43

61

2011

Daniel Barstein

37.4

50

54

2015

Ben Kepley

37.4

49

60


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Yahoo out of the UK has reposted a Business Insider piece under the headline The most beautiful college campus in every US state. You can probably guess what school takes the honors for New Hampshire. (LINK)

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EXTRA POINT
Why is it that my desk has a drawer full of ballpoint pens, but when I pull one out it doesn't write? Then  I toss it back in the drawer and pull out a couple more, and they don't write either, so I toss them back in the drawer as well.

Am I doing something wrong? ;-)

Yeah, I know what you are thinking. But they are perfectly fine pens that have plenty of ink in them so I can't bear to toss them out.


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Wednesday, May 06, 2026

A Familiar (Last) Name


Quarterback Richmond Saunier, younger brother of starting Dartmouth quarterback Grayson Saunier, has chosen Dartmouth over Princeton, Cornell, South Alabama and Northwestern State. He'll be a senior a Lafayette (La.) High School in the fall.

Find his highlights HERE, and an interview where he's asked how he compares to his brother HERE.

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This And That

From Dartmouth's social media:

In the notes section of last night's BGA Overtime story, coach Sammy McCorkle discusses the impact Immelt 's talk had on his players and staff. (LINK)

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Thursday's BGA Overtime report will feature a "mailbag" with your questions for Coach McCorkle. If you have something you'd like me to ask for you, click HERE. That will create a blank email to me with the subject line Questions for Coach. I'll ask your questions anonymously, and post his responses on BGA Overtime  the same way Thursday evening.

Green Alert Take: Questions have started to trickle in, but there have to be more out there, right?

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HERO Sports has a listing of the top FCS linebackers this fall and former Dartmouth standout Zyion Freer-Brown, who grad transferred to The Citadel, comes in at No. 23. Current Ivy Leaguers who made the cut are No. 6 Sean Line (Harvard), No. 19 Phoenix Grant (Yale), and No. 26 Chase Christopher (Princeton). Find the full list HERE.

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And on the subject of transfers, a piece headlined Duke must find Aaron Hall replacement at defensive tackle includes this (LINK):

Joining Watson and Anderson are Michigan/Penn State redshirt sophomore transfer Owen Wafle and Dartmouth graduate transfer Dakota Quiñonez. Wafle is a former 4-star recruit who is finally hoping to earn an opportunity to start for the Blue Devils, while Quiñonez, a first-team All-Ivy League defensive tackle, looks to be a key member of the rotation.

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And one more note about transfers. Holy Cross went 12-1 in Bob Chesney's final season and followed that with 7-4, 6-6 and 3-9 records. Having become reaccustomed to winning, the Crusaders apparently are intent on doing so again.

Per HERO Sports, since last year Holy Cross has added FBS transfers from Pitt, Kentucky, Wake Forest, UConn (3), Boston College, Old Dominion and Georgia State. (LINK)

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Speaking of the FBS, the American Football Coaches Association has come out with four proposals regarding the college calendar, including the elimination of conference championship games. (LINK)

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News has broken about former Yale football coach Tony Reno's devastating medical diagnosis. While the Yale family will surely step forward to help, the rest of the Ivy League has an opportunity to do its part as well. From a fundraiser site:

There are challenges ahead that no family should have to carry alone — including financial pressures that impact every part of family life, now and in the days ahead. If you feel moved to contribute, know that anything given goes directly toward Tony and his family, so they can face what's ahead together.

To visit the Reno Family Support site, click HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
I almost never listen to the radio in my car. If I’m alone, I might put on a podcast or the news, but that’s about it.

On my way to campus for the first day of spring football, I accidentally discovered that, thanks to the wonders of satellite technology, my car had been receiving a free trial subscription to Sirius radio. Apparently, it had been active for more than a month, and I hadn’t noticed until driving to practice.

Saturday is the final day of spring football, and last week we got a letter saying the Sirius trial is ending Saturday. Great timing. And sorry, Sirius, but there will be no overtime.
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Tuesday, May 05, 2026

Challenging Schedule? Yup

Three Dartmouth opponents show up in a StatsPerform story headlined It’s Not Early Anymore: Craig Haley’s 2026 FCS Football Preseason Top 25 Rankings. Here are those rankings, with info Haley has dug up on Big Green opponents Lehigh, Yale and Monmouth included (LINK):
1. Montana State (14-2, 8-0 Big Sky)
2. Montana (13-2, 7-1 Big Sky)
3.South Dakota State (9-5, 4-4 MVFC)
4. Illinois State (12-5, 5-3 MVFC)
5. UC Davis (9-4, 6-2 Big Sky)
6. Rhode Island (11-3, 8-0 CAA)
7. Villanova (12-3, 7-1 CAA)
8. Tarleton State (12-2, 7-1 UAC)
9. North Dakota (8-6, 5-3 MVFC)
10. Youngstown State (8-5, 5-3 MVFC) 
11. Lehigh (12-1, 7-0 Patriot)
    •  Key Players: QB Hayden Johnson, RB Luke Yoder, S Nick Peltekian
    • 2 Pivotal Games: at Holy Cross (Aug. 29), at Villanova (Oct. 24)
    • 1 Number to Know: The Mountain Hawks ranked No. 1 in the FCS in rushing yards  allowed, surrendering just 70.1 yards per game. 
12. Southern Illinois (7-5, 4-4 MVFC)
13. South Dakota (10-5, 6-2 MVFC)
14. Austin Peay (7-5, 4-4 UAC)
15. Lamar (8-5, 5-3 Southland)
16. Stephen F. Austin (11-3, 8-0 Southland)
17. Tennessee Tech (11-2, 8-0 OVC-Big South) 
18. Yale (9-3, 6-1 Ivy)
    • 3 Key Players: QB Dante Reno, WR Jaxton Santiago, FS Abu Kamara
    • 2 Pivotal Games: Rhode Island (Oct. 17), Harvard (Nov. 21)
    • 1 Number to Know: The Bulldogs have posted four straight wins over archrival Harvard, with the last three preventing the Crimson from collecting an outright Ivy League title. 
19. Southeastern Louisiana (9-4, 7-1 Southland)
20. Abilene Christian (9-5, 7-1 UAC)
21. UT Martin (6-6, 6-2 OBV-Big South)
22. Western Carolina (7-5, 6-2 SoCon)
23. Jackson State (9-3, 7-1 SWAC) 
24. Monmouth (9-3, 6-2 CAA)
• 3 Key Players: QB Frankie Weaver, LB Charlie Sasso, DB Jaeden Jones
• 2 Pivotal Games: at Tennessee Tech (Aug. 29), at New Hampshire (Oct. 17)
• 1 Number to Know: The Hawks’ FCS-leading 498.7 offensive yards per game marked their second consecutive season with a program high. 
25. Idaho State (6-6, 5-3 Big Sky)
Green Alert Take: Ivy League nonconference scheduling is widely criticized for not being challenging, but don't blame Dartmouth this fall, with two of the three nonconference opponents in this top-25 compiled by the leading writer about FCS football. 

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Is there something you've been wondering about Dartmouth football? This is your chance to have Dartmouth head coach Sammy McCorkle answer your questions, not mine.

The BGA Overtime plan is to build Thursday's practice report around a Q&A with your questions, but that can only happen if the questions come in. To submit yours, click HERE. That will create a blank email to me with the subject line Questions for Coach. Then just ask away. I'll pose the questions to McCorkle anonymously, and post them on the Overtime page the same way.

Green Alert Take: A few questions have come in already. If you are curious about the 2026 Dartmouth team, the new coaching staff, recruiting, scheduling, opponents, how you can help, you name it, click that link above and I'll ask coach McCorkle a selection of your questions.

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Speaking of asking questions, you may recognize the hand recording a few thoughts last Saturday using his daughter's old iPhone – sans a SIM card of course.  ;-)

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Dartmouth's game at Princeton on Nov. 7 will kick off at noon. We know this because Princeton has "released" its 2026 schedule. (LINK) 

Green Alert Take: I had no idea the schedule was being held captive. Apparently, others are as well because that's the only Dartmouth game time I've seen yet. ;-)

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How big a challenge is it getting Ivy League students to attend athletic events at their school? It's a huge challenge, as the Brown Daily Herald found out. Check out the attendance figures in a deeply reported story headlined A snapshot of sports game attendance at Brown; The Herald’s Data Desk analyzed average game attendance data from fall 2021 to spring 2025 across 13 varsity sports HERE.

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From a website titled Game Day Chatter comes a nugget reminding us of the splash Dartmouth alum Ben Rice is making with the Yankees. The piece notes that Rice and Aaron Judge became the first Yankees teammates in 70 years to both reach double digits in home runs in fewer than 30 games.

The last to do it?

Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra in 1956. Find the story HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, but yesterday I cleared off a pile of papers that has been cluttering a corner of my desk here at the BGA World headquarters for too long. But I'll admit it because a lot of what I found were notes from you, the BGA readers, and I kept them because they mean a lot to me and help me keep at it.

Maybe my favorite was from someone who took me to task for not living up to something I posted a couple of years ago, when I took the paywall down on BGA. The note the fellow wrote read:
"For a guy who is not doing it anymore, you are still kind of doing it. Just sayin' . . ."

I guess he has a point. ;-) 

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Monday, May 04, 2026

Monday Musings

The Dartmouth has a Q&A with former Big Green players Josiah Green and Sean Williams about their NFL prospects under the headline Following the NFL draft, two Dartmouth defenders have a shot at playing at the next level.

Green, a defensive lineman who grad transferred to Duke, had a solid season last fall and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – who spoke with him during the fourth round of the draft – shortly after it concluded. Williams, a safety, had a local tryout with the Tennessee Titans.

The money quote (literally) is from Green:
If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing, even with the opportunities and NIL money at other schools. To me, the Ivy League is almost like high school football,  in the sense that it is one of the purest forms of the game. No one’s there for money, you’re literally doing it for the love of the game.

Find The Dartmouth story HERE.

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An analysis piece behind a paywall in The Athletic headlined Steelers mailbag: Did Omar Khan botch Pittsburgh’s first-round pick? includes mention of a former Dartmouth quarterback (LINK):

Who’s the next Rooney in line to take over running the team and what’s their bio? — Anonymous U.

Dan Rooney, the son of Art II, is seemingly the heir apparent. The 36-year-old took a leading role in two recent initiatives: The Dublin game and the draft. Both were slam-dunk successes, proving he has the right business acumen to lead. I’m more intrigued by his football background. While Art II has joked that he’s not a defensive coordinator when asked detailed football questions, Dan is a former QB who played at Dartmouth. His football IQ will be an interesting wrinkle once he’s the new boss. I have a lot of faith he’ll do a great job.

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The college's Athletic Communications office has a brief story headlined Big Green Head Into Final Week Of Spring Camp After Successful Week HERE. 

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Which brings us to this . . .

With spring football winding down, BGA Overtime will have a Q&A with coach Sammy McCorkle Thursday – if enough questions come this way.

To submit a question, click HERE. That will create a blank email to me with the subject line Questions for Coach. The story will go up Thursday if  there are enough questions to make it worthwhile.

The full plan for this week of BGA Overtime is a story about tomorrow's practice, the potential Q&A Thursday, and then coverage of  Saturday's Green-White Game.

A reminder if you took the weekend off from surfing the 'Net:

In addition to coverage of Saturday's practice, BGA Overtime had a piece on retired Dartmouth defensive coordinator Don Dobes the same night. Find both stories HERE.

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And finally, it brings a smile when good things happen for good people. David McLaughlin was let go as Dartmouth men's basketball coach after the winter, but he has landed back home, as head coach at his alma mater, Colby College. (LINK)

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EXTRA POINT
I don't know about you, but after reading this lede I had to click through and read the story about something happening at Proctor Academy about 40 miles from Dartmouth:
 The private school has spent the spring gathering snow from its ski area into a centralized pile, which now sits under an insulated blanket designed to protect it from heat.

The pile is roughly the size of a football field and rises more than 25 feet in some areas. The goal is to keep enough snow intact to be uncovered and reused at the start of the next ski season, reducing reliance on energy-intensive snowmaking and conserving water.

Curious? Find the story HERE and check out a video HERE.

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Sunday, May 03, 2026

Here, There And Everywhere

Given that the 2026 composite Ivy League football schedule has not been posted on the conference website, BGA pulled it together for you. Here's how the fall shapes up (keeping in mind there will be a handful of TV games shifted to Friday nights):

Sept. 19
Dartmouth at Lehigh
Brown at New Haven
Lafayette at Columbia
Cornell at Colgate
Harvard at New Hampshire
Penn at Bucknell
Princeton at Bryant
Yale at Holy Cross

Sept. 26
Monmouth at Dartmouth
Harvard at Brown
Columbia at Georgetown
Yale at Cornell
Lehigh at Penn
Albany at Princeton

Oct. 3
Penn at Dartmouth
Brown vs. Rhode Island (at Pawtucket)
Princeton at Columbia
Cornell at Georgetown
Colgate at Harvard
Merrimack at Yale

Oct. 9
Columbia at Marist

Oct. 10
Dartmouth at Yale
Bryant at Brown
Harvard at Cornell
Howard at Penn
Princeton at Wagner

Oct. 17
Merrimack at Dartmouth
Brown at Princeton
Columbia at Penn
Lehigh at Cornell
Holy Cross at Harvard
Rhode Island at Yale

Oct. 24
Dartmouth at Columbia
Cornell at Brown
Princeton at Harvard
Yale at Penn

Oct. 31
Harvard at Dartmouth
Penn at Brown
Yale at Columbia
Cornell at Princeton

Nov. 7
Dartmouth at Princeton
Brown at Yale
Columbia at Harvard
Penn at Cornell

Nov. 14
Dartmouth at Cornell
Columbia at Brown
Harvard at Penn
Princeton at Yale

Nov. 21
Brown at Dartmouth
Cornell at Columbia
Yale vs. Harvard (Fenway Park)
Penn at Princeton

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Dartmouth's closest road game this fall is at Yale, and its longest trip is to Bethlehem, Pa., to play Lehigh. Here are the round-trip distances for the Big Green this fall:

Lehigh 710 miles
Yale 378 miles
Columbia 520 miles
Princeton 630
Cornell 594

For those of you keeping score, Dartmouth football is traveling 2,832 miles to road games this year, including 1,224 miles in weeks eight and nine combined. Given the gas situation, I'm glad I have an EV.

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In case you missed it, BGA Overtime had a look at Saturday morning's practice HERE, and a bonus story about the retirement of Don Dobes, Dartmouth's longtime defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, HERE.

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EXTRA POINT
"Looking out at all the yellow dotting my lawn this gray morning, I can't help but think that if dandelions were something you had to plant and tend in your garden, they would be prized plants instead of despised ones."
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