BGA Overtime: August 2026

From Fixing Flats To Preventing First Downs

HANOVER – As a boy growing up in the Detroit suburbs, Jordan Belfiori learned a lesson he values to this day. Not that it was easy.

“My father has worked for a company in the Midwest called Belle Tire for around 40 years,” the first-year Dartmouth defensive coordinator said. “He was store manager, and the moment I turned 18 and was no longer playing sports, he said I was going to learn how to bust tires. I was going to learn how to do alignments. I was going to learn how to do oil changes and fix spares and put tires on rims. I was going to learn how to be a mechanic/tire technician.

“Every summer and every winter I would come home from college, and that's what I would do. My dad said, ‘I’m going to make you do this job because you are going to be working with guys who are going to be making $8 an hour for the rest of their lives. I want you to understand the value of the education you are getting so you don’t mess it up.’ ”

As I always do, after a recent practice I asked Dartmouth coach Sammy McCorkle if there way anything he wanted to add after I finished my questions. He thought about it for a second and mentioned something touching. Here’s what he told me:

On our media day, we had some extra time and we brought the young guys back, just the first-year guys, and we watched The Buddy Way documentary together.

I asked the guys how many of them had seen it, and probably half the room raised their hand.

Zalc Back In The Swing

HANOVER – For Owen Zalc, it was all so easy.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound kicker was a Freshman All-American and first-team All-Ivy League pick in 2023 when he set the Ivy League record for field goals in a season by hitting 17-of-21 attempts.

A year later, he tied the Ivy League record with a 54-yarder on his way to a 13-of-17 season and a second selection to the All-Ivy first team.

Last fall, he booted a 51-yard field goal as time expired to give Dartmouth a 17-16 Homecoming win over Yale, but he would finish the year just 9-of-18, missing one more kick than in his first two seasons combined.

Zalc never made excuses, but there was an explanation.

Dartmouth football players salute their captain as safety Harrison Keith does an interview with Manchester TV station WMUR.

HANOVER – Hanging up his lacrosse stick wasn’t any easier for Harrison Keith the second time around than it was the first.

That said, Dartmouth’s senior co-captain knew it was the right thing to do, both for the Big Green football team this fall, and for wherever his career might take him.

Practice 4

HANOVER – Dartmouth’s 2025 rushing leader might be on the top line of the depth chart at FBS South Florida for the Bulls’ opener against Florida International in another week, but even without DJ Crowther, Big Green coach Sammy McCorkle likes what he has in his running back room.

It starts with 5-foot-10, 200-pound sophomore Myles Craddock, who gave an indication of what’s to come with 12 rushes for 46 yards and his first collegiate touchdown in last year’s finale at Brown. Craddock finished the season with 72 yards on the ground.

Practice 3 Indoors

HANOVER – Sammy McCorkle did not default to A&I, but he very well could have channeled Buddy Teevens’ and used one of the former Dartmouth coach's favorite expressions.

Yup, the Big Green adjusted and improvised.

Saunier Sunday

HANOVER – How Dartmouth quarterback Grayson Saunier responded after an ankle issue essentially turned him into a spectator during spring football offers an insight into why his teammates voted him a captain and why he's such an integral part of the team.

Sammy McCorkle addresses the team after practice.

HANOVER – When Dartmouth head coach Sammy McCorkle gathered his team on Blackman Practice Fields at the conclusion of the first preseason session of the year Saturday, he didn’t hold back.

McCorkle was probably a good 150 feet or so across the field from a couple dozen or so family members who decided to hang around for an extra day to watch practice after drop-off, but rest assured they could hear every word.

Harvard Preview

What are the chances that the two teams prognosticators pick to battle it out for the Ivy League championship both have starting quarterbacks named Dante this fall?

Pretty good actually.

Yale Preview

It's the ultimate cliché, but it's spot on. Last year was the best of times and the worst of times for the Yale football program.

It was the best because not only did the Bulldogs beat Harvard for the fourth time in a row to win a share of the Ivy League title, but they also won the first FCS playoff came in conference history one week, and the respect of the nation the next with a one-score loss to the eventual national champion.

Princeton Preview

Whether it is the school's sports publicity office not getting around to it, or coach Bob Surace working an angle, Princeton is the only Ivy team that has not posted a 2026 roster.

That leaves an open question at quarterback where there is, or there could be, an interesting mystery contender to fill the wide-open job.

Penn Preview

Maybe new Penn coach Ricky Santos didn't get the memo. Or maybe he's just a little less paranoid than a lot of college football coaches.

Either way, the former New Hampshire quarterback standout and coach came right out and revealed on the Ivy League media day who was going to be the Quakers' No. 1 QB heading into camp.

Ah, but he did leave that door a little open for a new entry in the sweepstakes.

Columbia Preview

It's a safe bet that virtually no one saw Columbia winning a share of the Ivy League championship in 2024.

After the Lions slipped back to 1-6 overall and 2-8 last fall, the conference pundits reverted to form and picked them last this year. That was no surprise, but there could be one in store.

Cornell Preview

Like Brown and Columbia – not to mention Dartmouth and Yale – Cornell returns its starting quarterback, and he's a big one. Literally.

Stuck for his first two years behind Jameson Wang before breaking out in Week 3 last year, Garrett Bass-Sulpizio is a 6-foot-5, 231-pound senior who completed 64.4 percent of his attempts on the season. His best showing was a 37-for-45 (82.2 percent) outing against Dartmouth when he threw for 328 yards. Not just a passer, he ran for 91 yards against Colgate and was the first Big Red player to run for a score in seven consecutive games since the legendary Ed Marinaro in 1971.

Brown Preview

Long-suffering Brown fans have been waiting patiently for the turnaround since bringing prodigal son quarterback James Perry back as coach in 2019. After just three Ivy League wins in his first the seasons back, that patience, at least judging by anonymous voices on the internet, was starting to wear thin.

Perry bought himself some time with a 28-21 upset of No. 10 Rhode Island in Week 3 last year, and while a four-game losing streak took some of the luster off a 3-1 start, back-to-back wins at the end – including a 35-28 victory over Dartmouth in the finale – have Perry and Co. thinking maybe the program has finally turned the corner.

Monmouth Preview

Monmouth comes into the 2026 season looking to erase the bitter taste of what it felt was an NCAA playoff snub last year when it finished 9-3.

The Hawks have been ranked 22nd/23rd in the preseason national polls despite graduating a quarterback who passed for 27 touchdowns a year ago, and seeing a running back who gained 1,802 yards last fall, transfer to Miami of Ohio.

Lehigh Preview

The Mountain Hawks had to hustle to replace head coach Kevin Cahill after he returned to Yale, but Rich Nagy, promoted from defensive coordinator, has to like what his predecessor left behind.

Lehigh, which went 12-0 in the regular season last fall before dropping a tight game to Villanova in the FCS Playoffs, brings back a ton of firepower at quarterback and running back who will benefit from a veteran offensive line that should their life easier. There's a reason why both preseason polls have them ranked 11th in the nation.

Merrimack Preview

Merrimack finished last year 4-8 overall and 0-7 away from home, with one of the wins coming over Division II Saint Anselm. To their credit, the Warriors started and finished strong with a 21-17 loss at FBS Kent State in their opener, and a 27-26 win over Fordham in their finale.

What to make of Merrimack for 2026?