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.
“It was frustrating,” the senior from Lafayette, La., said, “but it was a reminder that there are many different roles on the team, and different ways to lead. It’s helping out the young guys in the quarterback room. Helping out the younger receivers and the younger O-linemen.
“Every year young guys have to step up and it’s not easy to do it on your own. So yes, it was a frustrating spring for me at times, but you have to make the most of it and still have positive energy around the team.”
Sammy McCorkle would have preferred to have his starting quarterback on the field in the spring, but he wasn’t at all surprised at the impact Saunier had on the sideline.
“It’s who he is,” the head coach said. “He’s genuine and the guys gravitate to him. He leads with his passion, and you can’t ask for anything better.”
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The ankle issue behind him, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Saunier is full go this preseason.
“I’m feeling great,” he said after the Sunday morning practice. “My body’s feeling great and I’m really excited for the season. I’m optimistic and ready to go.”
Saunier is coming off a junior season that saw him complete 183-of-279 passes (65.6 percent) for 2,143 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.
On the plus side, he threw for a career-high 407 yards, capped by the game-winning 50-yard touchdown to Ky’Dric Fisher with 16 seconds left, to beat Central Connecticut in Week 2 a year ago. He would go on to to have a six-week run without an interception only to stumble and have three passes picked off in the Week-10 loss at Brown.
His goal this year is to maintain the highs while limiting the lows.
“At the end of the day, the offense starts with the line, but the ball’s in my hands every time,” he said. “The important thing is consistency with accuracy on throws and finishing runs. If I stay consistent, keep the good plays, and try to minimize the bad plays, I think everything will work out pretty well.”
Shane Montgomery, the Big Green’s second-year quarterback coach/offensive coordinator, is confident his QB is ready for that challenge.
“He's a smart kid with high character, and that's where it starts,” he explained. “You never have to worry about anything off the field with him, and he does well academically. So that's the foundation. We missed some things in the passing game at times last year for different reasons, but he’s got that good building block of foundation and talent.
“You forget that even though he started (three) games in ’24, last year was his first as the time full-time starter when he didn’t have to be looking over his shoulder. I think he feels a lot more comfortable with what we're doing this year, and I’m hopeful it will really click for him.”
Saunier earned a spot on the All-Ivy League second team last year, and not just because of his arm. He also ran for 413 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. In the dramatic win over Yale he had 95 yards and two touchdowns on the ground against in addition to driving the Big Green down the field for the winning field goal with no time left.
This will be his second season working in Montgomery’s system and he expects that to pay dividends this fall..
“Continuity is big, and having him from sophomore spring and now going into my senior year is huge,” he said. “It helps out with knowing the playbook and the speed and efficiency of the offense in general. That goes for myself and the other quarterbacks. We know the coaching points off the top of our heads, and everybody feels comfortable commanding the offense.”
While his offensive coordinator is back for another season, Saunier will be operating this fall behind an entirely rebuilt offensive line. If he’s concerned, he didn’t sound it after Sunday's practice.
“(Offensive line coach Keith) Clark has been there before,” the QB said. “I talked to the Class of ’21 a few weeks ago for reunions, and they told a story about how he had four starters graduate in 2019 and how they did.
“I’m comfortable with the work ethic and culture we have here, and I’m confident Coach Clark will figure it out and have five, six, or seven guys ready to go. He’s one of the best at what he does, and I have the utmost confidence in him and those guys.”
For the record, Clark’s rebuilt offensive line in 2019 helped Dartmouth to a 9-1 record and a share of the Ivy League title with a 6-1 mark.
While Saunier is confident the Big Green will be there at the end for as much as he would love to see his season extended with an appearance in the FCS playoffs, he’s not looking that far ahead. In fact, he isn’t looking any further ahead than Monday.
“At the end of the day, we’re just focused on tomorrow’s practice,” he said. “The minute we start worrying about week one or week two, we lose sight of what’s ahead of us. Right now, we just have to work in getting better at our foundation, our base things.”
AND ONE MORE THING
Coaches aren’t allowed to talk about current high school seniors, but big brothers are allowed to talk about younger brothers, so when the subject of his brother Richmond committing to Dartmouth last spring came up, a big smile broke across Saunier’s face.
“I’m super pumped for him,” he said. “He came on a visit in the spring and felt the same things I did when I visited about the community, the culture, and the coaches here. I didn’t pressure him or anything, but it was too good an opportunity for him to pass up.
“My family and I are blessed to be in this position with him. I’m excited for the opportunity to come up and watch him for the next four years.”
A RAINY DAY
Although the forecast called for just a chance of rain, it sprinkled pretty much throughout Sunday morning's practice. If the session had been moved into the nearby Indoor Practice Facility or back onto the artificial turf at Buddy Teevens Stadium, players slipping and having balls squirt through their hands might have been avoided. Which is exactly why McCorkle had the team out in the rain.
“They have to be ready for everything,” he said. “We're going to play in rain, wind, snow, and on slippery fields. All of it. I said last night, no matter what, we’re coming outside.
“We needed to have a rain practice, and we needed to have it on the grass and be mentally prepared for it.”
HOW WAS DAY 2 OVERALL, COACH?
McCorkle: “It was much, much better. I think guys came out ready to go from the very get-go. And I think one thing I was happy with today is, there was no lull. We maintained that level and tempo across the board.
“Hats off to the guys on the team and our leaders, our older guys, who held the guys accountable, and that continued the entire practice.”
MAKING PLAYS
Plays, players, and notable goings-on that earned a notation in one onlooker's soggy notebook Sunday included Noah Trigueros throwing a perfect Russell Wilson-like rainbow to Luke Rives for a long touchdown during the first team period … Jackson Ashford running a quarterback out of bounds on a roll-out … No’Koi Maddox refusing to go for the fake on an option run and making the stop …. Nick Lemon soaring for a high throw.
Jorden Barnes with a breakup during 7-on-7 …. Rives with a sliding catch … Christian Harris with a breakup … Saunier hooking up with Ian Scott, who has had a solid first couple of days of camp … Trey Jones with a breakup over the middle.
During the final team period, Myles Craddock showing his shake on a run … Offensive lineman Julian Sutton alertly recovering a fumble … Saunier finding Lemon on the right sideline and shortly thereafter the two combining for a long touchdown.
AND FINALLY
It was just one quick moment of taunting between the offense and defense during scrimmaging, but McCorkle made a point of bringing it up during his postgame remarks to the team as well as later to BGA.
“We’re going to talk about that a little bit,” he said. “They got it out of their system today, but we’ll show it tonight and talk about it. You don’t want to do that in a game, because it will cost us.”
ON TAP
The Big Green wraps up its opening stretch of three practices in three days Monday morning. Photo day Tuesday will be followed by practices Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.