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| The flag stays in the official's pocket on this kick. |
HANOVER – It wasn’t perfect. Name the coach, it never is.
That said, Dartmouth's final "preseason" practice Friday was a very good way to turn the page to "game week" according to coach Sammy McCorkle.
“We ended on a good note,” he said. “We really did. I thought our guys came out today with a lot of energy, intensity, and focus. What we talked about all preseason camp, every single day for 17 days, is we’ve got to keep building and getting better every day.
“Every day is not going to be perfect. Every day is not going to be great. You are going to have some bad ones, but you’ve got to learn from that. You are going to have a bad play, a bad series, a bad game, and you’ve got to be able to move on from that. It’s something we talked about and harped on the entire preseason, and I thought our coaching staff did a great job making sure our guys paid attention to detail, had a sense of urgency, and never lost focus.”
The final practice of preseason was held on a bluebird of a day without a cloud in the sky above Buddy Teevens Stadium, the temperature a comfortable 70 degrees, and a refreshing breeze dancing across the field. The three weeks of preseason finished on exactly the note McCorkle would have ordered.
“It ended right,” he said with enthusiasm in his voice. “I feed off our guys, and I hope they feed off the coaches. You could just tell they were having fun out there with the way they were bouncing around.”
OFFICIALLY SPEAKING
After figuratively throwing flags himself in the first two scrimmages, McCorkle had four officials at practice Friday.
“It was good to have them out here,” he said. “We cover as much of this stuff as we can, but you get your point across more when a guy in stripes makes the call instead of a coach with a whistle.
“It’s a little easier for (the players) to see the things they need to correct with officials. Lining up correctly and not offsides. Making sure you have enough guys on the line of scrimmage. Holding and pass interference. It was great for our guys, and it was good practice for (the officials) too.”
For the record, the flag throwers Friday were not Ivy League officials.
“I think they are Division III refs and have already done a couple of games,” McCorkle said before joking. “We won’t see them during the season. If we were going to, I’d have had steak and potatoes and some cold beers waiting for them.”
A LITTLE THING
Little things can have big consequences in football. That’s why the Big Green spent a full period Friday with a half dozen coaches bouncing, spinning, and even kicking footballs along the ground for practice recovering onside kicks.
“Something like that can be the difference in winning or losing a game,” said McCorkle. “It was all hands on deck with that, and pretty much all of our coaches wanted to be involved.
“To me, that shows they realize how important special teams are. I’m telling you, you can win or lose games that way.”
NEXT
The Big Green will be back on the field Saturday, not for a practice or a scrimmage, but for a mock game. (More about that on BGA Overtime tomorrow.)
The first official “game week” practice will take place Sunday afternoon, and with that, the number of “reps” for freshmen and other younger players will decrease. It can be a difficult eye-opener for players who were the stars of their high school teams to find themselves running not the Dartmouth offense or defense, but Lehigh’s.
It’s an adjustment as old as football itself.
“We had ‘the talk’ the other night,” said McCorkle. “We tell them everybody has been on the scout team, or the ‘show team’ as we call it. I was on the show team when I played. All the other coaches were on show teams at every level, high school, college, and some guys at the pro level.
“It’s part of the deal. The thing I tell them is, that’s how you get better. So if you’re a defensive guy and you’re on the show team, master your craft. You may be doing coverages. You may be lining up the way the opponent lines up, but you can still work on your fundamentals. Same thing on offense.”
Added McCorkle: “I tell them the only way we can play at a high level is by having great effort from our show team, and we have a tradition of that here. Our guys work hard and practice hard.
“I tell them, if you do well on the show team and stick out, that’s an opportunity. The coaches will see it and talk about you. The next thing you know, you might be on the bus on special teams. Or the next guy at a position if we’ve seen you perform at a high level over and over.”
That’s a sign of the kind of selflessness McCorkle was pleased to see on display this week with several older players.
“We did a little Lehigh prep yesterday, and two of our seniors ran over to give Jacob Henry a break.”
The lone freshman running back, Henry, was enduring a significant workload.
“Chris Roper and Colin O’Garro are two guys that potentially could be starters for us, and they went over and said, ‘I got you. Let me take these reps for you so you can get a quick sprinkle of water.’
“To me, that’s our team.”
SEPTEMBER 11
None of Dartmouth’s players had been born when tragedy struck 25 years ago today, but McCorkle, like so many, has no problem recalling where he was when he learned what happened.
“I was (coaching) at UT Martin,” he said. “I was sitting in my office preparing for practice. I had a TV in my office, and I remember sitting there, seeing what happened, and calling my wife. I remember it like it was yesterday.
“We actually played our game that week.”
McCorkle’s Tennessee-Martin team beat Kentucky Wesleyan, 54-14, on Thursday, Sept. 13, with the small crowd following the National Anthem by breaking into an impromptu singing of God Bless America.
ON TAP
The Big Green will hold what McCorkle terms a “dress rehearsal” Saturday before returning to practice Sunday for the first official “game week” practice of 2026.
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| Owen Zalc's kick is . . . good! |