Football to Open Ivy League Play Against Penn

Game Three: Dartmouth (0-2) vs Penn (1-1) - Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, 1:30 p.m.
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HANOVER, N.H. – The Dartmouth football team opens Ivy League play on Saturday, Oct. 3, when it hosts the University of Pennsylvania at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field on Homecoming Weekend.

Setting the Scene
The Big Green host the Quakers on Saturday, Oct. 3, with kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. on ESPN+. It is the Ivy League opener for both programs. Dartmouth will be aiming for a fifth Ivy League title in the past seven years in 2026. The Big Green returned a talented roster headlined by Phil Steele Preseason All-Ivy honorees Grayson Saunier and Harrison Keith.

Dartmouth owns the most Ivy League championships of any program, with 22, and has won a title in four of the past six seasons. The Big Green have lost two one-possession games to open the season, both to ranked or receiving-votes opponents. They fell 24-20 at No. 7 Lehigh on Saturday, Sept. 19 and 31-28 to (RV) Monmouth in the home opener on Saturday, Sept. 26. Dartmouth led in the second half of both games.

Sammy McCorkle, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach, is in his fourth season at the helm in 2026. The Big Green won Ivy League titles in 2023 and 2024 under McCorkle.

Core contributors return throughout the lineup for the Big Green. Quarterback Grayson Saunier threw for 2,143 yards and nine touchdowns last season, while also rushing for 413 yards and a team-high 11 rushing touchdowns. Through two games in 2026, he has completed 28 of 57 passes for 410 yards and three touchdowns. Ky'Dric Fisher, the top returning pass catcher after posting 21 catches for 341 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore, led Dartmouth with 61 receiving yards against Monmouth.

Harrison Keith, a Third Team Associated Press (AP) All-American last season, led the team with four interceptions as a junior. He is coming off a career-high 13 tackles against Monmouth. Cameron Best-Alston enters his senior year after a 40-tackle 2025 season and added eight stops against the Hawks. Bruce Williams and Joshua Johnson combined for four sacks and 37 tackles as juniors last year and will look to take their production to the next level in 2026.

Last Time Out
Dartmouth erased a two-touchdown deficit and carried a 28-21 lead into the fourth quarter of its home opener. However, Monmouth made a 25-yard field goal with 1:09 remaining to win 31-28 on Saturday, Sept. 26. The Big Green ran for 235 yards, converted 11 of 17 third downs and scored touchdowns on all three trips inside the red zone.

Myles Craddock set career highs with 22 carries and 140 rushing yards, including a 28-yard touchdown run. Grayson Saunier had a hand in three scores. He threw for 148 yards and two touchdowns, to James Elliott and Taysire Williams, and ran for 66 yards and another touchdown. With those yards, Saunier reached 3,086 for his career, becoming the 11th quarterback in program history to surpass 3,000 passing yards.

Harrison Keith led all players with a career-high 13 tackles, including two for loss. Johnny Stephens added a career-high 11 tackles and forced a fumble at the Dartmouth 5 that No'Koi Maddox recovered. The Dartmouth defense also stopped Monmouth on fourth down at the 11 in the fourth quarter.

Owen Zalc's four extra points raised his career total to 218, second on Dartmouth's all-time scoring list. His 59-yard attempt at the final horn, which would have been an Ivy League record, fell just short.

Receiving Votes
The Big Green received four votes in the Monday, Sept. 28, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) poll.

With a Win on Saturday…

Dartmouth would open Ivy League play 1-0.
Dartmouth would improve to 15-3 at home over its last 18 games, dating back to the 2022 season finale.
The Big Green would win for the ninth time in the last 12 meetings with Penn.
Dartmouth would take an 18-17 all-time edge over Penn in games played in Hanover.
McCorkle would improve to 3-1 against the Quakers.

Scouting Penn
Penn enters Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field under first-year head coach Rick Santos in the program's 150th season. The Quakers are 1-1 after a 20-7 win at Bucknell and a 20-7 home loss to No. 6/7 Lehigh. Santos, the George A. Munger Head Football Coach, spent four seasons as head coach at New Hampshire, where he went 37-24 with three FCS Playoff appearances. He won the Walter Payton Award as UNH's quarterback. He replaced Ray Priore, who stepped down after 11 seasons as head coach and 39 with the program.

The Quakers' defense has allowed 170.5 total yards and 13.5 points per game. Opponents have converted just 5 of 29 third downs. Penn held Lehigh, the FCS leader in rushing, to 168 yards on the ground. Senior linebacker Zach Darche has 21 tackles through two games, and senior linebacker Joey Holliday had two sacks against Lehigh. Senior Jayden Drayton was a Phil Steele Preseason First Team All-Ivy selection at kick returner.

Both teams have faced 5-0 Lehigh. Dartmouth's 24-20 loss remains the Mountain Hawks' closest game of the season.

Last Time vs. Penn
Penn beat Dartmouth 36-24 at Franklin Field on Oct. 4, 2025, snapping the Big Green's five-game winning streak in Philadelphia. Dartmouth led 17-10 in the second quarter behind two Saunier rushing touchdowns, after Keith intercepted a pass on the game's first play from scrimmage. Penn then scored 26 of the game's final 33 points, helped by a muffed punt, a safety and two interceptions. Dartmouth held a 326-323 edge in total yards.

Penn leads the all-time series 50-40-2, but Dartmouth has won eight of the last 11 meetings, including a 20-17 win in the last meeting in Hanover in 2024. Zalc's overtime field goal lifted Dartmouth to a 23-20 win at Penn in 2023 in his Ivy League debut.

Sammy McCorkle Against Penn
McCorkle holds a 2-1 record against Penn as Robert L. Blackman Head Coach:

def. Penn, 23-20 (OT): Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, at Franklin Field
def. Penn, 20-17: Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Buddy Teevens Stadium at Memorial Field
lost to Penn, 36-24: Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, at Franklin Field

McCorkle is also 1-0 against Santos, having beaten his New Hampshire team 27-20 in the 2025 season opener.

Leading the Nation in Third Down Conversion Percentage
The Big Green are leading the nation in third down conversion percentage (64.5%), converting on 20 out of its 31 attempts.

Elite Company for Saunier
Grayson Saunier has etched his name in the Dartmouth record book in multiple statistical categories:

Career passing yards: 3,086 yards. Became the 11th quarterback in program history to surpass 3,000.
Points in a season: 60 (2025), tied for the Ivy League lead with Yale's Josh Pitsenberger.
Career completion percentage: .629 (258-for-410), second in program history
Single-game passing yards: 407 yards vs. CCSU (2025), tied for fifth in program history.
Season completions: 183 (2025), seventh all-time in program history.
Season passing yards: 2,143 yards (2025), eighth all-time in program history.
Season rushing touchdowns: 11 (2025), ninth all-time in program history.
Career rushing touchdowns: 20, tied ninth all-time in program history
Career completions: 258, ninth all-time in program history
Career total offense: 3,817 yards, 10th all-time in program history

Saunier Among Active FCS Players
Saunier ranks 24th among active FCS players in passing efficiency (135.44), 30th in total offense (3,817), and 36th in total offense per game (173.5).

Weekly Honors For Zalc
Zalc was named a semifinalist for the 2026 Campbell Trophy on Thursday, Sept. 24. He has been named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week seven times in his career, most recently on Sept. 21.

An Active Career Leader
Zalc entered the week ranked among active FCA players in field goals (41), third in field goals made-per-game (1.28) fifth in points-per-game (6.8).

Zalc in the Record Book

Single-season field goals: 17 made on 21 attempts (2023), a program record.
Career field goals: 41 made on 59 attempts, a Dartmouth record.
Career field goals (Ivy League context): 41, tied for fifth in Ivy League history with Penn's Jason Feinberg (1998-2000). He needs 11 to tie and 12 to pass Brown's Steve Morgan (2004-07), the conference record holder.
Single-season field goals (Ivy League context): 14 in league play in 2023, the Ivy League single-season record.
Career points-kicking: 218, first on Dartmouth's career points-kicking chart, with 95 of 97 extra points and 41-for-59 field goals made. That ties Penn's Feinberg for seventh in Ivy League history.
Career points: 218, second all-time in program history behind Myles Lane '28 (307).
Longest field goal: 54 yards vs. Harvard (2024), tied for the Ivy League record.

Big Green Receive Preseason Honors From Phil Steele
Grayson Saunier and Harrison Keith were named to the Phil Steele Magazine Preseason All-Ivy League Team, with both collecting first team honors.

Preseason Phil Steele All-Ivy honors:
First Team
Grayson Saunier quarterback
Harrison Keith, defensive back

Big Green in the NFL
Two alumni played in NFL preseason games. Delby Lemieux '26 debuted with the Minnesotta Vikings and Josiah Green '25 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

30 Years from Perfection
This season marks the 30th anniversary of Dartmouth's perfect 1996 campaign, one of the finest in program history. Led by fifth-year head coach John Lyons, the Big Green went a perfect 10–0 overall and 7–0 in the Ivy League, finishing the year ranked No. 17 in the national rankings and capturing the program's 17th Ivy League title. The championship run featured signature wins over Cornell and Harvard, a dominant 40-0 shutout of Columbia, and a title-clinching victory at Brown, before the Big Green closed the year at Princeton, beating the Tigers 24-0 to complete the undefeated season. Thirty years later, that 1996 squad remains a touchstone for Dartmouth football and a fitting piece of history to celebrate this season.

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