Sept. 25, 2009
Center Valley, Pa. - For the past two years, Fordham and Colgate have faced off in the Patriot League opener for both schools. And for the past two years, the winner has gone on to claim the League title. The teams hope the same fate is at stake when they again open their League schedules against each other on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Hamilton. Four other Patriot League teams host a non-League opponent, with Lafayette, Lehigh, Georgetown and Bucknell all on their home turf.
Patriot League Football Release - 9.21.09 
Lehigh, Georgetown and Bucknell will all play their games at home. The Mountain Hawks look for their first win of the season against Princeton, while the Hoyas do the same against Howard. Bucknell will try to knock off Marist for the fifth time in as many seasons. Lafayette is back under the lights at Fisher Stadium to take on Penn.
The winner of the Fordham/Colgate matchup will join Holy Cross and Lafayette at the top of the Patriot League standings with a 1-0 record. Colgate's Jordan McCord enters the game after earning both Patriot League and ECAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his 44-carry, 212-yard performance against Dartmouth on Saturday.
For more coverage of Patriot League Football throughout the weekend, follow the League's Gameday Blog and Twitter page. Also, view the Patriot League composite schedule for all video, audio and live stat links for Saturday's games, and the new interactive scoreboard, which provides in-game score updates for any contest with Gametracker coverage.
Read the capsules below for a synopsis of each Patriot League contest this weekend, including game notes and any media links for each matchup.
This Week in the Patriot League
Fordham (0-2, 0-0) at Colgate (3-0, 0-0)
Andy Kerr Stadium; Hamilton, N.Y. - Saturday, 6 p.m.
Series Colgate, 16-4
Streak Colgate, One Win Last Meeting Colgate, 31-24 (9.27.2008)
Last Fordham Win 34-31 (9.29.2007) Last Five Meetings Colgate, 4-1
Fordham Head Coach Tom Masella, Wagner, 1981
Career Record 33-46 (Eighth Season) Overall/16-20 (Fourth Season) at Fordham; 7-11 PL
Colgate Head Coach Dick Biddle, Duke, 1971
Career Record 107-49 (14th Season) Overall/Colgate; 62-16 Patriot League
The last two Patriot League champions face off in Hamilton on Saturday, with Fordham visiting Colgate in the League opener for both squads...The title-winning team won on the road in each of the seasons, with Fordham scoring a 34-31 triumph at Hamilton in 2007 and Colgate returning the favor in a 31-24 victory at Fordham last season...Both of those games were also League openers for each team...Colgate has won five of the last six and 11 of the last 13 meetings in the series, which the Raiders lead, 16-4, all-time...Colgate has an 8-2 mark against Fordham in Hamilton...The teams have played in every season since 1989, with Colgate holding a 15-4 edge in League games.
Fordham The Rams are at 0-2 for the first time since 2005 after falling at home to Columbia, 40-28, in the battle for the Liberty Cup on Saturday...Fordham had won the last two meetings with the Lions...Fordham has dropped its last seven games coming off of a bye week...John Skelton accounted for 433 yards of total offense, completing 25-of-47 passes for 383 yards and four touchdowns and also rushing for 50 yards...The passing and total offense marks were career highs, while he tied his career-best in touchdown passes...He became Fordham's all-time leader with 48 career touchdown passes, just one away from the Patriot League top 10...It was the fourth 300-yard game in his career, including two in as many games this season...Skelton leads the FCS in passing and total offense per game this season, and is in the top 10 in completions and points responsible for...Fordham's next three games are non-League affairs, starting with a two-game homestand against Old Dominion (Oct. 3) and Bryant (Oct. 10).
Colgate Colgate moved its record to 3-0 with a 34-15 win at Dartmouth on Saturday...Jordan McCord had career highs with 44 carries for 212 yards and two touchdowns...The Raiders scored the last three touchdowns of the game to pull away, with Greg Sullivan rushing one in and McCord scoring twice...McCord's carry total was two off the Patriot League single-game record...It was the first 100-yard rushing day of his career, and McCord became just the 12th Colgate player to rush for over 200 yards...He also played linebacker in the game...Sullivan rushed for 51 yards and two touchdowns and also threw a touchdown pass to Simonds for the sixth consecutive game...Sullivan leads the Patriot League with 82.3 rushing yards per game, while McCord is second with 80.0 rushing yards per contest...Sullivan is 20th in the nation in passing efficiency, and fifth among all active FCS players in career passing efficiency...Sullivan now has over 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his career...Simonds became the fifth Colgate player to go over 2,000 receiving yards in his career...Colgate is at 3-0 for the first time since opening 15-0 in 2003, and just the second time in Head Coach Dick Biddle's 14 seasons...Colgate earned its fourth straight win over Dartmouth, and 10th in the 11 contests with Biddle at the helm...The Raiders complete a stretch of four of the first five games at home when they face regional rival Cornell next week.
Fordham Game Notes
Colgate Game Notes
Live Stats
Video
Audio
Princeton (0-1, 0-0 Ivy) at Lehigh (0-2, 0-0)
Goodman Stadium; Bethlehem, Pa. - Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
Series Princeton, 38-12-2 TV SE2, Fox College Sports Atlantic (tape-delay)
Streak Princeton, One Win Last Meeting Princeton, 10-7 (9.27.2008)
Last Lehigh Win 32-21 (9.15.2007) Last Five Meetings Lehigh, 3-2
Princeton Head Coach Roger Hughes, Doane, 1982
Career Record 43-47 (10th Season) Overall/Princeton
Lehigh Head Coach Andy Coen, Gettysburg, 1986
Career Record 16-19 (Fourth Season) Overall/Lehigh; 11-7 Patriot League
Lehigh opens a four-game homestand and looks for its first win of the year when it takes on Princeton on Saturday...The Mountain Hawks are also trying to earn payback for a 10-7 loss in Princeton last season...The teams are playing for the fourth straight season...Lehigh earned a 32-21 win at Princeton in 2007, while the Tigers claimed a 14-10 victory in the last matchup in Bethlehem in 2006...Lehigh has won eight of the last 10 matchups after Princeton won 36 of 42 from 1887-1993...Patriot League teams are 25-34 against Princeton.
Lehigh Lehigh had a bye last week...The Mountain Hawks are at 0-2 for the first time as a Patriot League member after dropping a 38-17 final at No. 3 Villanova on Sept. 12...Lehigh last started 0-2 in 1982...John Kennedy leads the Mountain Hawks with a 32.0 kickoff return average, which ranks seventh in the nation...Lehigh will also face Harvard, Georgetown and Yale during its homestand.
Marist (1-2, 0-2 Pioneer) at Bucknell (1-2, 0-0)
Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium; Lewisburg, Pa. - Saturday, 1 p.m.
Series Bucknell, 4-0
Streak Bucknell, Four Wins Last Meeting Bucknell, 21-17 (10.4.2008)
Marist Head Coach Jim Parady, Maine, 1983
Career Record 90-86-1 (17th Season) Overall/Marist
Bucknell Head Coach Tim Landis, Randolph-Macon, 1986
Career Record 82-93-1 (17th Season) Overall/29-41 (Seventh Season) at Bucknell; 14-23 Patriot League
Bucknell will try to remain perfect in its history against Marist when the Bison host the Red Foxes on Saturday in Lewisburg...Bucknell has defeated Marist in each of the last four seasons since the series began in 2005...The closest matchup came last year, when the Bison rallied for 14 fourth-quarter points for a 21-17 win at Marist on Oct. 4...Bucknell had won the previous three contests by at least 20 points each...The Bison are also trying to extend their two-game home winning streak...Patriot League teams are 18-2 all-time against Marist.
Bucknell The Bison fell to 1-2 on the season with a 33-9 loss at Cornell on Saturday...The Bison have lost five consecutive trips to Ithaca, and three games in a row in the series overall...Bucknell fell behind, 23-7, at halftime, and was limited to 238 yards of total offense in the game...A.J. Kizekai had 127 all-purpose yards for the Bison, while Brigham Farrand led the defense with nine tackles and two tackles for loss...Kizekai stands ninth in League annals with 4,874 career all-purpose yards, which is fourth among all active FCS players...Bucknell suffered its worst loss since a 28-point defeat against Lehigh in 2007, and failed to score double-digit points for the first time since facing Lafayette in 2007...The Bison play their Patriot League opener next week when they take on Georgetown.
Bucknell Game Notes
Gametracker
Video
Audio
Howard (0-2, 0-1 MEAC) at Georgetown (0-3, 0-2)
Multi-Sport Field; Washington, D.C. - Saturday, 2 p.m.
Series Georgetown, 1-0
Streak Georgetown, One Win Last Meeting Georgetown, 12-7 (9.7.2008)
Howard Head Coach Carey Bailey, Tennessee, 1992
Career Record 5-19 (Third Season) Overall/Howard
Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Kelly, Springfield, 1982
Career Record 5-30 (Fourth Season) Overall/Georgetown; 1-18 Patriot League
Georgetown tries to knock off Washington, D.C. counterpart Howard for the second year in a row when the teams meet at Multi-Sport Field on Saturday...The Hoyas scored a 12-7 victory in the first all-time meeting between the schools last year...That game marked the first matchup of Division I football teams based in the Nation's Captiol since Georgetown faced George Washington in 1950, and the first matchup against an opponent from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) for the Hoyas...Patriot League teams are 3-0 all-time against Howard, including Georgetown's win last year.
Georgetown The Hoyas had an edge in total offense but gave up a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and fell to Yale, 31-10, at home on Saturday...Robert Lane caught 13 passes for 149 yards, tying for the seventh-highest single-game mark for receptions by a Patriot League player and finishing just two off the League record...It matched the highest number of catches for a Patriot Leaguer since 2003...It was also the first 100-yard game for a Hoya since Glenn Castergine had 125 in 2004...Freshman quarterback Isaiah Kempf completed 32-of-59 passes for 332 yards and two interceptions in his first collegiate start, and led the Hoyas to a season-high 355 yards of total offense...The lone touchdown came on a 38-yard fumble return for a score by Paul Sant'Ambrogio in the second quarter...Nick Parrish had 17 tackles and a sack, while Sant'Ambrogio had 11 tackles...Georgetown lost to Yale for the third straight season... The Hoyas open a stretch of three consecutive League games next week when they visit Bucknell.
Georgetown Game Notes
Gametracker
Video
Penn (0-1, 0-0 Ivy) at Lafayette (1-1, 1-0)
Fisher Stadium; Easton, Pa. - Saturday, 6 p.m.
Series Penn, 61-20-4 TV Lafayette Sports Network
Streak Lafayette, Two Wins Last Meeting Lafayette, 24-17 (9.27.2008)
Last Penn Win 21-11 (9.16.2006) Last Five Meetings Penn, 3-2
Penn Head Coach Al Bagnoli, Central Connecticut State, 1975
Career Record 200-78 (28th Season) Overall; 114-55 (18th Season) at Penn
Lafayette Head Coach Frank Tavani, Lebanon Valley, 1976
Career Record 53-51 (10th Season) Overall/Lafayette; 32-26 Patriot League
Lafayette goes for its third consecutive win against Penn when the teams square off on Saturday night in Easton...After Penn won six straight meetings, the Leopards scored an 8-7 win on the road in 2007 and a 24-17 victory at home last season...Penn has still won 11 of the last 15 meetings in the series...The road team has won four of the last five and six of the last nine meetings...A victory would give Lafayette its second-longest winning streak against the Quakers, bested only by a four-game streak from 1978-82...Patriot League teams are 16-36 all-time against Penn.
Lafayette The Leopards fell behind, 16-0, at halftime and could not come all the way back in a 19-13 loss at home against No. 24 Liberty on Saturday...Rob Curley completed 14-of-20 passes for 216 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while Mark Layton hauled in five receptions for 83 yards and a score...Mark Leggiero and Michael Schmidlein each had big games for the defense, notching 15 and 14 tackles, respectively...Lafayette has dropped four consecutive home games going back to last season...The Leopards were facing Liberty for the second time after winning at the No. 14 Flames, 35-21, last season...The Leopards lost one of their first two games for the first time since 2003...Lafayette is beginning a stretch of four straight games against Ivy League opponents, and is at Yale next week.
Lafayette Game Notes
Gametracker
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