|
All Seven Patriot League Football Teams Take the Field on Saturday
Oct. 10, 2008 Center Valley, Pa. - The first of five consecutive weekends with every Patriot League football team in action kicks off with Lehigh hosting Fordham in a Patriot League matchup on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., and also includes home dates for Bucknell, Colgate, Georgetown and Holy Cross in afternoon kickoffs. Patriot League Football Release - 10.6.08
The Bison play host to Hofstra, while all of the other teams take on any Ivy League opponent. Colgate is at home against Princeton, Georgetown takes on Penn and Holy Cross hosts Brown, while Lafayette travels to Columbia. Lehigh is playing its Patriot League opener, while Fordham comes into the contest with an 0-1 mark after losing at home to Colgate on Sept. 27. Colgate, Georgetown and Fordham are back on the field after having last week off, as the Raiders and Hoyas had their Oct. 4 game in Hamilton cancelled due to the outbreak of norovirus on Georgetown's campus. It was announced this week that the contest would not be made up this season, and will be listed as an un-played game in League standings and school records. A tie in the season-ending standings will exist if teams have the same number of losses. Colgate's Jordan Scott resumes his record chase on Saturday against Princeton. A 100-yard effort would make Scott the Patriot League career leader in consecutive and overall 100-yard rushing games, a mark he currently shares at 17-consecutive and 28-overall games with Bucknell's Rich Lemon (1993-96). Scott is also 186 yards away from a 1,000-yard rushing season. It would make him the third player in FCS history with 1,000 rushing yards in five games, and the eighth in FCS annals with four 1,000-yard campaigns to his name. One touchdown would also make Scott the Patriot League's all-time leading scorer, as he currently the trails the mark of 326 held by Lafayette's Joe McCourt (2001-04) by four points. For game capsules and institutional game notes for each of the Patriot League schools in action this weekend, read the League previews below. This Week in the Patriot League
Fordham (2-2, 0-1) at Lehigh (1-3, 0-0) Series Lehigh, 18-2 TV SE2, FCS Fordham Head Coach Tom Masella, Wagner, 1981 Lehigh Head Coach Andy Coen, Gettysburg, 1986 Fordham goes for its second win in a row in a series that has been dominated by the Mountain Hawks...Lehigh holds an 18-2 all-time advantage in the series even after Fordham's 28-18 victory at home last season...That Ram victory broke a nine-game Lehigh winning streak in the series...Lehigh has won nine consecutive games in the series on two occasions...Lehigh has a 9-0 record at home in Patriot League matchups against the Rams...The Mountain Hawks earned a 45-14 victory in the last matchup in Bethlehem in 2006...Fordham is trying to avoid starting 0-2 in Patriot League play for the third time in four seasons...Lehigh has lost two of its last three League openers, but won seven opening contests before that stretch. Fordham Notebook Fordham had a bye week after falling in its Patriot League opener, 31-24, at home against Colgate on Sept. 27...Fordham became the second consecutive defending Patriot League champion to lose its League opener, after Lehigh (a co-champion in 2006) fell to the Rams last year...Fordham is in the top 20 nationally in scoring, total and passing defense...Quarterback John Skelton is in the top 20 in the nation in passing yards and total offense per game, while running back Xavier Martin has a top 20 spot in rushing yards per contest and wide receiver Asa Lucas is No. 20 in receptions per game...Fordham goes in search of its first road win against Lehigh. Lehigh Notebook Lehigh suffered a last-play loss for the second game in a row, falling to Cornell, 25-24, on a 20-yard touchdown pass as time expired...The Mountain Hawks lost to Princeton on Sept. 27 on a field goal on the game's final play...Lehigh has a 1-3 record for the second time in the last three seasons, but has not started a season 1-4 since 1992...Quarterback J.B. Clark completed 24-of-35 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for his first career rushing touchdown against the Big Red...Brendan Van Ackeren notched the first interception of his career in the contest..Jarard Cribbs' 84-yard punt return for a touchdown was just one yard shy of the Goodman Stadium record, set in 1988 by Pete Sczerbinski and again in 2001 by Jermaine Pugh...Lehigh is still in the top 15 in the country in rushing and scoring defense. Lafayette (3-1, 1-0) at Columbia (0-3, 0-1 Ivy) Series Lafayette, 26-11-2 TV Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4 and WBPH-60), MASN Lafayette Head Coach Frank Tavani, Lebanon Valley, 1976 Columbia Head Coach Norries Wilson, Minnesota, 1989 Lafayette tries to continue its success against Columbia on Saturday...The Leopards have won the last six meetings in the series, including a 29-0 blanking last year in Easton...Lafayette has a 19-3-1 advantage in games played since 1981...The series is closer in games played at Columbia, where the Leopards still hold a 13-11-1 edge...The teams have not met in New York since 2004, a game the Leopards won, 35-14...The Leopards are facing an Ivy League opponent for the third consecutive week after beating Penn on Sept. 27 and losing at home against Harvard last week...Columbia plays its second Patriot League opponent of the year after losing to Fordham on Sept. 20...Patriot League teams are 41-17-2 all-time against Columbia. Lafayette Notebook Lafayette lost to Harvard, 27-13, for its first defeat of the season on Saturday...The loss snapped a six-game winning streak that was the second-longest in the FCS, and kept Lafayette from its first 4-0 start since 1988...It was Harvard's eighth straight win in the series...Shaun Adair caught seven passes for 85 yards and a touchdown in the game, and moved up three spots to fifth on Lafayette's career receiving yards list with 1,688...He also ranks seventh in career receptions at Lafayette with 114...Punter Tom Kondash placed four of his five kicks inside the 20, with a career-long 53-yard punt and another for 49 yards...The Leopards are still tied for the top spot in the FCS in scoring defense, allowing an even 14 points per game. Hofstra (2-3, 1-1 CAA) at Bucknell (3-1, 0-0) Series Hofstra, 4-2 Bucknell Head Coach Tim Landis, Randolph Macon, 1986 Hofstra Head Coach Dave Cohen, C.W. Post, 1988 Bucknell takes on a Hofstra team that it has not faced since 1994, and that no Patriot League squad has opposed since Lehigh in the 2001 postseason...The Mountain Hawks defeated Hofstra in that playoff contest, 27-24, in overtime, but Patriot League teams are just 3-16-1 against the Pride all-time...Bucknell is 0-4 against the Pride as a Patriot League member, with the games taking place from 1990-94...The Bison's series victories came in 1965 and 1969...Bucknell is in search of its first 4-1 start since 2001. Bucknell Notebook Bucknell beat Marist for the fouth time in as many meetings, 21-17, on Saturday...Bucknell has started the season 3-1 for the first time since 2004, equaling its win total from last season...The Bison have won their first two road games for the first time since 1999...Marcello Trigg has now thrown for a career-high two touchdowns on six different occasions...Shaun Pasternak had six receptions for 100 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 1:03 left in the win...Pasternak has three 100-yard receiving games, the highest total for a Bison since Lester Erb recorded four 100-yard games in 1989...Sam Nana-Sinkam leads the Patriot League with 41 tackles...Bucknell plays its final non-League game before closing the year with its entire League schedule. Brown (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) at Holy Cross (1-3, 1-0) Series Holy Cross, 30-20-3 Brown Head Coach Phil Estes, New Hampshire, 1980 Holy Cross Head Coach Tom Gilmore, Penn, 1986 Holy Cross goes for its third consecutive win over Brown after the teams started the series back up in 2006...The last meeting before then was a Brown victory in 1995...Dominic Randolph is 59-for-76 for 733 yards with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in two career starts against Brown...The Crusaders play the third of their four Ivy League opponents this year, falling to Harvard and Yale and facing Dartmouth next week...Brown faces its only Patriot League opponent of the year...Patriot League teams are 20-17 all-time against the Bears. Holy Cross Notebook Holy Cross fell to Yale, 31-28, in double overtime on Saturday...The Crusaders missed a field goal with a chance to send the game to a third overtime...Holy Cross' three losses this season have come by a combined total of seven points, with losses to both Massachusetts and Yale on the final play of the game...The Crusaders concluded their three-game road trip with a 1-2 record...They rallied from 21-7 down in the final four minutes to send the game to overtime, with Dominic Randolph hitting Ryan McGuire with the game-tying touchdown with six seconds left...Randolph completed 41-of-63 passes for 376 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions in the loss...The 41 completions broke his own school record of 34...He leads the FCS in completions per game (30.3) in 2008...Holy Cross plays four of its next five games at home. Princeton (2-1, 1-0 Ivy) at Colgate (3-2, 1-0) Series Princeton, 26-22-1 TV Time Warner Sports Princeton Head Coach Roger Hughes, Doane, 1982 Colgate Head Coach Dick Biddle, Duke, 1971 Colgate has won three of its last four meetings against the Tigers, but looks for revenge after losing at home, 27-26, in overtime in the last matchup in 2006...The teams played every year from 2000-06, with Colgate holding a 5-2 advantage in those matchups...The road team has won the last two and three of the last four meetings, with Colgate winning at Princeton, 16-10, in 2005...The last three matchups have been decided by six points or less...The teams have split their six meetings in Hamilton...Colgate plays the second of its three Ivy League opponents, beating Dartmouth on Sept. 20 and going to Cornell next week...Princeton faces its second Patriot League foe, knocking off Lehigh on Sept. 27...Patriot League teams are 24-34 all-time against Princeton. Colgate Notebook Colgate had its Patriot League game against Georgetown cancelled due to the outbreak of norovirus on Georgetown's campus...The Raiders will now play a pair of Ivy League opponents, Princeton and Cornell, then finish the year with their Patriot League schedule...Running back Jordan Scott needs 186 yards to reach 1,000 yards for the season...He would be the third player in FCS history to reach the feat in five games if he does it against Princeton, and the eighth with four 1,000-yard seasons. Penn (1-2, 1-0 Ivy) at Georgetown (1-3, 0-2) Series Penn, 4-0-1 Penn Head Coach Al Bagnoli, Central Connecticut State, 1975 Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Kelly, Springfield, 1982 Georgetown and Penn face off for the second year in a row...The Hoyas fell at Penn, 42-13, last year in the first series matchup since the teams tied in 1937...The first two meetings in the series were played in the 19th century...Georgetown faces its second Ivy League opponent, previously falling to Yale on Sept. 20...Penn lost at Lafayette, 24-17, on Sept. 27 in its previous action against the Patriot League...Patriot League squads have a 16-35 all-time record against Penn.. Georgetown Notebook Georgetown had its game at Colgate cancelled last week due to the outbreak of norovirus on Georgetown's campus...The Hoyas return to action with consecutive home games, facing Penn on Saturday and then taking on Bucknell in a Patriot League game on Oct. 18...Nick Parrish earned Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors from the ECAC for his two interception returns for touchdowns on Sept. 27 against Holy Cross....The Hoyas are in the top 20 nationally in fumbles recovered.
|
