Aug. 4, 2004

2004 National Preseason Div. I-AA Football Polls And All-Americans
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Colgate and Lehigh, the top two teams in the Patriot League final football standings five times in the last six years, were among the Top 25 teams in the country in all six NCAA Division I-AA preseason polls that have been released prior to July 30, 2004. Colgate, the two-time defending Patriot League champion that posted a 15-1 overall record on the way to appearing in the National Championship game, is one of four teams ranked in the Top 10 in every preseason poll. The Raiders were listed seventh in three national polls and ninth in two other rankings. Colgate opens the 2004 campaign Sept. 11 at Massachusetts in a rematch of its 2003 first-round playoff game, which the Raiders won by a 19-7 margin in Hamilton, N.Y. Lehigh, which finished second last year with an 8-3 overall mark, also appeared in the Top 25 of all six polls, ranging from seventh in the Dopke.com poll to 25th in the Street & Smith poll. The Mountain Hawks were among 17 Division I-AA teams to be ranked in all six Top 25 polls. LU opens the the season with a pair of home games against Stony Brook (9/4) and Villanova (9/11). Colgate Sr. RB Jamaal Branch leads a 17-player Patriot League contingent to be named to preseason All-America teams. Branch, the 2003 Walter Payton Award winner, unanimous first-team All-American and Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, was the only PL player to be named to all five first-team preseason All-America squads. Lehigh Sr. TE Adam Bergen earned first-team preseason All-America honors four times while Fordham Sr. DB Tad Kornegay was honored with three first-team nominations and one second-team nod. Bergen and Kornegay, the 2004 PL Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, were both picked as first-team preseason All-Americans by Dopke.com along with national I-AA football writers Tony Moss and Josh Buchanan. Bergen also earned first-team recognition from Lindy's while Kornegay joined Fordham DL Aki Jones as second-team picks. Buchanan also named Colgate Sr. WR Luke Graham a second-team preseason All-American, Lehigh Sr. OL Justin Terry a fourth-team preseason All-American and 11 players to an honorable mention list, including Sr. LB Kevin Ransome and Sr. DB Dante Ross of Bucknell, Sr. QB Chris Brown, Sr. FB Eric Guglielmotti, Sr. DB Brian Anderson, Jr. DB Will Arnold and Jr. DB Chris Williams of Colgate, Jones, Sr. LB NaQuinton Gainous and Soph. PK Micah Clukey of Fordham and Sr. RB Joe McCourt of Lafayette. Dopke.com tabbed Lehigh Jr. DL Royce Morgan as a "Special Mention" player on its preseason All-America team. Lindy's also highlighted two games involving Patriot League teams as key games for the 2004 season. The Colgate at UMass game on Sept. 11 was ranked among the Top 5 games of the year while the Oct. 30 showdown pitting Colgate at Lehigh was listed among "Other Key Games."