Patriot League Football 25th Anniversary Profile
Patriot League History
Seasons 1986-present
League championships
Lehigh: 9 (1993, 1995, 1998, 1999 (c), 2000, 2001, 2004 (c), 2006 (c), 2010)
Colgate: 6 (1997, 1999 (c), 2002 (c), 2003, 2005 (c), 2008)
Lafayette: 6 (1988, 1992, 1994, 2004 (c), 2005 (c), 2006 (c)
Holy Cross: 6 (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2009)
Fordham: 2 (2002 (c), 2007)
Bucknell: 1 (1996)
(c) - co-champion
Total Coaches (1986-2010): 30
Non-League Record (1986-2010): 419-495-6 (.459)
Postseason Record: 8-18
First Round: 6-12
Second Round: 0-1
Quarterfinals: 1-4
Semifinals: 1-0
Championship: 0-1
Individual Accolades
Walter Payton Award: 1987: Kenny Gamble, RB, Colgate; 2003: Jamaal Branch, RB, Colgate
Eddie Robinson Award 1987: Mark Duffner, Holy Cross; 1988: Bill Russo, Lafayette; 2001: Pete Lembo, Lehigh
College Football Hall of Fame 2000: Gordie Lockbaum, Holy Cross, RB; 2002: Kenny Gamble, Colgate, RB
All-time All-America selections: 252 AP: 100; AFCA: 38; Walter Camp: 15; Sports Network: 99
ECAC All-Stars: 188
Four-year All-Patriot League recipients: 10
Three-year All-Patriot League recipients: 55
Patriot League Academic Honor Roll recipients: 1,823
Patriot League Football 25th Anniversary Team
For more history, refer to the Patriot League football year-by-year, honors and records from the 2011 football media guide below.
All-Time Year-by-Year 
Honors and Awards
Patriot League Records
Founded as the Colonial League in 1986, a football-only conference with six charter members, the Patriot League evolved into an all-sport conference in 1990 and enters its 26th season playing football and 22nd as an all-sport league in 2011. Patriot League football has produced numerous All-Americans and major award winners throughout its tenure, and has participated in the Football Championship Subdivision postseason since 1997.
League Titles
Holy Cross, Colgate and Lafayette have all enjoyed a dominant era of success in Patriot League football, but no team has put together a better overall stretch than Lehigh.
The Mountain Hawks lead all programs with nine Patriot League titles, three ahead of the aforementioned trio. Lehigh has won titles under four different head coaches, with Hank Small (1993), Kevin Higgins (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000), Pete Lembo (2001, 2004) and Andy Coen (2006, 2010) each directing Lehigh to the crown.
Lehigh has won the outright Patriot League title six times, tied with Holy Cross for the most in League history. All six of the Crusaders' titles have been of the outright variety, with Mark Duffner (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991) directing the dominance in the early days of League play and Tom Gilmore (2009) leading the Crusaders to another crown two years ago.
No Patriot League coach has led his program to more titles than Colgate's Dick Biddle, who has overseen all six of Colgate's championships (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008).
At Lafayette, two head coaches have directed the program throughout its Patriot League tenure, and each have three titles to their credit. Bill Russo led the Leopards to the crown in 1988, 1992 and 1994, while current head coach Frank Tavani was at the helm for Lafayette's three-peat from 2004-06.
The remaining crowns went to Fordham (2002, 2007) and Bucknell (1996). Of the 30 coaches in Patriot League history, 12 have at least one championship to their credit.
Memorable Patriot League Games
When it began in 1986, the Patriot League became the home of the most-played rivalry in college football between Lafayette and Lehigh. Through the years, those contests have remained intense while other rivalries have formed to produce plenty of significant games and moments in Patriot League history.
Perhaps the first came in 1988, when Lafayette won at home against powerful Holy Cross 28-20 to become the only team to dethrone the Crusaders in the first six seasons of Patriot League football.
The 1992-95 seasons featured great games in the Lafayette-Lehigh rivalry, with each team winning twice on its home field. The Leopards secured Patriot League titles with a thrilling 32-29 win over the Mountain Hawks in 1992 and a 54-20 rout of Lehigh in 1994. The Mountain Hawks claimed their first League crown in 1993 by thumping Lafayette 39-14, then dashed the Leopards' hopes of sharing the title with a 37-30 overtime victory in 1995.
Bucknell and Colgate took center stage in 1996 and 1997. The Bison won their lone League title by defeating the Raiders 28-27 in overtime on the final day of the 1996 season, while Colgate came back the next year on its home field and dominated the undefeated Bison 48-14 with the League title and inaugural postseason berth at stake.
In the ensuing years, Lehigh stepped forward as Colgate's chief rival. The Mountain Hawks took the Patriot League title by one game over the Raiders in 1998 by winning a 41-22 final at home, while the teams split the crown in 1999 due mainly to Colgate's 28-24 win over Lehigh in Hamilton. In 2001, Lehigh got Colgate again with a 25-22 win in Hamilton as it went on to an undefeated regular season and dealt the Raiders their only League loss.
Fordham was the team to trip up Colgate in 2002, with a 40-31 victory in the second game of the year that ended up as the difference for the automatic bid to the postseason when the teams went on to split the title. In 2003 Colgate and Lehigh were back at it, with the Raiders winning 17-10 at home to beat the Mountain Hawks by one game in the Patriot League on their way to the national title game.
From 2004-06, the Lafayette/Lehigh rivalry took center stage, and each time it was the Leopards coming away with a victory with the Patriot League title on the line. Lafayette defeated Lehigh at home in 2004 (24-10) and 2006 (49-27), both times sharing the Patriot League title with its rival but taking the automatic playoff bid by virture of the victory. The most memorable game of the stretch came at Lehigh in 2005, when Lafayette rallied with a touchdown in the final minute for a 23-19 victory to share the Patriot League title with Colgate and keep Lehigh from the crown.
In recent years, the Patriot League title has been on the line in a key November matchup. Holy Cross was involved in all three contests from 2007-09. The Crusaders fell in nailbiters at Fordham in 2007 (24-21) and Colgate in 2008 (28-27) before winning a close game at home against in 2009 against Lafayette (28-26) to claim their first Patriot League title since 1991.
Postseason History
Any discussion of the Patriot League's postseason success has to begin with Colgate's run to the national championship in 2003. The Raiders disposed of Massachusetts and Western Illinois at home in the first round and quarterfinals, then went to Florida Atlantic and won in the semifinal round. Colgate lost to Delaware in the national title contest, but remains the only Patriot League team to make it past the quarterfinal round.
Five other Patriot League teams have won a first-round contest. Lehigh has four of those victories, with the Mountain Hawks winning their first-round game in 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2010. Fordham earned a first-round win in 2002, as the Patriot League went four consecutive seasons with a victory in the postseason from 2000-03.
At-large playoff berths have been received by Colgate (1998), Lehigh (1999 and 2004) and Lafayette (2005).
Non-League History
The Patriot League played 920 overall non-League contests from 1986-2010 (including postseason), and nearly half of those games were played against opponents from the Ivy League. The conferences squared off 449 times in the first 25 seasons of Patriot League Football, with the Ivy League holding a slim 233-213-3 advantage.
Entering the 2011 season, Ivy League opponents accounted for the top eight most-played matchups in non-League history. There were 65 matchups against Columbia and Cornell, 64 vs. Princeton and 60 against Harvard. Penn (56), Dartmouth (54), Yale (45) and Brown (40) also had plenty of action against Patriot League opponents.
The Patriot League also had its most wins against Ivy League foes, led by Columbia (44), Cornell (32) and Dartmouth (31). The most-played non-Ivy League opponents were Villanova and Army who each faced Patriot League teams 25 times from 1986-2010.
Individual Accolades
From All-Patriot League to All-America, national and regional awards and on-field and off-field recognition, Patriot League football student-athletes and coaches have earned their fair share of recognition over the years.
The top honor given to a player in the Football Championship Subdivision, the Walter Payton Award, has been won by a pair of Patriot Leaguers. Both were Colgate running backs, with Kenny Gamble claiming the inaugural award in 1987 and Jamaal Branch winning the honor in 2003.
Three Patriot League coaches have earned praise with the Eddie Robinson Award, given to the top coach in the FCS. Holy Cross' Mark Duffner (1987) and Lafayette's Bill Russo (1988) won the first two honors, while Lehigh's Pete Lembo claimed the award in 2001. Colgate's Dick Biddle also won the AFCA Coach of the Year honor in 2003, and Fordham's Dave Clawson earned the Schutt Sports honor in 2002.
In addition, six student-athletes received recognition as a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete. Holy Cross' Gordie Lockbaum (1987) and Jack Lavalette (1990), Bucknell's David Berardinelli (1992) and Travis Nissley (2010), Colgate's John Frieser (2003) and Lafayette's Stephen Bono (2005) have each earned the honor.
Sixteen Patriot Leaguers have played in a major postseason All-Star game, most recently with Lehigh's Will Rackley competing in the East-West Shrine Game following his 2010 season. Seven have been named the ECAC Player of the Year, with Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph claiming the honor in 2009.
Patriot League Records
Patriot League fans have watched a number of great players throughout the years, particularly at the always-glorified skill positions of quarterback, running back and wide receiver. But despite all of the talent, a player stands out as the most accomplished in Patriot League annals at each position.
At quarterback, Holy Cross' Dominic Randolph (2006-09) holds Patriot League records for passing yardage (13,455), attempts (1,786), completions (1,131) and passing touchdowns (117) as well as total offense (14,240) and touchdowns responsible for (133). He shares the FCS record for most overall games throwing for 200 yards or more with 41, and has the sole possession of the consecutive games mark with that number. Randolph also shares the national record with 13 consecutive games of 300 yards or more of total offense in 2008 and 2009. He ranks third in FCS history in career passing yardage, fifth in all-time total offense and sixth in touchdown passes.
A pair of Colgate running backs hold Patriot League records and are among the all-time FCS leaders in career and season rushing yardage. Jordan Scott (2005-08) holds the Patriot League record for career rushing yardage (5,621) and rushing touchdowns (57) while also maintaining the Division I mark for rushing attempts (1,240). He stands fifth in FCS history in career rushing yardage and in the top 15 in rushing touchdowns, and is one of eight players in FCS annals with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
The back who preceded Scott at Colgate, Jamaal Branch (2001-04) still holds both Patriot League and FCS records for his outstanding 2003 season. Branch holds the single-season FCS mark for rushing attempts (450), yards (2,326) and 100-yard games (12) during the campaign which netted him the Walter Payton Award.
Amazingly, three Patriot League running backs are among a group of only six players with 11 consecutive 100-yard games in a season. Scott (2007), Branch (2003) and Bucknell's Rich Lemon (1994) all pulled off the feat.
Fordham's Javarus Dudley (2000-03) has stood the test of time in the Patriot League receiving record book. The 25th Anniversary Team member has the most all-time receptions (295), receiving yards (4,197) and all-purpose yards (7,121) in Patriot League history, and is tied for the most receiving touchdowns (34). He stands sixth in FCS history in both career receptions and receiving yards, and eighth in all-purpose yardage.
Other Patriot League records have stood the test of time. Lafayette's Jason McLaughlin (1991-94) remains the League's top scoring kicker with 255 career points. Towson's Andrew Hollingsworth (1997-00) set a Patriot League sack record of 43 that no other player has remotely approached. Lehigh's Lee Picariello (1988-91) and Holy Cross' David Streeter (1993-96) maintain the all-time lead in career tackles at 425, while Holy Cross' Dave Murphy (1986-89) has held the career interceptions record at 28 for more than two decades.