WEEK ZERO NOTES
Patriot League Notebook (WEEK ZERO)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN TO PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND
Defending Patriot League Champion Colgate opens the 2019 season and the 150th Anniversary of College Football when it hosts CAA opponent Villanova with a noon kick off on Saturday at Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium. The game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network with Jason Knapp calling the play-by-play and Kevin Carter providing analysis. A Colgate radio broadcast will also be available on 94 WKXZ-FM (wkxzfm.com) with Eric Malanoski and Jeff Bishop calling the action.
DEFENDING CHAMPION RAIDERS PICKED ATOP THE 2019 PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
Colgate received 72 points and 12 first-place votes to finish atop the 2019 Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Raiders claimed the Patriot League title during a historic 2018 season that saw them tie the FCS single-season record with five shutouts and lead the nation in total defense (237.7) and scoring defense (9.3). The Raiders advanced to the FCS Quarterfinals against eventual national champion North Dakota State. Holy Cross finished second in the preseason poll with 58 points and two first-place votes. The Crusaders went 4-2 in League play in Head Coach Bob Chesney’s first season in Worcester, Mass. last season. The Hoyas received 51 points in the preseason poll to place third after Head Coach Rob Sgarlata led the League’s biggest turnaround in 2018; improving by five wins - four in League play. Second-year Head Coach Joe Conlin and Fordham received 39 points in the preseason poll, good for fourth place. Lehigh (38 points) will begin a new era under Head Coach Tom Gilmore, who returns to the League after 14 seasons at the helm of the Holy Cross program from 2004-17. Head Coach John Garrett and Lafayette placed sixth in the preseason poll with 21 points while Bucknell under first-year Head Coach Dave Cecchini rounds out the poll with 15 points.
THIS WEEK IN PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL (WEEK ZERO)
VILLANOVA WILDCATS (0-0, CAA) AT No. 14/13 COLGATE RAIDERS (0-0, 0-0 PL)
Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium | Hamilton, N.Y.......................................Saturday, Aug. 24, Noon ET (CBSSN)
Broadcast (CBSSN): PxP - Jason Knapp; Analyst - Kevin Carter
Radio (94 WKXZ-FM): PxP - Eric Malanoski; Analyst - Jeff Bishop
SERIES HISTORY: Colgate trails the all-time series with Villanova, 4-1. The Raiders won the first series meeting in 1978, 20-14, but the Wildcats have won the last four, including the lone meeting in Hamilton in 2002 (20-0).
LAST MEETING: (Nov. 29, 2008) Colgate fell to No. 6 Villanova, 55-28, in the first round of the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs at Villanova Stadium. Raiders’ quarterback Greg Sullivan completed 15-of-22 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown while wide receiver Pat Simonds finished with six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.
SIX LEAGUE PLAYERS NAMED STATS FCS PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Six Patriot League football student-athletes were recognized when STATS FCS named its 2019 Preseason All-America Teams. Bucknell fifth-year punter Alex Pechin and Colgate senior defensive lineman Nick Wheeler are first-team selections. Raiders’ senior defensive back Abu Daramy-Swaray received a spot on the second team. Colgate senior offensive lineman Jack Badovinac and Georgetown senior defensive lineman Khristian Tate placed on the third team.
COLGATE’S WHEELER AND DARAMY-SWARAY NAMED TO BUCK BUCHANAN AWARD WATCH LIST
Colgate senior defensive lineman Nick Wheeler and senior cornerback Abu Daramy-Swaray were among the 25 nominees named to the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award Watch List. The award is presented annually to the defensive player of the year in college football’s Division I championship subdivision. The list includes at least one player from each of the 13 FCS conferences. Wheeler recorded 17.0 tackles for loss (TFL) and 9.0 sacks to finish among the League’s leaders in 2018. Daramy-Swaray, a two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection has posted five career interceptions in Colgate’s secondary.
BRENEMAN NAMED TO WALTER PAYTON AWARD WATCH LIST
Colgate junior quarterback Grant Breneman was named to the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award Watch List, presented to the FCS’s offensive player of the year. Breneman led the Patriot League in pass efficiency (133.6), completing 126-of-204 pass attempts for 1,605 yards and six touchdowns with four interceptions in 10 games during the 2018 season. The Patriot League has had two previous football student-athletes win the Walter Payton Award, both Colgate running backs Kenny Gamble (1987) and Jamaal Branch (2003).
THREE NAMED TO 2019 FCS PUNTER OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST
Bucknell fifth-year Alex Pechin, Fordham junior Andrew Mevis and Georgetown senior Brad Hurst have been named to 2019 FCS Punter of the Year Watchlist. Pechin, a two-time All-American, finished third in the FCS with a 45.1-yard punting average in 2018. Mevis, a three-time Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week last season, averaged 41.3 yards per punt with a long of 70 yards. Hurst averaged 40.8 yards per punt and had 18 punts of 50 or more yards in 2018. The inaugural FCS Punter of the Year Award is sponsored by the Augusta Sports Council, the group that selects the FBS Ray Guy Award.
PECHIN NAMED LEAGUE MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Bucknell football’s Alex Pechin was named the 2018-19 Patriot League Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year following a vote conducted by the athletics communications staff from each of the League’s member institutions. The award is presented annually to one female and one male Patriot League student-athlete. Candidates for the honor were previously named the scholar-athlete of the year in their respective sports. For the 2018-19 academic year, there were 22 candidates from 24 Patriot League sports. Pechin is the third football student-athlete to be recognized as the scholar-athlete of the year, joining David Berardinelli (Bucknell, 1993) and Nick Martucci (Lehigh, 1999). He is the ninth Bucknell student-athlete to receive the honor since the League began the award following the 1991-92 academic year.
TOM GILMORE RETURNS TO LEHIGH AS HEAD COACH
Tom Gilmore was named Lehigh football’s head coach following the University’s extensive search. Gilmore spent 14 seasons as head coach at Holy Cross, where he was a two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year and led the Crusaders to a Patriot League Championship and FCS Playoff appearance in 2009. His 72 victories rank second in Holy Cross history, including a 41-40 Patriot League record. Before his tenure in Worcester, Mass., Gilmore spent four seasons as the Mountain Hawks’ defensive coordinator, helping the program to a 39-9 record and League titles in 2000 and 2001. He was named the AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year following the 2001 season when the program ranked fifth nationally in rushing defense and 12th in scoring defense.
DAVE CECCHINI NAMED BUCKNELL FOOTBALL HEAD COACH
Dave Cecchini, who had a historic playing career as a wide receiver at Lehigh, was named the 27th Bob Odell Head Football Coach at Bucknell University. Most recently the head coach at Valparaiso University, Cecchini has a long track record of building explosive offenses at elite academic institutions. Cecchini served as offensive coordinator at Lehigh, The Citadel and Harvard University, where his offensive units have broken numerous school records, to help guide his teams to a combined seven conference championships. He was an All-American wide receiver at Lehigh during his playing days in the early 1990s and spent 13 of his 24 seasons as a coach at his alma mater.
PATRIOT LEAGUE DEFENDERS TOP FCS ACTIVE LEADERS IN TFLS
The Patriot League boasts the top three FCS active leaders in tackles for loss per game, led by Fordham junior linebacker Glenn Cunningham. Cunningham led the Patriot League and placed fourth in the FCS with 21.5 tackles for loss in 2018 and leads all active FCS players with 1.48 TFL’s per game. The Glastonbury, Conn. native posted six games with 2.0 or more TFL’s in 2018, including 4.0 apiece against Lafayette and Holy Cross. Bucknell junior linebacker Simeon Page 22.0 TFL’s in 16 career games to place second while preseason player of the year Nick Wheeler, a senior defensive lineman at Colgate, has 36.5 TFL’s in 30 games for the Raiders’ defense.
FCS ACTIVE TFL LEADERS
1. Glenn Cunningham, Fordham, 1.48
2. Simeon Page, Bucknell, 1.38
3. Nick Wheeler, Colgate, 1.22
4. Darin Greenfield, South Dakota, 1.20
5. Chris Terrell, Central Arkansas, 1.19
PAGE AND WHEELER ATOP FCS ACTIVE SACK LEADERS LIST
Page leads all active FCS players with 0.84 sacks per game. The Bison’s junior linebacker has recorded 13.5 sacks for a loss of 103 yards in 16 career games. Wheeler is second among active FCS defensive players with 0.78 sacks per game. In 30 career games he has posted 23.5 sacks, which is the third most among active FCS players.
FCS ACTIVE SACKS LEADERS
1. Simeon Page, Bucknell, 1.38
2. Nick Wheeler, Colgate, 1.22
3. Cameron Gill, Wagner, 0.74
4. Sully Laiche, Nicholls St., 0.71
5. Kayon Whitaker, Maine, 0.67
PATRIOT LEAGUERS IN THE PROS
Nine former Patriot League student-athletes are playing in NFL organizations during the 2019 preseason. Patriot League career rushing and scoring leader Chase Edmonds (Fordham, RB, ‘18), was a fourth-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2018 NFL Draft and is second on the depth chart with the Cardinals. Houston Texans offensive lineman Julien Davenport (Bucknell, OL, ’17) was a fourth-round selection in the 2017 draft and is second on the Texans’ depth chart at left tackle. Davenport and Edmonds were taken in consecutive NFL Drafts, the first time League players have been selected in back-to-back years since 1988 and 1989 when a total of four players over two years were selected.
Seven more former League stars are in NFL training camps, including Bucknell defensive lineman Abdullah Anderson, the 2017 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, and Colgate receiver Thomas Ives are with the Chicago Bears. Colgate star defensive end Pat Afriyie – the League’s 2016 defensive player of the year – is with the Los Angeles Chargers. Fordham tight end Isaiah Searight is in training camp with the New York Giants. Former teammate Anthony Coyle is currently on the offensive line depth chart with the Green Bay Packers. Holy Cross offensive lineman Jimmy Murray is listed second on the Kansas City Chiefs depth chart at center while Crusaders’ receiver Kalif Raymond is competing for a roster spot with the Tennessee Titans.