Nov. 26, 2002
Fordham's 9-2 football team, co-champions of the Patriot League with a 6-1 League mark, were paired with fourth-seeded Northeastern University in the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA Football Tournament, which opens Saturday, Nov. 30, at 12:30 p.m.
Colgate and Fordham both won Saturday, the Raiders holding on in dramatic style in the final seconds of the game, to clinch a share of the 2002 Patriot League football championship. Fordham topped Bucknell, 34-7, to clinch the team's first PL title since joining the League in 1989. The Rams, by virtue of a 40-31 victory over the Raiders on Sept. 14, gained the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Under fourth-year head coach Dave Clawson, the Rams improved from a winless team in 1999 to League champions in 2002. Fordham was the only PL team selected for the 16-team national championship.
Colgate, a 25-20 winner over Holy Cross, captured the League championship trophy for the third time under seventh-year head coach Dick Biddle. It is the first PL title in any sport for the Raiders since the 1999 footballs season, when CU shared the crown with Lehigh.
However, the win didn't come easy for the Raiders. Holy Cross drove to the CU four-yard line with nine seconds left in the game, but a fourth-and-goal pass was intercepted in the end zone by senior DB T.J. Smith to seal the victory.
In other action Saturday, Lafayette successfully defended Fisher Field in the 138th meeting against Lehigh, 14-7. The win snapped a seven-year Lehigh win streak in the series, the longest in college football. It also gave third-year head coach Frank Tavani and the Leopards their first winning season since 1993.
Georgetown rounded out the day with a 24-16 season-ending victory at Towson. It was the second PL win of the season for the Hoyas, who went 0-7 last year as first-year members of the PL.
The Rams' first-round playoff opponent is Northeastern, which finished the regular-season with a 10-2 mark, 7-2 and co-champions of the Atlantic-10 with Maine. The Huskies are one of three teams from the A-10 to advance to the national playoffs. Co-champion Maine (10-2, 7-2) will play at Appalachian State in a first-round game while Villanova (9-3, 6-3) will host Furman.
The winner of the Fordham vs. Northeastern game will advance to the national quarterfinals opposite the winner of the Villanova vs. Furman game. The site of that game will be announced next week.
Fordham, which became the fifth Division I-AA program to gain its 700th all-time victory earlier this year, will be making its first post-season appearance since moving up to Division I-AA in 1989. Other Division I-AA programs with 700 wins are Yale, Princeton, Harvard and Pennsylvania.
The Rams' illustrious history includes a trip to the 1941 Cotton Bowl (13-12 loss to Texas A&M), the 1942 Sugar Bowl (2-0 win over Missouri), two games in the 1987 NCAA Division III Tournament (41-6 quarterfinal win over Hofstra; 21-0 semifinal loss vs. Wagner) and the 1988 ECAC Division III South championship victory over Dickinson (21-14).
Saturday's NCAA Tournament game will be Fordham's first-ever grid meeting with Northeastern.
The Rams are led by fourth-year coach Dave Clawson, who was the 2001 PL Co-Coach of the Year. Clawson built his current playoff club from a program that finished the 1999 season with an 0-11 record. Heading into his first post-season appearance as a head coach, Clawson's career record stands at 19-25.
Top players on the offense are Jr. RB Kirwin Watson, Jr. QB Kevin Eakin and Jr. WR/KR Javarus Dudley.
Watson, a 2001 PL first-team all-star, won the regular-season rushing title for the second-straight year and is ranked fourth nationally with 118.4 yards per game. He broke the team's single-season rushing record (1,302 yards) and already ranks eighth on the League's career rushing list with 2,973 yards. He also leads the PL and ranks seventh in the country with 102 points (9.3 per game).
Eakin, a first-year starter, led the League in passing yards per game (241.5), completion percentage (203-for-316, 64.2%) and passing TDs (21) while finishing second in passing yards (2,656). That is 44 yards shy of the team's single-season record, set last year by Mark Carney. Eakin ranks seventh nationally in passing efficiency with a 152.3 rating.
Dudley, a returning first-team All-League choice and the 2002 PL Pre-Season Offensive Player of the Year, led the PL in receptions per game (6.27) and was second in receiving yards per game (95.6), kickoff return average (25.1) and all-purpose yards per game (157.4). Dudley ranks 11th nationally in receptions per game, 15th in receiving yards per game, 22nd in kickoff return average and ninth in all-purpose yards per game.
Fordham's defense has allowed a League-low 16.1 points per game this season, which ranks 13th nationally. Leading the Rams' defense is Soph. LB NaQuinton Gainous with a team-high 74 tackles and Sr. DL Keron Lucius with a League-leading nine sacks.
Jr. DB Dan McGrath, a converted tight end, is second on the team in tackles (68), leads the team with two interceptions and is ranked second in the League in punt returns with a 13.9-yard average.