FOOTBALL GAME CENTRAL

THIS WEEK
Sat., Oct. 29 – vs. Lehigh (Hamilton, N.Y.), 12:00 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan and Rich Rodriguez)

The Colgate Raiders (4-4, 0-2 PL) will look to claim their first Patriot League win of the season when they host No. 6/7 Lehigh (6-1, 1-0 PL) on Saturday, Oct. 29. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m. at Andy Kerr Stadium and will be aired on CBS Sports Network.

Saturday will also be Family Weekend, as 2,000 maroon ponchos will be distributed to the fans in attendance and the Marvelous Mutts will take to the field for halftime.

THE SERIES
This will be the 50th meeting between Colgate and Lehigh, with the Raiders leading the all-time series 27-20-2. Lehigh won last year 44-14 at Goodman Stadium to snap the Raiders streak of three straight wins in the series. Colgate has won the last two meetings in Hamilton, with Lehigh's last win coming in 2005 (50-34).

THE COACHES
Colgate head coach Dick Biddle, who has the most wins in school history, is in his 16th season at the helm of the Raiders. His overall record is 124-59, and is 8-7 against the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh head coach Andy Coen is in his sixth season with the Mountain Hawks and has a record of 36-28, and is 2-3 against Colgate.

LEHIGH NOTEBOOK
The Mountain Hawks (6-1, 1-0 PL) are coming to Hamilton off a bye week, after topping Fordham 34-12 on Saturday (Oct. 15) at Jack Coffey Stadium. Lehigh scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to break open a 20-12 game. Senior quarterback Chris Lum completed 32-of-47 passes for a career-high 413 yards and three touchdowns, while wide receiver Ryan Spadola made 13 catches for 216 yards and a score. Jake Drwal also added to his fine season with six receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown, while Zach Barket ran for 111 yards as the Mountain Hawks racked up 598 yards of total offense in the game.

Lehigh is led on offense by Lum, who ranks first in the nation in total offense with 382.4 yards per game, and has completed 200-of-294 passes for 2,590 yards and 26 touchdowns, while rushing for 141 yards. Spadola leads the team with 61 receptions for 1,098 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Drwal has made 55 catches for 648 yards and eight scores. Barket has carried the ball 82 times for 356 yards and two touchdowns to lead the team in rushing, while Keith Sherman has gained 182 yards rushing with two scores.

On defense the Mountain Hawks are led by Mike Groome who leads the team with 51 tackles and three interceptions, while Sam Loughery is second on the team with 39 tackles, 3.5 for a loss.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR
• Colgate will look to grab its first Patriot League win of the year, this is the first time since 1995 that the Raiders have started 0-2 in league play.
• The Raiders will look to stay unbeaten at home this season (3-0).
• Lehigh is the highest ranked regular season opponent Colgate has faced in Hamilton, since upsetting then No. 15 UMass (17-14) in 2005.
• The Mountain Hawks are also the highest ranked opponent Colgate has faced at home since topping then No. 6 Western Illinois (28-27) in the 2003 NCAA I-AA playoffs.
• Colgate will look to extend its streak of not being shutout out to 88 games. The last time the Raiders were shutout was against Delaware (40-0) in the 2003 national championship game.
• Colgate has the 10th best rushing offense in the nation with 232.6 yards per game.
• Lehigh has the best passing offense (373.0) and total offense (490.5) in the nation.
• Colgate will look to intercept two passes for the fifth time this season; the Raiders are 4-0 when picking-off two passes.
• Colgate is just two wins away from posting its fifth-straight winning season.
• McCarney needs 885 yards passing to become the first Raider to amass 2,000 in a season since Alex Relph threw for 2,138 in 2007.
• McCarney is also just 38 completions away from being the first Raider to complete 150 passes in a season since Relph completed 158 in 2007.
• Eachus needs 334 yards rushing to become just the fourth Raider to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons.
• Eachus needs 612 yards rushing to become just the third Raider to amass 5,000 yards in a career.
• Eachus also needs six touchdowns rushing to break the school record of 57 set by Jordan Scott.

WEEKLY AWARDS
Colgate has had six different players receive 12 weekly awards this season.
• Mike Armiento: Patriot League Rookie of the Week (2x)
• Nate Eachus: College Football Performance Awards (2x)
• Patrick Friel: College Football Performance Awards (1x)
• Adam Lock: CFPA (2x) Patriot League (1x)
• Gavin McCarney: College Football Performance Awards (3x)
• CJ Stempeck: Patriot League Rookie of the Week (1x)

INJURY BUG STRIKES COLGATE
Since the start of the 2011 season the Colgate Raiders have posted 14 different starters on offense, eight on defense and seven in special teams all due to injury. On offense, Colgate has started four different wide receivers, four running backs, two quarterbacks, two tight ends and two offensive linemen. On defense, the Raiders have started four different cornerbacks, two linebackers and two safeties, while the special teams have seen three different kickoff returners, two long snappers and two holders.

Colgate hasn't started the same group on offense or defense since the second week of the season, while the secondary has only been the same twice against Monmouth and Cornell.

COLGATE LOVES NEW YORK
The Raiders have a perfect 3-0 record at home this season outscoring their opponents 110-76. The road hasn't been so kind to Colgate, which has a 1-4 record and has been outscored 170-87.

EACHUS APPROACHING PATRIOT LEAGUE MARKS
While Nate Eachus has missed three games this season, he is still on pace to finish his career with some of the most impressive individual totals in Patriot League history. The Colgate senior running back stands second in Patriot League history with 52 rushing touchdowns; sixth with 4,388 rushing yards and just entered the top 10 with 4,833 all-purpose yards. He remains the active leader nationally in career rushing yards, yards per game and touchdowns and stands second among all players in all-purpose yardage and overall scoring.

600 AND COUNTING
Last season the Colgate football team became just the 15th program in FCS history to reach 600 wins after topping Cornell 44-3 on Oct. 16. Colgate now has an all-time record of 607-451-50. The Raiders are also the ninth winningest program in the FCS over the last decade. Since 2000, Colgate has posted a recorded 89-39 and won four Patriot League titles.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Colgate has won 36 of its last 53 games.
• Colgate has won 71 of its last 94 Patriot League games.
• Colgate has won 32 of its last 47 games decided by nine points or less.
• Colgate has won 44 of its last 53 games at Andy Kerr Stadium.

THE BIDDLE ERA
Colgate head coach Dick Biddle is in his 16th season with the Raiders and has an overall mark of 124-59. He has achieved the best winning percentage (.686) of any Colgate coach with seven or more years at the helm of the Raiders.  Biddle is also the first Colgate coach to ever record nine straight seasons with seven or more victories.
   
He has been named Patriot League Coach of the Year four times while guiding the Raiders to six Patriot League titles and six appearances in the FCS (formally I-AA) playoffs. In 2003, Biddle was named the American Football Coaches Association Division I-AA National Coach of the Year after leading the Raiders to a 15-1 record, and to the national championship game of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

COLGATE VS. PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAMS UNDER BIDDLE
In the last 16 seasons, the Raiders are 71-22 against Patriot League teams under head coach Dick Biddle for a winning percentage of .763.

UP NEXT
Colgate will travel to Easton, Pa., to face Patriot League foe Lafayette on Saturday, Nov. 5. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Fisher Stadium.