FOOTBALL GAME CENTRAL
COMMUNITY DAY COUPON

THIS WEEK
Sat., Sept. 3 – vs. Albany (Hamilton, N.Y.), 6:05 p.m.

The Colgate Raiders (0-0) will kickoff their 2011 campaign on Saturday, Sept. 3 when they host Albany (0-0). Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at Andy Kerr Stadium and can be seen live on Colgate All-Access.

THE SERIES
This will be the second meeting between Colgate and Albany, with the Raiders leading the all-time series 1-0. Colgate won the only matchup 13-11 in 2007 in Hamilton.

GAME PROMOTIONS
• Car Show - from 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. in the tailgate area
• Community Day - 4 free tickets, 4 free hot dogs, 4 free sodas (while supplies last).
    * Fans need to visit the Colgate Ticket office this week to be eligible for the free hot dogs and sodas.
• Fireworks - provided by Little Big Shots after the game.

COLLECTIBLE GAME PROGRAMS
The 2011 football game programs will be sold in limited numbers featuring collectible covers drawn by artist Neal Portnoy. The game program cover versus Albany will feature head coach Dick Biddle. The 2011 game programs will also feature new QR Codes inside them to help fans follow live stats, watch GateTV interviews and join the Raiders on Facebook and Twitter through their mobile devices.

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 120-55, and 1-0 against Albany.

Albany head coach Bob Ford is in his 38th season with the Great Danes and has compiled an overall mark of 238-153 and is 0-1 against Colgate. Over his career Ford has collected 247 wins, which rank first among active NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) head coaches.

ALBANY NOTEBOOK
The Great Danes (0-0), who have won or shared four NEC championships since 2002, were picked fourth in the 2011 Northeast Conference preseason poll. Albany has 14 starters, including seven on offense and seven on defense, returning from the 2010 team that finished with a 6-5 record. Last season's winning record was a program record fifth consecutive winning campaign.

Albany's Eddie Delaney, Ryan Kirchner and Paul Layton were voted to the NEC preseason all-conference squad. Delaney, a 6-foot-6, 245-pound defensive end from Holtsville, N.Y., was named to the all-conference second team for the second time in his career as a junior. He totaled 41 tackles, including 4.5 hits for a loss last year. Kirchner, a junior wide receiver from Rumson, N.J., had 50 receptions, the fifth-best mark in program annals, for 504 yards and one touchdown. He also averaged 10.4 yards per punt return. Layton, a sophomore punter from Burnt Hills, N.Y., averaged 40.1 yards per attempt last fall and ranked 31st among the FCS national leaders. He had 12 punts of 50 yards or longer.

RAIDERS PICKED SECOND IN PL PRESEASON POLL
Colgate was picked to finish second in the Patriot League preseason poll of head coaches and sports information directors; the announcement came during the annual football media day.

Defending champion Lehigh topped the poll with a total of 58 points and eight first place votes, while the Raiders placed second with 55 points and six first place votes. Holy Cross 38 points and Lafayette 36 points were selected third and fourth in the poll, followed by Georgetown (fifth, 19 points) and Bucknell (six, 16 points). In addition to the preseason poll, the Patriot League named senior running back Nate Eachus the preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Eachus is the second-straight Raider to earn this preseason honor as Greg Sullivan was named the preseason Player of the Year last year.

EACHUS, DiMASSA NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS
Colgate head football coach Dick Biddle announced that seniors Nate Eachus and Chris DiMassa have been elected captains of the 2011 football team.

Eachus, the 2010 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and consensus first-team All-American, led the nation in rushing with 1,871 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also caught 18 passes for 168 yards and a score. The 1,871 rushing yards stand third in a single-season in Patriot League history. Eachus also led the FCS with 170.1 rushing yards per game and in scoring with 12.0 points per game.

DiMassa was named to the All-Patriot League first team last season and led the Raiders with 92 tackles. His total tackles ranked fourth in the league. DiMassa also recorded nine tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks and two interceptions.

EACHUS NAMED TO WALTER PAYTON AWARD WATCH LIST
After receiving numerous preseason All-America nods following an outstanding 2010 campaign, Colgate senior running back Nate Eachus has claimed his top distinction to date heading into the fall as he was selected as one of 20 candidates on the watch list for the 2011 Walter Payton Award.

Presented by The Sports Network and sponsored by Fathead.com, the Walter Payton Award enters its 25th season as the top individual honor in the Football Championship Subdivision. Eachus finished sixth in the voting last year, making him the second-highest returning vote-getter behind only Appalachian State quarterback DeAndre Presley, who placed third.

The 2010 Patriot League Football Offensive Player of the Year, Eachus has received a plethora of honors heading into the upcoming season. He was ranked as one of the top running backs in the nation by The Sports Network and received first-team preseason All-America recognition from numerous outlets including Sporting News, Athlon, Lindy's and Consensus Draft Services.

Eachus earned consensus first-team FCS All-America honors following his stellar 2010 campaign. He had one of the best seasons for a running back in school and Patriot League history, carrying 317 times for 1,871 yards and 21 touchdowns for the year while also catching 17 passes for 160 yards and a score. The 1,871 rushing yards stood third in a single-season in Patriot League history, just four yards behind former teammate Jordan Scott (2007). Eachus averaged 170.1 rushing yards per game, which led the FCS by nearly 25 yards per contest. It was the second-best mark in Patriot League annals, just behind Scott's 170.5 average in 2007.

CAREER RUSHING CHART
All-American running back Nate Eachus, is climbing up the Colgate record books. He enters his senior season with 3,722 rushing yards and 47 touchdowns, both rank fourth overall. Eachus needs 1,278 yards to become just the third Raider amass 5,000 yards in a career, while he needs 1,900 yards to break the all-time rushing record of 5,621 set by former teammate Jordan Scott '07. Scott also holds the all-time record in rushing touchdowns with 57.

EACHUS, OTTANELLI NAMED TO LINDY'S PRESEASON TEAMS
Running back Nate Eachus was named to the Lindy's 2011 All-FCS Offensive first-team, while offensive lineman Vittorio Ottanelli was named to the second-team. As a team the Raiders were ranked No. 23 in the magazine's Preseason Top 25.

RUNNING BACK U?
Did you know that Colgate is the only school in the FCS to have five different running backs lead the nation in total yards (Rich Erenberg 1983, Kenny Gamble 1986, Jamaal Branch 2003, Jordan Scott 2007 and Nate Eachus 2010). The Raiders are also the only program to have four individuals lead the nation in rushing yards per game (Rich Erenberg 1983, Kenny Gamble 1986, Jordan Scott 2007 and Nate Eachus 2010)

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 603-447-50. The Raiders are also the ninth winningest program in the FCS over the last decade. Since 2000, Colgate has posted a record of 89-39 and won four Patriot League titles.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Colgate has won 32 of its last 45 games.
• Colgate has won 70 of its last 91 Patriot League games.
• Colgate has won 30 of its last 45 games decided by nine points or less.
• Colgate has won 41 of its last 50 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 120-55. 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. NON-CONFERENCE TEAMS UNDER BIDDLE
In 15 seasons under head coach Dick Biddle, the Raiders are 49-35 against non-conference teams for a winning percentage of .593. They have a 35-8 mark against the Ivy League and are 4-2 against the Northeast Conference.

UP NEXT
Colgate will start Patriot League play when it travels to Holy Cross on Saturday, Sept. 10. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at Fitton Field.