April 22, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - The 2008 Patriot League Football season is fast approaching, with all seven schools recently completing or nearing the end of their spring practice schedule. The spring prospectus includes a brief look at every team, and what to watch for when the 2008 season kicks off in the summer.
2008 Patriot League Football Spring Prospectus 
Patriot League Spring Notebook
Major Award Winners Back in 2008
All of the Patriot League's 2007 individual award winners return for the 2008 campaign. Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph is back after placing in the top five nationally in most major categories a year ago and winning the Offensive Player of the Year. Lafayette linebacker Andy Romans, the 2007 Defensive Player of the Year, returns after helping the Leopards to the No. 1 rank in total defense a year ago. Fordham running back Xavier Martin enters his sophomore season after taking Rookie of the Year honors in 2007, while his head coach, Tom Masella, has the reigns for a third year after his 2007 Coach of the Year award.
League Boasts Top Passer, Rusher in Nation
The Patriot League is home to the top quarterback and running back in the Football Championship Subdivision going into the 2008 campaign. Randolph leads all qualified NCAA players with 292 passing yards and 303 yards of total offense per game in his career, which are also the top current marks in League annals. Colgate running back Jordan Scott has top marks with 4,473 rushing yards and 135.5 rushing yards per game, and comes off a 2007 campaign where he led the nation with 170.45 rushing yards per contest. Scott and Randolph were both finalists for the Walter Payton Award, given to the most outstanding player in the Football Championship Subdivision. They are two of only eight finalists returning in 2008.
Jordan Scott Record Watch
Jordan Scott set or tied five Patriot League season or career records in 2007, including a season-best 170.45 rushing yards per game. Now, the Colgate running back has a chance to go out as one of the top players in League and NCAA history. Scott is 362 yards away from breaking the all-time Patriot League rushing mark of 4,834 (Lafayette's Erik Marsh, 1991-94), and is within 59 points of becoming the League's all-time leading scorer. He enters the year with 13 consecutive 100-yard rushing games and 24 total 100-yard efforts, both four games away from tying the League marks of Bucknell's Rich Lemon (1993-96). Scott's 1,019 carries are just eight shy of Marsh's Patriot League mark and 196 from a Division I record. Scott has already tied League records with six 200-yard games and three 1,000-yard seasons in his career. Another 1,000-yard campaign would make Scott the first Patriot Leaguer and only the seventh player in FCS history to reach the feat all four of his seasons.
24 All-League Performers Return in 2008
Randolph, Scott and Romans headline a group of 24 student-athletes that earned 2007 All-League honors and come back to the field in 2008. Nine First-Team All-League performers are part of that group, with Scott, Romans and Lehigh's Brian Jackson returning after earning All-America or ECAC recognition a year ago.
More Returning Talent
While the All-League players are most noteworthy, the overall numbers of starters returning are very solid throughout the League. Every team has at least 13 starters back out of their groups on offense and defense, with Colgate leading the way with 16 starters returning.
Patriot League Faces Off with Seven FCS Conferences
Every Patriot League team will once again take on a schedule entirely composed of FCS opponents, and the League will square off with seven different conferences. The slate features 18 games against Ivy League opponents and five against teams from the Colonial Athletic Association.
Coaching Stability
Each Patriot League head coach enters at least his third season at the helm, with Colgate's Dick Biddle the elder statesman of the group in his 13th year in Hamilton. Biddle has already set Patriot League records for overall wins (95), League games coached (73) and League wins (57). He trails only Lafayette's Bill Russo (1986-99) for the longest tenure in League history.
Team Spring Notebooks
Bucknell The Bison have two new assistant coaches in 2008, with Harold Nichols taking over as offensive coordinator and Bill McCord as cornerbacks coach...A.J. Kizekai returns after earning First-Team All-Patriot League status as a kick returner and setting a new League and Bucknell mark with 1,113 kick return yards in 2007...The Bison were flagged for only 29 penalties in 2007, while no other FCS team had fewer than 41...Of the five departed offensive starters, four were on the offensive line...First-Team All-Patriot League defensive end Josh Eden is taking the next two years off to serve a Mormon mission.
Colgate The Raiders are the only Patriot League team to play 12 games this season, opening up on August 30 at Stony Brook...They return nine starters on offense, including All-America running back Jordan Scott and First-Team All-Patriot League offensive tackle Steve Jonas...Scott has an opportunity to break numerous Patriot League records, including the all-time rushing mark...Four of the five starters are back on the offensive line...The Raiders have won seven games or more in 10 of Head Coach Dick Biddle's 12 seasons, including a 7-4 mark in 2007.
Fordham The defending Patriot League champion Rams have 15 starters returning, including seven on the offensive side of the ball...Quarterback John Skelton is back after receiving Second-Team All-Patriot League honors, while running back Xavier Martin was the 2007 Rookie of the Year...The Rams are in search of consecutive Patriot League titles for the first time...Fordham was one of the most improved teams in the country in 2007, going from 3-8 to 8-4 and a trip to the NCAA Division I Football Champinship Subdivision playoffs.
Georgetown The Hoyas bring back more than 60 letterwinners and 13 starters from last year's team...Nicholas Umar was selected to wear the Joe Eacobacci No. 35 Memorial Jersey, which is an award in honor of the former defensive standout who was killed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001...2006 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Charlie Houghton returns at running back...The Hoyas play their first three games on the road, with the home opener on Sept. 27 against Holy Cross.
Holy Cross The Crusaders have eight starters back on the offensive side of the ball after leading the Patriot League and placing in the top 15 nationally in passing, total and scoring offense a year ago...Quarterback Dominic Randolph returns as the active FCS leader in passing and total offense per game...Holy Cross plays the exact same opponents and order of games as the 2007 season, with only the sites switched...It has won seven games in each of the last two seasons, and the 14-8 mark is the best two-year span since 1991-92.
Lafayette Linebacker Andy Romans and fullback Joe Russo will serve as co-captains in 2008...Romans returns after earning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year honors and leading a Lafayette defense that placed first nationally with 260.9 yards per game allowed...Quarterback Rob Curley had a 3-1 record in starting the final four games of the season, and led the Leopards to a season-ending three-game win streak...Four running backs who started at least one game return on offense...Lafayette faces a five-game road trip from Oct. 11-Nov. 8, with the last three being Patriot League contests.
Lehigh The Mountain Hawks have eight starters returning on the offensive side of the ball, but the starting quarterback position is open between three players...Lehigh is coming off its first losing overall and Patriot League season since 1997...They have not recorded consecutive losing Patriot League records since 1988-89...First-Team All-League defensive lineman Brian Jackson and linebacker Tim Diamond return, but the Mountain Hawks have to replace the entire starting secondary.
To read the full 2008 Patriot League Football Spring Prospectus, click here
