One of the top FCS stories of 2018 is the start Colgate has gotten off to. The Raiders haven't given up a touchdown since Sept. 1, when it allowed two late. Since then … the Raiders have allowed two field goals and have five shutouts.
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We'll continue to let those stats sink in and add this — Colgate has allowed 2.88 points per game this year. That's not a pitcher's ERA, that's a defensive scoring average that includes two wins over CAA teams and an Ivy League program.
Here's another stat — Colgate began playing football 128 years ago. It claimed a national championship in 1932 when it beat Penn State, Syracuse and Mississippi State enroute to a 9-0-0 record. That's the famous leather-helmeted team that allowed zero points in nine contests. We've wondered if playing homage to this '32 team with throwback jerseys for homecoming earlier this year has conjured up those defensive spirits. That's good, wholesome Colgate Karma.
Whatever it is that has created this year's buzz, it's been a special year for the Raiders so far — but they want a superb postseason too, like they had when they knocked off two CAA teams in the playoffs in 2015, or when they made the 15-0 run all the way to the I-AA national title game in 2003 before falling in the championship. This team has that kind of leadership, as several of its team members were on the 2015 team, and head coach Dan Hunt was around as an assistant under Dick Biddle for the 2003 run.
Guys like Center Max Hartzman, WRs Thomas Ives and Owen Buscaglia, RB James Holland, LB Dillon DeIuliis and DB's Tyler Castillo and Ben Hunt are just a few of the guys who've been around since arguably Colgate's biggest win of the past decade — at James Madison in the 2015 playoffs. This year's team is a perfect blend of that experience and accomplishment and a young core of talent that won't be done with their Colgate careers this year.
It's a special group, and we had a chance to sit down with Coach Hunt to talk about it in depth for the FCS Coaches Corner (below). Give it a listen:
Oh, and PS — We did ask the question if there is truth to the rumor that there are attempts being made to clone Nick Wheeler. Hunt addressed these rumors on the Podcast.
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MCLAUGHLIN: We Take a Stab At The FCS Playoff Brackets
