The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Raiders top preseason rankings
HAMILTON, N.Y. » The Patriot League football coaches and sports information directors believe Colgate will make Raider Football history in 2019.
The Raiders never have won three consecutive Patriot League championships, but they are predicted to do just that in Tuesday’s conference preseason poll.
Colgate is the two-time defending champion after a recordbreaking season in 2018 saw the Raiders sweep through the Patriot League at 6-0 en route to a 10-2 finish and consensus top-10 final national ranking. In 2017, Colgate shared league champion honors with Lehigh.
The 2002 and 2003 Raiders also won consecutive conference flags, but the other six titles are scattered across the previous 22 seasons. Colgate’s 10 football championships are second only to Lehigh’s 12.
Holy Cross captured three straight shared or outright Patriot League titles from 1989-91, while Lehigh captured four in a rowfrom1998-2001 and Lafayette three consecutive from 2004-06. Colgate is looking to cap this decade with its very own trifecta.
Wheeler, Breneman Named Preseason Players of the Year
Helping lead the charge for the Raiders are Patriot League Preseason Players of the Year Nick Wheeler on defense and Grant Breneman on offense.
Wheeler finished second in the Patriot League last season with bothnine sacks and 17 tackles-forloss. He already is a two-time AllPatriot League First Team selection and last year helped Colgate tie anNCAA FCS record with five shutouts. The Raiders also led the nation in scoring defense at 9.3, total defense at 237.7 and pass efficiency defense with an 88.77 rating
The St. Louis native enters his senior season ranked second among all FCS participants in sacks per game at 0.78. He’s third in both career sacks with 23½ and career tackles-for-loss
per game at 1.22.
His sack total already stands fourth on the Colgate career chart and Wheeler needs just five more to tie the program record.
Breneman was last season’s All-Patriot League First Team signal- caller after helping the Raiders to that perfect run. Colgate’s offense led the Patriot League in scoring offense at 27.0 and total offense at 344.3.
And during a season that saw the defense accumulate numerous headlines, Colgate’s offense kept getting better as the season progressed. The Raiders scored in succession during a sixgame run 23, 27, 31, 38, 41 and 48 points. Colgate also paced the Patriot League and finished seventh nationally in time of possession at 32:57.
Breneman finished 126of-204 passing for 1,605 yards, with six touchdowns against four interceptions. He led the Patriot League with a 61.8 completion percentage and a 133.64 pass efficiency rating.
Breneman led the conference in yards per attempt at 7.9 and yards per completion at 12.7. His 132 rushing attempts went for 307 yards and seven touchdowns, and he was second on team in all three of those categories. Breneman also was third on the team with 42 points.
Raiders Lead in All-Patriot League
Colgate leads the way with 10 players on the AllPatriot League Preseason Team. The Raiders placed five on offense, three on defense and two on special teams.
In addition to Breneman, other first-teamers on offense are senior tailback Alex Mathews, senior tight end Nick Diaco, senior offensive lineman Jovaun Woolford and junior offensive lineman Jack Badovinac.
The defensive members alongside Wheeler are senior linebacker Nick Ioanilli and senior defensive back Abu Daramy- Swaray. Senior Chris Puzzi is the All-Patriot League Preseason kicker and DaramySwaray also earned a spot as return specialist.
Colgate’s League-leading 10 student-athletes named to the 29-member Preseason All-Patriot League squad. Georgetown received seven spots on the preseason team, while Lafayette earned four selections. Holy Cross placed three student-athletes on the team, Bucknell and Fordham had two apiece and Lehigh had one member
Colgate kicks offthe 2019 season for all of college football when the Raiders host Villanova Aug. 24 on Crown Field at AndyKerr Stadium. Kickoff is noon Eastern time, with the CBS Sports Network and 94WKXZ-FM carrying all the action.
2019 PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
1. COLGATE, 72points (12 first-place votes) 2. Holy Cross, 58(2) 3. Georgetown, 51 4. Fordham, 39 5. Lehigh, 38 6. Lafayette, 21 7. Bucknell, 15
2019 PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE TEAM OFFENSE
QB: Grant Breneman, COLGATE (Jr.)*
RB: Alex Mathews, COLGATE (Sr.)
RB: Domenic Cozier, Holy Cross (Sr.)*
FB: Isaac Schley, Georgetown (Sr.)
WR: Michael Dereus, Georgetown (Sr.)
WR: Nick Pearson, Lafayette (Sr.)*
WR: Jorge Portorreal, Lehigh (Jr.)*
TE: Nick Diaco, COLGATE (Sr.)*
OL: Jack Badovinac, COLGATE (Jr.)*
OL: Jovaun Woolford, COLGATE (Sr.)
OL: Brett Boddy, Holy Cross (Sr.)* OL: Brian Foley, Holy Cross (Jr.)* OL: Jake Marotti, Lafayette (Sr.)*
DEFENSE
DL: Nick Wheeler, COLGATE (Sr.)*
DL: Duval Paul, Georgetown (Jr.)*
DL: Khristian Tate, Georgetown (Sr.)*
DL: Malik Hamm, Lafayette (So.)* LB: Simeon Page, Bucknell (Jr.)* LB: Nick Ioanilli, COLGATE (Sr.)* LB: Glenn Cunningham, Fordham (Jr.)*
LB: Wes Bowers, Georgetown (Jr.)*
DB: Abu Daramy-Swaray, COLGATE (Sr.)*
DB: Jesse Bramble, Fordham (Sr.)*
DB: Ahmad Wilson, Georgetown (Jr.)*
DB: Yasir Thomas, Lafayette (Sr.)*
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK: Chris Puzzi, COLGATE (Sr.)* P: Alex Pechin, Bucknell (5th)*
Return Specialist: Abu DaramySwaray, COLGATE (Sr.)*
Non-Specialist Player: Ahmad Wilson, Georgetown (Jr.)*