After crushing out-of-conference rival Cornell for its fifth victory, the undefeated Colgate Raiders football team prepares for its hot date with a national TV audience.
The Raiders will play its first-ever Thursday night game at 7 against the Princeton Tigers, and the contest will be seen on ESPNU.
In an article titled "Colgate ready for primetime," Syracuse Post-Standard columnist Bud Poliquin chats with Raiders coach Dick Biddle about playing under the lights at Princeton and in the national spotlight.
"When this whole TV thing came up in the summer," Biddle is quoted as saying. "I thought it was a good idea. Now, in hindsight, I'm worried about Thursday night. There's this thought that, 'Gee, now that we're 5-0, I wish we had a full week to prepare for Princeton.' But, come on. That's going to be Colgate on TV, and a lot of people will be watching. You've got to be excited about that."
Excited, indeed. Especially after his Raiders trounced the Big Red 45-23 on Saturday before a crowd of more than 7,000 on hand for Homecoming Weekend.
Colgate entered the game as the top rushing team in the entire Football Championship Subdivision and it didn't have a letdown as the Raiders racked up 561 yards of total offense - 344 of which came rushing.
It was the 92nd time the two teams met, but the first since 1966 that both teams had perfect records. The longstanding rivalry is the 17th-oldest in Division I history and dates to 1896.
Following the win, Colgate moved up two spots to earn a No. 23 ranking in The Sports Network poll. The Raiders also moved up to 24th in the FCS Coaches
Top-25 after receiving votes last week.
Now, the Raiders travel to New Jersey to play the Tigers and work toward win No. 6. Alumni and friends of Colgate are invited to attend a special tailgating event before the big game.