Colgate Raiders (1977)

Colgate, you ask? Yes, it’s my first post on the (Red) Raiders, after I saw a request in the comments section a while back and I figured, well, why not. While I should probably start with the awesome 2003 team that reached the I-AA (FCS) title game, I’ll go back a little further with the 1977 bunch, which was no pushover, either.

The Team: The Raiders went 10-1 playing mostly against Yankee Conference, Ivy League and future Patriot League foes. This was during the time period after college football split from “University” (big-time) and “College’ (not-so-big-time) into divisions I, II and III, but before the creation of I-AA/FCS in 1978. Colgate, for whatever reason, was considered D-I, even though its schedule was closer to the lower levels than the Alabamas of the world (Colgate joined I-AA in 1982.). Nonetheless, the Raiders roared out to a 10-0 start and squeaked into the really-real D-I national rankings at No. 20 before a season-ending 21-3 loss at D-II Delaware. The Raiders outscored their foes 380-217, an average of 34.5 points per game (pretty impressive in the grind-it-out ’70s).

A couple shots from Colgate's season-opening 23-0 win over Rutgers,
which the school yearbook treats on a level usually reserved for a New Year's Day
bowl win. Check out this student quote: "I just didn't go to any classes. I've spent
all my time trying to send negative waves down to Rutgers."

The Players: Nice of Wikipedia to include stats for this team. These guys (Colgate, not Wikipedia) did it through the air and on the ground. Quarterback Rob Relph threw for 2,178 yards and 20 TDs, running back Henry White ran for 1,032 yards and 5 TDs (and was an AP All-American honorable mention) and receiver Dick Slenker caught 44 passes for 782 yards and 7 TDs. Doug Curtis made 116 tackles and Gary Hartwig registered six sacks.

The Coach: Frederick Dunlap wet 77-49-3 at the Gate from 1976-87 after an 11-year stint at Lehigh (49-62-2). Overall his career record was 126-111-5.

A nice close-up of the Colgate home uniform.

The Uniform: According to the Helmet Project, 1977 marked the debut of the iconic “’gate” logo the Raiders use to this day, with a few breaks here and there. The ’77 helmets and jerseys were maroon; the shirts are very similar to what Maine and Dartmouth wore in other eras. The pants were gray with a thick maroon stripe down the side, again, like 1980s Maine or the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The classic 'gate logo, in all its glory.

The Aftermath: Colgate remained a strong team for the most part under Dunlap, reaching the I-AA tournament in 1982 and ’83 and finishing in the NCAA I-AA top 10 rankings both years. After a run of down years in the ‘90s, Colgate turned to Dick Biddle, who coached the Raiders to the I-AA title game in 2003, which I might have to write about one of these days.

Fairfield Stags (1998)

A glance at this blog's stats reveals that a years-old post on Fairfield's short-lived program recently generated a bunch of hits (well, a bunch of hits by this blog's rather modest standards), so let's take a look at the Stags' high point: The 1998 bunch that shared the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title.

The Team: In just its third year as a varsity program, Fairfield (just outside of Bridgeport, Conn.) went 9-2 overall, 6-1 in the MAAC (not to be confused with the Mid-American Conference or the Middle Atlantic Conference) to share the title with Georgetown, which Fairfield beat 24-17 in the regular season. The MAAC, which had eight or nine teams depending on your source (what is this, 1898?), almost resembles a football ghost town; only three of its teams in '98 (Georgetown, Marist, Duquesne) still have football in 2021. The MAAC ended its sponsorship of football after the 2007 season.

The Stags outscored their opponents 346-131, and the defense served up three shoutouts while allowing just 27 points over Fairfield's last six games. On Oct. 3 at Duquesne, Fairfield scored 14 points in the last 8:26 of regulation to defeat the Dukes in overtime, 23-20, on a QB sneak by Jim Lopusznick. A 48-0 thrashing of winless Saint Peter's on Nov. 14 gave the Stags a share of the MAAC crown. Alas, the non-scholarship MAAC did not have an automatic bid for the NCAA I-AA (now FCS) tournament, so Fairfield was shut out of the postseason.

The Players: Lopusznick threw for 27 touchdowns, ran for six more and was named MAAC player of the year. The junior also was the baseball team's center fielder. Teammates Marvin Royal (RB), Eric Wise (WR), Ben Harvey (OL), Steve Krines (DL) and Chris Silvestri (DB) were named all-MAAC, and Kevin Keisel was named co-coach of the year.

Fairfield quarterback Jim Lopusznick accounted for 33 TDs
and was the MAAC player of the year. This picture comes form the archives
of the Fairfield Manor student paper.

The Coach: Keisel coached Fairfield from 1996-2000, going 34-17, then left for Division II Millersville (Pa.; perhaps Keisel knew something was up at Fairfield?), going 15-27. He also coached at D-III Albright and Guilford; his career record is 88-93-1.

A 1998 photo of, er, #6 (or it that Mr. 6?) in action  
from the 1999 Fairfield yearbook.
I guess nobody had a roster handy.

The Uniform: Until the program's last couple years, Fairfield had the same standard uniform: White helmet with "STAGS" on the sides and red, white and black stripes down the middle; plain red jerseys with black trim; and white pants. The '98 jerseys had a teeny-tiny "COLLEGE FOOTBALL USA" patch just below the V-neck; the logo also was used on one of my favorite football video games of all time.

The Aftermath: The Stags went 9-2 again in '99 and 8-2 in 2000, when Keisel left after the season. Fairfield went 5-5 in 2001 and 5-6 in '02, and that was it for the Stags, who dropped football and men's ice hockey at the end of the school year. This article from 2009 sheds some light on the demise of the football program.

Delaware Blue Hens (1968)

 

Let's pull another random team from a random season of the helmet, shall we?

1968 Delaware. A good team from a program that hardly lacked in good teams.

The Team: Following a 2-7 disaster in 1967, Delaware bounced back in '68 with an 8-3 mark, 5-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference's (aka the "other" MAC) University Division. The Blue Hens capped their season with a thrilling 31-24 win over Indiana -- the other Indiana, the one in Pennsylvania -- on Dec. 14 in the inaugural Boardwalk Bowl in Atlantic City, N.J., Down 24-23 in the final minute, the Hens marched downfield thanks to four straight passes in the game's final 45 seconds by QB Tom DiMuzio, known more for his running than his passing. With 15 seconds left, DiMuzio hit split end Ron Withelder with an 11-yard strike for the winning score. (And hey, you can watch the game here and here ... except for the winning score. Perhaps not coincidentally, the video was posted by Indiana. 😎) Delaware outscored its foes 319-180, and finished 15th in the final College Division rankings.

Delaware QB Tom DiMuzio pitches ...

... and Ron Withelder catches the winning TD in the Boardwalk Bowl.
Both pictures are from The Review newspaper.

For the record, the University Division consisted of Delaware, a few future Patriot League teams (Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell), a couple of lower-level teams (West Chester, Gettysburg), Hofstra and Temple. 

Delaware and UMass face off in 1968, a 28-23 win
for the Blue Hens.

The Players: Middle linebacker John Favero was an AP Little All-American honorable mention, and was named to the all-ECAC and all-MAC teams. Running back Chuck Hall (1,019 yards rushing) earned dual all-star honors, and teammates Pete Cornelius, Conway Hayman, Dick Kelley, Yancy Phillips, Jim Scelba and Hank Vollendorf also were named all-MAC. Kicker Jeff Lippincott's 23 PATs set a school record. 

The Coach: Harold R. "Tubby" Raymond (1926-2017) is one of the true titans of non-FCS football, going 300-119-3 from from 1966-2001, winning three national titles (2 NCAA College Division, 1 NCAA D-II) along the way. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Tubby Raymond delivers. the marching orders
to lineman Conway Hayman, an all-conference selection in '68.

He continued to use the Delaware Wing-T offense established by his predecessor, David Nelson, into the 2000s, long after most other schools had moved on to a pro-style attack. Hey, if it ain't broke ...

The Uniform: ... Don't fix it, right? The Hens' unis are virtually identical to what they wore in 1958, 1978, 1998 ... So much in college football changed, but the Wing-T and the unis didn't go anywhere for decades. The winged helmet, also established by Nelson, is still around today, although the jerseys and pants are far more flashy. 

I've probably mentioned this before, but check out the little "D" stencil on the socks, a staple of Delaware unis into the 1970s.

The Aftermath: It was more of the same for Delaware in 1969, when it went 9-2, (6-0 MAC) and won another Boardwalk Bowl. The Hens also won Boardwalk Bowls in 1970 and '71, then chickened out of the 1972 game against UMass.