2018 Colgate Raiders football team

The 2018 Colgate Raiders football team represented Colgate University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Dan Hunt and played their home games at Andy Kerr Stadium. They were a member of the Patriot League. They finished the season 10–2, 6–0 in Patriot League play to be Patriot League champions. They received the Patriot League's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where, after a first round bye, they defeated James Madison in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to North Dakota State. Following the season, they were awarded the Lambert Division I FCS Cup by the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Metropolitan New York Football Writers, signifying the Raiders as the best team in the East in Division I FCS.[1]

2018 Colgate Raiders football
Patriot League champion
FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals, L 0–35 vs. North Dakota State
Conference	Patriot League
Ranking
STATS	No. 8
FCS Coaches	No. 7
2018 record	10–2 (6–0 Patriot)
Head coach	Dan Hunt (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Chris Young (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Paul Shaffner (6th season)
Home stadium	Andy Kerr Stadium (Capacity: 10,221)

2018 Patriot League football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 8 Colgate $^		6	–	0					10	–	2
Holy Cross		4	–	2					5	–	6
Georgetown		4	–	2					5	–	6
Lehigh		2	–	4					3	–	8
Lafayette		2	–	4					3	–	8
Fordham		2	–	4					2	–	9
Bucknell		1	–	5					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Raiders finished the 2017 season 7–4, 5–1 in Patriot League play to finish in a tie for the Patriot League championship with Lehigh. Due to their head-to-head loss over Lehigh, they did not receive a bid to the FCS Playoffs.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Buck Buchanan Award[2]	Nick Wheeler	DE	JR

Preseason coaches poll

The Patriot League released their preseason coaches poll on July 26, 2018, with the Raiders predicted to finish as Patriot League champions.[3]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Colgate	71 (11)
2	Lehigh	63 (3)
3	Fordham	45
4	Holy Cross	40
T–5	Bucknell	31
T–5	Lafayette	31
7	Georgetown	13

Preseason All-Patriot League team

The Raiders placed ten players on the preseason all-Patriot League team.

Offense James Holland, Jr. – RB Thomas Ives – WR Max Hartzman – OL Jovaun Woolford – OL

Defense Nick Wheeler – DL T.J. Holl – LB Tyler Castillo – DB Abu Daramy-Swaray – DB Alec Wisniewski – DB

Special teams Chris Puzzi – K

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	1:00 p.m.	Holy Cross		Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	Stadium	W 24–17	5,304
September 8	3:30 p.m.	at No. 20 New Hampshire*		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NBCS BOS	W 10–3	11,433
September 15	1:00 p.m.	at Furman*		Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	ESPN3	Cancelled [lower-alpha 1]
September 22	1:00 p.m.	Lafayette		Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	Stadium	W 45–0	7,753
September 29	6:00 p.m.	at William & Mary*	No. 24	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA	Cox Yurview	W 23–0	9,191
October 6	12:00 p.m.	at Bucknell	No. 21	Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	Stadium	W 27–3	2,007
October 13	12:00 p.m.	Cornell*	No. 20	Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY (rivalry)	Stadium	W 31–0	3,112
October 27	1:00 p.m.	Georgetown	No. 16	Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	Stadium	W 38–0	1,827
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at Fordham	No. 12	Coffey Field Bronx, NY	Stadium	W 41–0	2,591
November 10	12:30 p.m.	at Lehigh	No. 10	Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA	Stadium	W 48–6	6,633
November 17	12:00 p.m.	at Army*	No. 8	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	CBSSN	L 14–28	26,086
December 1	1:00 p.m.	No. 6 James Madison*	No. 9	Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	W 23–20	6,418
December 8	12:00 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State*	No. 9	Fargodome Fargo, ND (FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals)	ESPN	L 0–35	16,404
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

[4]

1. This game has been cancelled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

Game summaries

Holy Cross

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	0	0	3	14	17
Raiders	14	10	0	0	24

See also: 2018 Holy Cross Crusaders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
35–40–5	2017	GATE, 35–7

at New Hampshire

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	10	0	0	10
No. 20 Wildcats	0	3	0	0	3

See also: 2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–6	2015 FCS Playoffs	GATE, 27–20

Lafayette

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leopards	0	0	0	0	0
Raiders	15	21	9	0	45

See also: 2018 Lafayette Leopards football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
44–13–4	2017	GATE, 27–0

at William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Raiders	10	6	7	0	23
Tribe	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2018 William & Mary Tribe football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–6	1992	W&M, 44–26

at Bucknell

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Raiders	0	17	3	7	27
Bison	0	0	3	0	3

See also: 2018 Bucknell Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
49–17	2017	GATE, 40–3

Cornell

	1	2	3	4	Total
Big Red	0	0	0	0	0
No. 20 Raiders	7	3	14	7	31

See also: 2018 Cornell Big Red football team and Colgate–Cornell football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
47–49–3	2017	GATE, 21–7

Georgetown

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hoyas	0	0	0	0	0
No. 16 Raiders	0	24	0	14	38

See also: 2018 Georgetown Hoyas football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
14–1	2017	GATE, 35–10

at Fordham

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 12 Raiders	14	17	0	10	41
Rams	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2018 Fordham Rams football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
22–7	2017	GATE, 14–10

at Lehigh

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Raiders	7	20	21	0	48
Mountain Hawks	0	6	0	0	6

See also: 2018 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
29–25–2	2017	LEH, 41–38

at Army

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Raiders	0	0	7	7	14
Black Knights	7	7	0	14	28

See also: 2018 Army Black Knights football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–22–2	1997	ARMY, 35–27

FCS Playoffs

James Madison–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Dukes	7	3	3	7	20
No. 9 Raiders	3	3	14	3	23

See also: 2018 James Madison Dukes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2015 FCS Playoffs	GATE, 44–38

at North Dakota State–Quarterfinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Raiders	0	0	0	0	0
No. 1 Bison	7	7	14	7	35

See also: 2018 North Dakota State Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	21	20	17	16	12	10	8	9	8
Coaches	RV	RV	25	24	23	20	17	13	11	11	8	6	7	7

References

1. "ECAC Announces 2018 Football Teams of the Year and Lambert Awards". ECACsports.com. January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
2. "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
3. "Patriot League - Patriot League Football Preseason Major Awards, Poll and All-League Honors Announced (7.26.18)". patriotleague.org.
4. "2018 Football Schedule". Colgate University Athletics. Retrieved 15 May 2018.