McCarney Highlight Video

HAMILTON – The 2012 edition of Colgate football swept to its seventh Patriot League football championship thanks to a perfect record in conference play. The Raiders finished 5-0 against league opponents (6-0 if including Fordham) after being picked third in the preseason behind Lehigh and Holy Cross.

Colgate clinched the title with a 35-24 comeback win at Lehigh. The Raiders started the season 1-3, played only four home games, yet fashioned an 8-4 record and NCAA playoff berth.

Colgate landed the Patriot League's Offensive Player, Coach and Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards among a strong contingent of postseason all-conference selections.

Gavin McCarney gained the nod as the league's top offensive player, while Dick Biddle earned coaching honors and Chris Looney was named Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Looney later was named to the Capital One Academic All-America First Team.

Biddle's coaching record stands at 133-65 (.672), all at Colgate, and this year marked his 14th campaign with at least seven victories. He is 78-24 against Patriot League opponents and 38-9 against the Ivy League.

Biddle Q&A on 2012 Season
Raiders head coach Dick Biddle sat down after the season with GoColgateRaiders.com to discuss the 2012 season. Here are his comments:

Where does Gavin McCarney's season rank in your coaching career?
Biddle: “His season this year ranks right up there with the best I've seen at Colgate. We've had a lot of great quarterbacks, but, quite frankly, everybody got on his back and he carried this football team all the way to the playoffs.

“Under the circumstances of teams knowing what he was going to do, it probably ranks as the best I've seen for a player in one season at Colgate. He made everybody around him a better football player, and that's what you look for in a quarterback. He did it all.”

See Gavin McCarney's Patriot League Play of the Year vs. Holy Cross HERE.

How special was it to see Jordan McCord have the season he did?
Biddle: “It was great for a couple of reasons. We had just graduated Nate Eachus, who was our leading rusher the last few years and is in the NFL right now. And if you look at Jordan, part of his career – even last year – he was playing two ways. He was playing defensive back.

“And then he plays one year at running back and rushes for 1,700 yards and makes All-League. Plus, people knew he was getting the ball. It was really neat what he did and it ranks up there with one of the better seasons we've had from a running back.

“Add to that the fact that if McCarney wasn't so good, you could have put his yardage into Jordan's and he would have had even more yards. To have 1,700 yards with your quarterback gaining 1,400 is quite a story.”

Did the season play out like you expected or were their surprises?
Biddle: “I thought we would be good on offense; I didn't think we'd be that good. I didn't think we'd have a streak where we were getting 50 or 60 points a game. But it also was a season where we had to get those points in order to win the game.

“Did it play out like I expected? I thought we would be good, and you want to win a championship, but the way we did it by outscoring people – that's hard to do. For us to it for seven or eight football games in a row, and do it on the road like we did, is exceptional.

“And we also were 1-3. I knew it was going to be hard early, but we could see some daylight at the end of the tunnel because we were playing good people and we weren't getting blown out. I don't think the team how good it could be. They were pressing, and we probably held them back a little bit – that happens sometimes.

“Once they got their first win under their belts and then won a game on the road, those were really important. They began to buy into what we were doing. So in that sense, it did play out the way we planned.

“I thought it would be a little more balanced. I didn't think scores would be the 50s and 60s to 40 or whatever. But if we had scored just 35 points in a game, that might not have been enough.”

Do you think the defense was overlooked at times?
Biddle: “We struggled this year on defense, but we made the plays when we had to and we made the stops and got the ball back to our offense. We never got far enough behind where we couldn't catch up.

“The key with the defense was what they did in the Lehigh game. Shutting them out in the second half when we were down 10 points was the highlight of the whole year for the defense. They didn't allow anything that second half and we were able to score three touchdowns.

“That's an area that still needs to be addressed.”

How important were the offensive line and receivers to the offense's success?
Biddle: “Obviously, your offensive line when you're rushing for that many yards is doing a great job. Three of the kids made All-League first team, so that really speaks for itself. They really did a great job.

“But I mentioned a lot that our receivers were very underrated. I said it all season long. What was unique about them was somebody would get hurt and the next person would step in and do the job. Chris Looney, Daniel Cason, Ryne Morrison – they all had injuries during the season, but the other guys would step in and make the plays.

“Throw our tight ends in there too because they made a lot of big plays for us. I said this was overall, top to bottom, the best group of receivers we've had a Colgate. We didn't have the best receiver, but as a group they all made contributions.”

How proud were you of the postseason awards your team earned?
Biddle: “All the awards we received are a tribute not only to the players who made All-League, but also to the guys who didn't make it but worked really hard. It was a total team effort for us to go from 1-3 to win seven games in a row and the Patriot League title – and do it when most of the games were on the road.

“It's really a phenomenal thing.

“And I'm Coach of the Year, but that's only because we've got good players. They make good coaches; anybody could tell you that.

“To me, it's the best year I've ever had in coaching at Colgate.”

Have you taken a look to next season?
Biddle: “Next year, we should be much better on defense because we'll be a year older and we have a number of players coming back. That should be an improvement for us.

“The holes we need to fill on offense are obviously a couple of offensive linemen, but the key will be replacing the running back. Having your quarterback return along with a couple of receivers and tight ends is big. The key will be finding a running back who is going to step up and play like Jordan.

“The schedule next year is very difficult.”

2012 Game-by-Game Recaps
Albany 40, COLGATE 23 – A pair of first-half blocked punts change momentum, and Albany rallies for a home victory in the season opener for both teams.

South Dakota 31, COLGATE 21 – South Dakota's only 2012 win came against Raiders, but the host Coyotes at the time improve to 41-5 in last 46 at the DakotaDome.

COLGATE 35, Sacred Heart 14 – Tight football game turns into a second-half runaway when the Raiders outgain Sacred Heart 292-17 after intermission.

Stony Brook 32, COLGATE 31 – Top-20 Stony Brook stuffs Raiders' 4th-and-1 with 0:53 left to escape before 10,278 fans in a matchup of 2012 NCAA playoff teams.

COLGATE 47, Yale 24 – Raiders start their seven-game winning streak by scoring touchdowns on all five first-half possessions and making it stand up at Yale.

COLGATE 51, Holy Cross 35 – McCarney and McCord account for seven TDs, 367 rushing yards as Raiders post their highest all-time point total against Holy Cross.

COLGATE 57, Georgetown 36 – Colgate explodes for 707 yards of total offense. That record lasts only two weeks, but Raiders need every inch to finally subdue Georgetown.

COLGATE 47, Bucknell 33 – Raiders don't score half-a-hundred for the third game in a row, but they still blitz Bucknell's league-leading rushing defense for 284 yards.

COLGATE 65, Lafayette 41 – Colgate's most points in 71 years, along with league and school total offense (755) and rushing (531) records, helps handle Lafayette.

COLGATE 35, Lehigh 24 – Raiders capture seventh Patriot title in front of a national TV audience by rallying from a 10-point deficit, blanking unbeaten Lehigh in second half.

COLGATE 41, Fordham 39 – Both teams score 20 fourth-quarter points, but the Raiders hold off Fordham's two-point conversion try with under a minute left.

Wagner 31, COLGATE 20 – Five turnovers on cold and blustery Staten Island day doom Raiders' effort against Wagner in their first NCAA playoff game since 2008.

2012 Award Winners
Capital One Academic All-America
Chris Looney

The Sports Network All-America
Second Team
Gavin McCarney
Third Team
Jordan McCord
Ryan Risch

Associated Press All-America
Third Team
Gavin McCarney

ECAC Division I FCS All-Star
Gavin McCarney
Jordan McCord

Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Finalist
Dick Biddle

Walter Payton National Player of the Year Finalist
Gavin McCarney

Patriot League Coach of the Year
Dick Biddle

Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year
Gavin McCarney

Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Chris Looney

Capital One Academic All-District I
Chris Looney

National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Semifinalist
Chris Looney

All-Patriot League
First Team
Craig Capodiferro
Brian Crockett
Gavin McCarney
Jordan McCord
Ed Pavalko
Ryan Risch
Second Team
Patrick Friel
Chris Looney

The Sports Network National Player of the Week
Gavin McCarney (Oct. 20, Nov. 3)

College Football Performance Awards National Performer of the Week
Gavin McCarney (Sept. 29)

Patriot League Player of the Week
Gavin McCarney (Sept. 29, Oct. 20, Nov. 3, Nov. 10)
Jordan McCord (Oct. 13)
Patrick Friel (Oct. 27)

Patriot League Top Football Play of the Year
Gavin McCarney vs. Holy Cross (see the play HERE).