Oct. 29, 2002
Lafayette head coach Frank Tavani
On the Fordham game: "We don't play these games to be in them and play with people. We play them to win. Obviously, it was disappointing. It was a hard-fought game. It was a great football game from maybe a fan's perspective, but a tough game on the losing side. As I told our football team, I was extremely proud of the way we played. They're a great group of kids to be around. They're resilient, and they never quit. No matter what the problems that occurred during the game, we fought through it, and we had some chances. We weren't able to capitalize when we had the opportunity. I've been asked over and over again what you take away from a game like that. You take away that you have to play better to win. I said at the beginning of the year, it's not going to be easy. No one is going to give us anything, we have to go out and take it. I thought we played extremely well against a real good football team and came up a little short."
On Lafayette's position in the league standings: "As I told our football team before the game, the winner was going to remain unblemished, and the loser was going to join two other teams with one loss. There is still a lot of things that are going to occur in this league. There are a lot of things that are going to occur in this league. It's a tremendous league this year. Tremendously competitive in that anyone can beat anyone on any given Saturday, that was evidenced in Washington, D.C. with Georgetown upsetting Bucknell. It's a great year for the conference. We still think that there is some damage that can be done, and we still feel strongly about being in the hunt."
On Colgate: "Colgate has been one of the premier teams in the league. Traditionally, very strong defensively and that's no exception this year. Their defensive line I think is as good as anyone we've seen, and their secondary is as good as any we have seen. We know that's a real challenge for us offensively. On the offensive side of the ball with Colgate, they lead the league in rushing and they have a big, strong offensive line. They like to pound you a little bit. What makes them go now is Tom McCune, their quarterback. We're very familiar with him now as a senior. They're going to run some option at you, some gadget plays. Then they're just going to try to pound your face off. In a snow game with foul weather, it's going to be one of those games where it's going to come down to who is able to stop the run and is who able to run the football. It will be another great challenge for us."
On Colgate quarterback Tom McCune: "I think he was more athletic in high school than now when he has put on some bulk. He's able to do a lot of things. He's a real tough competitor. He has his brother over there starting on the secondary, so they got a real family thing going on over there. You have to try to contain him and not let him run the ball on you. Especially with him running the ball on the option. Teams that have been successful have made him throw. That's not say he's not a good passer. But, I don't think that's his strength, nor is that their strength. I don't think they have the receiving core that we have seen. They have the big, strong offensive line and they want to line up and pound you."
Lafayette offensive lineman Phil Kolarczyk
"Our individual coaches, they do a great job preparing us. If we know what to expect from them, we can give Marko the time to throw the ball and we give Joe the holes to run through. We have a great offensive game."
Lafayette defensive back Matt Van Doren
"This will be the turning point of the season. They're not going to run any fancy plays. We know what's coming, so it's just going to be strength against strength. What a better game to do it, than coming off a frustrating loss."
Colgate head coach Dick Biddle
On the Raiders' rushing attack: "We've tried to establish it. We lost our two top tailbacks from last year. But I think right now the kid who has done the best job the last two weeks is Ray LaMonica, so right now he is our starting tailback. Justin Polk, who has played some tailback has gone to fullback. Right now that is our best combination."
On low-scoring vs. high-scoring games: "I'd rather it be a low-scoring game. The reason being that if you're in a low-scoring game and you're defense is playing well, you always have a chance to win. But, if you're in these games that are high-scoring all the time, I think you are really rolling the dice. To me, if I like one thing to be consistent, I'd rather it be your defense. That's really what you win with because sometimes offenses are hit and miss. Through execution, a dropped pass, a fumble. So I'd prefer that they are both doing great, but if I had to pick one over the other, I'd rather it be low-scoring games."
On the Colgate / Towson game: "I'd have liked to see a little bit more scoring and a little bit more execution. But, one, you have to give your opponent credit. We moved the ball, but we were inconsistent. We had some scoring opportunities and didn't get them in, sometimes that happens. The thing I'm concerned with is the last drive of the Towson game when we were able to move the ball down the field and kick a field goal. To me, that's the most important drive. We just need to pick it up and execute. When you turn the ball over four times and still have a chance to win, then you're defense played pretty well. I was pleased with our offense, we just needed to make a play here or there."
On Lafayette: "I think they're very good. They have some experienced players. They have a lot of kids that played as freshmen. When you have an experienced quarterback like they have, that's a plus. They can score points offensively, which concerns you, especially when you're offense may not be scoring points. They have experience. They can do both run and pass, so that presents problems to you. They beat Towson by three touchdowns and we only beat them by a field goal, so that's very impressive, and they had a chance to beat Fordham. I would guess that Frank (Tavani) thinks that in his third year down there that this is probably his best team, so I'm sure they are pleased with that."
