Nov. 1, 2005
Head coach Frank Tavani
On Colgate:
They're a very tough opponent and are a well-coached, disciplined football team. None of our seniors have had the good fortune of beating Colgate. We've had close games with them, going right down to the wire. Last year we had the dropped pass and then the blocked field goal. Certainly, we're well aware of how tough they will be. I believe this is the sixth opponent that we've seen that is coming off a loss, and they've all pretty much given up multiple turnovers, but we've also learned through the season that nobody seems to be that generous with us. It's hard to believe they turned the ball over six times in a half against Lehigh - some looked more like giveaways than takeaways when I looked at the film. Nonetheless, we've had that target on us since last season, and it seems to be getting bigger and brighter. Certainly, we expect Colgate to come in here with their "A game" and angry after a tough loss to Lehigh. They are against the wall, because two losses in this league that usually means elimination. They are probably the most talented team we've seen.
On Colgate QB Mike Saraceno:
We're very impressed with him especially when he's in his comfort zone holding a lead. When they get behind a little bit, he may do things that are not really to his forte and things happen. He's always supported by a very strong ground game. They're not afraid to keep running their base run plays and keep slamming things at you. They are also very adept in the pass game and very talented at wide receiver. The quarterback has just been getting better and better week-to-week, and the team has responded very well. They've had some tough losses, including the one at home to Central Connecticut that was probably the most surprising in the league to date. Then they returned to flat-out beat an outstanding UMass team the next week. They've responded very well after some tough losses. I know we'll have to play our very best football game.
On standout freshman tailback Jordan Scott:
He has all of the abilities including good size and strength. He also lays it in there and runs hard and tough. He has some speed and broke some nice long runs against Lehigh. He can get you the tough yards too. He looks like he's developing like a young runner would given the opportunity. Again, he's a guy that's getting better and better each game.
On Colgate's secondary:
That's always been a strength when you look back over the years. Colgate's very strong and athletic in the secondary and they've sent some guys to the Canadian and Arena leagues. It's always seemed to be a forte for them, and it's certainly no different this year.
On the keys to Saturday's game:
We have to play more consistently offensively. We continue to drive the ball and come up short in the red zone, which is obviously an issue. Getting Rick Ziska back will hopefully put us in the mode for the field goal unit to be an extension of the offense. Special teams will be a huge factor in a big game. Certainly defensively we're going to have to tackle better than we did last week against Bucknell.
On quarterback situation:
Brad Maurer is our starting quarterback and will be our starter until I deem otherwise. He certainly showed the type of character that he has and the type of winner that he is last week. He didn't get taken out of the Bucknell game for any other reason than we had planned on using both he and Pat Davis going in. At that point, we had planned on using Pat in the second half. Pat came in and drove us to two scores and then made some bad decisions, which caused me to make the decision to go back with Brad. I didn't hesitate regardless of the fact that he had been sitting there for two quarters, probably getting cold even to his own admittance. Brad's a tremendous individual, and I had full confidence that he could drive us down the field for the winning score.
