Still Mad About Losing Hofstra Football

(With sincere apologies to anyone involved with the movie Network, and the estate of one of my favorite writers, Paddy Chayefsky.)

"I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter... [and now Hofstra's president, in the blink of an eye, drops its football team.]

Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about [the demise of Hofstra football]. All I know is that first... you've got to get mad!"

- Howard Beale, UBS Newsman

This wasn't really what happened in the movie Network, but the way Hofstra's president suddenly and surprisingly pulled the plug on the Pride football program has made many, many people very mad. Including me.

Don't just take my word for it: take the word of the 7,567 (and growing) members of the Facebook group, Save Hofstra Football. In Paddy Chayefsky's time, Facebook was a concept that was ungraspable, but in this day and age it is proving to be an invaluable way for people to stick their heads out the window and yell, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Here's some highlights:

What they are banking on is that we become apathethic and let this slide after a week or two. We have built a school of law, school of business, basketball arena, school of communications, theatre, etc.. without ever once contracting a program or service. Force them to open the books. Hofstra although private, accepts public funds, we can get this done!

if they didnt want to waste money, they should re consider giving out all the FREE bmws to the department executives, and maybe charge them for gas instead of getting their tanks filled everyday for free ....

what an unbelievable disappointment. I was crushed upon hearing the news. i am putting away all my hofstra gear, taking off my license plate frame. nice job board of directors. what will you do for an encore, burn down some christmas trees?

There is also a Hofstra blogger called "Defiantly Dutch" who has been active as well in his displeasure:

We all could have done more to save Hofstra football. But the person who could have done the most instead killed it, even if Rabinowitz said Thursday “…there really is no concrete rebuttal possible” to the decision.

But there sure are plenty of Unispan-sized holes in it. For instance: Rabinowitz said dropping the program to the non-scholarship level was not a legitimate option because if Hofstra is going to compete athletically, he wants to do so at the highest level and for national championships.

Yet he also said no other program is in danger of being cut. Well, if rubbing shoulders with the elite is the objective, then everything except the basketball, lacrosse, soccer, softball and wrestling programs should be in big trouble.

...

When Rabinowitz talks about how the money from football will go towards need-based academic scholarships, I don’t want to hear him tugging at the heartstrings with stories of kids who can’t afford to go to Hofstra or can’t afford to finish their studies there. Not when he has presided over a school whose costs have risen at rates that almost defy description.

During the 1999-00 school year, the Hofstra student paid $20,922 for tuition, room and board and student fees. The cost this year? $42,526.

Tuition and room and board at Yale, by the way, is $47,500, an increase of 3.3 percent. Tuition at Hofstra this year ($29,980) increased more than nine percent from last year ($27,600). Tuition rose almost four percent from 1998-99 ($13,328) to 1999-00 ($13,750).

There's also an incredibly pissed off bunch of football alums, including an up-and-coming government lobbyist, who quickly formed a group to save football as well. Brad Gerstmann, who has put himself front and center, mentions the following on his reaction to Hofstra President David Rabinowitz's decision to pull the plug on football:

“The University is part of the fabric of Long Island and I believe this is damaging to Long Island and the reputation of the school,” Gerstman says. “More importantly, Hofstra isn’t simply a small private business operating in a vacuum. They receive grants from our government and decisions made by the administration can and do impact the region. As such, it’s curious to me that as caretakers of an institution which has had football since it’s inception in the 1930’s, they can make such a radical change in a secretive way, without any notice to anyone, input from outside stakeholders, or public debate.”

So far - and in line with the initial decision for Rabinowitz in dropping football - folks are still yelling out "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" But the seeds are there for folks to pressure Hofstra to bring back football - and the organizations are taking shape.

****

And, yes, I'm mad about it too. Here's why.

One, Rabinowitz pulled the plug without telling the players or coaches. Just the night before, some of the coaches were out recruiting for the upcoming season. Two and a half weeks of wasted time and money by head coach Dave Cohen, the staff, and others, who could have been looking for jobs with other football schools - not to mention to give players some real time to weigh their options. The players and coaches were treated like trash by the college president.

Second, in Rabinowitz' press conference, when he dropped the bomb, he mentioned the following in regards to Football Championship Subdivision football (or FCS):

“Three of the last four years, Appalachian State was the champion,” Rabinowitz says. “Last year, Richmond was the champion, I don’t know if too many people will remember that because of the lack of national coverage. In a sense, this subdivision of football is like football purgatory. It’s like you need to spend a lot of money to be competitive, but there are none of the benefits that a robust athletic program produces.”

When this bastard sticks a middle finger up in the air at what I do, you better believe I'm going to take notice.

Never mind my efforts to publicize FCS football on a national basis with the College Sporting News. How about the Sports Network, who sponsors the Walter Payton, Buck Buchanan and Eddie Robinson awards and the FCS Top 25 during the year? How about AP, who covers all the games? How about Sports Illustrated, who covered the death of Hofstra's football program? How about ESPN, who is carrying the FCS playoff semifinals and finals?

Rabinowitz might want to check the internet every once in a while when he claims that nobody remembers FCS football, and won't remember their champions. Apparently, the folks at Michigan do. So do the folks at Virginia, who just nabbed Richmond head coach Mike London, last year's Division I national champion, 24 hours after he lost to Appalachian State in a 35-31 thriller.

How about the old "Google test" as to the reputations of the last two football national champions versus Hofstra? "Appalachian State University" yields 1.9 million results. "University of Richmond Football" - 2 million.

"Hofstra University?" Try a piddling 496,000.

Who knows if Hofstra had made a run at the Division I national championship in football what it could be? All I do know is that the last two national champions have just about four times the national Google traffic Hofstra does - and that will go down further once football is canned. Bank on it.

Say you want to pull the plug on the program. Say you want to keep your perks as president. But do NOT say there is a lack of national coverage about FCS, or that it does not matter, or that there are no benefits. That is complete and utter bullshit. And maybe if he lifted a finger and did a Google search, he'd have figured that out.

*****

I'm just getting warm. Here's more, from the Defiantly Dutch running day blog:

Rabinowitz says the University has not come anywhere close to making back the $4.5 million it spends annually on the football program. The football endowment, after 69 years, is around $400,000. Only 500 students attend games, a figure he says includes cheerleaders, dance team and pep band members. The season ticket base for football is 172. In basketball, he adds, it is 750.

“So people have voted on this, in terms of their financial support and their attendance for it,” Rabinowitz says.

“We are just sad every time I hear a good student say ‘I really want to go to Hofstra, it’s my first choice but I can’t afford it,” Rabinowitz says. “‘My parents can’t afford it’ or ‘I can’t afford it.’ Or students who are here and have done well who say ‘I can’t stay here and graduate.’ "We need Hofstra University to really keep good students.”

The 7,000 person strong Facebook group would certainly imply otherwise about people's "votes", but let's do one better and look at numbers.

$4.5 million certainly sounds like a lot of money. But the way Rabinowitz talks about the numbers, he makes it sound like Hofstra takes a check from its general fund that would normally go towards making the world safe for puppies, kittens and babies and instead have to make a check out for $4.5 million for the football program. That's a lie.

The great majority of "money" "spent" on the football program is financial aid. Hofstra's tuition is $42, 526 a year. Multiply that times 60, and you get a little over $2.5 million in scholarship money. (Money which - oh by the way - largely goes to folks who need full or partial assistance anyway, and goes to the most diverse team on campus.)

So let's say that this is put back into the main scholarship pool. This money will go towards all students now - unless the goal is to replace the one hundred or so football players with more well-to-do, less diverse, less needy students.

If it's about saving money, the plan has to be to make the student body less diverse and less needy - the only case in which there is significant scholarship cost savings in dropping football, since "needy" students would be replaced with "not-needy" students (probably students that are whiter and richer, too). Either that, or else the university will use those funds to target diverse students that need financial aid - in which case there will be no savings.

If you take Rabinowitz at his word - that he really is trying to make university more affordable for underprivileged students - then there will be no cost savings. Period. Of course, he doesn't mention that 100 or so "good students" who DID get a chance to go to Hofstra as a result of their talent in football, who now, most likely, will be leaving to be able to play the game elsewhere.

Evidently, he is not sad for them.

*****

"OK", says the skeptic. "But what about that other 2 million?"

Well, for starters, there is sponsorship income. Folks may not realize this, but Modell's Sporting Goods, the LIRR, the Wing Zone, State Farm Insurance, the LI Herald Community Newspapers, and Fresh 102.7 FM all were partial sponsors of Hofstra football last year (never mind the Hofstra bookstore, whom you'd expect to be a sponsor). While harping on the expenses, Rabinowitz pointedly did not mention all these sources of income last year.

There is the $400,000 football endowment - which, presumably, will not be a part of future plans with Mr. Rabinowitz. Could it have been bigger and better? Sure - but it's not an insignificant chunk of change.

There's also $3.5 million dollar Margiotta Hall, a display of the "history of Hofstra Athletics", which was dedicated this past summer with the names of two former football players and made possible by one-time lacrosse player John C. Metzger. Metzger's generous contribution, it was pointed out in this release, was made "to support the men's and women's lacrosse programs and the football program". Would Metzger have made the gift if he thought that there wouldn't be a football program to benefit? Maybe, maybe not, but it does demonstrate that the possibility of athletics contributions drying up at an institution without football is very real.

(No word if the former players, Mike D'Amato '68 and Lou DiBlasi '61, will be taking their names off the project and Hofstra hall-of-fame. Maybe they can erect a bust of head basketball coach Tom Pecora in its place, and a monument to the zero NCAA tournaments he's been to. Fun fact: in the last 12 years, the football team has more NCAA playoff appearances (4) and conference championships (1) than the men's basketball team (0).)

There's more, too. There's revenue generated by playing at FBS Western Michigan, where FBS schools almost always pay financial "guarantees" for FCS schools to play them. Many, if not all, of these checks have six figures.

Does this total $2 million? I don't know. But I do know it's not a $4.5 million dollar check from Hofstra to keep a program alive. And I do know that millions of dollars of revenue for Hofstra athletics - including funds to keep, say, a state-of-the-art weight training facility, or upgrades to Shuart Stadium - will now be vaporized as a result.

$4.5 million of expenses? Without revenues? Talk about only stating one half of the story.

*****

Finally, again from Defiantly Dutch:

[WFAN Sports Radio announcer Mike] Francesa asks what schools Rabinowitz wants Hofstra to be compared to. Among the ones he lists is Boston University, where football was dropped in 1997.

Rabinowitz calls the decision the most painful one of his career—“Times like this I wish I was back in the classroom teaching law”—but says it was an inevitable decision “because there is no pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow in Division I-AA.

Francesa ends the 17-minute interview in familiar fashion. “You need to get that basketball team into the A-10,” he says.

“Well, give me a hand, will you?” Rabinowitz says.

Could it be this is all about getting Hofstra's basketball team in the A-10? "Maybe if I take the football team out back and shoot them, maybe Jodie Foster might be impressed?"

I can't even to begin to say how misguided this is, never mind the casual way he was lobbying Francesca. The timing of it in terms of gunning the football program - treating the coaches, students and fans as if they were trash, and then getting on only hours after the decision to make a pitch to a basketball league is ISN'T A PART OF - is just inexcusable.

It's also interesting that he wants Hofstra to be compared to Boston University - considering that the former college president that presided there that killed the Terriers' football program, John R. Silber, collected $6.1 million two years after he stepped down as president - ample money to keep, say, a FCS football program alive. (There'd even be enough left over to help pay off the outstanding bond debts from BU's $100 million Agganis center, which still isn't paid off.)

Saving a million a year, so he can get, oh, six million a couple years after retirement? Perhaps that's what Rabinowitz is looking for - his words, not mine.

Did I mention I was mad?

Northeast Football: Endangered Species

Two weeks ago, the Colonial Athletic Association had twelve teams, had four of the top teams in FCS, and had the biggest conference in FCS. With Old Dominion coming in 2011 and Georgia State in 2012, the future couldn't have looked any rosier.

Now, CAA football looks like it will be two teams shorter for next year - and the long-term future of CAA football is very, very much in doubt - and makes one wonder, who's the next domino to fall?

*****

Right after the 2009 season - suddenly, and without much warning, Northeastern was the first team to bite the dust. The official release offers some clues (or excuses, if you prefer) as to why they could not sustain football:

“Our goal for athletics is to achieve sustainable excellence in all areas,” said Athletic Director Peter Roby, who made the initial recommendation, which received the strong support of the university administration, the president, and the Board of Trustees. In an open letter to the Northeastern community, Roby continued, “We do not define success merely through wins and losses. Instead, we recognize that success comes from creating a positive student-athlete experience. The primary motivation for this decision was based on the significant obstacles to providing this experience for our football players.”

...

“Northeastern has always been guided by the principle that we should focus on our opportunities for leadership,” said President Joseph Aoun. “This approach ultimately leads to difficult choices, but leadership requires that we make these choices. This decision allows us to focus on our existing athletic programs.”

To this reporter, this translates roughly to: "We can't hope to compete with James Madison, UMass and New Hampshire in football. So rather than give these kids an opportunity to win a championship, we're going to pull the plug and continue our great rivalries with George Mason, Drexel and VCU in hoops instead. Kids playing football, thanks for playing, but we just don't think you have an "opportunity for leadership." In other words, we don't think you're winners."

Reaction was swift by the league office:

"We're disappointed, but at the same time understand the study and the analysis that the university went though," said CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager. "In part, I think some of the success of our programs has made the challenges that Northeastern was facing even more daunting."

Yeager added that the economy was also a factor in Northeastern's decision. Today, athletic directors at CAA schools will consider the possibility of adding a school in the long-term, according to Yeager. Old Dominion already has a 2010 schedule in place.

The loss of Northeastern was certainly a surprise - but not something that CAA football couldn't recover from. Many of the more interesting rumors out there included Fordham leaving the Patriot League early to plug the hole in the schedule left by Northeastern. The Huskies' departure might cause a blip on the radar screen, but the long-term health of the CAA is secure.

That all changed just today.

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Hofstra University is dropping its football team, citing high costs and low interest from the college community.

In a statement obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, university president Stuart Rabinowitz says "the choice was painful but clear."

He says factors include the cost of running the football program and the team's inability to generate significant interest, financial support or attendance.

The decision follows a two-year review of sports spending at Hofstra. Rabinowitz says there are no plans to cut any other sports at the Long Island school.

Interesting that he sites cost in running his football program: according to the latest EADA report, Hofstra made $4,438,500 - and cost $4,438,500. Either the EADA report is a crock of BS, or Hofstra didn't lose any money in 2008. (Northeastern's EADA report actually reports a small profit when you subtract revenues from expenses.)

As for attendance, Hofstra averaged 4,260 fans per game last year - certainly not in the realm of Delaware's attendance, but still better than area schools Fordham (3,886), Columbia (4,027) and Wagner (2,320). And nearby Stony Brook - at 4,802 fans - didn't draw that much more than the Pride. You also have to look at Hofstra's schedule this year: while James Madison, UMass, New Hampshire and Stony Brook did play at Shuart Stadium, a school that would have packed the stands - Delaware - did not.

The official release shows how much of an ass Hofstra's president is on the matter:

The Board, acting on a recommendation from Rabinowitz, voted unanimously to end the football program, effective immediately, at a meeting on Wednesday night. The decision was the culmination of a comprehensive review of all university spending to determine the best ways to build on Hofstra's successes and reach the highest level of academic excellence, nationally and internationally.

"As we continue to improve our academic programs and reputation, and plan the University's future, we have to consider the investment we make in all of the University's programs," Rabinowitz said. "The cost of the football program, now and in the future, far exceeds the return possible from an FCS program, which does not generate significant national interest. Given that, along with the low level of interest, financial support and attendance among our students, our alumni and the community, the choice was painful, but clear."

"In the long run," Rabinowitz said, "we can touch and improve the lives of more students by investing in new and enhanced academic initiatives and increasing funds for need-based scholarships."

....

"Athletics is a vital part of campus life, and we are proud of the contributions all our student-athletes make to our community," Rabinowitz said. "This was not an easy call, but for the future of the University, we believe it was the right one."

Marilyn B. Monter, chair of the Board of Trustees, said that the Board had recently concluded a two-year study of the athletic program, and she noted that nationwide, many colleges and universities are examining spending on sports. "Hofstra is not alone in taking a hard look at athletic spending, and we have a concrete plan for reinvestment in academics," Monter said. "This isn't about spending less money, it's about how we allocate our resources and invest in all of our students."

No national interest in the football program? He-LLO? Every friggin' week I write a national preview of Hofstra's games when they play other CAA members. When Hofstra beat James Madison they got a national write-up. In 1999 and 2001 they played playoff games against Lehigh - once at Shuart Stadium in Long Island, the other at Murray Goodman stadium - and had real fans there.

Rabinowitz said that the Hofstra board of trustees was only acting "on his recommendation." He also cited costs - and then announces that they're not cutting any other sports. The chair of the board of trustees added that it's not about "spending less money". Brother - if it's not about spending less money, it's about wanting to put a stake in the heart of the football program, right? The least they could have done is get the story right in the press conference - was it hatred of football, or the costs of the program?

Trying to spin this as a tradeoff for "new academic initiatives" instead of spending on football program that is 72 years old is also a huge slice of baloney. Lehigh, Bucknell and Lafayette somehow make ends meet and offer new "academic initiatives" all the time. Making it sound like it was a tradeoff between textbooks and footballs is just stupid. I've learned that it never really is.

And the hypocrisy-o-meter just jumps off the charts when you think about Hofstra's basketball program. In the case of Hofstra this year, the men's and women's basketball teams are flying to Kansas, Florida, and Texas - and that does not include league flights, or "Bracket Buster" games. When these folks tell you they're cutting football to save on athletic expenses, it is yet another lie.

I think Hofstra's president should just be honest: say he doesn't respect football, and don't think it's worthwhile for developing leadership or giving a good number of underprivileged and minority kids a chance to get a college education. That he just wanted to kill the football program because he thinks football is a brutal sport, and that football athletes are rock-heads that don't belong in higher education. That would be more honest than the song he sang today.

It's amazing to me how presidents cite the same, old, tired reasons for dropping football: expenses, lack of support, blah blah blah, sometimes with a little Title IX thrown in for balance.

When you boil down to it, though, they are all just pathetic excuses. Both Hofstra and Northeastern are big enough to support football, and could sponsor it if they wanted to - if not in a CAA that threatens to stretch from Orono, Maine to Georgia, in a Patriot League that is in a much smaller geographic area. But the truth is their presidents just didn't want football, and let it die. It didn't matter that they were in the best FCS conference there is right now: they just didn't want it. Period.

*****

For CAA football, there is now a massive problem.

When the CAA took over the former Atlantic 10 football/Yankee Conference, part of their strategy was to recruit teams to join the CAA in all-sports. I wrote about this in 2004, and excerpts of it make for interesting reading today:

If you parse through the reports of the news conference, you hear the same type of reasoning that the ACC used a year ago in pursuing Boston College: CAA Commissioner Tom Yaeger: "It was an evaluation not only of today but more importantly where the institution aspires to be in the next decade. This evaluation brought us to Boston and to Northeastern." Northeastern AD John O'Brien: "[the move is] an opportunity for us to make a statement that we want to expand beyond our traditional Northeastern geographical footprint."

The other less publicised, yet very important, reason for this move, was that of the CAA's 12 members, it gives the CAA 6 FCS football-playing members. As John Connoly from the Boston Herald opined, "Both the CAA and NU hope the new marriage will eventually include Division 1-AA football." Indeed, quoting CAA commissioner Yaeger: "While we don’t have any set plans, we have opened ourselves to the advent of football".

...

Like one [FCS] columnist told me, "It has everything to do with image, and nothing to do with logic." And Lehigh Football Nation agrees - it's hard to see why N'Eastern would align itself with a conference whose members are for the most part a 6 hour or more drive away. In the case of Boston College, it's easy to see that it's a monetary decision. But is N'Eastern going to reap any sort of financial windfall?

Only if the CAA, sooner or later, becomes a money-making FBS mid-major football conference. Experts are divided as to whether this is the ultimate goal of the CAA. One expert says yes: "It makes sense for a league anchored by Delaware and burgeoning power JMU. It makes even more sense if the NCAA Division I Board of Directors continues to appease the non-BCS [members]." But another disagrees: "Northeastern and Hofstra have no shot to bring the necessary fan base or resources to the FBS table."

How true this all was. Northeastern didn't get a financial windfall, and not only did they not bring the fan base for FBS football, both schools now claim that they didn't even have enough for FCS football either.

But equally as important was the fact, pointed out above, that Northeastern was recruited in order to secure CAA football with all the original members of A-10 football - something that, in 2004, was not a done deal. With Northeastern and Hofstra in the fold, and no good alternatives, the rest of what became CAA North: UMass, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine - concluded that it would be easier to stay with Hofstra and Northeastern with the existing league rather than break apart and form a new, autobid-less league.

After these announcement, the CAA North now consists of those four affiliate members - and no full members. They are not likely to be happy with having to replace a bus trip to Hofstra or Northeastern with a plane trip to Virginia or Georgia every year. The reasoning for all four staying in the CAA becomes less and less clear, especially past 2011.

What may makes a lot more sense to them is to try to convince Albany and Stony Brook - and maybe Fordham, too - to join a new Yankee Conference, or possibly have it sponsored by the Atlantic 10 Conference or America East Conference. Without a full-sport CAA school to sponsor a CAA North - or any CAA "rivals" east of the Delaware River - what's holding them there anyway?

And that doesn't include the possibility that other CAA football programs might fold before all is said and done. Rhode Island, long suspected to be a program that has lagged behind in spending, is a possible candidate. Even powerful New Hampshire and Maine - both historic programs - might be candidates as well since spending on higher education has been slashed in both states.

Could be the beginning of the bust-up of the CAA? It very well might.

*****

As for the Patriot League, it's hard to find positives in any of this.

Two schools that were prime candidates for any sort of Patriot League expansion - Hofstra and Northeastern, both private schools with good academic profiles - opted to discontinue their football programs rather than even consider the Patriot League.

And a CAA bust up - with up to four stranded members of CAA North possibly looking for a new conference - could be looking at a 60 scholarship Fordham team that is one step in the Patriot League, and one step out. Add to that some are in the Atlantic 10 in all other sports, and this could become an even easier decision if a new league were sponsored by the A-10.

If the Patriot League goes to six members, they will likely hold onto its autobid to the playoffs. But where will they find other members for expansion - and at six members, there is no room for error? Aside from VMI (Big South), Monmouth (NEC) or Bryant (NEC), it's hard to find good options that are private schools.

Marist (Pioneer Football League) looked like a good candidate at one time, but it looks like that ship has sailed. (Scary quote: "We may never know the real reason for sure. But the one thing that is for sure is that if the League is waiting around for 'someone better', it's not at all clear that it's going to happen in our lifetimes.")

Start-ups could be an option, at, say NJIT or Loyola (MD). But NJIT's academic profile is nowhere near Patriot League level, and while there's been speculation about football at Loyola, there's nothing concrete yet about them leaving the MAAC or starting up football.

As for D-III start-ups like RPI or Johns Hopkins, there is a moratorium on move-ups to Division I and these schools couldn't become full members until 2015 at least.

In sum, the Patriot League is not positioned well for these seismic events of the past two weeks. I'm hoping the dominoes fall in such a way that the Patriot League is preserved and strengthened. But if I was worried last Sunday, I'm really worried now.

My biggest question : are there any Patriot League schools that might be down the path of dominoes started by Northeastern and Hofstra? Is football in the Northeast dying?

Sunday's Word: Worry

It's the last "Word" of the year, right after the last football game of the year involving a Patriot League team. (Again.) Without a doubt, it's "Worry".

The first dimension of this Sunday's "Word" involves the game this weekend.

I was definitely rooting for Holy Cross to win this weekend, but going into to the game I didn't have very high hopes for a Crusader victory.

Villanova gives teams plenty to "worry" about: a multi-faceted offense, a swarming defense and just great talent at so many positions. After seeing them dismantle Lehigh early in the year, I told anyone that would listen that Villanova had a heck of a lot of answers to a lot of questions. To me, as good as Holy Cross was during the regular season, the Wildcats were going to pose a multitude of matchup problems for the Crusaders.

Fortunately, my "worries" were unfounded. Holy Cross senior QB Dominic Randolph played the game of his life, lighting up the Villanova defense like no other team this year has (including FBS Temple, whom the Wildcats beat, and Richmond and New Hampshire and William & Mary, all still alive in the playoffs). Every Villanova fan I've seen were genuinely "worried" that Holy Cross was going to make that one play to beat them. That's a great credit to Holy Cross head coach Tom Gilmore, Randolph, junior WR Freddie Santana, sophomore TE Alex Schneider and the rest of the Crusaders.

But with all the back-patting for a job well done against one of the best teams in FCS, the game still is what it is: a dreaded "moral victory" (a very strong candidate for this week's "Word", too). When folks look at the score, they'll see an "L" next to Holy Cross' name, just like the "L" that graces every Patriot League playoff participant in the first round since 2004. There are some blowouts (like Colgate's 55-28 first round shellacking in 2008) and some "moral victories", like the one last Saturday.

Ultimately, though, they're all still losses. And that is indeed a cause for "worry".

Somehow, some way, the Patriot League will have to win one of these games to get the national respect that they had in the days when Colgate made a march to the national championship game in 2003 or Lehigh was the first-round opponent nobody wanted to face in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

*****

In this reporters opinion, it's not so much that the Patriot League has changed, but that the rest of FCS football has changed.

When Colgate and Lehigh were making playoff noise, the CAA was administered by the Atlantic 10 and was treated like the stepchild that was locked in the attic. The A-10 defined themselves as a basketball conference, and it showed. But once the CAA took over operations of the former Yankee conference, football started to get the attention and promotion it deserved. And not just for the big state schools that you'd expect, either, like James Madison and Delaware. Richmond and Villanova, two affiliate members, have been dominant the past two years.

Richmond and Villanova were once bandied about as realistic candidates for Patriot League membership by the power structures of both universities. Now, it seems almost inconceivable that they would leave the CAA. They both house powerful football (and, for that matter, basketball) teams, as well as balancing the challenges of football scholarship spending for private institutions.

Regionally, the CAA is what the Patriot League is measured against on a national scale. Before, we were competing against a scholarship league that was not measuring up to their potential. Now the CAA is realizing their potential - and the Patriot League is not competing against them. Six years of first round playoff losses are proof of that, no matter how close the losses are.

*****

There is another dimension to my "worry", though.

At the conclusion of the season, CAA North member Northeastern decided to drop football. While many wondered how Northeastern would continue to compete in the CAA with old facilities, the move took some (including this reporter) by surprise. The Huskies turned their back on a sport with guaranteed games on TV, FBS matchups that involved paydays and bus trips, and not an insignificant amount of money to devote their full energy to cheaper (and more Title IX friendly) sports such as hockey and basketball.

As a Patriot League fan, I saw Northeastern a prime candidate for Patriot League membership in all sports. They're a private institution with a rising academic profile, would have been a great rival for Holy Cross in so many sports, and would bring with them a great basketball team that would have strengthened the PL. Without football, though, they are not nearly as good a candidate.

With a huge void in their conference schedule, the CAA looked around for teams that might be good candidates to plug the hole. And one of the names being bandied about is Fordham - who wants to play at 60 scholarships and play FBS teams.

In the minds of many, they're one step out the door of the Patriot League. Sure, they're still technically playing a Patriot League schedule next year, and have left the door open should the Patriot League start allowing the same merit-based aid that most of the rest of FCS schools (including the CAA) offer already. But why should they wait, if the CAA wants them right now?

Having said that, it's not a slam-dunk. Fordham may not want to throw away their Patriot League affiliation so easily, for one - after all, they could have done so last year, but appear to have gone to great pains to stay a part of the Patriot League by adhering to their academic index and playing a Patriot League schedule. Second, the CAA may not want to introduce another A-10 team to the CAA - especially to the CAA North, who now only have one CAA all-sports member in their midst and have to be worried about the league breaking off en masse and becoming football competition.

Also, with Northeastern gone, the number of football schools that the Patriot League can target for expansion just reduced by one - and it's not like there were that many small, private institutions that seemed to fit in the first place. Marist, who at one time wanted to join the league, now seems happy in the Pioneer Football League playing non-scholarship football. VMI is pretty far south, but still have to top the list, followed closely by Liberty. Other private NEC schools - St. Francis (PA), Monmouth and Bryant - would be start-ups.

What will happen? I don't know. But there's certainly cause for "worry".

Holy Cross 28, Villanova 38. Final

Some years, it's not easy for Patriot League fans to rally behind the league champion as they take on the best teams in the nation in the FCS playoffs. This year was different.

With senior QB Dominic Randolph finally breaking the Crusaders' championship drought (1991) and postseason drought (1983), the boys in Purple were a very easy team to root for on Saturday. It took Randolph four years - including a return for a fifth year for his final year of eligibility - to finally get Holy Cross over the hump. After three excruciating November swoons, it was awesome to see Randolph finally get a shot at a national championship.

Randolph and the rest of the Crusaders battled hard against a team that is a threat to win the Division I National championship. They gave them a scare, but ultimately Holy Cross added yet another "moral victory" to the Patriot League column as they battled bravely but fell, 38-28, to the CAA champions.

It was a script that was very similar to the first round game of 2007, where Fordham lost to CAA co-champion UMass 49-35. Like Fordham, Holy Cross lost their final regular-season game to Bucknell, backing into the playoffs after they secured the autobid. Like UMass, Villanova was forced to play uptempo Holy Cross high-scoring football. It resulted in a high-scoring game - but, unfortunately, a Villanova win.

After Villanova senior RB Aaron Ball took in a 6 yard TD run on an impressive initial Wildcat drive to go ahead 7-0, Holy Cross responded with a 13 play, 77 yard drive of their own. Deep in Wildcat territory, Gilmore decided to go for it on 4th-and-2 from the Villanova 6, and Randolph found senior WR Bill Edger for a big 4 yard pass to keep the drive alive. One play later, Randolph would take it in himself to tie the game at 7.

The tone set, Villanova and Holy Cross exchanged quick touchdown drives. Wildcat senior QB Chris Whitney found senior WR Matt Szczur for a big 26 yard gain, and freshman WR Dorian Wells made a nice grab to put Villanova up by a TD. But Randolph responded in a big way on the next drive, with three completions of more than 10 yards to Edger and freshman WR Kyle Toulouse. A two yard pitch-and-catch to sophomore TE Alex Schneider tied the game at 14 - and set the stage for a shootout.

After a puntless first quarter, Nova embarked on another grinding 13 play drive, this time mostly on the ground in the Wildcat. A 11 yard dash by Whitney resulted in one first down, another 11 yard toss to senior WR Bryan Harvey set up another first down - though all indications were that the ball was stripped from him before he came down, the officials ruled that he was down before the ball came out - a blown call that kept Villanova's drive alive.

A big 4th down conversion a few plays later - by junior RB Angelo Babbaro - set up a Chris Whitney 1 yard TD run to give the Wildcats a lead they would never relinquish.

Down 28-14, though, Randolph and the Crusaders refused to die. A nine-play, 80 yard drive midway through the 3rd quarter - ending in a 17 yard Randolph-to-Edger connection - cut the lead to 28-21. But Nova would counterpunch - set up by a big Whitney-to-Szczur 46 yard connection - to score again, making it 35-21.

Randolph had one more drive left in him in the 4th quarter - orchestrating another 9-play. 80 yard drive, connecting with Schneider for a 6 yard TD to cut the deficit to 7 once again. But it was Villanova's grinding offense that ground out the clock with brutal effeciency in the final quarter, ending with 25 yard FG by freshman PK Nick Yako to seal the win.

“The difference in the game was that both teams made big plays. They just made a couple more,” said Crusaders coach Tom Gilmore. “It was the kind of game where field goals weren’t going to win it and you were going for it on fourth downs. That’s the approach you have to take, because both teams were so explosive.”

Randolph finished 31-of-51 with 3 TD tosses and 0 interceptions. It was by far the best performance by a quarterback against the Villanova defense all season.

“Dom’s been an incredible leader, and our players believe in him,” Gilmore said. “I think he can look back and be really proud of what he was able to accomplish individually and what he helped us accomplish as a program.”

“Our offense played unbelievable, and we needed to be on top of our game because Dominic Randolph is probably the best quarterback we’ve seen,” Villanova head coach Andy Talley added. “He was terrific. He made a ton of plays, and I really have to compliment Holy Cross.”

Happy Thanksgiving - and Holy Cross/Villanova

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I know mine was great!

I wanted to mention that I'll be twittering about the Holy Cross/Villanova game this weekend, as well as writing a full wrapup of the game on my blog.

For my College Sporting News preview of the game, click here.

Finally, I couldn't be happier for senior QB Dominic Randolph, head coach Tom Gilmore and the long-suffering Holy Cross football fans. I'll be pulling for you.

Why Dom Randolph Tops My Walter Payton Ballot

Every year, I get to vote on the major FCS awards of the year, including the Walter Payton award (for the best offensive player in FCS), the Buck Buchanan award (defense), and Eddie Robinson award (head coach). I've been voting on these awards for years, but never have I had a Patriot League player on top of the list.

The one I submitted this year did, though.

I've seen a lot of quarterbacks this year, and Holy Cross senior QB Dom Randolph is, in my opinion, the most deserving.

*****

There are players with gaudier stats (like Stephen F. Austin junior QB Jeremy Moses, with 36 TDs), already-legendary players (Appalachian State senior QB Armanti Edwards) and high-profile FBS transfers (Jacksonville State senior QB Ryan Perriloux).

But no team in FCS meant more to his team than Randolph.

Why? Let me count the ways.

His 37 TDs - 31 through the air, 6 on the ground - was 77 percent of the Crusaders' touchdowns this year. More than three quarters!
As a sophomore, he was not a hugely mobile QB, but by his senior year he had added the ability to take off with the ball running to his already-bursting arsenal. This year he led the team in rushing (474 yards), while crushing a ton of different Patriot League records with his 3,429 yards passing.

Since his first collegiate football game (against Marist in 2006), he scored at least one touchdown a game. Until Holy Cross' regular season-ending loss to Bucknell, Randolph had 20 consecutive multi-touchdown games. Twenty!

He is the active FCS career leader in total offense (13,887 yards), passing
yards (13,108 yards), passing touchdowns (114) and ranks second in touchdowns responsible for (129). He led FCS in total offense - more than Perriloux or Armanti.

And here's the final reason why he deserves the honor more than anybody else: without Perriloux, 8-3 Jacksonville State still would have been a pretty stacked team. Without Armanti, Appalachian State still would have put up points. It's awfully hard to picture the Crusaders winning this year's Patriot League championship without Randolph at the controls. (And had he not found junior WR Freddie Santana against Lehigh with under a minute to play, they may not have.)

No player meant more to his team than Randolph. No-bo-dy.

All Patriot League Teams Released: Matt Cohen Defensive POY

Following the most low-key nine-sack, thirteen and a half tackle for loss season in history, senior LB Matt Cohen saw four years of hard work as a Mountain Hawk pay off as he was selected as Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year today.

Cohen, a local product from Allentown, was a model of consistency on Lehigh's defense. While he only won Patriot League Defensive Player of the week once (with 6 tackles, and 4 tackles for loss including 3 sacks), in every game he was a disrupting factor, with six games where he had at least one tackle for loss. His 9 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss led the Patriot League, and his 63 tackles were among the Lehigh leaders on a defense that doesn't favor one tackler.

It's great to see the quiet supply management chain major get recognized for his four-year contribution to the Mountain Hawk program. Congratulations to Matt!

While we're talking about low-key seniors on the All-Patriot Team, two more seniors got recognized on the first team: senior DT B.J. Benning and senior FB Anthony Fossati. Benning, a Maryland native, ended his senior campaign with 47 tackles, 9 tackles for loss including seven and a half sacks - and probably could have had more had he been able to play more of his natural position of defensive end. Fossati, meanwhile, was the yeoman from New Jersey out of the backfield, opening holes for the running backs and quarterbacks during the year - though he had the go-ahead TD in the 4th quarter against Lafayette, something I'm sure he'll never forget.

Junior OL Will Rackley became a two-time member of the first team all-Patriot League squad as well. The 310 lb Georgia native was an anchor in the right tackle position - and, hopefully, will continue to lock down that side of the line next year, too.

Rounding out the first team is someone who is decidedly not quiet: junior DB Jarard Cribbs. The guy I call "fearless" was a gambler that more often than not came up aces rather than 2/7: with 47 tackles, 2 interceptions, and a league-leading nine pass break-ups as a defensive back. The Maryland native also returned punts, which he did better than anyone else in the league last year: he returned 38 punts for 611 yards, including a key 60 yard return against Fordham that set up a go-ahead TD. His efforts that week earned him Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week.

The second team honored four Lehigh players as well, all whom are juniors (and one senior returning for a graduate year): junior RB Jay Campbell (Wilmington, DE: 659 yards rushing), junior OL Ricky Clerge (Coral Grove, FL: started all 11 games on the "O" line), junior CB/RS John "Prez" Kennedy (34 tackles, 3 passes defended, 1 INT, 1 fumble recovery, 774 kickoff return yards, 1 return TD) and senior LB Troy Taylor (Phoenix, AZ: 69 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble).

The official release lists senior QB Dominic Randolph, unsurprisingly, as the Offensive Player of the Year, Holy Cross head coach (and former Lehigh assistant coach) Tom Gilmore as coach of the year, and Colgate freshman DB Demitri Diamond as the freshman of the year. (Freshman QB Michael Colvin would have been a strong choice for freshman of the year had he not been hurt midway through the year.)

Not too many surprises, though it is interesting that junior TE Alex Wojdowski didn't even get a second-team nod - he led the team in receiving touchdowns with 7. (He was behind Holy Cross sophomore TE Alex Schneider.) Lehigh's nine selections lagged behind Lafayette's (13, including a deserved second-team nod for senior QB Rob Curley) and Holy Cross' (14). Other notable first team selections include Colgate sophomore RB Nate Eachus and senior WR Pat Simonds, Bucknell senior RS A.J. Kizekai, and Fordham senior QB John Skelton (who was on the second team). Georgetown had only one selection: senior DL Chudi Obinawu, on the second team.

Again, congrats to every Lehigh player that made the team!