Nov. 18, 2007

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham University football Rams learned today that they will travel to the University of Massachusetts for the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division I Football Championship. The game will be held next Saturday, November 24th at 12:00 PM at Massachusetts' McGuirk Stadium and will televised live on ESPNU as well as broadcast live on WFUV (90.7 FM) and on the internet at wfuv.org.

The winner of the UMass-Fordham game will play the winner of No. 4 seed Southern Illinois-Eastern Illinois the following weekend.

Click here for the official NCAA release with the full bracket.

"This is a great day for Fordham University and Fordham football," said head coach Tom Masella. "This is what we worked hard all year for and to see a bunch of guys set goals and attain those goals gives us a great deal of pride and excitement."

Fordham, the 2007 Patriot League champions, finished the regular season with an 8-3 overall record, 5-1 in the league. Massachusetts, the Colonial Athletic Association champions, closed out the regular season with a 9-2 overall record, 7-1 in the CAA, winning the CAA title by virtue of a tie-breaking coin flip with the University of Richmond.

The NCAA berth completes a tremendous turnaround for the Fordham football program, which finished the 2006 season with a 3-8 overall record, and was picked to finish sixth of seven teams in the Patriot League this fall.

This is the second NCAA Division I Championship appearance for the Rams, who also won the Patriot League title in 2002. That year, Fordham upended Northeastern (coached by current UMass head coach Don Brown), 29-24, in Boston, in the first round before falling to Villanova, 24-10, in the quarterfinals.

This will be the first meeting on the gridiron for the two schools, who are both full-time members of the Atlantic 10.

Though this will be the first meeting between Fordham and Massachusetts, three members of the Fordham coaching staff have experience with UMass. Masella was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach for the Minutemen in 2002 and 2003 while Frank Forcucci, Fordham's defensive coordinator, was on the UMass staff from 1999-2004, serving as a defensive assistant to Masella in 2002 and 2003. Mark Michaels, the Rams' co-special teams coordinator and defensive line coach, also served as an assistant at Massachusetts, coaching the linebacker and special teams for the 1998 NCAA I-AA championship team at Massachusetts.

The 2007 Rams are a perfect 5-0 on the road this fall, including Patriot League wins at Colgate and Lafayette, who entered the season as the three-time defending league champion, as well as a season-opening win at Rhode Island, the team that handed Massachusetts its only CAA loss.

The Fordham offense will be led into the game by sophomore quarterback John Skelton along with the one-two running back combination of senior Jonte Coven and freshman Xavier Martin. On the year, Skelton has completed 191 of 337 passes for 2,369 yards and 19 touchdowns. His 191 completions and 2,369 passing yards are the fifth best single season totals in Fordham history while his 19 scoring passes ranks tied for fourth on the single season list.

Coven has gained 926 yards on 183 carries with five touchdowns for the Rams while Martin had an impressive freshman campaign, rushing 122 times for 612 yards and eight scores. He was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week three times in 2007.

At receiver, the Rams had four players who caught at least 20 passes on the year, led by junior Richard Rayborn, who had 38 receptions for 483 yards and four touchdowns while sophomore Asa Lucas made 32 catches for a team-high 573 yards and two scores.

The offense wouldn't be able to move without a strong offensive line, anchored by senior captains Mike Breznicky and Mike Nardone.

"I give all the credit for the offense to the offensive line," said Coven. "They really jelled this year. With six quality players on the line, if someone gets tired we have a fresh body to bring in."

Defensively, the Rams are led by senior captain Dominique Owens with 78 total tackles, 43 solo, including seven for a loss along with junior defensive back Matt Loucks, who has registered 70 total tackles this fall, 40 solo, while also intercepting two passes. Senior captain Earl Hudnell leads the squad in tackles for a loss with 14.5 while another senior captain, Sam Orah, paces the Fordham defense with a team-best eight pass break-ups.

On special teams, the Rams lead all of the NCAA Division I football schools with a net punting average of 40.87, thanks to senior punter Ben Dato, who is second in the NCAA FCS, averaging 45.05 yards/punt.

"Massachusetts has a great football program and coach (Don) Brown has done a great job there," said Masella. "They are well-balanced, big and athletic and have a terrific front seven on defense. We will have to work hard all week to get ready for this game."