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Bronx, N.Y. (December 6, 2013) - The Fordham University football Rams, ranked ninth in the latest Sports Network NCAA FCS poll and tenth in the NCAA FCS Coaches poll, travel to Towson, Maryland, for the second round of the 2013 NCAA Division I Football Championship as they take on the Towson University Tigers, ranked fourth in the latest Sports Network NCAA FCS poll and fifth in the NCAA FCS Coaches poll, at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Saturday, December 7, at 1:00 p.m.
The game will be broadcast live on
ESPN3 with Ryan Rose on play-by-play and KC Keeler on color. The game can also be heard live on WFUV (90.7 FM) and on
WFUV.org with
Mike Watts and Nick Logerfo handling the announcing chores.
The Rams enter the game with a 12-1 record and is coming off a 37-27 win over Sacred Heart University in the first round of the NCAA FCS Championship last Saturday. Towson, seeded seventh in the NCAA FCS Championships, enters the game with a 10-2 overall record after closing out its regular season with 28-17 CAA win over James Madison in Towson on November 23.
With the Sacred Heart win, Fordham won 12 games for the first time in the modern era (since 1920) and won its first ever NCAA FCS Championship game on Jack Coffey Field.
On the field, the Fordham offense has been prolific and has what appears to be an NCAA Division I football first as the Rams have a 4,000-yard passer, three 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard running back, something no other team has ever accomplished.
The Fordham offense has set school single season records for most points (498) and most total yards (6,788) in a season, surpassing the former scoring record of 418 and the former total yardage mark of 5,377, both set by the 2003 squad.
Individually, junior quarterback
Mike Nebrich has completed 316 completions for 3,986 yards, both school records. He betters John Skelton's previous records of 284 completions and 3,708 yard set in 2009. The three scoring strike brings Nebrich's total to 31, adding to his new season mark as he surpassed Mark Carney's 2001 record of 27 earlier this year while the Fordham offense increased its school record for passing yards to 4,658.
Nebrich, a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the NCAA FCS player of the year, leads the NCAA FCS in completion percentage (.735) and is second in passing efficiency (171.9), third in total offense (372.3 yards/game) and fourth in passing yards/game (332.2 yards/game).
Junior wide receiver
Sam Ajala caught seven passes against Sacred Heart for 128 yards to bring his season marks to 85 catches for 1,526 yards as he surpassed Javarus Dudley's former school record of 1,439 receiving set in 2003. He leads the NCAA FCS with his 1,526 receiving yards and is fourth in receiving yards/game (117.4).
Joining the 1,000-yard receiving club for the second straight season last Saturday was junior
Brian Wetzel, who had 73 receiving yards to bring his season total to 1,008, becoming just the second player in Fordham history to record back-to-back 1,000 yard receiving seasons. He joins teammates Tebucky Jones,. Jr. and Ajala with 1,000 receiving yards this year, the first time in school history the Rams have had three 1,000-yard receivers in the same year.
Senior running back
Carlton Koonce gained 96 yards on 26 carries in the Sacred Heart game and now has 1,436 rushing yards in 2013 while junior kicker
Michael Marando converted four PATs to add to his school record for PATs in a season which stands at 59, and he booted three field goals to bring his season total to 19, the second best single season in school history, behind
Patrick Murray, who kicked 25 last fall.
Defensively, junior linebacker
Stephen Hodge leads the Rams with 118 total tackles, 91 solo, including 16 for loss and five sacks. He leads the NCAA FCS in solo tackles (7.0/game) and he leads the Patriot League in tackles for loss.
Fordham's success this fall comes just two years after the Rams went 1-10 during the 2011 season.
