Sunday morning the wait was over for the Fordham University football Rams. After concluding their season and coming off a bye week the wait was over as Fordham for the third straight year will be a part of the NCAA FCS championship. They will travel to Chattanooga Saturday and oppose the University of Tennessee Mocs with a kickoff at 1pm.
The Rams finished the season with a 9-2 overall record, 5-1 in the Patriot League. The one loss was 31-28 to the Patriot League champions of Colgate University who received an automatic bid to the championship. Fordham was one of seven schools to receive a bid to the FCS Championship.
This is the second football team at Fordham to earn three straight NCAA championship bids. The past two years, Fordham hosted first round games and defeated Sacred Heart and moved on to the second round. But the wait and having been idle the past two weeks gives the Rams an advantage as they are well rested and back to health.
The last few games of the season several key players for the Rams were hindered by injuries and they are expected to be ready for the first round game. Sophomore running back Chase Edmonds, who set a single season rushing record in a 59-42 win over Lehigh, continued to play with a minor sprain of his left ankle and some other bumps and bruises.
So the needed rest for the Rams was worth the wait. Edmunds averaged 150 yards per game and also set a new record in touchdowns in the game against Lehigh. Junior quarterback Kevin Anderson completed the season with 2,637 yards and 25 touchdowns.
“It’s a credit to our kids,” said head coach Joe Moorhead who has led Fordham to three playoff appearances in his four years at the helm. “It will be different to be on the road but something we will adjust to. It’s a welcome chance and a great spot to be in.”
The at large bid was selected from a committee of athletic directors of the six other schools in the Patriot League. Amid skepticism when the season concluded because of they did not clinch their conference, the Rams were enthusiastic about their selection as the feeling was they deserved the bid.
Moorhead added about the two week layoff, “It gave us some rest. It’s a catch 22 situation. We didn’t get rest during the season. It didn’t help with injuries at the tail end of the season but we recharged. We didn’t practice just had a couple of hits and runs and refreshed.”
Should the Rams advance, they would meet top seeded Jacksonville State in the second round on December 5th. But for now they remain on campus for the Thanksgiving Day holiday and they don’t mind because they get to play more football in November.
“It’s going to be an atmosphere not used to on the road,” said left guard Garrick Mayweather Jr. The senior said the Rams will prepare this week as if it was a regular season game.
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