Patriot League Week 0: A Wild 48 Hours

Week 0 in the Patriot League went by in a flash. A literal flash. ⛈️

Over the course of 48 exciting hours, from Thursday night’s lightning-streaked “opener” in Washington, D.C., through Saturday evening’s Spider-Bison rumble in Richmond, Virginia, all ten Patriot League teams kicked off, but only eight teams finished with wins and losses.

One game was declared a no contest on account of lightning, a first in league history, as far as anyone can tell. Another is already being called one of the most exciting FCS games of the year. Two games featured blowouts, while another see-sawed from quarter to quarter.

A lot of new stars emerged, and several veterans shined under the lights and afternoon glow of Week 0. But the best part of the weekend?

The simple, unimpeachable fact that Patriot League Football is back. Let’s dive right in.

Lafayette (0-0) at Georgetown (0-0)

Declared a “no contest” by the Patriot League due to extreme weather; game status TBD

Thursday night in the nation’s capital was supposed to be the exciting start to the 41st season of Patriot League Football.

The weather? Close to perfect, with temperatures hovering around a breezy 80 degrees at kickoff. The players and coaches? Fired up and loud, excited to hit someone on another team.

The crowd? Surprisingly decent, owing to a large pack of traveling Leopard parents and family members and a heck of a lot of Hoya students recently arrived on campus for the fall semester.

Yours truly was credentialed and ready to provide some tantalizing takes, and the first half did not disappoint.

Georgetown struck first, dinking and dunking deep enough into Lafayette territory on its first drive for a 44-yard Thomas Anderson field goal. Anderson would knock home another 25-yard chip shot early in the second quarter to give Georgetown a 6-0 lead before the real fireworks, and lightning, began.

After sharing snaps with junior QB Jason Penza on the next drive, senior QB Dan Lipovski arced a beautiful 28-yard pass along the home sideline for a diving Zane Wooldridge, who corralled the ball and managed to stay in bounds to give the Leopards the lead.

But Georgetown didn’t wait long.

College of San Mateo transfer Hassan Mahasin fielded, scooped and housed the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for the score with 6:17 to play, giving the Hoyas a 13-7 lead heading into the half as lightning bursts streaked across the sky beyond the north end zone.

With about four minutes left in halftime and both teams ready to come out of their respective locker rooms, the public address announcer instructed all fans and stadium personnel to seek cover due to steady lightning strikes in the area.

For roughly two hours, fans and personnel huddled beyond the south end zone, shoutout to Hoya Snaxa for having a solid selection of cheap snacks and drinks available during the delay, and in the adjacent John Thompson Jr. Athletic Center/McDonough Arena complex, the latter a repository of Georgetown Athletics memorabilia, including a ball commemorating Georgetown’s 1941 Orange Bowl appearance.

The league, in consultation with both programs, made the difficult decision to declare the game a “no contest,” with no current plans to continue the game.

However, according to Craig Haley, the league will “look at options” to try to conclude the game. Neither team shares an open Saturday date between now and when the FCS playoffs are scheduled to begin in November.

For now, we’ll just have to call it “The Opener That Never Was.”

Top Performers

Georgetown: WR/KR Hassan Mahasin had four receptions for 31 yards and a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Lafayette: QB Dan Lipovski went 10-of-16 through the air for 156 yards and a touchdown pass.

Next Week

Georgetown: Saturday vs. Lehigh, 12:30 p.m.

Lafayette: Saturday at UConn, 12:00 p.m.

William & Mary 35, Villanova 32

William & Mary: 1-0, 1-0 Patriot | Villanova: 0-1, 0-1 Patriot

The Miracle on the Main Line.

I wish I could be credited with that line, but the good folks at The Virginian-Pilot get all the glory.

For an entertaining game between two old CAA foes that went back and forth all night, the real drama started off the field, where roughly one hour before kickoff, a Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas judge granted Villanova QB Pat McQuaide’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the Patriot League, enabling McQuaide to start for the Wildcats.

The Patriot League, listed as a defendant in the civil suit, has not yet commented on this latest development.

McQuaide didn’t seem too bothered by the off-field activity, marching Villanova down the field for an opening drive capped off by junior RB Isaiah Ragland’s 5-yard touchdown run.

The Tribe responded on the next drive with a beautiful 68-yard touchdown pass from Towson transfer QB Winston Watkins to senior WR Carson Jenkins to tie the score.

After a 22-yard chip shot from James Madison transfer K Max Lipinski, Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week, put the Tribe up by three, Nova took a 17-10 lead into the half with an 11-yard scamper from junior RB Ja’briel Mace and a 42-yard field goal from Tennessee Tech transfer K Dominic LeBlanc. William & Mary would retake the momentum in the third with a second field goal from Lipinski, this one from 39 yards, and a Watkins quarterback sneak. The PAT failed.

Then the tables turned midway through the fourth after Lipinski’s third field goal of the night, a 41-yarder. The Wildcats clawed their way back with 15 unanswered points after Jamie Tyson intercepted a long pass from Watkins and returned it 36 yards to the Tribe 32.

McQuaide’s 8-yard touchdown pass to sophomore WR Brandon Binkowski, followed by a successful two-point conversion with 3:47 remaining in the fourth, gave Villanova the lead.

After a Tribe turnover on downs, Ragland’s 37-yard touchdown with 2:43 to play, his second of the night, seemed to all but put the game away. But, of course, Mike London’s Tribe did not go quietly into the night.

Watkins willed his way deep into Villanova territory before giving way to Lipinski’s 40-yard field goal with 53 seconds to play, cutting the lead to seven.

The game completely went bonkers shortly after a masterful onside kick from sophomore K Sam Braidwood and recovery by junior TE Jackson Blee.

Watkins’ 37-yard bomb to sophomore WR Kai Austin with 22 seconds left looked like the back-and-forth game would head to overtime.

But Villanova’s offense said, “Hold my Yuengling.”

After two consecutive incomplete passes, McQuaide’s third interception of the night landed in the hands of William & Mary freshman DB Cade Ellis, Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, who ran it back into field goal range with seconds remaining.

That led to Lipinski’s fifth field goal of the night, a 45-yard game winner as time expired. The Miracle on the Main Line was complete.

The Tribe faithful went wild, social media went wild, and college football had its first feel-good story of the 2026 season.

Top Performers

William & Mary: QB Winston Watkins completed 19 of 33 pass attempts for 254 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 72 yards and a score.

Villanova: RB Isaiah Ragland ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, adding two receptions for 30 yards.

Next Game

William & Mary: Saturday vs. Delaware State, 6:00 p.m.

Villanova: Saturday at Bucknell, 6:00 p.m.

Colgate 24, Fordham 14

Colgate: 1-0, 1-0 Patriot | Fordham: 0-1, 0-1 Patriot

If Friday Night Lights in Villanova, Pennsylvania, featured a battle of two Patriot League heavyweights, the intriguing undercard two-and-a-half hours to the northeast belonged to Colgate and Fordham, two teams looking to improve and make a splash in a crowded league.

The unofficial Battle for Empire State Supremacy in the Patriot League was all Raiders in the first half, with Colgate’s balanced passing and running game doubling up the Fordham offense, 218 to 108 yards. Junior RB Danny Chaban, this week’s Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week, broke the ice for the Raiders with a 1-yard plunge in the first quarter, followed by an 8-yard scramble from senior QB Jake Stearney to give Colgate a 14-0 advantage headed into the locker room.

But embattled Fordham head coach Joe Conlin said something to inspire his Rams at the half. The Bronx faithful saw their team ring off 14 unanswered points in the span of four minutes in the third quarter, a 24-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Gunnar Smith to senior WR Ricky Gonzalez II and a 23-yard pick-six from senior DB Justin Johnson off Stearney, to knot the game at 14 with 8:08 to go in the third. But Chaban and the Colgate offense took over in the fourth, netting a 37-yard field goal from senior K Luke Vogeler and a late 29-yard touchdown run by Chaban to salt the game away with 1:53 to play. While Colgate’s offense gets most of the plaudits, the Raider defense was outstanding, allowing only 189 total yards, including just 81 yards after halftime.

Curt Fitzpatrick’s team deserves a lot of credit for going into the Bronx, getting punched in the face and coming out with the win.

Top Performers

Colgate: RB Danny Chaban ran for a career-high 214 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries while snagging three catches for 26 yards.

Fordham: LB Andrew Osmun finished with a team-high 10 tackles and assisted on a sack while also intercepting Stearney and breaking up a pass.

Next Game

Colgate: Saturday vs. Holy Cross, 1:00 p.m.

Fordham: Saturday at North Dakota State, 3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT

Lehigh 35, Holy Cross 10

Lehigh: 1-0, 1-0 Patriot | Holy Cross: 0-1, 0-1 Patriot

I’d argue that a fall afternoon game at Fitton Field followed by a slow walk up and around Mount Saint James, a registered arboretum, is an unparalleled experience.

However, a late-summer afternoon matchup with the sun beating down on Fitton Field’s metal stands against the back-to-back league champions, with a new quarterback and two “new” coordinators, is not exactly an ideal situation.

Hell, the Fitton turf, usually the best grass surface in New England, looked unusually mangled on Saturday. Per the Holy Cross Athletic Department, I understand the grounds crew has sent off samples for testing and should have the field in top shape for the next home game against Yale. But the grass was the least of the Crusaders’ long list of worries.

Lehigh had about as perfect a start to 2026 as could be expected, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first 12:09 of the game on a long 65-yard touchdown run from junior QB Hayden Johnson and a pair of scoring runs—four yards and 33 yards, respectively, from all-world senior RB Luke Yoder. Pitt transfer QB David Lynch, who appears to have won the three-way quarterback competition outright ahead of senior Cal Swanson and sophomore Dom Campanile, was understandably shaky to start the contest but settled down nicely after the first couple of stalled drives.

The Crusaders were able to get on the board midway through the second quarter on sophomore K Owen Saraceno’s 26-yard field goal but suffered heartbreak when freshman QB Liam Zelman fumbled away his first and only snap shortly after the two-minute warning, a head-scratcher of a play call from new offensive coordinator Matt Schell.

Lynch’s confidence spiked early in the fourth quarter with a precision 15-yard touchdown strike to sophomore TE Drae Tyme, but two Lynch interceptions in the second half sealed a mostly stellar defensive day for Lehigh.

Johnson found junior WR Nick Palumbo for a 14-yard score in the third and handed the ball off to Yoder midway through the fourth for a 6-yard rushing touchdown, his third, after Lynch’s interception.

First-year head coach Rich Nagy could not have asked for a better debut, while Holy Cross third-year head coach Dan Curran certainly has some positives to build on as the Crusaders head west down I-90 for a critical game in Hamilton.

Top Performers

Lehigh: RB Luke Yoder rushed for 130 yards and three scores on 21 carries while grabbing one pass for nine yards.

Holy Cross: Georgia State transfer WR Myles Abernathy grabbed nine receptions for 129 yards in his Fitton Field debut.

Next Game

Lehigh: Saturday at Georgetown, 12:30 p.m.

Holy Cross: Saturday at Colgate, 1:00 p.m.

Richmond 35, Bucknell 14

Richmond: 1-0, 1-0 Patriot | Bucknell: 0-1, 0-1 Patriot

The 48-hour Week 0 whirlwind came to a close on Saturday night in Virginia’s capital city, but it didn’t go out with a bang. Or, more appropriately, a big, big bite.

Richmond spun its way to an early 28-0 lead over Bucknell and never looked back.

Head coach Russ Huesman’s Spiders were locked in, scoring on each of their first three offensive possessions, two touchdown passes from senior QB Ashten Snelsire to sophomore WR Carson Derey from eight yards and freshman phenom WR Bryce Allen from nine yards, plus a 1-yard touchdown plunge from senior RB Aziz Foster-Powell.

Foster-Powell would tack on a 5-yard touchdown run before the halftime whistle sounded. Richmond outrushed Bucknell, 194-32, through four quarters.

Bucknell finally found some offense late in the third and early in the fourth, with junior QB Chris Dietrich finding junior RB Michael Cadden for 51 yards and senior WR Sam Milligan for 29 yards. But the Spiders tightened their defensive web from there on out.

Senior LB Camryn Byrd, the Patriot League preseason Defensive Player of the Year, finished with three sacks.

The Snelsire-to-Allen Express was not done, immediately responding to Bucknell’s second touchdown with a 75-yard bomb to cap the scoring in front of 5,717 at Robins Stadium.

While Richmond gets a second helping of Bison at what should be a fun environment at Howard on Saturday night, first-year Bucknell head coach Jeff Behrman has to regroup for a tough home opener against a rabid Villanova Wildcat team on Saturday in Lewisburg.

Top Performers

Richmond: WR Bryce Allen finished with four receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns in his first college game.

Bucknell: WR Sam Milligan had a relatively quiet night by his standards, pacing the Bison receivers with six receptions for 70 yards and a score.

Next Game

Richmond: Saturday at Howard, 6:00 p.m.

Bucknell: Saturday vs. Villanova, 6:00 p.m.

Final Thought

A special thank you to Georgetown Athletics and the Patriot League’s Ryan Sakamoto for making this first-time correspondent feel welcome at Cooper Field on Thursday night. If life, and my bank account, allowed me, I would be at every game this season.

But I’ll do my best to give the FCS Nation Radio crowd a taste of the Power of 10 all season long.