Colgate. Syracuse. Football.
Those three words were the basis of a regular series that stretched through seven decades and more than 60 games.
At 3:30 p.m. Saturday, it’s time for a revival. The Raiders will travel to Syracuse University for a game at the Carrier Dome that will mark the 66th meeting between the two central New York schools.
The teams first played each other in 1891. They would meet regularly until 1961, the year the series ended. They would face each other three times in the 1980s, with the last game an SU victory in 1987.
Now, 23 years later, it’s “game on” again and Raiders fans are excited about the renewal of an historic rivalry.
Nearly 150 alumni from Delta Upsilon will be gathering at the chapter house and riding to the game together, meeting up with another 160 or so alumni attending a special tailgate at the SU campus sponsored by Colgate’s Office of Alumni Affairs.
Amber Vogt, senior assistant director of alumni affairs, said even more area alumni in places like Ithaca and New Hartford are forming their own tailgates before driving to the game.
Four buses will be taking 140 students from campus to the Dome on Saturday, introducing a new group of Raiders supporters to the rivalry.
“It’s a great tradition that the entire Colgate community can now learn about and get involved in,” said athletics director David Roach. “And it’s an opportunity for our players to compete in a place like the Carrier Dome in front of thousands of people.”
Colgate is 1-1 this year, having beaten Monmouth in the season opener but then losing to Furman. Syracuse is 2-1, coming off a 38-14 win over Maine, which, like Colgate, is in the Football Championship Subdivision.
The game will be available on the Internet through ESPN3.com, and tickets still are available online and at the Carrier Dome Box Office (888-DOME-TIX).
More
• Go to our Facebook page and share your prediction of a final score
• Colgate, Syracuse set to renew football rivalry (Associated Press)
• Syracuse University’s Doug Marrone a big fan of Colgate coach’s system (Syracuse Post-Standard)