The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø will line up against Western Illinois University this Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium as their NCAA Division I-AA playoff drive rolls on.
Kickoff is 12:05 for the quarterfinal contest.
The Raiders received good news as they prepared for their playoff matchup: Senior tight end John Frieser has been named first team CoSIDA Academic All-America.
This is the second major academic honor this year for Frieser, a sociology and anthropology major with a 3.69 grade point average. Earlier he was named one of 15 recipients to receive the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Post-Graduate Scholarship.
Saturday’s game will be televised through ESPN’s pay-per-view game plan package. Any other regional coverage is still to be determined.
Last weekend, the Raiders handled the adverse weather conditions just fine as they beat Massachusetts 19-7 here in Hamilton.
The Boston noted the weather conditions fierce winds, blowing snow, a wind chill temperature of 14 degrees ‘ and the harrowing drive UMass was forced to take Saturday morning from their Syracuse hotel.
In fact, the game was delayed 15 minutes because UMass had so much trouble getting to Andy Kerr Stadium.
What does Mother Nature have in store for this Saturday’ Of course, this being central New York, the forecast will likely change 10 times before kickoff. But right now, the National Weather Service is calling for a chance of snow, with temperatures right around 30 degrees.
Western Illinois (9-3) defeated Montana 43-40 in two overtimes last Saturday. The tied for third place in the Gateway Conference during the regular season.
The winner of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-Western Illinois game will meet the winner of the Northern Arizona-Florida Atlantic game in the semifinal round on Dec. 13.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s victory over the UMass was just the second for the Raiders in NCAA Division I-AA playoff history. They won a first round game against Boston University in 1982. This is 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s sixth appearance in the NCAA playoffs.
For ticket information about Saturday’s game, call the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø ticket office at 315-228-7600.