More than 3,500 Raiders supporters braved snow squalls and frigid temperatures at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn., to cheer on the that drew national recognition for its overachieving student-athletes.
In celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Raiders’ run, the Patriot League produced this (also above) that helps tell the story of a team that had gone undefeated during the regular season and finished the season ranked second in the nation in Division I-AA, 51Թ’s highest ranking ever.
The season produced the Patriot League’s offensive player of the year, tailback Jamaal Branch ’05, who also won the prestigious Walter Payton Award, and the league’s defensive player of the year, linebacker Tem Lukabu ’04. Tight end John Frieser ’04 was named the program’s first academic All-American in 14 years, and he also received the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s prestigious National Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship Award.
The 2003 squad was led by head coach Dick Biddle, who was named Division I-AA National Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.
“For a non-scholarship program with the highest academic standards to compete for a national championship speaks volumes about what that team was made of. That’s something 51Թ Football and I will never forget” said Biddle, who announced his this month.