ECAC Announces 2018 Football Teams of the Year and Lambert Awards
DANBURY, Conn. - The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has announced the 2018 ECAC Football Teams of the Year along with the recipients of the 2018 Lambert Awards, to be presented at the 83rd Eastern College Football Awards Banquet at The Ridge in Danbury, Connecticut Feb. 21.
A year after being named ECAC Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Team of the Year, Army West Point will be presented the 2018 Lambert Trophy. The Black Knights had a historic season that saw a lot of firsts. They won 11 games for the first time in program history, making this the first time they have ever had back-to-back 10-plus win seasons. West Point won its third consecutive game against arch rival Navy, the longest such streak against the Midshipmen since the mid 1990's. They also won the Commander In Chief's Trophy in back-to-back seasons for the first time. The team's head coach Jeff Monken was awarded the George Munger Award and Vince Lombardi Award for National College Coach of the Year. This year the Black Knights were ranked first nationally in third down conversion percentage and fourth down conversion percentage. They finished the year on a high note by defeating Houston, 70-14, tying an FBS record for points scored in a bowl game.
Syracuse University will claim the 2018 ECAC Division I Football Subdivision Team of the Year award after finishing the season 10-3, 6-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference Play. The 2018 season saw the Orange tie a school record with 62 total touchdowns which includes a team-record 38 rushing scores. They scored 50 plus points a record five times and had at least 40 points in eight of their 13 games. Defensively they ranked third in the FBS in turnovers gained with 31, fifth in interceptions with 18, fifth in fumbles recovered at 13 and sixth in sackes per game at 3.31. The Orange recorded a total of 43 sacks, a new record in program history for a single season. Head coach Dino Babers had the team finish at No. 15 in the final AP and Coaches poll. Babers would be a finalist for three national coach of the year honors and was named ECAC Coach of the Year for the Orange's performance in 2018.
Colgate University will be honored with the Lambert Division I Football Championship Subdivision Cup for the first time in program history after a 10-2 year. Their two losses came against FBS Army and the FCS champion North Dakota State. The Raiders finished first in the nation in total defense, giving up just 237.7 yards per game, and pass efficiency defense with a rating of 88.77. Head Coach Dan Hunt guided the team to its third Patriot League title in four years and had the team seeded No. 8 in the FCS Championship. The team tied an NCAA FCS record with five shutouts in one season and a stretch of seven games that saw them give up a combined six points. Hunt was named Patriot League and ECAC Coach of the Year.
The 2018 ECAC Division I Football Championship Subdivision Team of the Year will be presented to University of Maine. The team captured its first outright Colonial Athletic Association Championship since 2013. The Black Bears went 10-4 overall which marked the most wins and most conference wins with 7, since 2013. They would defeat a school-record seven ranked teams this year as they made a run to the FCS Final Four. The furthest that any Maine team has gone in the playoffs. Maine started their season off with a win over then No. 7 New Hampshire winning back the Brice-Cowell Musket, the first time since 2010.
LIU Post will be awarded the Lambert Division II Cup after a 10-1 season. The Pioneers completed its third unbeaten regular season in program history. The team earned four major Northeast 10 Conference awards including Coach of the year, Defensive Player of the Year, Defensive Lineman of the year and Offensive Lineman of the year. Nationally the Pioneers ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense allowing just 12.9 points per game. They also ranked eighth in Division II in interceptions with 18.
West Chester University is named the ECAC Division II Football Team of the Year after finishing the regular season undefeated, the first time since 1967. They won the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference en route to its first outright PSAC Championship since 1971. The Golden Rams ranked second in Division II in rushing defense giving up just 67.5 yards per game. The defense was also ranked second overall in sacks with 50, first in sacks per game at four and a half and eighth overall giving up just 259.4 yards per game. West Chester also had two major ECAC award winners, Defensive Player of the Year, Tyler Morrissey and Bill Zwaan, Coach of the Year.
Johns Hopkins University will be awarded the Lambert Division III team of the year. Under the guidance of the late coach Jim Margraff, the team would have its best season in school history. The Blue Jays won a program record 12 games, making their first-ever trip to the NCAA Semifinals and finishing ranked fifth in the nation. After starting the season at one and one the Blue Jays would go on to win 11 straight games in route to winning their tenth consecutive Centennial Conference title. In the NCAA playoffs they would defeat Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sixth ranked Frostburg State University and RPI.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will receive the ECAC Division III Football Team of the Year award. The Engineers finished 10-2 on the season, the second most wins in program history. They would go on to represent the Liberty League in the NCAA Division III Playoffs making it the second consecutive season they did so and a first for the program. RPI would go on to reach the Quarter Finals after defeating Husson and then No. 3/4 College at Brockport. The Engineers finished the season ranked No. 11 in the final D3football.com Poll and No. 12 in the final American Football Coaches Association Poll. RPI had 14 All-Liberty League honorees and seven All-ECAC honorees.
All Lambert and ECAC Award recipients, along with ECAC major award winners and football All-Stars will be honored on Feb. 21 at The Ridge in Danbury, Connecticut.
Stories for all major award winners can be found
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Any questions can be directed to David Servedio at dservedio@ecac.org or Dylan Clark at dclark@ecac.org.
ABOUT THE ECAC
Established in 1938, the ECAC is the nation's largest Conference, ranging in location from Maine to Georgia, and westerly to Missouri. The ECAC hosts numerous championships in men's and women's sports across Divisions I, II and III, offering opportunities for thousands of student-athletes. For more information, visit www.ecacsports.com.
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