Colgate is one of Syracuse’s oldest rivalries in football, although the teams haven’t played much as of late, with just two clashes since 2000. If you’ve forgotten a bit about the series with the Red Raiders, here are some of the most important numbers to keep in mind.
31-31-5
Believe it or not, that’s actually the series record between these two teams. Colgate won 12 of the first 16 matchups. Since then, the Red Raiders have struggled mightily, getting bumped down to the FCS level when D-1 split back in the 1970s. Despite this, SU and Colgate are very even historically, thanks to that early dominance from Colgate.
16
That’s how many matchups the Orange have won in a row, dating back to 1951. While the all-time series has been competitive, that’s not the case in the last several decades.
19-14
The score of the 1950 edition of the rivalry, the last time Colgate beat Syracuse.
1891
The year of the first game between the Orange and the Red Raiders. Colgate traveled to Syracuse and picked up a gritty 22-16 win on the road.
6-6
The final score of the final game of the rivalry played in Hamilton, New York, the home of the Red Raiders. That was all the way back in 1897. The series never returned there because a Colgate beat reporter tackled a Syracuse player to stop him from scoring a crucial touchdown. The game ended in a tie, resulting in the series being played in Syracuse ever since.
1907
The start of “the Hoodoo” legend, which was meant to explain why Colgate beat Syracuse so much early on in the rivalry. Supposedly, a Colgate student put a Red Raider sweater in the drying cement of SU’s Archbold Stadium as it was being built, putting a curse on the Orange.
