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NEWARK, Del. – It's tough to top the anguish of a shutout loss in the national championship game, but this one certainly comes close.
 
Delaware scored two touchdowns in the final 7:03, including the game-winner with 41 seconds remaining, and rallied for a 28-25 victory over Colgate here Saturday night. Blue Hens quarterback Trent Hurley scrambled in from 5 yards out to break Maroon hearts all the way to Hamilton.
 
The Raiders (0-2) dominated the middle two quarters and held a 25-14 lead inside the final 10 minutes when their first turnover of the season gave Delaware new life. The Blue Hens responded with a nine-play scoring drive, held Colgate to its first three-and-out and first punt of the night, and then drove 57 yards in 12 plays for the clincher.
 
Delaware (2-1) improved to 6-0 all-time against Colgate. This was the first meeting between these schools since the Blue Hens won 40-0 in the 2003 NCAA FCS national championship game.
 
Bottom Line
• Delaware 28, Colgate 25

Won-Lost Records
• Colgate drops to 0-2.
• Delaware improves to 2-1.

Facts & Figures

• Total offense ended up in Delaware's favor, 369-367. Colgate rushed for 232 yards and added another 135 through the air. Delaware went for 257 passing and 112 rushing.
• Delaware had the ball for 10:51 of the first quarter, but Colgate finished with a 32:43 to 27:17 advantage on the clock.
• In the second and third quarters, Colgate outgained Delaware 216-79.
• It didn't feel like it at the end, but Colgate won the turnover category 2-1. The Raiders are plus-2 in turnover margin in the early going of this season.
 
More Key Info
• James Travellin and Jake Melville scored Colgate's two touchdowns, reaching paydirt from 2 and 25 yards, respectively. It was Travellin's second touchdown of the season and Melville's first.
• Jonah Bowman was a perfect 4-for-4 on fied goals (more below).
• Vinny Russo led the Raiders and tied his career high with nine tackles. Seven of those were solo stops. Chris Morgan was second with eight tackles, including 1½ for lost yardage. He leads the team with 22 tackles this season.
• Receiver Brian Lalli posted a career-high five catches, good for 44 yards. Tight end John Quazza added four for 41.

Turning Point
• There were two. Colgate's Kyle Diener picked off a Delaware first-quarter pass and raced 74 yards to the 2-yard line. The pick halted what looked to be a second Blue Hens scoring drive to start the game and set up Travellin for a 2-yard TD run. The Raiders led for the first time this season, 9-7.
• Colgate dominated the middle two quarters and was carrying that over to the fourth when Travellin fumbled at midfield with 10:50 left and the Raiders leading 25-14. Delaware rallied with two scoring marches sandwiched around a Colgate three-and-out.
 
Records Watch

• Diener's 74-yard interception return was the ninth-longest in program history, and the longest since Mike Armiento returned one 85 yards for a TD last year at Cornell.
• Jonah Bowman just missed the school record (5) for field goals in a game -- but he didn't miss anything else. He finished 4-for-4 on field goals and made his only PAT try. Bowman is a perfect 5-for-5 on field goals to start 2014 (6-of-6 to begin his collegiate career). His 43-yarder to open Colgate's scoring Saturday was a career long for the sophomore, and he added 3-pointers from 40, 32 and 32 yards.
• Jake Kern's diving interception late in the third quarter was the first collegiate pick for the Pennsylvania senior.
• John Maddaluna III got his signals crossed with fellow kickoff returner Chris Morgan on the first runback attempt, nearly costing Colgate a fumble. But Maddaluna made amends on his next return with a career-long of 43 yards.
• Jake Melville posted career highs in both rushing and passing yards. The sophomore signal-caller carried 14 times for 118 yards and a TD, and also completed 15-of-25 pass attempts for 135 yards.
• Alex Greenawalt made the first three receptions of his collegiate career – all in the third quarter. The true freshman's first catch was good for 5 yards and a first down (by a nose), followed by a 12-yarder on the next play. He added a 3-yard catch to finish with 20 receiving yards.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On the hard-luck loss) "We needed one more first down, one more stop, one fewer turnover and the game would have been different.
 
"It came down to at the beginning of the game when we were rolling, we just kicked too many field goals. We've got to get the ball in the end zone. It's great to have a field goal kicker who is the weapon Jonah is, but if a couple of them are touchdowns it's a different game.
 
"We're still a young team that hasn't played a lot of college football. At times tonight, we played like it. Hopefully, we'll get better from that and move forward. It's a hard pill to swallow, but the effort and intensity were great. We've got four days of practice to get better and get this thing going."
 
(On the running game) "It was going well. It was just the one turnover – and it was after a good gain. A couple of first downs there, and … . The running backs have done a nice job all year about splitting the reps. Our goal is to keep a fresh running back in – each one is a little bit different with different strengths. We're going to continue to that and probably add a fourth to the mix. That's not going to change.
 
"But we have to execute at critical times and that's something to work on."
 
(On Delaware's late rally) "Give them credit; they played hard to the end. They really kept their composure on that last drive and the kid made a play (for the touchdown scramble). They knew that was their drive to win it and they did it."
 
• Colgate linebacker Kyle Diener: (On his interception) "I was the long-dropper, so I was trying to get to the deep middle. My guy broke his pattern off, so I broke it off. The quarterback stared him down and I just jumped in front of it – and ran about 70 yards. I had all kinds of daylight and got caught from behind, unfortunately. I wish I could have gotten a few more, but it happens."
 
(On the defense's improvement) "The defense shut it down for a while there. We were much more consistent and much more trusting with our gap responsibilities. But there's still room for improvement."

 

• Colgate quarterback Jake Melville: (On the offense) "We did very well on the ground this game. It's a tough loss, but we were able to move the ball when we wanted and how we wanted. It helps us for the Patriot League season."
 
(On his 25-yard touchdown run) "It's our base play that we run all the time. It was a pull-read, the receiver gave me a nice block and there was no one else there. Literally the same play call on that first-quarter run (48 yards).
 
(On the passing game) "All the receivers were making plays. We've just got to clean up those long shots. If we hit a couple of those, it's a different game."
 
• Colgate placekicker Jonah Bowman: (On his field goal success) "We worked a lot on special teams in practice this week and in the preseason. It just felt great out there. The snaps were perfect, the holds were perfect – great execution."
 
(On expectations coming into this season) "Coach Hunt sat me down in the offseason and said, 'I promise you we're going to try a bunch more field goals this year.' Here we are in the second game of the season and I get four opportunities. It felt great."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance was 15,319 at Delaware Stadium.

Up Next
• Colgate hosts Central New York rival Cornell for Homecoming next Saturday. Kickoff from Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium is 1 p.m.