Photo Gallery

HAMILTON – The first one is the toughest.
 
That was the sentiment all around the Colgate locker room Saturday after the Raiders ground out a 27-12 victory over rival Cornell on Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium.
 
It was Victory No. 1 for head coach Dan Hunt, and he was drenched not once but twice by the team in the game's closing seconds. Saturday also marked Colgate's first home win of any kind since the Raiders defeated Lafayette late in the regular season of their 2012 Patriot League Championship run.
 
Quarterback Jake Melville posted another balanced stat sheet, rushing 10 times for 113 yards and a touchdown and completing 11-of-17 passes for 124 yards. Four Colgate tailbacks combined for 148 additional yards on the ground as the Raiders finished with 270 rushing yards and 394 total – both season highs.
 
Colgate never trailed in the game after jumping out to leads of 10-0 and 13-3, which was the halftime margin. The Raiders answered both Cornell touchdowns in the second half with TD drives of their own for the comfortable winning result.
 
This was Colgate's sixth straight win over Cornell.
 
Bottom Line

• Colgate 27, Cornell 12

Won-Lost Records
• Colgate jumps to 1-2 overall.
• Cornell drops its 2014 season opener.

Facts & Figures
• Colgate rushed for 270 yards and passed for 124, finishing with 394 yards of total offense. The rushing and passing totals were season highs.
• Colgate's four-headed tailback combo produced 35 carries for 148 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Demetrius Russell carried 13 times for 53 yards, James Travellin 8 for 46, John Wilkins 6 for 11 and newcomer James Holland got into the act with 8 for 38.
• Wilkins opened the game's scoring with a 1-yarder in the first, and Travellin scampered around left end for his third TD of the season to cap the scoring early in the fourth.
• Jonah Bowman connected on two more field goals to improve to 7-of-7 for the year and 8-of-8 for his career. The sophomore found the range Saturday from 36 and 29 yards.
• Colgate owned the first-half clock, posting a 19:19 to 10:41 time of possession edge. A pair of 13-play drives were the reason, with the Raiders marching 76 yards for a touchdown and holding the ball for 7:04, and then covering 61 yards for a field goal during a 7:41 span.
• After that, it was quick-strike. Colgate's three other scoring drives lasted just 2:24, 2:22 and 2:08.
 
More Key Info
• Linebacker Kris Kent was the tackle leader and complete disrupter all around. The senior captain finished with nine stops, including 2½ TFLs for a combined 8 lost yards. Kent also nearly picked off a pass and would have raced untouched to the end zone.

• Cornell's Miles Norris was the game's top tackler with 13, including two sacks. The Big Red sacked Melville three times for minus-22 yards.
• Victor Steffen registered Colgate's first sack of the season, a 3-yard loss early in the third quarter that forced a Cornell punt. Steffen was the team's sack leader last season with four.
• Cornell rotated three quarterbacks. James Few handled most of the passing (10-of-19 for 102), Jake Jatis was the best rusher (4 for 29) and Kyle Gallagher also saw action. The Big Red are working to replace 2014 graduate Jeff Matthews.
• John Maddaluna III led the Raiders with four receptions for 59 yards. He also nearly busted a kickoff return before being tackled after a 34-yard runback. Maddaluna is averaging 25.3 yards per kickoff return through three games.
• Linebacker Vinny Russo was second on the team with seven tackles. The senior leads the team with 28 total stops.

Turning Point
• Colgate faced fourth-and-1 at its own 34 leading 13-9 late in the third quarter.
• The Big Red had just scored its first touchdown of the game on a drive that needed only 43 yards and took 11 plays and 6:20 off the clock. Cornell had the momentum and owned a big chance with a defensive stop to take over once again in Raiders territory.
• But Wilkins plowed his way for a 2-yard gain and a first down. Melville followed with an 11-yard completion to Brian Lalli, then kept the next one for himself and raced 53 yards to pay dirt.
• After the gutsy call it was two plays and seven points. Colgate led, 20-9.
 
Records Watch

• Chris Morgan put the lid on Colgate's first victory with his first career interception. The Raiders led 27-12 – a similar score to last Saturday at Delaware – and Cornell was driving midway in the fourth quarter. But Morgan's pick at the Raider 4 and 17-yard return allowed the Raiders to run out all but the game's final 22 seconds.
• Junior defensive lineman Ben Andersen and first-year wide receiver Alex Greenawalt made their starting debuts. Greenawalt was ruled out-of-bounds on what would have been a spectacular touchdown reception just before halftime.
• Saturday's result for Melville was his first career win as a starting quarterback. His previous starts were against Stony Brook last season, and Ball State and Delaware to begin this season. Melville was chosen Player of the Game by the Time Warner Sports broadcast crew.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On his first coaching victory) "It feels good. You want to get that first one out of the way and we were pretty close last week. I told the team that I appreciated my first win, but that this team deserved to win with the work they've put in. So it was good for everyone.
"I didn't realize it until after the game that it was Jake's first win as a starting quarterback, which I hadn't thought about. I'm happy for him; he played really well. It was a great team win.
(On his sideline shower) "They got me with water and then they got me with Powerade."
(On today's result) "It was solid. It was never really comfortable and, again, we had some issues in the red zone. But the defense made a big stop in the red zone and I had told them right before that this was their chance to be the identity. It was their to make a play for the win, and they did. The defense played well all game and they deserved it.
(On the tailback rotation) "We've got a stable. The great thing about it is it's a very unselfish group. The three that were playing appreciated the fourth addition. They're never going to get the high numbers, but they're all going to play every week and all are going to be a part of what we do. They enjoy sharing the roles and sharing the load.

(On special teams) "It's great to see them paying off. Jonah has just been fantastic and we're close to blocking a kick. We've told the guys that they are going to get one. They take pride in it. You can tell how hard a football team plays based on how hard they try to block a PAT or a field goal. They come after it and they're going to get one."
• Colgate center Spencer Wallach: (On the offensive line's play) "We were running the ball well, but we always want more. We always want to get 400 (yards); that was the goal. They were blitzing a lot and sometimes they got through. We've got to keep our quarterback clean."
• Colgate quarterback Jake Melville: (On the running game) "Our line gave me and the running backs nice holes to run through, and the receivers were blocking downfield. As an offense, we moved the ball again well on the ground.
(On the running backs) "We have four very good running backs who all bring different things to the table. James (Holland) is a freshman, he's young, but he's going to be really good in a Colgate uniform and I look forward to seeing what he is going to do."
• Colgate tailback James Holland: (On his Raider debut) "It felt really good. The line was doing a good job blocking and the holes were there. I like the rotation and how Coach Hunt's doing things right now. He's trying to keep everyone fresh for November, and it's going to pay off."
• Colgate defensive lineman Victor Steffen: (On Cornell playing three quarterbacks) "We knew they were still searching for an identity, but we had no film on them. They lost (Jeff) Matthews from last year, so we knew they were going to try some different things. But we had no idea it was going to be three different guys in the backfield.
"By the second half, they definitely defined themselves as either runners or passers. We just wanted to fill the gaps, do our assignments and let the rest take care of itself."
• Colgate linebacker Kris Kent: (On making Cornell work for offense) "That's the thing – make teams go down the field and score. If you limit big plays, teams are going to make mistakes and hurt themselves. We were able to capitalize on some of those and hold them to some field goals.
(On his near interception) "We saw it all week on film when they motioned to trips. I saw it, read it, got my head back and just didn't make the play. It hurts, it hurts. I'll get the next one!"
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance was 7,522 inside Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium. Records show it as the largest home crowd since 8,129 were in the stands for Colgate-Lehigh on Oct. 29, 2005.
• Offensive coordinator Chris Young and his wife, Heather, had a big week to say the least. Austin Jonathan (A.J.) Young was born early Wednesday morning, weighing in at 8 pounds and 13 ounces. A.J. is the Youngs' third child, after daughters Ela and Mia. Heather Young is head coach of the Colgate women's lacrosse team.
• Colgate broke out alternative helmets for Saturday's Homecoming affair. See photo at right.

Up Next
• Colgate opens the Patriot League schedule with a home date against Georgetown. The Hoyas (2-2) have won their last two games, including a 17-3 blitz of Brown on Saturday.
• Start time is noon next Saturday from Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium.

Game Archive