WASHINGTON – Championship football is back in Raider Nation!
 
Colgate capped an amazing run to its ninth Patriot League title here Saturday with a 35-10 victory over Georgetown. The win was Colgate's fifth in a row to end the season and wrapped up a 5-1 Patriot League campaign.
 
The Raiders finished 7-4 overall and are the only 2017 Patriot League team to sport an overall winning record (Lehigh and Bucknell both 5-6). Colgate and its fans are hoping for at an NCAA at-large invitation to the playoffs (FCS Selection Show Sunday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU) after Lehigh earned the conference's automatic bid.
 
But auto or no auto, shared title and all, that couldn't spoil the party that took place on Cooper Field after Saturday's final horn. Many of the Raiders celebrating were doing so for the second time in three seasons, and they were joined on the turf postgame by many of the graduated members of that 2015 NCAA playoff run.
 
Saturday, Colgate's defense stretched its streak of not allowing a touchdown to 15 quarters, dating to Holy Cross scoring on its opening drive back on Oct. 21. Georgetown's only TD was a pick-six on the game's very first play.
 
The Raiders fell behind 10-0 but then scored the game's final 35 points.
 
Thomas Ives accounted for three of those TDs on receptions from Grant Breneman that basically should be categorized in the following order: Good, Great, Incredible.
 
The first went for 2 yards on a good route and toss from Breneman. The second covered 19 yards and Ives actually brought this one down one-handed while fighting off the Georgetown defender.
 
The third TD went for 3 yards and must be seen to be believed. Ives not only set himself up single-handedly (get it?) as an ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 nominee for the third time this year, but he also tied a Colgate game record with the three touchdown receptions.
 
James Holland and Alex Mathews added touchdown runs, but it was first-year tailback Malik Twyman who broke out in a big way with a collegiate-best 108 rushing yards on 13 carries.
 
Trent Williams with seven and Dillon DeIuliis with six were the Raider tackle leaders. Abu Daramy-Swaray added his second interception of the year and Nick Wheeler posted a sack for the eighth consecutive game, reaching 11½ to finish second on the Colgate season chart.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 35, Georgetown 10

Won-Lost Records
• Colgate won its fourth straight and improved to 7-4 overall, 5-1 in the Patriot League.
• Georgetown lost its 10th straight to finish 1-10 and 0-6.

Shared Title Talk
• Four of Colgate's nine Patriot League championships have been shared: 1999 with Lehigh, 2002 with Fordham, 2005 with Lafayette and now 2017. The Raiders earned the automatic bid in 1999 and 2005.
• The five Raider solo titles came in 1997, 2003, 2008, 2012 and 2015.
• This year's shared title is the first in the Patriot League since 2006, when it was Lafayette and Lehigh. The other shared title occurred in 2004, also Lafayette and Lehigh. Lafayette earned the automatic bid in both of those instances.
 
Stats of the Game
• Colgate held a time of possession edge of 43:55 to 16:05. Yes, you read that correctly.
• The Raiders had the ball for 11:54 of the first quarter, 8:16 second, 12:08 third and 11:37 fourth.
• The Raiders returned three punts for an average of 34.3. Included was a trick play Colgate pulled that resulted in Tyler Castillo's 52-yard runback.
• Twyman came into Saturday with 155 rushing yards on the season but broke loose for 108 yards on just 13 carries (8.3 per attempt).
• Twyman has yet to be tackled for lost yardage this season in 55 rushing attempts.
• Breneman threw three touchdown passes for third time this season. He finished his rookie season with 18 TDs against only five interceptions.
• Wheeler's 11½ sacks this season are second only to Jeff King's 14 in 1979.
• Castillo posted his eighth pass breakup of the season to move into second place behind Daramy-Swaray (nine).
• Holland lifted his career rushing total to 1,961 yards.
• Holland, Mathews and Breneman all shared the rushing TD lead with six apiece.
• Ives with seven grabbed the overall team touchdown lead.
• Nick Ioanilli with 62 is the team tackle leader. He had three stops Saturday.
 
Notables
• The Colgate defense held its opposition to 17.5 points per game for the season. That's the lowest since the 1981 Raiders allowed only 15.1.
• Colgate during its five-game winning streak outscored the opposition 185-32, or by an average of 37.0 to 6.4.
• After the rough start, Colgate scored touchdowns on five out of six drives stretching into the third quarter.
• Despite Saturday's late miss, Chris Puzzi finished his sophomore season 9-of-12 on field goals. That ties Puzzi for ninth in field goals made on the Colgate season chart.
• Raiders head coach Dan Hunt improved to 18-6 (.750) against Patriot League competition in his four seasons at the helm, with two conference titles. You know, just in case any Coach of the Year voters are reading.
 
From the Sources
• Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On winning the championship) "It's a lot of fun but it's really great to see the kids' reaction to it and how excited they are with the shirts and the trophy and talking about rings. I told them before the game that this is the only championship you can win with this team. This team can't be together again. You may win other championships, but this team can only win this one. They fought hard and after a blip early really played our style of football and finished it the right way."
 
Listen to the rest of Coach Hunt's comments here.
 
• Colgate wide receiver Thomas Ives: (On his rapport with Breneman) "Grant is a great quarterback. He always knows what's going on out on the field. He throws great balls and really takes advantages of the other team's weaknesses. The whole team took advantage of it today and we got the win."
 
Listen to the rest of Ives' comments here.
 
• Colgate offensive lineman Ryan Paulish: (On being Patriot League champions) "It hasn't really hit me yet but I'm sure in a couple of hours on the ride home it's going to sink in. Right now, this is my last game. Tomorrow, we're going to find out for sure. It hasn't really sunk in yet but I'm sure it's going to be a great feeling when it does."
 
Listen to the rest of Paulish's comments here.
 
• Colgate defensive tackle Nick Wheeler: (On his successful season) "I wouldn't really put that all on my shoulders. It's been really helpful the last seven games having Pat (Afriyie) back. It's been really great playing with him and he's a heck of a player. Playing next to Pat the last two years, I've been trying learn everything I can. All of us younger guys look up to the older guys and learning bits and pieces to make our game better."
 
(On when he thought this team was championship caliber) "I realized it after Lehigh. Coming out that Monday at practice, everybody was really amped up as if we had won the game. Everybody had the fire and the motivation that we had something special and we knew we were going to go on a really big run to prove to everybody in the country that we are one of the top teams."
 
Listen to the rest of Wheeler's comments here.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cooper Field was 2,211.
 
Up Next
• Colgate's season is complete – unless …
• The Raiders are holding out hope for an at-large invitation from the NCAA FCS Championship Selection Committee.
• The 24-team bracket is announced Sunday at 11 a.m. Eastern time on ESPNU.