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HAMILTON – Furman scored on six consecutive first-half possessions to help the Paladins post a 45-14 football decision here Saturday.
 
After Colgate limited Furman to three-and-out on the opening drive, the visitors scored three straight touchdowns to end the first quarter in front 21-0. Furman added a field goal and two more TDs in the second quarter and led 38-7 at intermission.
 
Colgate's only score of the first half came in the closing seconds when rookie Grant Breneman hit junior Owen Rockett with a 15-yard TD pass. Those two hooked up again in the third quarter as Breneman posted his first multi-TD passing game and Rockett caught two scoring tosses for the first time in his career.
 
Rockett finished with nine receptions for 113 yards and the two scores – all career highs. He is Colgate's first 100-yard receiver since John Maddaluna III went for 261 yards last year against Cornell.
 
Alex Mathews was a workhorse for Colgate in the backfield, carrying 20 times for 62 yards and adding one pass reception. Breneman finished 21-of-39 passing for 217 yards and the two TDs against no interceptions.
 
Nick Wheeler led the Raiders in tackles with a career-high 11.
 
Bottom Line
• Furman 45, Colgate 14

Won-Lost Records
• Both teams are 1-3.

Quick Rundown
• Furman streaked to a 38-0 first-half lead, aided by three Colgate lost fumbles.
• The first came after a lengthy Colgate completion that would have set the Raiders up well into Furman territory in a scoreless game. The Paladins broke that tie just two plays later.
• Two more fumbles were via the sack-strip variety that led to easy scoring drives of 20 and 10 yards.
• Rockett's catch with 15 seconds left in the first half got Colgate on the board.
• The team's then traded third-quarter scores before grinding out the clock.

Stats of the Game
• Breneman's 21-of-39 passing for 217 and two TDs were all season highs.
• Abu Daramy-Swaray averaged 8.8 yards on four punt returns and 21 yards on four kickoff returns.
• Alec Wisniewski recorded his second interception of the season to open the second half for the Colgate defense.
• In addition to Wheeler, Nick Ioanilli contributed a career-high eight tackles and Chuck Moore matched his career high with nine.

Notable
• Wheeler, a sophomore, entered Saturday's game with eight career tackles. He posted a team- and career-high 11 against Furman. Two of those went for lost yardage, including a 12-yard sack.
• Colgate actually ran 76 offensive plays to Furman's 71.
• And time of possession was nearly identical, with Furman holding a slight 30:42 to 29:18 edge.

From the Sources
• Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On the game) "We weren't ready to play, and that's on me. The turnover after the long pass completion kind of took the wind out of our sails. Plus, we lost one of our most experienced offensive linemen on the very first series (Max Hartzman). That led to protection issues, and that led to turnovers.
 
"They scored 38 points in the first half on less than 270 yards of total offense. Turnovers and a short field – you can't do that against a good team. Injuries are starting to mount up for us, but we have to get better on offense. What we are doing on offense right now is putting our defense in a hole.
 
"We will go to work Monday to get those issues solved."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance inside Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium was 4,119.
 
Up Next
• Colgate closes its nonconference schedule with a visit to CNY rival Cornell.
• The Big Red are 0-2 after losing 49-24 Saturday at Yale.
• Kickoff is 1:30 p.m., with the Ivy League Network (pay service) and WKXZ-FM 93.9 covering the action.