BETHLEHEM, Pa. – There will be no sharing of rings, caps or Patriot League championship placards this year.
No. 8 Colgate completed a 6-0 sweep through the conference and a 9-0 whitewash of its FCS regular season schedule with a 48-6 smashing of Lehigh here Saturday. It was the most points scored by a Colgate team at Lehigh in 28 trips to Bethlehem.
The Raiders outscored their six Patriot League foes 223-26, or by an average of 37-4.
Colgate finally allowed its first touchdown since Sept. 1, a stretch of 70 days and 29 quarters between TDs. The streak-buster came in the second quarter on a Brad Mays-to-Ray Falcone pass of 30 yards on third-and-8.
That made the score 13-6 with 9:43 remaining before halftime.
Colgate rebounded with two touchdowns before intermission and take a 27-6 cushion into halftime. Three consecutive TD drives to open the second half put this one away as Colgate scored 35 unanswered points.
Sage Attwood earned a game-time start at quarterback over
Grant Breneman, who is battling an injury. Attwood proceeded to throw for 146 yards and his first career touchdown on a cold, blustery day. The senior also rushed for 61 yards and two more scores – both career highs.
James Holland Jr., continued his late-season surge by rushing 20 times for 139 yards (7.0 per carry) and three TDs. Holland is now Colgate's No. 9 all-time rusher with 2,860 yards, passing
Gavin McCarney (2,783), Bill Sparacio (2,799) and Daymon Smith (2,841) during the afternoon.
Holland with 36 career touchdowns is up to fifth on the Colgate chart.
T.J. Holl was the Colgate tackle leader with eight, including 1½ tackles-for-loss.
Nick Wheeler added the game's only sack to jump into fourth all-time at Colgate with 22½ sacks.
Bottom Line
• No. 8 Colgate 48, Lehigh 6
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 9-0 overall and finished the Patriot League slate 6-0.
• Lehigh is now 2-8 and 1-4.
Stats of the Game
• Colgate was perfect in the Patriot League for the sixth time: 1997 (6-0), 2003 (7-0), 2008 (5-0), 2012 (5-0), 2015 (6-0) and this year.
• The Raiders carry a streak of 11 straight Patriot League victories into next season. That's the best since Colgate won 15 straight from 2002-04.
• Saturday also was Colgate's ninth straight road victory – best since the Raiders won 11 straight on the road from 2002-03.
• Colgate's defense, which entered the game No. 1 in the nation in all four major statistical categories, was its usual stingy self.
• The Raiders held Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Dom Bragalone to 2 yards rushing on nine attempts, and All-Patriot League Preseason quarterback Brad Mayes to 8-of-31 passing for 126 yards.
•
TySean Sizer set up a pair of Colgate touchdowns right before halftime with punt returns of 54 and 25 yards. Sizer for the season is averaging 15.3.
• Colgate's previous scoring high in Bethlehem was a 40-35 victory back in 1984.
• Wheeler leads the Raiders with 14 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks.
• Colgate's winning streak is now 14 games, second-longest in the nation behind North Dakota State's 16.
• Despite the cold temps and windy conditions, there were zero turnovers in the game.
• Lehigh in the fourth quarter reached the Colgate red zone – first time an opponent had ventured that far since the Oct. 13 Cornell game.
• The Raiders turned back the Mountain Hawks on downs at the Colgate 4. Colgate opponents have 12 trips inside the Raider red zone this year with only one touchdown to show for it.
•
Thomas Ives caught a 25-yard TD pass from Attwood for his first scoring catch of the season.
• Through Saturday's action, Colgate has outscored the opposition 67-0 in the first quarter and 195-9 in the first half.
From the Sources
•
Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On the quarterback decision) "Literally a game-time decision. Grant got dinged up a little bit last week and he did not practice during the week. Sage did everything we wanted him to do. You could see throughout the game his confidence growing, and I'm so happy for him. For him to come out and lead us to that win – everyone is so happy for him."
Listen to the rest of Hunt's comments HERE.
•
Colgate quarterback Sage Attwood: (On his performance) "I haven't been a starting quarterback for three years, so it did take me until the end of the second quarter (to find his footing). After I completed the first couple of passes, I started feeling it and in the second half it showed."
Listen to the rest of Attwood's comments HERE.
•
Colgate defensive tackle Chuck Moore: (On allowing a touchdown) "We didn't want them to score but we knew it was going to happen at some point. Coach Shaffner said earlier in the week that it was going to happen sometime. I'm happy with how we responded to that adversity, just getting after it every play and doing our 1/11th on every down."
Listen to the rest of Moore's comments HERE.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Goodman Stadium on a cold and blustery afternoon was 6,633.
Up Next
• Colgate concludes the regular season next Saturday playing into the FBS ranks at Army.
• The Black Knights are 8-2 after today's 31-13 victory over Lafayette.
• Kickoff from West Point is noon, with the CBS Sports Network and WKXZ-FM 93.9 carry all of the action.
