BRONX, N.Y. – Another shutout? Incredible. Another championship? Even better.
No. 11 Colgate wrapped up its 10th Patriot League title and third in the last four years with perhaps its best showing of the season, a 41-0 dismantling of Fordham here Saturday.
The Raiders scored 14 points in the first quarter and led 31-0 at halftime.
Colgate not only rushed for a season-high 364 yards – best total since 2012 – but the Raider defense set a program record by limiting the Rams to minus-50 yards.
Minus-50.
The Raiders just missed another record with eight sacks, accounting for minus-73 yards. Fordham without the sacks factored in still would have rushed for just 23 yards on 14 attempts.
James Holland Jr., had a big day, carrying 16 times for 165 yards – missing his career-high by a single yard. Holland scored two TDs while
Grant Breneman,
Alex Mathews and
Malik Twyman scored one apiece.
Breneman was effective throwing the ball, finishing 16-of-19 for 198 yards.
Owen Rockett caught four of those passes for 93 yards and
Thomas Ives three for 57.
After punting on its first possession, Colgate took advantage of a bad snap and
Caleb Fell came up with the ball at the Fordham 8. Two plays later, Holland plowed in from 4 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Two possessions later, Holland went 52 yards on a one-play drive to make it 14-0.
In the second quarter, Mathews blitzed through the middle for 29 yards to the 1-yard line and then completed the drive on the next play to make it 21-0.
Colgate got a 28-yard field goal from
Chris Puzzi with 4:41 remaining in the half.
Ben Hunt IV then picked off his first pass of the season on the ensuing possession, and Colgate cashed it in.
After converting fourth-and-4 with a 23-yard pass play to Rockett, Breneman carried it in from 2 yards out for Colgate's 31-0 halftime margin.
Twyman scored from 7 yards out early in the fourth quarter and Puzzi had just enough from 34 yards against the gusting winds to close out the scoring.
Fordham's best scoring chance came after they blocked Puzzi's 43-yard field goal attempt midway in the third quarter. The Rams immediately hit a Tim DeMorat-to-Isaiah Searight pass for 18 yards to the Colgate 37, but that's where the drive fizzled.
Bottom Line
• No. 11 Colgate 41, Fordham 0
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Patriot League.
• Fordham dropped to 1-8 and 1-3.
Stats of the Game
• Colgate's winning streak reached 13 games, longest since the 2003 Raiders won 15 straight.
• The previous rushing low for a Colgate opponent was minus-38 yards by Towson in 1999.
• Colgate tied an FCS record with its fifth shutout of the season, matching South Carolina State in 1978.
• The last time a Colgate football team had at least five shutouts in a season was 83 years ago when the 1935 Raiders posted seven.
• Colgate is riding a string of three straight shutout victories for the first time since 1961 (Bucknell 13-0, Harvard 15-0 and Princeton 15-0).
• The current streak of Raider shutouts is Cornell 31-0, Georgetown 38-0 and Fordham 41-0.
• Colgate's No. 1-ranked defensive scoring average dropped to 2.9.
• Colgate has outscored its opposition 60-0 in the first quarter and 168-3 in the first half.
• The Raiders have played 28 quarters since allowing their only two touchdowns of the season in the fourth quarter against Holy Cross.
• Dating to last season, Colgate's defense has allowed a touchdown in just one of the last 47 quarters – a stretch covering nearly 12 games.
• Colgate converted both Fordham turnovers into touchdowns. For the season, Colgate has converted 20 turnovers into 93 points – an average of 4.7 per turnover.
• The Raiders allowed Fordham one first down in the first quarter, one in the second and four for the game.
• Colgate had ball possession for a season-high 40 minutes and 11 seconds, including 22:02 in the second half.
• Holland with his season-high rushing total now has 2,721 for his career. He needs just 78 yards to join the Colgate career top 10.
•
Dillon DeIuliis was the Colgate tackle leader with five, including a sack.
• Other Raiders with solo sacks were
Jacob Esarco,
Nick Ioanilli,
Nick Wheeler,
Coleman Coco and
Matt Carandang.
Caleb Fell and
Abdoul Kouyate shared another sack.
From the Sources
•
Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On the game) "I've said it before that I'm running out of adjectives for this team, but I'm just happy that they took their job seriously today. We came out and played one of our most complete ballgames of the year. The defense, as usual, was suffocating and didn't let Fordham get anything going. And the offense was scoring, taking advantage of turnovers and running the football.
"I'm just really happy and these guys deserve the championship. They've played great all year."
Listen to the rest of Hunt's comments HERE.
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Colgate defensive lineman Caleb Fell: (On the game) "Honestly, this defense is just a lot of fun to play with. We say all the time that we're a bunch of runners and hitters. We just need to fire on the ball and make plays. Obviously, getting that early turnover was huge and it changed the early momentum.
"Holding a team to negative-50 yards is hard to do in Division I football, but it's an exciting thing to do. I'm just really proud of this defense. We just played lights out."
Listen to the rest of Fell's comments HERE.
•
Colgate tailback James Holland Jr.: (On the offense) "Our offensive line did its job and opened the holes for us. Watching film, we thought this was a game that we could have success running the ball. We just did what we were taught and coached to do. It was a team effort."
Listen to the rest of Holland's comments HERE.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Jack Coffey Field was 2,591, including a healthy Colgate contingent.
Up Next
• Colgate wraps the Patriot League season next Saturday at Lehigh.
• The Mountain Hawks are 1-3 in the Patriot League and 2-7 overall after Saturday's 45-17 home win over Bucknell.
• Kickoff from Bethlehem is 12:30 p.m. The Patriot League Network and WKXZ-FM 93.9 carry all of the action.
