Oct. 17, 2009
Center Valley, Pa. - Four Patriot League teams pulled out victories on Saturday, and each of them topped the 30-point mark as Colgate, Lafayette, Fordham and Holy Cross each earned a win. The No. 17/18 Raiders claimed the only Patriot League triumph of the day, as they won at Georgetown, 31-14, to improve to 7-0 overall and take sole possession of first place in the Patriot League standings with a 2-0 mark.
Lafayette, Fordham and Holy Cross each defeated an opponent from the Ivy League. The Leopards went up 28-3 by halftime and cruised to a 35-18 win at Harvard for their fourth consecutive win, all against Ivy League foes. Fordham used a big-play offense and got a school-record passing effort from quarterback John Skelton in a 39-27 victory at Cornell. No. 25/24 Holy Cross scored the first 34 points of the game in a 34-14 rout at home over Dartmouth. Lehigh also fell to Yale, 7-0, in Bethlehem, but the 3-1 record on the day was enough to give the Patriot League a 10-8 advantage in the 2009 season series against the Ivy League. It is the first time the Patriot League has won the series against the Ivies since 2004.
For a synopsis of each game on Saturday, along with links to a recap and box score from each of the schools, read the capsules below.
Colgate 31 at Georgetown 14
Box Score
Washington, D.C. - No. 17/18 Colgate (7-0, 2-0 Patriot League) scored the final 24 points of the game to foil Georgetown's (0-7, 0-5) upset bid and claim sole possession of first place with a 31-14 win over the Hoyas on Saturday at Multi-Sport Field.
The Hoyas had a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter, as a 30-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown by Brandon Floyd and seven-yard scoring run by Isaiah Kempf was sandwiched around a Colgate score by Greg Sullivan. Colgate tied the score at 14 before the half, with Jordan McCord notching a 19-yard touchdown run with 5:15 to go until the break. It stayed that way more than 10 minutes into the third quarter, when Sullivan found Pat Simonds with a six-yard touchdown to make it 21-14 Colgate with 4:48 left in the period. Evan Colborne added a field goal with 11:59 left in the game, and Nate Eachus sealed the Colgate win and completed the scoring with a 53-yard touchdown run with 10:13 to play.
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The Raiders are at 7-0 for just the fifth time in school history, and first since 2003. They also won their 15th consecutive regular-season game, the longest streak in the FCS, and are one of four undefeated teams left in the country. Colgate's offense, which came into the game leading the nation with 267 rushing yards per contest, topped that average by running for 313 against the Hoyas. Eachus had 158 yards on the ground, while McCord totaled 94 and Sullivan had 62 and all three players found the endzone. Simonds caught 12 of Sullivan's 13 completions, as the senior wideout had a career-high 12 receptions for 111 yards and the touchdown. The Colgate defense recorded four sacks. Philip Oladeji had five receptions for 70 yards and also ran for 48 yards to lead the Hoya offense. Patrick O'Donnell had 18 tackles for the Hoyas.
Lafayette 35 at Harvard 18
Box Score
Cambridge, Mass. - Lafayette (5-1) jumped out to a 28-3 lead by halftime and went on for its fourth consecutive victory with a 35-18 triumph at Harvard on Saturday at Harvard Stadium.
Lafayette took control right from the start, as De'Andre Morrow scored on touchdown runs of six and 23 yards to give the Leopards a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Harvard came back with a field goal, but the Leopards tallied another touchdown run as Tyrell Coon scored from five yards out with 5:47 to play in the second quarter. Lafayette opened it up even more right before the half, with Rob Curley throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Hayes with five seconds left until halftime for a 28-3 Lafayette lead. Harvard scored with 6:05 left in the fourth quarter, but Curley threw a six-yard strike to Jeff Cumming with 2:32 to play in the game to seal the victory. Harvard added a touchdown and two-point conversion with less than a minute to play to produce the 35-18 final.
The Leopards' four-game winning streak has all come against Ivy League opponents, as Lafayette finishes the season with a perfect 4-0 mark against the Ivies. It is the first time in school history that the Leopards have won four games in a season against Ivy League foes. The win also snapped Lafayette's eight-game losing streak to Harvard, and was the first triumph over the Crimson since 1996. Morrow ran for 85 yards and the two touchdowns, while Curley was 21-of-31 for 210 yards and the two scores. Michael Schmidlein led the Leopard defense with 10 tackles and an interception, while Ian Dell recorded three sacks.
Fordham 39 at Cornell 27
Box Score
Ithaca, N.Y. - A record-setting offensive day that included a school-record 420 passing yards by senior quarterback John Skelton lifted Fordham (3-3) to its third straight win in a 39-27 triumph at Cornell on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field.
Skelton completed 20-of-27 passes for 420 yards with five touchdowns through the air and another on the ground, with the six touchdowns responsible for coming up one shy of the Patriot League record. He broke the school record of 413 passing yards set by Joe Moorhead in 1995. Jason Caldwell hauled in nine of those passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns, which matched the Patriot League record held by six other players and was the first four-touchdown receiving game in the League since 2003. The 245 receiving yards were one shy of the Fordham school record. Skelton's other touchdown pass was a 98-yard strike to Asa Lucas, which tied for the Patriot League record first set in 1988.
Skelton threw a 71-yard strike to Caldwell in the first quarter for a 7-3 lead, then tossed the 98-yard touchdown to Lucas for a 13-3 advantage early in the second quarter. It joined a 98-yard play by Lafayette in 1988 as the longest scoring pass in League history. After Cornell cut the gap to 13-10, Skelton and Caldwell hooked up on scoring strikes of 58 and 50 yards for a 26-10 Fordham lead early in the third quarter. The fourth scoring strike between the pair and Skelton's rushing touchdown gave Fordham a 39-13 lead early in the fourth quarter before Cornell scored two late touchdowns to produce the 39-27 final.
Skelton threw for 309 yards and the three touchdowns in the first half alone. In addition to the work with Caldwell and Lucas, he completed five passes for 52 yards to his brother, Stephen. Not to be outdone by the offensive exploits, Isa Abdul El-Quddus recorded three of Fordham's five interceptions in the game, which tied for the school record. Fordham has won three consecutive games for the first time since 2007.
at Holy Cross 34, Dartmouth 14
Box Score
Worcester, Mass. - No. 25/24 Holy Cross (5-1) rebounded from its first loss of the season in a big way, as the Crusaders scored the first 34 points of the game and overwhelmed Dartmouth, 34-14, on Saturday at Fitton Field.
The scoring opened with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Dominic Randolph to Charles McCall for a 6-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. Eddie Houghton scored on a five-yard touchdown run with 11:04 left in the second quarter for a 13-0 lead, and Matt Bellomo notched a three-yard touchdown run with just 35 seconds left until the half for a 20-0 lead at the break. Randolph hit Luke Chmielinski with a 16-yard touchdown pass for a 27-0 advantage in the third quarter, and tossed a two-yard touchdown to Nick Cole in the fourth quarter to complete Holy Cross' scoring before Dartmouth added two late touchdowns for the 34-14 final score.
Randolph completed 26-of-36 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns in the game, and also ran for 30 yards. Bellomo led the Crusader rushing attack with 91 yards and a score on only 11 carries, and also caught seven passes for 46 yards. Jimmy Thomas led the Holy Cross defense with seven tackles, while Mude Ohimor had two sacks.
Bethlehem, Pa. - A fake punt in the third quarter accounted for the only scoring as Yale knocked off Lehigh (1-5), 7-0, at Goodman Stadium on Saturday.
The shutout loss ended the Mountain Hawks' 263-game streak with at least one score, and was the first suffered by Lehigh since a loss at Navy on September 7, 1986 in the first game as a Patriot League member. Yale's Paul Rice provided the only scoring of the game with a 40-yard touchdown run on a fake punt with 11:22 to play in the third quarter. Lehigh had a pair of missed field goal attempts, including one after a first-and-goal situation in the fourth quarter, but was unable to get on the board.
Neither team tallied 200 yards of total offense in the game, as the Lehigh defense held Yale to 189 yards in the game. Devin Greene led the unit with 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one of Lehigh's three interceptions, while David Brown had 1.5 sacks. Lehigh had 137 yards on the ground, led by 64 from freshman Michael Colvin, but threw for only 60 yards in the game.
