Nov. 22, 2008

Hamilton, N.Y. - For the first time since 2005, the Colgate Raiders have captured the Patriot League Football Championship. Down by 10 points at the half to Holy Cross, No. 21 Colgate scored the game-winning touchdown on a five-yard run by Nate Eachus with 13:05 to play and used a strong running game and defense to hold on the rest of the way for a 28-27 victory over the Crusaders on Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium.

Colgate also earns the Patriot League's automatic bid to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time since that 2005 season. The Raiders (9-2, 5-0) won their first outright crown since 2003, and completed the first undefeated campaign for any Patriot League team since they went 7-0 that season. Colgate earns its sixth Patriot League title and postseason berth under Head Coach Dick Biddle. The Raiders also won their eighth consecutive game overall.

Colgate will wait to hear its postseason destination when the 16-team field is announced on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

Holy Cross (7-4, 5-1) saw its six-game winning streak come to an end.

"This is a tough football team with great character," said Biddle. "They always stay around together and never worry about the score."

On a cold, snowy day in Hamilton, both offenses came out hot. Holy Cross started the scoring on the game's second play, as Dominic Randolph threw a strike down the middle of the field to Jon Brock that went for a 75-yard touchdown pass to give the Crusaders the 7-0 advantage less than a minute into the game.

After an exchange of punts, Colgate evened the score with a big passing play of its own. A pair of runs set up a first-down play-action fake by Greg Sullivan, and he tossed a perfect 50-yard touchdown pass down the middle of the field to Pat Simonds to tie the game at 7-7 with 8:28 left in the first quarter.

Holy Cross engineered another fast scoring drive to regain the lead. Randolph completed a pair of passes to move the Crusaders to the Colgate 42 yard line, then found a wide open Bill Edger for a 42-yard catch and run touchdown to make it a 14-7 Holy Cross advantage with 7:06 left in the quarter. The Crusaders went 75 yards on the drive in three plays, and took just 1:15 off the clock.

Colgate went to its bread and butter on the next drive to tie the score at 14-14. The Raiders ran on every play of a 14-play, 63-yard drive that took 7:31 off the clock, and converted a pair of fourth downs to keep the drive alive. Jordan Scott ran for 12 yards on a fourth-and-inches play from the 13 to start the second quarter, then scored on a one-yard run on the next play to even the score with 14:30 left in the period. On the 12-yard run, Scott became the eighth player in FCS history and the first Patriot Leaguer with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his career.

Holy Cross used a big kick return play to score another quick touchdown to take the lead right back. Brett McDermott returned the kickoff to the 49-yard line, and a 15-yard late hit penalty allowed Holy Cross to start its drive at the Colgate 36. The Crusaders marched down for a first-and-goal play, and Randolph tossed a seven-yard touchdown pass to McDermott in the back of the endzone for a 21-14 Holy Cross lead with 12:34 left in the second quarter.

Colgate went on another long march on its next possession, but was forced into a 4th-and-2 play from the Holy Cross six-yard line. The Raiders went for it on fourth down again, but this time they were unsuccessful as Sullivan's pass fell just incomplete for a diving Nick Cvetis.

Holy Cross started its next possession with 5:22 left until the half, and milked most of the clock before settling for a 36-yard Matt Partain field goal with 17 seconds left to take a 24-14 lead into the break.

Colgate got the ball to start the second half, and took more than 10 minutes off the clock before scoring a touchdown to pull back within 24-21. The Raiders ran 00 plays for 00 yards in 10:09, and once again converted a huge fourth down to keep the drive going. Sullivan ran for five yards on a fourth-and-three play from the 15, then used his arm for a 10-yard touchdown pass to Simonds on third-and-goal with 4:51 left in the third quarter.

"The guys were frustrated at the half, but I thought it was key for us to get it to a one possession game right away and change the momentum in the second half," Biddle said.

Holy Cross continued to move quickly on its next possession, taking just three plays to get down to the Colgate 20 yard line. But the Colgate defense held from there, forcing three consecutive incompletions to force the Crusaders to settle for another Partain field goal for a 27-21 lead with 3:06 left in the third.

Colgate continued to move the ball successfully on its next possession, with Nate Eachus coming in for an injured Scott. Sullivan completed a 24-yard pass to Simonds down to the Holy Cross 39, and completed a 14-yard pass to Eachus on a third-and-eight play to move it to the Holy Cross 11. Eachus ran twice and got into the endzone from there, scoring on a five-yard rush for the 28-27 lead and eventual game-winning touchdown with 13:05 left.

Eachus and the Colgate defense combined to put the game away down the stretch. Holy Cross moved the ball all the way to the Colgate 31 in less than two minutes on its next possession, but Wayne Moten intercepted a Randolph pass at the 11 to halt the drive.

The Raiders grinded out 39 yards and 5:02 off the clock on their next possession, but the Crusaders held on the 50-yard line to re-gain possession. Holy Cross started on its 12 yard line with 6:02 left, but a holding call and incompletions on second and third down forced a Crusader punt. Colgate took possession on its own 46 with 4:37 left in the game, and Eachus carried eight times on the final drive to seal the win. He gained nine yards on a third-and-five play from the Holy Cross 10, smartly sliding at the one-yard line to allow the Raiders to run out the clock and capture their first Patriot League title since 2005.

"We have a lot of experience on offense, our quarterback is underrated, I think we have the best receiver in the League in Simonds and a great running back tandem," Biddle said. "Eachus really turned the game around in the fourth quarter."

It was the first time since 1997 that two undefeated teams met for the Patriot League title on the final Saturday of the season. Colgate also won that game, defeating Bucknell, 48-14, for its first Patriot League title.

Colgate's six titles tie Lafayette for the second-most in League history. The Raiders won four of their five League games by eight points or loss, with one-point wins over both Lehigh and Holy Cross.

Scott and Randolph both set individual records in the contest. Scott became the eighth player in FCS history and first Patriot Leaguer with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his career. He also pulled within two carries of tying the all-time Division I record of 1,215. Randolph set a Patriot League career record with 821 completions, just breaking the mark of 820 held by Lafayette's Marko Glavic (2000-03). He also set a Patriot League record with eight 300-yard games this season, and extended his League record to 18 career 300-yard efforts. Randolph tied the League mark of 34 touchdown passes in a season, and extended his career touchdown passes record to 83.

Colgate held a 283-19 advantage in rushing yardage, and a 42:27 to 17:33 edge in time of possession. Eachus had 118 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Scott finished with 82 yards on the ground and a score. Sullivan ran for 76 yards and completed 8-of-12 passes for 129 yards with two touchdowns.

Randolph was 16-of-27 for 316 yards and three touchdowns with one interception for the Crusaders.

In other Patriot League action, Lehigh ended a four-game losing streak to Lafayette with a 31-15 victory in Easton. Bucknell came back to down Fordham, 24-21, in overtime.

Lehigh held a 17-12 lead after a back-and-forth first half, taking the halftime edge on a 14-yard touchdown pass from J.B. Clark to Nick Johnson with 3:45 left in the half. Lafayette climbed back to 17-15 in the third quarter, but the Mountain Hawks made it a two-score game on a one-yard touchdown run by Adam Watson with 7:11 to play. Lehigh put the game away with a 94-yard interception return for a touchdown by John Kennedy with 4:27 remaining in the contest.

Clark earned MVP honors in the 144th meeting of the most-played rivalry in college football by completing 12-of-22 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. The Lehigh defense recorded eight sacks in the game, led by 3.5 from Brian Jackson. Lehigh earns its first victory against Lafayette since 2003.

Shaun Adair had a 62-yard rush in the second quarter for Lafayette's lone touchdown.

Bucknell was down 21-7 with less than seven minutes to go, but mounted a late comeback to knock off Fordham in overtime. The Bison got within one score on a 25-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Hopson to Shaun Pasternak with 6:42 left, then tied it up with just nine seconds left on a nine-yard pass from Hopson to Justin Pulgrano.

Bucknell's defense held on Fordham's overtime possession, and Will Carney converted a 36-yard field goal to complete the comeback and give the Bison the win.

Hopson completed 18-of-28 passes for 229 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Pasternak caught nine passes for 156 yards and a score. Greg Jones paced the Bison defense with 17 tackles.

Xavier Martin led the Rams with 147 yards on the ground.

The Patriot League regular season ends with no ties in the League standings. Colgate is in first place at 5-0, followed by Holy Cross at 5-1, Lehigh at 4-2, Lafayette at 3-3, Bucknell at 2-4, Fordham at 1-5 and Georgetown finishing 0-5 in League action.