Box Score Sept. 29, 2007
Final Stats
Hamilton, N.Y. -
The great thing about youth is that they don't have much history. Since Fordham joined the Patriot League in 1989, the Fordham University football Rams have defeated Colgate only three times in 18 tries, with only one of those wins coming in Hamilton. But the 2007 Rams aren't concerned with history, using 21 third quarter points to build a 34-24 lead and they held on for a 34-31 win over Colgate at Andy Kerr Stadium. With the win, the Rams improve to 3-2 overall, 1-0 in the Patriot League, while Colgate falls to 2-2 overall, 0-1 in the conference.
"I think this game shows this team that if we go out and play hard and protect the ball, we can be in every game," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "I'm so proud of our guys and the tremendous effort they gave us today."
The win was preserved when Sam Orah broke around the right side of the Colgate line and took to the air to block a 37-yard Mike Buck field goal attempt with 3:21 remaining.
Prior to the block, Colgate drove from its own 19 to the Fordham 25, a drive that consumed over eight minutes, where on third down and 13, Colgate quarterback Alex Relph was flushed out of the pocket and tackled after a short gain, setting up the field goal attempt.
The Fordham offense then ran out the clock, aided by a big fourth down offside call against Colgate which gave the Rams a first down on the Colgate 41 with 1:14 remaining and the Raiders out of time outs.
The Rams trailed 24-13 at the half, but the offense came out to start the second half with determination, taking the second half kickoff and driving 73 yards on nine plays for a score. On the scoring play, John Skelton hooked up with Richard Rayborn for an 11-yard scoring strike to make it a 24-20 game just under three minutes into the half. The big play of the drive was a screen pass from Skelton to Asa Lucas that Lucas turned into a 25-yard gain to place the ball on the Colgate 39.
The Fordham defense then did its job, stopping Jordan Scott, Colgate's leading rusher, on a fourth and two play from the Fordham 42, giving the offense the ball in good field position.
The offense couldn't take advantage of the good field position and punted the ball back to Colgate. But on the first play from scrimmage, Matt Loucks intercepted Relph on the Fordham 45 down the right sideline and he returned it to the Colgate 27. But a penalty moved the ball back to the Colgate 42 where Skelton went to work, throwing a screen pass to Coven, with Coven breaking tackles and bringing the ball down to the Colgate 14. On the next play, the Rams threw a flanker screen with Lucas grabbing the pass and speeding through the defense and into the end zone to put the Rams up for the first time on the day, 27-24, with 6:19 left in the third.
The defense again held tight for the Rams, and the offense got the ball back on their own 40 following a punt. Skelton then put his legs to good use, rushing four times for 30 yards on the drive. He capped the drive by faking a handoff to Jonte Coven and taking it in from the 15 for a 34-24 Fordham advantage with 2:10 remaining in the quarter.
Colgate responded with an 11-play, 63-yard drive, capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Relph to Erik Burke on third down and goal. The pass was perfectly placed, finding its way through two Fordham defenders to cut the Raiders' deficit to three, 34-31, 1:30 into the fourth.
The game open slowly, with the two teams exchanging possessions over the first five minutes before Colgate took a 7-0 lead midway through the quarter when Burke out jumped Kelvin Colbert in the end zone, hauling in a 15-yard pass from Relph.
The Rams fumbled the ensuing kickoff which was recovered by Gigi Cadet on the Fordham 19 for the Raiders. The Rams appeared to have kept Colgate out of the end zone but on fourth and two from the 11, Scott was able to pick up the first down with a two-yard rush and on the next play, he brought it in from the nine for a 14-0 Colgate lead with 5:53 left in the first.
Fordham battled back, taking the subsequent kickoff and moving 80 yards on nine plays, with Quasand Lewis taking it in from the two with 2:28 remaining in the quarter. John Skelton completed all three of his passes on the drive, including a screen pass to Jason Caldwell which Caldwell turned into a 26-yard gain, placing the ball on the Colgate 27.
Early in the second quarter, the Raiders took over on their own three after Ben Dato pinned Colgate deep on its own territory with a 43-yard punt. The Ram defense attempted to hold the Raiders to three-and-out, but on third down from the Colgate nine, Relph found Ty Henry with a seven yard completion to bring the ball out to the 16. Three plays later, Scott took a handoff and broke through the line, bringing it all the way down to the Fordham 20. But an offensive pass interference call brought the ball back to the 29 and a Relph pass into the end zone on third down was tipped by a defender and the Raiders had to settle on a 46-yard Mike Buck field goal and a 17-7 lead with 4:37 left in the second.
The Rams responded by taking the ensuing kickoff and driving to the Colgate 19 where Skelton found a wide open Rayborn in the back of the end zone as Fordham cut the deficit to four, 17-13, when the PAT failed.
Later in the quarter, Colgate took advantage of a Fordham turnover when Mike Gallihugh intercepted a Skelton pass on the Fordham 45 which he returned to the Rams' ten. Two plays later Scott took it in from the six for a 21-13 Raiders' lead with 3:19 left before the break.
The Rams almost scored right before the half but a nine-yard pass on third and goal with 12 seconds left went off Rayborn's finger tips in the end zone and Adam Danko's last second field goal attempt went wide.
Skelton completed 17 of 29 passes for 217 yards and a career-high three touchdowns while he was also Fordham's leading rusher with 69 net yards on 14 carries with one touchdown. Lucas finished with five catches for 87 yards and one touchdown while Rayborn had four receptions for 41 yards and two scores.
Defensively, Earl Hudnell led the Rams with nine total tackles, seven solo, including three for loss, while James Crockett had seven stops, six solo.
The Rams will next be in action next Saturday, October 6th as they host the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks in a Patriot League game on Jack Coffey Field at 1:00 PM.
Notes
The Rams won their Patriot League opener for the first time since 2004...Masella is now 2-1 lifetime against Colgate, picking up a win over the Raiders when he was at Central Connecticut...Senior kicker Ben Data added kickoffs to his duties, downing four of his five in the end zone...He also punted four times for 188 yards (47.0 yards/kick)...The game marked the second straight week in which the Rams scored 21 points in a quarter, scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter last week against Dayton.
