Box Score Sept. 20, 2008
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
NEW YORK-- Momentum is a strange thing. Just when you think you have it, you lose it. And just when you thought you lost it, you get it back. Such was the case with the Fordham football Rams at Columbia on Saturday. After jumping out to a 14-3 lead, the Rams saw the momentum swing over to Columbia, who took advantage of two long plays and a Fordham turnover to score 19 unanswered points in the second quarter. But in the end, it was a five-yard penalty that eventually gave momentum back to the Rams, who went on to win their second straight Liberty Cup game over the Lions, 29-22, at Robert K. Kraft Field.
The Rams used a well-balanced offensive attack, with Xavier Martin rushing for 155 yards and four scores and John Skelton completing 22 of 29 passes for 285 yards to retain possession of the trophy and take a 4-3 lead in the all-time Liberty Cup series.
"I'm extremely proud of my guys and the way they came back in the second half," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "We were caught off guard a bit in the first half but went in at the half and settled down. I thought we played disciplined football in the second half."
Trailing 22-14 late in the third quarter, the Fordham offense was held to three plays and lined up to punt. On the punt, Columbia was called for too many men on the field and the five-yard penalty was enough for a Rams' first down on the Fordham 26. Fordham then drove down to the Columbia two where Martin took it in and, after a two-point conversion pass from John Skelton to Stephen Skelton, the game was knotted at 22 with 10:39 remaining.
The game would remain tied at 22 until the Rams took over on their own 36 following a Columbia punt. A pair of Martin carries netted seven yards and then Skelton found Richard Rayborn cutting across the middle, hitting him in stride. Rayborn took the pass and raced down the left sideline until he was knocked out of bounds on the Columbia ten. After the Lions were penalized for five yards, Martin picked up his fourth score of the day to give Fordham the lead for good, 29-22, with 3:54 left.
The Fordham defense held Columbia to three plays on the ensuing possession and the Lions decided to go for a first down on fourth and five from their own 29. But the Rams flushed Columbia quarterback Shane Kelly out of the pocket and stop him well short of the first down. The Fordham offense then picked up a first down on fourth and one from the Columbia 21 in the final minute to ice the game.
The Rams wasted little time getting on the board, taking over on their own 43 on their first possession following a Columbia punt. Martin and John Skelton then went to work, with Martin picking up ten yards on the first play from scrimmage before Skelton completed two straight passes, the first to Asa Lucas for four yards and the next to Jason Caldwell for 14 to put the ball on the Columbia 28. Two plays later, Martin covered the final 27 yards of the drive to put the Rams up 7-0 5:53 into the game.
Fordham threatened on its next possession, moving from its own 29 to the Columbia 40 but the Rams came up short on a fourth-and-one play from the 40.
The Lions used that momentum to drive from the 40 down to the Fordham 16 where Jon Rochell connected on a 33-yard field goal 1:33 into the second period to cut the Fordham lead to four, 7-3.
The Rams took the ensuing kickoff and moved from their own 35 to midfield where quarterback Clayton Busch picked up seven yards on a rush but fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Columbia on its own 37.
Fordham thought it was going to get the momentum back after the defense held Columbia on its next series, forcing the Lions to punt from their own 38. The snap to Columbia punter Rochelle was low and got by him, but he was able to corral the ball and get off a punt on the run which was downed on the Fordham 20.
The Rams responded with an eight-play, 80-yard drive with Martin taking it in from the four to give Fordham a 14-3 lead with 7:42 remaining in the half. Skelton completed all three of his passes on the drive for 53 yards while Martin gained 28 yards on the ground.
The momentum was short-lived for the Rams as Columbia scored three times over the final six minutes of the half to take a 22-14 lead at the break. The Lions responded to the Fordham score with a quick scoring strike, covering 64 yards on just four plays, the big play a 51-yard pass completion to put the ball on the Fordham three, to make it a 14-9 game with 5:44 left in the half when the extra point was missed.
Three plays later, Drew Quinn stepped in front of a Skelton pass and returned it 32 yards for a score, putting the Lions up, 16-14, with 4:52 remaining in the half.
The Rams went three-and-out on their next offensive possession, and Columbia quickly scored, using a 56-yard scoring strike to take a 22-14 lead with 1:26 left in the second.
Lucas was Skelton's favorite receiver on the day, hauling in nine passes for 110 yards while Caldwell finished with four catches for 51 yards.
Defensively, Andre Delaire led the Rams with seven total tackles, four solo, while James Crockett also made seven stops, two solo, and Greg DeMarco had six tackles, three solo, including 1.5 for loss.
The Rams will next be in action on Saturday, September 27th, as they open defense of their Patriot League title by hosting the Colgate University Raiders on Jack Coffey Field at 6:00 p.m.
Notes
The win is the second for Fordham at Columbia, the first coming in 1991...Columbia leads the all-time series, 11-6...The last time the Rams scored a two-point conversion was in 2006 at Holy Cross...The four rushing scores for Martin is a career-high and one shy of the Fordham record set by Kirwin Watson against Georgetown in 2003...Martin has now rushed for more than 100 yards in two of the first three games of the year and four times in his collegiate career...The 200-yard passing day is the fifth straight for Skelton dating back to last year, and the 12th of his career...The 100-yard receiving game for Lucas is the fourth in the past five games, dating back to last year...The Rams have scored on their first possession in each of the three games this year...Fordham entered the game leading the NCAA FCS in rushing defense, allowing 40.5 yards/game...They surrendered 149 rushing yards to the Lions.
