John Skelton Sets School Passing Records but Rams Fall to Holy Cross, 41-27

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Bronx, N.Y. - (Oct. 31, 2009) - If you are a fan of offense, Jack Coffey Field was the place to be on Saturday afternoon where two of the top six offenses in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) squared off. The participants in the Patriot League game were the host Fordham Rams, who entered ranked third in total offense, and the visiting Holy Cross Crusaders, who came into the contest ranked sixth. The two teams didn't disappoint, combining for more than 1,000 yards of offense, but it was Holy Cross who put up the bigger number where it mattered, defeating Fordham 41-27 and retaining possession of the Ram-Crusader Cup for the second straight year.

With the loss, the Rams fall to 3-5 overall, 0-3 in the Patriot League while Holy Cross, ranked 17th in the NCAA FCS, goes to 7-1 overall, 3-0 in the League.

"Holy Cross is a very good football team," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "Once again, we played hard but didn't make enough plays to win the game and they did."

The biggest numbers of the day belonged to Fordham quarterback John Skelton, who completed 43 of 67 passes for 427 yards, all school records. He finished one passing attempt shy of the NCAA FCS record for most pass attempts in a game without an interception, just missing the national mark of 68 set by Marshall's Tony Petersen against Western Carolina in 1987 (Paterson completed 34). Skelton surpassed his own school record of 420 passing yards in a game, which he set earlier this year at Cornell, while he broke Matt Georgia's 1999 records of 36 completions and 65 attempts.

The loneliest players at the game were the two punters, as neither attempted a punt on the day. Fordham punter Patrick Murray did line up for a punt in the fourth quarter but the Rams executed a fake, picking up the first down. It was only the second game in NCAA FCS history in which neither team attempted a punt. The other time it occurred was in a game between Georgia Southern and James Madison in 1986. The last time one NCAA FCS team didn't punt in a game was Georgia Southern in 2004.

The Rams took the opening kickoff and moved from their own 30 to the Holy Cross 24, picking up 23 of the yards on the ground, but the drive stalled on the 24 when Skelton was forced out of the pocket and attempted to rush for a first down on fourth-and-five.
 

The Crusaders moved straight down field, covering the 76 yards in eight plays with Dominic Randolph lofting a ball over two defenders to Bill Edger for a 39-yard scoring strike and 7-0 Holy Cross lead 5:22 into the game.

Fordham came back as Skelton completed three straight passes on the ensuing drive to move the ball from the Fordham 20 to the Fordham 48. Following an incompletion, Skelton connected on two more pass attempts to put the ball on the Holy Cross 34. Later in the drive, a Darryl Whiting ten-yard rush gave the Rams a first down on the Holy Cross 15. But the Rams would only gain five more yards and Kevin Heinowitz came on to boot a 27-yard field goal to cut the Fordham deficit to 7-3 with seven minutes left in the quarter.

A 45-yard Alex Johnson kickoff return gave the Crusaders excellent field position and Randolph took advantage of it, completing two of three passes, including a 24-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Santana on a ball that was tipped by a Fordham defender on the goal line but fell right into Santana's hands in the end zone for 14-3 Holy Cross lead with 5:08 remaining in the first.

The Rams again drove into Holy Cross territory on their next possession but came away with no points as a fourth-and-eight play from the Crusader 24 resulted in an incomplete pass, giving the ball back to the visitors.

The Crusaders weren't able to take advantage of the defensive stop as David Mendez intercepted Randolph on the Fordham nine to thwart a Crusader scoring chance.

The Rams did take advantage of the Holy Cross turnover, driving 91 yards on 13 plays, the last a two-yard scoring plunge by Xavier Martin to make it a 14-10 Holy Cross lead 4:49 into the second. Fordham converted two third down plays on the drive the second, a 12-yard completion from John Skelton to Jason Caldwell on a third-and-nine call from the Fordham 32.

But Holy Cross quickly regained a seven-point lead, 17-10, driving from its own 27 to the Fordham 14 where Rob Dornfried connected on a 31-yard field goal attempt midway through the quarter.

The Rams responded by driving to the Holy Cross 36 but once again came up short on a fourth down call as Skelton was unable to hook up with David Moore on a fourth-and-14 call from the 36.

Holy Cross then moved to the Fordham three where Randolph and Santana hooked up again to give the Crusaders a 24-10 lead with 25 seconds left in the half. The big play was a 17-yard gain on a third-and-12 pass from Randolph to Luke Chmielinski that put the ball on the Fordham 31.

But the Rams weren't done scoring in the half as Mendez returned the squib kick 27 yards to the Holy Cross 48 where a Martin rush picked up 12 yards and a Skelton run another 16 to put the ball on the Holy Cross 21 with six seconds left. Skelton then found Caldwell on the right sideline and Caldwell took it out of bounds at the Holy Cross 13 with one tick remaining. Heinowitz came on to end the half with a 30-yard field goal to cut the Fordham deficit to 11 at the half, 24-13.

The second half was more offense as Holy Cross took the opening kickoff and drove to the Fordham three where a third down Randolph pass was incomplete and Dornfried came on to boot his second field goal of the game, this one from 20-yards, to give the Crusaders a 27-13 lead 5:27 into the half.

On the third play of the ensuing possession, Moore fumbled after taking a pass from Skelton and the ball was recovered by Holy Cross' Jimmy Thomas on the Fordham 32. It took seven plays for the Crusaders to convert the Fordham miscue into points as Randolph found Santana again, this time with a nine-yard pass, to give Holy Cross a 34-13 lead with 5:55 remaining in the third.

The Rams threatened on the next possession as Caldwell took a pass from Skelton over the middle and raced down the right side line for a 44-yard gain. As Caldwell cut towards the middle of the field at the Holy Cross eleven, John Myrick forced a fumble and the ball was recovered by Anthony DiMichele on the Holy Cross 19 and returned to the Holy Cross 43.
 

Five plays later, the Crusaders gave the ball back to the Rams as Robert Palmer picked off a Randolph pass in the Fordham end zone, ending a Holy cross scoring chance and giving Fordham the ball on its own two.

The drive appeared to stall on the seventh play of the drive as the Rams faced a fourth-and-seven from their own 18 and lined up to punt. Instead of punting, the ball was snapped to the up back, Nick Magiera, who pitched to Murray but Murray couldn't find the handle and fumbled the ball forward. Luckily for the Rams, Will Quan recovered the fumble on the Fordham 29, giving Fordham a first down. Skelton then drove the Rams down to the Holy Cross 17 where Martin took it in to make it a 14-point game, 34-20, with 11:50 left in the game. Skelton completed four of six passes after the fumble recovery for 37 yards and he rushed for another 17 yards, including a 15-yard carry to put the ball on the Holy Cross 45.

The Rams then carried out a perfect onside kick, recovering the ball on the Fordham 41. But the Rams couldn't move the ball and turned it over on downs on the 41.

Holy Cross covered the 41 yards on six plays with Eddie Houghton covering the last six to put Holy Cross up 41-20, with 7:13 remaining.

Skelton went back to work on the next drive, throwing nine passes, completing six of them for 66 yards, to place the ball on the Holy Cross three where Skelton took it in on the 12th play of the drive as Fordham made it a 13-point game, 41-27, with 4:11 left.

After a failed onside kick, the Rams held Holy Cross to four plays, stopping Randolph for no gain on a fourth down rush at the Fordham 36 with 2:36 remaining. Skelton moved the Rams down to the Holy Cross 11, completing five of nine passes. But on first down from the eleven the Rams were whistled for a false start and two plays later, Skelton was sacked back to the 26. A third down completion to Moore moved the ball to the 18 but a fourth down pass to Asa Lucas in the end zone was incomplete.

"We lost to a better team today and sometimes that happens," said Masella. "We have to gear up the guys again for next week and try to win our last three and finish with a winning record."

Stephen Skelton led all Fordham receivers with a career-high 13 receptions for 102 yards while Moore added a career-best ten catches for 67 yards and Caldwell finished with nine receptions for 154 yards.  Martin led all rushers on the day with 86 yards on 17 carries while Whiting added 48 on nine rushes.  Defensively, James Crockett made 12 total tackles, seven solo, including 0.5 for loss while Isa Abdul El-Quddus added eight stops, four solos, and Magiera seven, three solo.

The Rams will next be in action next Saturday, November 7th, as they host Bucknell University in a Patriot League game on Jack Coffey Field at 1:00 p.m.

Notes:
Holy Cross now leads the all-time series, 25-20-2, and lead in the battle for the Ram-Crusader Cup, 14-10...The 400-yard passing game is Skelton's third this year and is the fifth time he has thrown for over 300 yards this year...Skelton's career numbers are now 723 completions for 8,832 yards and 60 touchdowns, all school records...His 2,612 passing yards through eight games this year is already the sixth highest single season total in school history while his 205 completions is seventh best...The game was the first this year in which Skelton did not throw a touchdown pass...Stephen Skelton's previous career-high in receptions was ten, set against Old Dominion earlier this year...Martin's 86 rushing yards brings his career total to 2,496, moving him ahead of Rick Hollawell and into fourth place on the Fordham all-time list.