Box Score Nov. 20, 2010
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
Bronx, N.Y. -
In the first of two college football games to be played in the Bronx today (you may have heard of the other at Yankee Stadium tonight), the Fordham Rams were looking to end the season with a four-game winning streak, record their first winning season since 2007 and send the seniors off with a win. Unfortunately the Rams ran into the offensive firepower of Colgate, falling to the Raiders, 47-12, in a matchup of Patriot League schools on Jack Coffey Field.
The game featured a battle between the top rushing offensive in the Patriot League against the League's top rushing defense team. Colgate entered the game averaging 272.1 rushing yards per game while the Rams have been allowing just 118.6 rushing yards per game. What wasn't expected was that Colgate would take to the air, throwing for 198 yards and three touchdowns as the Raiders scored a touchdown on their first five possessions.
Colgate showed their offensive philosophy for the game on the first play from scrimmage when quarterback Greg Sullivan found Doug Rosnick over the middle with a 28-yard pass to place the ball at the Fordham 47. Seven plays later the two hooked up with a 17-yard scoring strike as the Raiders took a 7-0 lead just under four minutes into the game.
The Rams moved the ball out to midfield on their first possession, with Ryan Higgins completing both of his passes, but were forced to punt the ball back to Colgate.
The Raiders took over on their own 15 and covered the 85 yards on 12 plays with Sullivan taking it in from the one to put Colgate up 14-0 with 2:34 left in the first. The Raiders converted two third down conversions in the drive, both on pass completions from Sullivan.
On their next possession, the Rams again moved the ball to midfield but a third and eleven pass from Higgins to Stephen Skelton gained only seven yards and the Rams punted the ball back to Colgate.
Colgate took over on the 20 following the punt and covered the 80 yards on just four plays with Sullivan connecting with Nate Eachus on a 23-yard touchdown pass to make it a 20-0 game with 12:54 left in the half. The drive was aided by two long runs, a 20-yarder by Eachus on the first play and a 31-yarder by Noah Jackson on the third play which placed the ball on the Fordham 23.
After the Rams went three and out, Colgate took advantage of a short punt and put together a five-play, 48-yard drive with Eachus covering the final 24 to give the Raiders a 27-0 lead with 8:43 left in the half.
Fordham again went three and out and the Raiders took over on their own 19 following a punt. The Colgate offense went to work, moving down to the Fordham 12 where the Raiders faced a fourth and six. On the fourth down play, Sullivan connected with Rosnick in the end zone to give Colgate a 34-0 lead with 1:24 remaining; a lead the Raiders took into the break.
On the first play of the second half a Higgins pass was tipped and intercepted by Colgate's Chad Frey and the Raiders took advantage of the turnover when Sullivan scored from the one to make it a 40-0 game just under five minutes into the second half.
The Fordham offense then came alive, mounting its firsts coring drive of the day. Higgins led the drive, using his legs and his arm. After gaining nine yards one two rushes, Higgins handed ball off to Darryl Whiting who picked up the first down. Higgins then completed passes to Jason Caldwell (4 yards) and Skelton (9 yards) for another Fordham first down. Later in the drive, Higgins picked up a first down with a two-yard rush on third and one from the Colgate 17 and the Rams then faced a fourth and two from the Colgate seven when Whiting broke through the line and gained four yards and a first down. On the next play, Higgins faked a handoff and found an open Gerard Rizzo in the end zone to put the Rams on the board with 4:35 left in the third.
The Rams held the Raiders on fourth and three from the Fordham 13 and then moved to ball to midfield but Higgins was sacked on third and eight from the Colgate 48 and the Rams punted the ball back to Colgate.
Early in the fourth, Fordham faced a fourth and six from their own 39 but Skelton couldn't handle a Higgins pass and the Raiders covered the 39 yards on five plays with Eachus scoring from six yards out to give Colgate a 47-6 lead with 9:38 left in the game.
The Rams responded with a six-play, 63-yard drive, capped by a Whiting 14-yard scoring run to make it a 47-12 game with 8:23 remaining. Higgins completed three straight passes in the drive for 49 yards before Whiting found the end zone.
Higgins completed 15 of 26 passes for 175 yards and one score with Skelton leading the Fordham receivers with seven catches for 60 yards while
David Moore had three receptions for 61 yards. Whiting rushed 17 times for 53 yards and one score.
Defensively, Jamal Haruna led all tacklers with ten stops, seven solo, while Isa Abdul-Quddus added eight tackles, six solo, and Brendan Melanophy finished with seven tackles, five solo and one for loss.
Notes
Colgate has now won three straight against Fordham and lead the all-time series, 18-4... 24 Fordham seniors and their family members were honored in a pregame ceremony... Jason Caldwell caught two passes for 17 yards to close out his career with 186 catches for 2,643 yards, both second best in school history... He is also ranked seventh on the Patriot League all-time receptions list and ninth on the League's all-time receiving yards list... Caldwell's mother, Dawn, sang the National Anthem after the senior ceremony... The Rams were held to 80 net rushing yards, the second lowest total of the year... Rizzo's touchdown catch was his first career reception.
