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| Head coach Dick Biddle celebrates the Raiders upset over UMass. |
(Game Statistics)
HAMILTON, N.Y. (9/10/05) – Senior co-captain Jared Nepa (Carbondale, PA) had a team-high 12 tackles and one interception as the Colgate defense came away with five interceptions leading the Raiders to a 17-14 upset victory over #15 ranked Massachusetts Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium.
Colgate evens its record at 1-1, while the Minutemen are 1-1 after suffering their fourth straight setback at Andy Kerr Stadium. The Raiders are 6-3 in their last nine meetings against nationally-ranked teams.
“This was a real gut-check for us,” said Nepa. “After last week, we couldn’t lose this game. Nobody tried to do too much, we played our best.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Raiders finally broke the ice with a career-long 36-yard field by senior Mike Rava (Moscow, PA) with 10:30 remaining in the first half. The big play in the drive was a 38-yard pass play from sophomore Lee Sloan (Oviedo, Fla.) to Kenny Parker (Stratford, NJ) that give the Raiders a first down at the UMass 33-yard line. Sloan started in place of junior Mike Saraceno (Sunrise, Fla.), who was nursing a sprained ankle suffered in the opener against Central Connecticut.
Later in the second quarter, Colgate’s junior strong safety Geoff Bean (Oneonta, NY) came with his seventh career interception and raced 51 yards for a touchdown. Rava’s extra point lifted the Raiders into a 10-0 lead with 3:34 left on the clock.
Colgate’s defense held the Minutemen to 183 yards of total offense in the first half, while picked off four passes by UMass starting quarterback Tim Day, and recovering a pair of fumbles.
The Raiders took advantage of another UMass fumble to go ahead 17-0, 27 seconds into the second half. Day completed a pass to J.J. Moore, but Colgate’s Moore forced a fumble, and scooped up the pigskin and raced 42 yards for a touchdown. Rava booted the extra point.
The Minutemen came in the fourth quarter to make things interesting with a pair of touchdowns. They scored on a 17-yard pass play by Liam Coen to Moore with 7:50, and again with 4:37 remaining on a five-yard pass from Coen to Rasheed Rancher.
UMass had one more chance with the football, but the Colgate defense stopped the Minutemen on downs at the Colgate 39 with 1:09 left. With no timeouts left for the Minutemen the Raiders ran out the clock.
“This certainly was one of the biggest wins in my coaching career,” said a delighted Colgate head coach Dick Biddle. “Our players came to play today, and the way they rebounded from last week’s disappointment speaks volumes about their character.”
With the victory, Biddle moved into a tie for second place in career victories with 77 – tying Fred Dunlap (1976-87).
On the offensive side of the football, Colgate managed only 167 yards – 85 rushing and 82 passing. Sloan completed 6-of-15 passes for 82 yards, while tailback J.J. Bennett (Cleveland, Ohio) was the leading rusher with 16 carries for a career-high 48 yards, while fullback Ben Evans (Muskegon, Mich.) had 12 carries for 24 yards.
“The defense did a great job,” said Sloan. “But the offense is going to have to put some points on the board.”
GAME NOTES – Junior punter Jason Sutton (North Easton, Mass.) punted nine times, but his biggest play came in the fourth quarter when he scrambled for 29 yards and a first down deep into UMass territory … The last time Colgate had five interceptions was a 1996 game against Lafayette … Colgate has won 13 of the last 16 games decided by nine points or less … Colgate held the Minutemen’s strong rushing game to 84 yards. This was the 46th time during Biddle’s tenure that the Raiders have held the opposition to under 100 yards. They are 44-2 when doing so.
Senior linebacker Zach Dollar (Napa, Calif.) and senior defensive end Brent Smith (Whitehall, Mich.) had quarterback sacks for the Raiders … Cody Williams had seven tackles followed by junior linebacker David Wesley (Dupont, PA) with six … Fumble recoveries were recorded by Moore, Jeff Galletly (Franklin Lakes, NJ) and senior defensive tackle Ronnie Millen (Stone Mountain, GA).
Senior wide receiver DeWayne Long (West Des Moines, Iowa) had three catches for 31 yards. He now has 1,024 yards in his career.
