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HAMILTON – Colgate's third different starting quarterback and fourth different starting tailback didn't lead to the start of a winning streak.

Stony Brook beat the Raiders 27-3 here Saturday night one week after Colgate claimed its first victory of the season at Cornell.

Freshman Jake Melville and sophomore James Travellin drew the nods in the offensive backfield this time as head coach Dick Biddle and staff try every combination to stave off what has become a hurricane of injuries. Among those not available were offensive stalwarts Gavin McCarney, John Wilkins, Demetrius Russell, Dylan Finelli and Jimmy DeCicco.

"We're running out of bodies and that's a problem at key positions," Biddle said. "But give the kids credit – we played hard and we were physical. Stony Brook is a good team with a lot of good athletes.

"It's just that our margin of error is extremely low."

Biddle said two plays helped turn what could have been another hotly contested game – like last year's 32-31 Long Island thriller won by the Seawolves – into a one-sided affair. Stony Brook claimed 10 points thanks to a first-quarter fumble by Colgate's John Quazza on what would have been a first-down completion, and Naim Cheeseboro's 52-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the first half.

"As hard as we played, if you take those two plays out it's a close ballgame," Biddle said. "They got points out of both plays and we were fighting for momentum. You could be talking about a fourth quarter with a chance to win."

The Raiders fell to 1-5 overall, while Stony Brook is now 3-3 with impressive losses at Buffalo in five overtimes and to ranked opponents Villanova and Towson.

Colgate, too, has played a difficult non-conference slate, including games against Air Force, Albany, New Hampshire and now Stony Brook. But the Raiders' woes have been compounded by one missing person after another.

"We've played a very difficult schedule," Biddle said. "We've played four scholarship schools in these first six games; the schedule hasn't helped us. We've just got to regroup.

"We've made some moves, but hopefully we will get some people back that will help us."

Another Early Deficit
Stony Brook scored on its opening drive, marching 70 yards in 12 plays with Jameel Poteat doing the honors from 7 yards out. After an exchange of punts, the Seawolves took advantage of the Colgate fumble to make it 10-0 on Graham Ball's 40-yard field goal.

The visitors stretched the lead to 17-0 early in the second quarter before Colgate had registered its initial first down. Poteat scored this time on a 5-yard run to cap another 70-yard march with 14:04 left in the half.

Colgate began to make some headway and was about to cross into Stony Brook territory for the first time when Cheeseboro stepped in front of Melville's pass and raced 52 yards down the grandstand sideline. The score was 24-0 at intermission.

The third quarter was scoreless, thanks in part to Colgate safety Mike Armiento picking up his brother Nikko midway in the period.

The latter Armiento had inadvertently let his knee hit the ground on a low-snap punt attempt, handing Stony Brook excellent field position at the Colgate 34. But three plays later on second-and-goal from the 8, Mike Armiento picked off a Seawolves pass that was batted in the end zone by Colgate's Wendell Lewis.

Armiento's grab was his fourth interception this season and 10th career, lifting the junior into a tie for ninth on Colgate's all-time list. Tom Wilson (1964-66) holds both the season mark of eight (1966) and the career record of 20 interceptions.

Armiento also increased his season interception yardage total to 144, just 32 shy of the program's one-year mark of 176 set by Al Simmons in 1952. Last week at Cornell, Armiento snapped a 61-year-old Colgate record for interception return yards in a game when he picked two for a combined 134 return yards.

Colgate got on the board in the fourth quarter thanks to a 14-play drive that consumed 7:10. Freshman Jonah Bowman nailed a 38-yard field goal to make it 24-3.

Stony Brook answered with a matching three-pointer at the 3:12 mark to close out the scoring.

Bridgeforth, Travellin Post Numbers
Colgate defensively allowed a season-low 351 yards of total offense. Helping the cause was wide receiver-turned-cornerback Adam Bridgeforth. The sophomore from Nazareth, Pa., led all players with 12 tackles, including nine solo stops.

"It's been super-fun," Bridgeforth said of his move from offense. "I haven't played D-back since high school, but I was looking for any way to get on the field. This was my first full game back there, so it was pretty exciting."

Bridgeforth says that despite Saturday's score, his teammates are making strides just in time for the Patriot League season.

"That team had so many good athletes," he said of the Seawolves. "We didn't shut them out in the second half, but we stifled them. If we can just put together a full game like that – and we definitely can – we can get it going in these league games."

Travellin (pictured right, taking handoff from Melville) also was a game-leader, finishing with 116 rushing yards on 27 attempts in his first career start.

"I was just trying to take what I could get every time and make sure Jake was all right back there," Travellin said of his fellow backfield mate. "I wanted to put on a decent performance now that I had my shot."

A sophomore from Rutherford, N.J., Travellin is the fourth Colgate tailback this season to be a game-rushing leader in his first career start – joining Wilkins (90 at Air Force), Russell (144 at New Hampshire) and DeCicco (141 at Cornell).

"It's all about following your blocks and the coaches have done a great job," Travellin said. "You've got to give a hand out to them and the offensive line.

"We've just got to find the end zone. We're going into league play, so we've got to start looking to next week and get everyone healthy."

Tight ends were the pass-catching leaders for both squads. Quazza caught four for 58 yards to lead the Raiders, while Will Tye was Stony Brook's top target with eight for 70 yards. Stony Brook quarterback Lyle Negron completed 18-of-30 for 196 yards; Colgate's Melville was 7-of-19 for 106.

Other tackle leaders for Colgate were safety Demitri Diamond with eight, just ahead of linebackers Vinny Russo with seven, Cameron Buttermore with six, and Kyle Diener and Kris Kent with five apiece. Bobby Stup added a 9-yard sack in the game.

Colgate climbs into Patriot League play next week at Holy Cross. The Crusaders (3-4) opened their conference schedule with an impressive 51-27 victory earlier Saturday at Bucknell.

Colgate-Holy Cross kicks off at noon and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.