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HAMILTON – As statements go, this was a pretty good one.
 
Colgate picked up the pieces from a brutal loss a week ago and put together its best performance of the season in a 38-12 dismantling of Fordham here Saturday.
 
James Holland Jr. rushed for a career-high 166 yards and Grant Breneman hit Tre Caine for a pair of touchdown passes as Colgate won its first home game of the season and moved to 1-1 in Patriot League play.
 
The Raiders rushed for a season-high 263 yards and limited Fordham to just 64 on the ground. Chase Edmonds finished with just 53 yards and thus remains seven yards shy of the Patriot League rushing record of 5,621 held by Colgate's Jordan Scott (2005-08).
 
Breneman threw for a season-high three touchdowns and now has nine over his last four games. He also completed his fifth consecutive game without an interception, a streak of 130 pass attempts.
 
Caine's touchdown receptions were from 2 and 14 yards out, while Nick Martinsen hauled in the other scoring pass from 6 yards out to help the Raiders build a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
 
Holland carried 22 times and bettered by one yard the 165 he gained in Colgate's memorable 44-38 win at James Madison back in the 2015 NCAA playoffs. He scored Saturday on a 17-yard TD run in the fourth quarter after Alex Mathews had plowed in from the 1 earlier in the period.
 
Colgate's defense sacked Fordham reserve quarterback Luke Medlock five times, including two by Nick Wheeler. The sophomore defensive lineman leads Colgate with seven sacks for the year.
 
Dillon DeIuliis was the leading Colgate tackler with a career-high eight. He also came up with his first collegiate interception to set up Chris Puzzi's field goal just before halftime that put Colgate in front 17-0.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 38, Fordham 12

Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League.
• Fordham is not 1-6 and 0-2.

Stats of the Game
• One week after being whistled for 11 penalties and 106 yards – both season highs – and having three touchdowns erased, Colgate was penalized exactly zero times Saturday.
• Time of possession was practically even through three quarters, with Colgate holding an eight-second edge. But the Raiders held the ball for 13:09 of the fourth to finish with a 35:23 to 24:37 advantage.
• Saturday's 26-point winning margin over Fordham was Colgate's largest against the Rams since a 47-12 win in 2010.
• Holland averaged 7.5 yards per rushing attempt. He added 33 receiving yards to finish with 199 all-purpose.
• Caine now leads the team with three touchdown receptions. He has 10 total catches for 134 yards.
• Puzzi's 40-yard field goal just before halftime was a career long. He's 6-of-8 on field goals for the season and leads Colgate in scoring with 38 points.
• The Raiders improved their Patriot League-leading rushing average to 175.0.
 
Notable Numbers
• Colgate's 14 points today marked their best scoring first quarter of the season. The previous high was 10 at Cal Poly.
• Owen Buscaglia made his first collegiate start and responded with three receptions for 60 yards – both career highs.
• Of Wheeler's four tackles, three were for lost yardage totaling minus-15. He leads the team with seven sacks and nine TFLs.
• Fordham's Edmonds needs just seven yards to tie Colgate's Jordan Scott for the Patriot League's all-time rushing record of 5,621. In four games against the Raiders, he totaled 291 yards for an average of 72.8.
• Colgate's Owen Rockett missed the game after battling a week-long illness. Starting Rams QB Kevin Anderson did not play because of injury.
 
From the Sources
• Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On the win) "I give our kids a lot of credit. Obviously, last Saturday was a tough way to lose a game – and that can affect you one of two ways. You can let it beat you twice or you can regroup and respond and say you're going to make a statement."
 
Listen to the rest of Coach Hunt's comments HERE.
 
• Colgate tailback James Holland Jr.: (On his game) "Today, I give all the credit to the offensive linemen up front. They've been playing well -- you saw Alex have a career-high last weekend, and that carried over today. That goes to Monday through Friday. The offensive linemen and the team have just been getting after it."
 
Listen to the rest of Holland's comments HERE.
 
• Colgate defensive lineman Nick Wheeler: (On the defensive game plan) ""We came in thinking that every week has to be our Super Bowl. We came out mentally that way Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday – and then today we came out and performed."
 
Listen to the rest of Wheeler's comments HERE.
 
• Colgate wide receiver Tre Caine: (On his game) "We came out with the intention to just put points on the board. We trust our defense a lot and our job was just to put points on the board, and we executed that perfectly."
 
Listen to the rest of Caine's comments HERE.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance inside Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium was 2,622.
• Watch the archive of this game HERE.
 
Up Next
• Colgate hits the road for a Patriot League showdown at Holy Cross.
• The Crusaders are 2-5 overall after Saturday's 32-0 loss at Yale, but tied with Colgate at 1-1 in conference.
• Kickoff is noon, with Stadium/PLN and WKXZ-FM carrying the action.