HAMILTON – Have a day, Swaray!
Abu Daramy-Swaray intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown to highlight No. 24 Colgate's 45-0 rout of Lafayette here Saturday afternoon.
A joyous Bicentennial Kickoff Celebration crowd of 7,753 inside Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium watched the Raiders take the field in vintage 1932 throwback uniforms. And before most fans had settled into their seats, Colgate led 15-0 in the opening 10 minutes.
Lafayette put together its first solid march of the game on the ensuing drive but then Daramy-Swaray ended the threat with an acrobatic end zone interception of Sean O'Malley's third-down pass.
Daramy-Swaray returned the pick 32 yards and set the Raiders up for their third straight touchdown. Thirteen plays and 68 yards later,
Grant Breneman lofted a third-down screen pass to
Malik Twyman and the sophomore tailback powered into pay dirt from 14 yards for a 22-0 edge.
Daramy-Swaray kept the good times rolling after a Leopards three-and-out when he fielded the ensuing Lafayette punt on one bounce and carried it 77 yards for his first career touchdown.
Ben Hunt IV chipped in the final key block as Colgate produced a punt return TD for first time in 20 years.
Colgate led 36-0 at halftime for the program's largest lead at intermission since 2003.
James Holland Jr., rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns, while Breneman and
Alex Mathews added one rushing TD apiece. The Raiders compiled a season-high 279 rushing yards.
T.J. Holl was the Raider tackle leader with just five stops as Colgate's defensive starters played three quarters at most and the Raiders posted a huge edge in time of possession (37:15 to 22:45).
The Raiders are 3-0 for the first time since 2009 and have won eight consecutive games, dating to last season, for the first time since 2008.
Bottom Line
• No. 24 Colgate 45, Lafayette 0
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League.
• Lafayette is now 0-4 and 0-1.
Stats of the Game
• Saturday's 45-0 result was Colgate's largest margin of victory in a shutout since the 1945 Raiders defeated Lafayette 47-0.
• Colgate now leads the series against the Leopards 45-13-4.
• Colgate shut out the same Patriot League opponent in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
• The Raiders blanked Lafayette 27-0 last year in Easton and have not allowed the Leopards a single point over the last nine quarters of play.
• Colgate had back-to-back shutouts of Lafayette in 1980 (44-0) and 1981 (30-0), but that was five years before the Patriot League came into existence.
• The last time Colgate had a larger halftime lead than Saturday's 36-0 was in 2003, when Colgate led Bucknell 43-0 en route to a 50-6 victory.
• The last Raider to return a punt for a touchdown happened in 1998, a combined Jesse Boyd-Brandon Tinson runback of 90 yards in a 34-14 home win over Harvard.
• Daramy-Swaray wasn't the only Raider to score his first collegiate points Saturday.
Frank Ferrari handled the first PAT snap of the game as the holder and surprised everyone by waltzing into the end zone for a two-point conversion.
• Ferrari later took over at quarterback and rushed three times for 51 yards. His second carry went for 36 yards – Colgate's longest rushing play of the season.
•
Tyler Castillo notched his ninth career interception to move back into a tie for the active Patriot League lead. Castillo needs one more interception to join the Colgate career top 10.
• Castillo's 52-yard return was Colgate's longest of the season and longest since
Aidan Gaertner returned one 63 yards in last year's win at Lafayette.
• Castillo was tackled just three yards shy of the end zone. It set the Raiders up for their fifth TD of the game and the 36-0 halftime cushion.
•
Abdoul Kouyate made his first career start at left defensive end.
• Besides O'Malley's interception in the end zone, Lafayette's best scoring chance was Jacob Bissell's missed 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
From the Sources
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Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On the game) "I don't know where you start. Obviously, whenever you shut a team out it starts with the defense. From start to finish, they controlled the game. Abu's interception down in the end zone – for lack of a better word, that ended the game. That ended their momentum, it picked up our momentum and we went down and scored.
"Any time you get points out of special teams and turnovers out of special teams – and then the offense was really consistent today. Really consistent."
Listen to the rest of Hunt's comments HERE.
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Colgate tailback James Holland Jr.: (On the running game) "Each week, we know there's always work to do. Looking at the stats, you would say we had a good game but after the game our coaches told us we still have work to do as an offense. We know that Monday, we've got to get after it."
Listen to the rest of Holland's comments HERE.
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Colgate linebacker T.J. Holl: (On the defense) "All week, we were just focusing on doing our own thing on defense and executing the game plan as best we could, and we did that very well today. It shows with the amount of yards we allowed and the score at the end of the game."
Listen to the rest of Holl's comments HERE.
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Colgate defensive back and return specialist Abu Daramy-Swaray: (On his most memorable play) "That's a tough one. The interception was memorable because they were getting ready to score and they had so much confidence. But I would probably have to say the punt-return touchdown, it being my first collegiate touchdown and the first one here in 20 years."
Listen to the rest of Daramy-Swaray's comments HERE.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance inside Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium was 7,753.
• Colgate's vintage 1932 throwback uniforms were hugely popular. They were featured front and center Saturday morning during the ESPN SportsCenter GearUp segment.
• Fans can purchase the helmets and jerseys via auction
HERE.
Up Next
• Colgate heads south next Saturday to take on William & Mary.
• The Tribe are 1-2 after this week's 51-0 loss at No. 2-ranked James Madison. William & Mary won 14-7 at Bucknell back on Sept. 1.
• Kickoff from Williamsburg for the Tribe home opener is 6 p.m., with WKXZ-FM 93.9 carrying the radio call.
