WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary rode a fast start and a fast finish to a 38-10 defeat of Colgate here Saturday night.
 
After spotting the hosts 17 points in the opening quarter, Colgate pulled within 17-10 on Chris Puzzi's 21-yard field goal midway in the third. But William & Mary's Bronson Yoder returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a TD that ended the Raider comeback attempt.
 
The Tribe tacked on two more touchdowns to gain a measure of revenge for last year's 23-0 Colgate victory. The teams play here again next season before meeting in Hamilton in 2021.
 
Colgate played nearly the entire game without quarterback Grant Breneman, who was injured on the first Raider series. Jake Froschauer was 12-of-21 for 109 yards and rushed 11 times for 21 yards in Breneman's absence. He was intercepted twice.
 
William & Mary opened TD, field goal and TD on its first three drives. The second touchdown was a 27-yard pass from Hollis Mathis to Jordan Lowery that Colgate's Abu Daramy-Swaray appeared to intercept in the end zone. But it was ruled a dual reception and the touchdown stood.
 


Colgate responded right before halftime with a five-play, 43-yard scoring drive capped by Malik Twyman's 2-yard run. The Raiders were within 17-7 at the break.
 
Colgate then took the opening drive of the second half and marched 64 yards in 15 plays, consuming 7:44 off the clock. The Raiders had to settle for a 21-yard Chris Puzzi field goal, but it was a 17-10 game and momentum had shifted to the Colgate sideline.
 
That's when Yoder took the ensuing kickoff at his own 7-yard line on the near sideline, sprinted to midfield, bounced off a couple of would-be tacklers and broke free by around the 20-yard line. He raced untouched the rest of the way and Colgate's comeback attempt was doomed.
 
Sophomore Collin Heard had a big night for the Raiders, corralling his first career interception in the fourth quarter and leading the team with 10 tackles, including a shared sack. Nicholas Ioanilli and Aidan Gaertner added six tackles apiece.
 
Nick Wheeler picked up his second sack of the season, giving him 25½ for his career and moving him into solo third place on the Colgate chart. He trails only Pat Afriyie '17 (26½) and Kelly Robinson '81 (28½) on the career leaderboard.
 
Twyman rushed 15 times for 75 yards to complement his first touchdown of the season. Nick Diaco caught five passes for 47 yards and Garrett Oakey added four for 50.
 


Bottom Line
• William & Mary 38, Colgate 10

From the Source
• Colgate head coach Dan Hunt: (On the game) "Jake fought admirably, and it was big that he got us on the board before half. Then we were able to come out in the second half and use that first possession to get points, to get it to a one-score game. Obviously, the kick return came at an inopportune time and we never really recovered from that.
 
"We had a couple of other chances but through injuries we just got depleted in key spots and were making enough mistakes to not be able to get back into it after that.
 
"Jake was put into a tough situation and he competed hard. We were trying to work throughout to find what he was comfortable with, in addition to what William & Mary was doing to him, so he could stay comfortable. It was a bit of a hectic situation but we had basically the whole game to do it.
 
"There are some positives there but the people around him made too many mistakes. We had presnap penalties, false starts, bad snaps – all of the things you do to not win a football game, we're doing right now. And that's on me. We have to practice better.
 
"But I know I've got a group who wants to show up for work Monday and get after it. So that's what we're going to do."


 
Stats of the Game
• The Raiders led in time of possession but were doubled up in total yards.
• Breneman was 1-of-1 passing for 6 yards. He was injured on his only rushing attempt, a 1-yard gain on third-and-2.
• For Colgate on defense, Coleman Coco at defensive end and J.C. Gaughan at linebacker both earned their first collegiate starts.
• Three true freshmen scored for William & Mary: Mathis on a 2-yard run, Yoder on a 93-yard kickoff return and Lester on a 2-yard run.
• The kickoff return for touchdown was the first against Colgate since Lehigh's Gatlin Casey also went 93 yards back in 2016.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Tonight's game is the second of three straight trips to Williamsburg. The Raiders and Tribe play one more year at Zabel Stadium before returning to Hamilton for a 2021 encounter.
• Announced attendance was 6,777.


 
Up Next
• Colgate is back home for a Family Weekend date against No. 7 Maine. The Black Bears (1-2) lost 45-23 to Towson at home Saturday night.
• Maine will be Colgate's third CAA opponent of the season.
• Colgate leads the series 2-1. The teams met in 1916 in Utica (Colgate wins 28-0), 1999 in Hamilton (Colgate 28-21) and 2001 in Orono (Maine 34-10).
• The game kicks off at noon, with Stadium and the Patriot League Network carrying the livestream. Catch the home play-by-play call from 94 WKXZ-FM.