The third week of the season continued the trend of “some good, some bad” for the Patriot League. Colgate and Lehigh notched impressive road wins over two of the top teams from the Ivy league. Meanwhile, Lafayette put up a great fight before falling to their Ancient Eight kryptonite, the Princeton Tigers. Bucknell and Holy Cross each put forth disappointing performances in their respective losses. After three weeks Georgetown remains the only league member with a winning record. The Hoyas enjoyed the week off along with Fordham.
#22 Colgate 55 Yale 13
The Raiders (1-1) handed Yale their worst defeat in the history of the series behind a dominating offensive performance. Yale’s (0-1) 42 point margin of defeat also tied the record for the worst home loss ever. To put that in perspective Yale has been playing football for 144 years. The Colgate rout also ended Yale’s streak of 9 consecutive season opening victories.
It did not look like the game would be a historic blowout early on. Yale grabbed an early 7-0 lead on a short Chapple to Williams-Lopez TD pass. The scoring drive was setup when Haydon Carlson intercepted Jake Melville on Colgate’s opening possession. The Raiders responded a little over two minutes later when Mellville hit Jake Diaco for a 22 yard TD strike to tie the game at 7. Colgate would tack on two more first quarter touchdowns to take a 21-7 lead after 15 minutes of play. Yale would close the gap to 8 points following two Alex Galland field goals early in the second quarter. That would be the closet the Eli would get the rest of the game. Colgate put together scoring drives of 65 and 82 yards to take a commanding 35-13 halftime lead.
The game was not completely out of reach until back-to-back 3rd quarter Yale interceptions resulted in Melville’s fourth touchdown pass and a Jonah Bowman 31 yard field goal. The quick 10 point Raider outburst pushed the score to 45-13. Melville’s school record 5th touchdown pass came early in the 4th quarter when he found senior wide receiver John Maddaluna.
The Raiders outgained Yale 558 to 188 (243 to 12 rushing) on the day. James Holland led the Raider ground attack with 110 yards and 1 TD on 18 carries. John Maddaluna paced the receiving corps by hauling in 7 receptions for 147 yards and 1 TD.
Up Next: The Raiders hit the road for the third consecutive game to start the year when they head to Richmond to take on the Spiders. Richmond who was ranked #2 heading into the weekend suffered a shocking 42-14 loss to Stony Brook. Colgate will be seeking their third straight win over a team from the CAA.
Princeton 35 Lafayette 31
Senior quarterback Drew Reed put forth another excellent performance but it wasn’t quite enough as Lafayette once again fell to Princeton. The Tigers used a balance offensive attack (182 rushing, 178 passing) to escape with a season opening win. It was the Tiger’s 9th consecutive win in the series. It also pushes their overall record against Lafayette to a headshaking 42-4-4.
Princeton started the scoring in first quarter when Joe Rhattigan ran for a 23 yard touchdown. The Tiger scoring drive was aided by a personal foul penalty against Lafayette on third down. Lafayette would not be deterred by the early deficit as the responded with two scoring drives of their (Mayfield 2 yard TD rush, Reed to Mzarek 4 yard TD reception) own to close out the opening quarter with a 14-7 lead. Princeton was able to even the score at 14 midway through the second quarter when John Lovett plunged into the end zone from 2 yards out. The first half offensive firework weren’t over yet. The Leopards and Tigers would trade touchdowns over the final two minutes of the half to head into the locker room tied at 21.
Lafayette once again grabbed the lead in the third quarter when Jacob Bissell booted a 36 yard field goal. Unfortunately for the Leopards, Princeton responded with a 10 play 67 yard drive that was capped by Rhattigan’s second rushing TD of the game. Trailing 28-24 midway through the quarter Drew Reed was picked off for the second time. The Tigers made sure Lafayette paid for the turnover. Rhattigan notched his third TD of the night with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. The xtra-point made it 35-24 Princeton heading into the final 15 minutes.
Lafayette was able to close the gap to 35-31 with 5:27 left when Reed found Mzarek for a second time. Amazingly, the Leopards would never see the ball again. Princeton turned to a grinding running attack to eat up the final five minutes of the game.
As a team, Lafayette failed to reach 100 yards rushing for the 3rd straight game.
Up Next: For the first time in 94 years Lafayette will take on #20 Villanova. Despite the two schools close proximity to one another they’ve only met 4 times, all Leopard wins. Villanova will be coming off an impressive 40-21 win over conference foe Towson.
Lehigh 49 Penn 28
For the second consecutive year Lehigh (1-2) dealt Penn a season opening 21 point loss. Nick Shafnisky (317 yards passing, 71 yards rushing, 6 total TDs) out-dueled Ivy League preseason offensive player of the year Alek Torgersen as the Mountain Hawk offense finally found their stride after two shaky performances to start the year. After struggling in the first half the Lehigh defense also stepped up their game. The much maligned Lehigh D held the Quakers (0-1) scoreless in the second half which allowed the Mountain Hawks to win going away.
It didn’t take long for the offensive fireworks to begin on a warm evening in Philadelphia. Penn emphatically opened the game with a 1 minute 38 second 87 yard touchdown drive. Alek Torgersen found stellar WR Justin Watson from 24 yards out to give the Quakers the very early lead. Lehigh tied the game up a few minutes later when Shafnisky finished a 10 play 72 yard drive with a short touchdown run. The two teams then proceeded to trade touchdowns the rest of the first half which resulted in the score being deadlocked at 28 after 30 minutes of play.
There would be no trading of punches in the second half as the Mountain Hawks took control of the game. Lehigh grabbed their first lead with 12:31 left in the quarter when sophomore running back Micco Brister ran for a 6 yard TD. Lehigh stretched the lead to 42-28 later in the quarter following a Shafnisky to Pelletier (10 reception 123 yards 1 TD) touchdown pass. The Mountain Hawks put the game on ice midway through the 4th quarter on Shafnisky’s third touchdown pass of the night.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Lehigh’s victory was the way the defense played in the second half. After struggling to get their opponents off the field in key second half situations in the first two games, the Lehigh defense held Penn to 3 first downs over the final 30 minutes. Pierce Ripanti led the Lehigh defense with 5 solo tackles and 1 sack.
Up Next: Lehigh will try to avenge a 52-26 beating Princeton dished out last year in New Jersey. Princeton owns a commanding 40-16-2 series lead but Lehigh has won 11 out of the last 15 meetings.
Cornell 24 Bucknell 16
Without starting QB R.J. Nitti the Bison’s (1-2) offense found itself once again struggling to put up points. This time it was the Cornell Big Red (1-0) taking advantage of Bucknell’s inability to score. Matt Muh, who made his first career start, was able to keep Bucknell afloat early on but struggled to find consistency in the second half. The victory meant Cornell matched their 2014 (1-9) and 2015 (1-9) win total after just one game.
Bucknell opened the game by turning to their one consistent force on offense so far this year, Joey DeFloria. The bruising junior RB accounted for 38 of the Bison’s 50 yards during the first possession of the game. DeFloria finished off the drive with a 7 yard TD run to give the Orange and Blue an early 7-0 lead. Bucknell’s next two drives also showed promise before being derailed by Matt Muh turnovers (1 fumble, 1 INT). On their 4th possession of the game the Bison were able to convert a chip shot FG to go ahead 10-0 with 6:24 left in the 2nd quarter. Cornell closed out the first half with 10 straight points of their own.
Bucknell started the 2nd half with an impressive 75 yard scoring drive. DeFloria found the end zone for the second time during the game; this time from 22 yards out. Cornell was able to block the extra point which left the score at 16-10 Bison. Cornell responded with an impressive drive of their own. Cornell QB Dalton Banks used his arm and legs to key a 73 yard TD drive. After the extra point sailed through the uprights the Big Red had their their first lead of the game. Cornell tacked on one more TD late in the 3rd quarter following Matt Muh’s second interception on the night. Bucknell had one final chance late in the game but their drive ended at the Cornell 20 yard line after failing to convert on a 4th and 7.
Joey DeFloria has 397 yards rushing and 6 TDs to start the year. The Bison running back is making an early claim for 1st team all-league honors.
Up Next: Bucknell will try to get back on track next week against Southern Conference member VMI. Bucknell snuck past the Keydets 28-22 in OT last year. VMI is coming off a lackluster 17-13 win over non-scholarship Morehead State.
#19 Albany 45 Holy Cross 28
For the second straight week the Crusaders (1-2) saw their hopes of beating a CAA opponent end in disappointment. The Danes (3-0) found the Holy Cross defense to be the perfect remedy to escape their early season offensive woes. Neven Sussman came with only 120 total passing yards through the first two games but put together an efficient performance (8-12 183 yards 2 TDs) against a struggling Holy Cross “D”. Dane RB Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks continued his early season rampage by piling up 183 yards and 4 TDs. Crusader signal caller Peter Pujals (35-55 355 yards 3 TDs 1 INT) enjoyed his third consecutive monster passing game.
The early stages the game saw the two team’s trade punts and a missed 47 yard Holy Cross FG attempt. The Crusaders finally lit up the scoreboard with 1:47 left in the first quarter when Pujals hit Jordan Montgomery for a 9 yard TD toss. After Holy Cross took a 7-0 lead Albany used the big play to seize control of the game in the second quarter. Ibitokun-Hanks busted off a 40 yard TD run to get the Dane onslaught going with 14:21 left in the first quarter. After a quick 3 and out by the Crusader offense the Danes needed only 28 seconds for their second scoring drive. Sussman connected with Zee Roberson for a 41 yard TD pass which gave the Danes a 14-7 lead. The Danes third scoring drive was setup when Eli Mencer forced a fumble on Darris Lucy’s punt return. Albany capitalized on the short field to up 21-7 with 4:58 to go in the first half. Following a Crusader punt the Danes hit pay dirt for the 4th time in the half when Sussman connected with Zee Roberson for a 49 yard TD with just under 2 minutes left before halftime.
Holy Cross had a nice drive going before half but a fumble at the Albany 4 yard line ended the threat. Albany took a knee and happily headed to the locker room with a commanding 28-7 lead. The closest Holy Cross would get to Albany the rest of game is 10 points (on two occasions).
Despite the 17 point defeat the Crusaders finished with more first downs and more total yards.
Holy Cross WR Brandan Flaherty missed his second straight game due to injury.
Up Next: The Crusaders begin the Ivy League portion of the out of conference schedule against Dartmouth in Worcester. Dartmouth opened their season with a thrilling win over New Hampshire. It was the Big Green’s first win over their Granite State rival since 1976.
Power Rankings
- Colgate
- Fordham
- Lehigh
- Lafayette
- Holy Cross
- Georgetown
- Bucknell
