After being dominated on the ground by Furman a week ago, Colgate football turned the tables and ran all over Dartmouth en route to a 34-20 win last Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium. The Raiders had 367 yards on the ground, and senior running back Jordan Scott broke the Patriot League career rushing record in the second quarter. He now has 5,015 yards for his career.

The Raiders got on the board early in the first quarter when junior receiver Pat Simonds outjumped his defender to grab a pass from sophomore quarterback Greg Sullivan and ran the rest of the way to the end zone for a 41-yard completion. Colgate missed the extra point, so their lead stayed at 6-0. Dartmouth answered back later in the quarter when Foley Schmidt hit a 33-yard field goal to cut the Raider lead in half. Early in the second quarter Dartmouth grabbed their first lead of the game, as a six-yard run by Milan Williams capped off an 84-yard drive. The Raiders struck again later in the quarter as they drove 75 yards on just six plays. The drive was capped off by a six-yard run by Jordan Scott. This time Colgate hit the PAT to take a 13-10 lead. The score was squared right before the half when Schmidt kicked a 26-yard field goal to go into the half deadlocked at 13.

Dartmouth scored first in the second half, when Jenny connected with Eric Paul in the end zone to cap off a 62-yard drive. Colgate answered right back on the ensuing drive, going 73 yards in a lucky 13 plays and scoring six on a two-yard run by Scott. The PAT evened the score at 20. On the next drive Dartmouth drove down to the Colgate 4 before the defense forced an incomplete pass on third-and-three. The Big Green tried a 21-yard field goal, but junior defensive tackle Carlton Walker was able to get in and block the low kick and keep Dartmouth off the board. The play totally changed the momentum of the game.

“That was probably the turning point that had the biggest effect on the game,” Head Coach Dick Biddle said. “We got very good push and we got our hands up. It took points off the board for them.”

The Raiders took the ball after the block and drove 80 yards downfield to take a 27-20 lead. The drive was capped off by 14-yard Sullivan run.

On the next drive, the Colgate pass rush, which had struggled all game, finally got some results. On fourth-and-ten from the Colgate 24, sophomore linebacker Zach Smith sacked Jenny and forced a fumble that was recovered by junior rush end Juliues Barlay. Colgate took advantage of the turnover, and after just four plays, pushed its advantage to 14 after Sullivan had a huge 31-yard run to make the score 34-20. Dartmouth had one last chance, but Zach Smith came up big again. when he sacked Jenny and forced a fumble at the Dartmouth 48. Carlton Walker recovered the ball this time to seal the game for the Raiders.

With the victory Colgate improves to 2-2 on the year. Scott had 239 yards and two scores on the day. In addition to breaking the career Patriot League record for yards he also set school-records on Saturday for most consecutive 100-yard games(16) and total 200-yard performances(7). Scott was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for his effort, and he now needs just 206 rushing yards to break the Colgate career rushing record of 5,220 yards, set by Kenny Gamble ’87 (this is not considered the Patriot League record because Colgate started Patriot League play in Gamble’s junior year).

Not be overlooked is Sullivan’s strong effort. With his 136 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, he became the first Colgate quarterback in a decade to rush for over 100 yards. The dual threat on the ground allowed Colgate to fool Dartmouth with misdirection plays throughout the game.

“What we were doing kept Dartmouth off balance,” Coach Biddle said referring to his running attack. “A good running quarterback gives you a couple of options. It is more difficult for a defense to stop several options in the running game than to stop just one thing.”

Sullivan also threw for 119 yards and a score.

Colgate’s run defense was much better than it was against Furman, allowing just 91 yards as opposed to the 304 they allowed against Furman. But their pass defense struggled, allowing 343 yards through the air.

“When you look at pass defense you look at pass rush and pass coverage,” Coach Biddle said. “We need to get better in both areas.”

Colgate’s pass defense certainly will have to improve when it faces Fordham, the defending Patriot League Champion The game starts tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the Bronx.