By Nicholas Thomas
Halloween is a day of scares and sweet treats. A 37-0 shutout may have been the most frightening thing I saw that afternoon.
Colgate hosted the Tribe this past Saturday and won in convincing fashion. So what happened? A Halloween hex in Hamilton? I’m here to try to figure that out.
A Stalling Offense
The Tribe started off the game relatively strong, forcing a field position battle and holding Colgate’s offense to zero points in the first quarter. At that point, I was preparing myself for another grind-it-out game similar to the 17-14 win over NC Central. Every time either offense got past the 50, drives would stall.
Then, the second quarter started. Colgate was able to overcome its offensive struggles. W&M was not. Colgate scored on seven straight drives to pull away as the game went on.
In-game adjustments were apparent: we saw Isaiah French take his first-ever college snaps at quarterback midway through the game, taking over for weekly starter Winston Watkins. However, nothing was working, and the Tribe fell to 3-6, 1-5 in conference play.
My diagnosis is that the run game was neutralized by Colgate’s defense. Andrew King was the workhorse back this time around while Jah’Kei Chavis took on a lesser role in the offense. King ripped off a 22-yard rush at the beginning of the game, but only managed 49 more rushing yards in the rest of the game.
Without a consistent run attack, the passing game struggles to open up. The best offenses in the country play complementary football and can beat you both ways.
It didn’t help that Colgate’s defense was firing on all cylinders. Coverage was fantastic, not allowing anything deep and giving the defensive line opportunities to get to the quarterback. All in all, the Raiders’ defense racked up five sacks.
W&M converted just 2 of 11 third downs. Colgate went 10-of-15. This will surely be addressed in the coming practices.
The Ballad of Peyton Way
Coming into the game, Colgate was getting thin at the wide receiver position and needed some depth pieces to step up. Peyton Way did just that.
Never have I seen a wide receiver take over a football game against this W&M pass defense like Way did on Saturday. He more than doubled his reception total on the year, hauling in 10 catches for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He was a big reason why Colgate was able to dominate third-down conversion percentage and the time of possession battle.
Their run game was less flashy but still deadly, consistently getting to the second and third levels of the defense. Part of me thinks this is because the Tribe defensive line has been gutted by injuries as the season has gone on, but, as we saw with Peyton Way, Colgate’s backups stepped up in this game. A next-man-up mentality is crucial late in the season.
Hold On, We’re Going Home
With a two-week home stretch upcoming vs. Lafayette and Bucknell, how does Coach London respond to such an emphatic loss? The offense did not score a single point and the defense let up 37 of them.
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Regardless, we stick with our Tribe to the end and cheer on our guys through thick and thin.
Let’s finish the season strong. Go Tribe!
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