Bucknell University
Colgate
Daris Wilson Has Another Record Day as Bucknell Stuns No. 22 Colgate, 42-7
11/13/2004 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 13, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell quarterback Daris Wilson rushed for 236 yards and five touchdowns in his final career home game and the Bison scored the game's final six touchdowns in a stunning 42-7 rout of 22nd-ranked Colgate on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
Bucknell's victory reversed a 50-6 loss to Colgate last season, when the Raiders finished 15-1 and advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA national championship game. Bucknell (6-4, 4-2) won its third straight contest, clinched a winning season and moved into sole possession of third place in the Patriot League standings. Colgate, which had beaten Bucknell four straight times and had not lost in Lewisburg since 1996, fell to 6-4, 3-2.
The Bison scored their most points ever against Colgate in a series that includes 53 games dating back to 1894, a scenario that seemed unlikely when they went three-and-out on each of their first three series with minus-6 net total yards.
Colgate got on the board first with 5:18 remaining in the first quarter, but it was a bittersweet scoring drive. Starting quarterback Chris Brown left with a lower leg injury on the fourth play of the drive and did not return to the contest. Freshman Lee Sloan came on in relief and completed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Luke Graham, who finished the game with eight catches and became Colgate's all-time leading receiver with 214 receptions.
Bucknell finally broke through offensively on its first drive of the second quarter. Wilson hit a 14-yard pass to Nisan Trotter for the team's initial first down, then Wilson broke through the line on a broken play and scampered 50 yards for the tying touchdown.
Wilson dominated the second and third periods, following the 50-yard scoring run with gallops of 4, 64, 69 and 1 yard.
Wilson, who ran for 252 yards and five touchdowns just two weeks ago against Holy Cross, now has 12 rushing touchdowns in the last three games. His 236 yards against Colgate were the most ever by a Bucknell player against the Raiders, and was tied for the third-highest single-game total in school history. It is just the fourth time in school history that a Bison scored five touchdowns in a game, and Wilson is the only one to do it twice.
Defensive end Sean Conover set up Bucknell's go-ahead touchdown by blocking and recovering a punt at the Colgate 4-yard line. Wilson scored on the next play, accounting for one of his team's four touchdown drives that lasted either one or two plays and took less than a minute to complete.
Bucknell led 14-7 at the half, and after the second-half kickoff Wilson took the very first snap around left end and outraced a host of defenders for the 64-yard score. The senior quarterback, who became the first Bison quarterback to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a season, made one of his few mistakes on the next series when Chris Williams intercepted his pass and returned it to the Bucknell 38.
But the Bison defense, which held the Raiders to 291 total yards, 60 below their season average, stopped Colgate on fourth down. One play later Wilson bolted 69 yards for a 28-7 cushion.
Jamaal Branch rushed for 96 yards on 29 carries for Colgate, while Sloan completed 14 of 28 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, but he was sacked three times and intercepted once. Brown was 3 of 5 for 31 yards and had rushed for 36 yards on three carries before the injury.
Peter Kaufman scored Bucknell's final touchdown on a 7-yard run with 1:53 to play in the third quarter.
By the slimmest of margins, the victory was Bucknell's largest ever against Colgate, surpassing a 41-7 home win in 1972.
Wilson now has 1,006 rushing yards this season, making him the ninth player in Bucknell history to top the 1,000-yard plateau. The previous Bucknell single-season record for a quarterback was 891 yards by Sam Havrilak in 1968. Wilson needs just 15 yards next week to break Havrilak's career mark for rushing yards by a quarterback (1913).
With 1,898 career Wilson moved into seventh place on Bucknell's all-time list. He has 594 of those yards or just over 31 percent of his career total, in the last three weeks alone.
Wilson also has 14 touchdowns and 84 points this season. Both figures are tied for fourth all-time at Bucknell.
The Bison outgained Colgate 310-291, but averaged 7.4 yards per play compared to Colgate's 3.4.
Bucknell has completed Patriot League play and will close out the 2004 campaign with a non-conference tilt at Duquesne next Saturday at noon. Colgate finishes up at Fordham at 12 p.m.
