HAMILTON, N.Y. – Colgate scored on three of Lafayette's first-half turnovers on the way to a 45-0 final on Saturday in the Patriot League opener for the Leopards.
 
Lafayette trailed the entire game. On the Raiders first possession at Kerr Stadium, Colgate put together a lengthy drive that covered 86 yards on nine plays. Soph. QB Grant Breneman punched in a three-yard touchdown to lead 8-0. Breneman finished the day with 17 carries for 55 yards and completed 12-of-17 for 115 yards in the air with another TD.
 
The hosts took advantage of a special teams miscue after Lafayette's offense went three-and-out. The snap to punter Jacob Bissell, who had a career-long 64-yard punt and another punt of 60 yards in the game, was low and Lafayette turned it over at its own 11-yard line. The Raiders scored three plays later when James Holland rumbled in for a one-yard score for a 15-0 lead.
 
Lafayette got the offense going on the next drive. Sean O'Malley hit Nick Pearson for 23 yards to the 43-yard line. Then O'Malley picked up a 3^rd-and-10 with a 13-yard carry. He followed with a 25-yard screen pass to J.J. Younger out of the backfield to the Colgate six-yard line. A fumble in the backfield and a short run by Selwyn Simpson left Lafayette 3^rd-and-goal at the eight-yard line. O'Malley was intercepted on the next play by Abu Daramy-Swaray who returned it to the Lafayette 32-yard line.
 
The succeeding drive ended saw the Colgate offense keep moving the ball, using a 13-play scoring march. Malik Twyman caught a 14-yard pass from Breneman at 11:14 in the second to lead 22-0.
 
Special teams affected the game again just before halftime when Daramy-Swaray returned Bissell's punt 77 yards for a score. Then, the Leopards turned it over on their next offensive possession. O'Malley's pass hit off the hands of Joey Chenoweth and fell to Tyler Castillo. He returned it 52 yards to the Leopard three-yard line before O'Malley wrestled him down. Eight seconds later, Breneman handed off two Alex Mathews who scored and ran the halftime margin to 36-0.
 
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, the Leopards had a chance to get on the scoreboard. A 44-yard O'Malley (10-for-26 for 153 yards) to Julian Spigner toss set up Lafayette at the Colgate 13-yard line. Lafayette was forced to settle for a 27-yard field-goal attempt by Bissell that missed wide.   
 
Lafayette had another solid scoring opportunity late in the game set up by a 13-yard toss to Quinn Revere and a 28-yard connection to a diving Jake Liedtka, both from Cole Northrup (4-of-5 for 39 yards). The Leopards had the ball 4^th-and-5 at the seven-yard line, but Northrup's swing pass to Mike Dunn was stopped by an open-field tackle to keep Lafayette out of the endzone for the second time this season.
 
Lafayette (0-4, 0-1) returns home for a 6 p.m. kickoff vs. Central Connecticut State on Sept. 29.