Winter blunderland

Their offense never arrived.

Save for James Ihedigbo's punt return for a touchdown with 6:43 left in the first quarter, the UMass team that entered the contest averaging 30.1 points per game couldn't score. Amid 29-degree temperatures, a 14-degree windchill, and snow that covered the field at Andy Kerr Stadium, the Minutemen sputtered, hampered by slips and dropped passes.

Sixth-ranked Colgate, meanwhile, played much better, scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter, then adding one in the fourth for a 19-7 triumph before 4,197 that ended the Atlantic 10 cochampion's season at 10-3.

Quarterback Chris Brown completed 17 of 37 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns -- both to wide receiver J.B. Gerald -- as Colgate (13-0) became the first Patriot League team to win 13 games in a season and extended the longest winning streak in 1-A/1-AA to 19 games.

It also marked the third straight season that a Patriot League champion knocked out an Atlantic 10 champion in the first round. Last season, Fordham bounced Northeastern, and in 2001, Lehigh ousted Hofstra.

UMass's offense was held without a touchdown for the first time since a 31-6 loss to Hofstra Sept. 29, 2001. It was also the first time in coach Mark Whipple's six seasons that UMass held an opponent to fewer than 20 points and lost. And it marked only the third time UMass has scored fewer than 10 points against a 1-AA opponent under Whipple.

Credit Colgate, a team that came in 10th in the nation in rushing offense and averaging just 13.8 completions per game, for its effectiveness passing in adverse conditions.

"I told my team afterward that I thought UMass played better the first 15 minutes and then Colgate played better the last 45," said Whipple.

UMass, which was averaging 234.3 passing yards per game, struggled. Quarterback Jeff Krohn completed 12 of 36 attempts for 199 yards, but many of his passes were dropped. Steve Baylark led the running game with 84 yards on 20 carries but was hampered by slips behind the line of scrimmage and a Colgate defense that is third nationally against the run.

The closest the UMass offense came to the end zone was the 5-yard line in the second quarter. After failing to move the ball from the 5 on third and 3, Michael Torres missed a 22-yard field goal attempt.

"They played better than us today, and that's the bottom line," said Krohn.

The snowstorm hit the area early yesterday morning, making travel hazardous. After practicing in driving rain Friday afternoon, the team opted to say in Syracuse, which is west of Colgate's campus. The Minutemen departed for the contest at 9:30 a.m., then got stuck in a backup on Route 20, a long, winding road with steep inclines.

The team didn't arrive at Andy Kerr Stadium until 11:30, an hour before the scheduled kickoff. As a result, game time was moved back to 12:45.

"They called the state police and we were wondering if anyone was coming to get us," said Whipple, who last Sunday complained that the contest should have been played at UMass.

"I didn't know if we were going to get there or not."

But afterward, UMass safety Anton McKenzie insisted the team would not use the weather or the trip as excuses for losing.

"We knew we had to come in and play, no matter what conditions, we knew we had to come out and play our style of football, and we didn't," he said. "We just didn't come out and play."

The Minutemen took a 7-0 lead when Leroy Brooks blocked Jason Sutton's punt, and Ihedigbo picked up the ball and ran 25 yards for a touchdown.

Colgate tied the game on a 13-yard pass from Chris Brown to J.B. Gerald with 9:44 left in the second quarter. The drive was aided by a questionable pass interference call against UMass on fourth and 16 from the UMass 31 two plays earlier.

"That was a huge play," said Whipple. "Our guys were coming off the field. I thought we had intercepted the pass. That was a big swing. We didn't respond as well as we should have."

With 8:48 left in the quarter, UMass punter Christian Koegel dropped a snap and was tackled by Mike Chrystie at the 6. Colgate scored two plays later when Jamal Branch, a native of Mashpee, Mass., ran in from 2 yards to make the score 13-7 with 8:14 to go.

Neither team scored again in the first half. For UMass, it was the first time its offense was held scoreless in a first half since Nov. 9 of last season against New Hampshire.

With 12:57 left in the game, Colgate all but put it away when Gerald caught a 30-yard pass from Brown. The Raiders got the ball two plays earlier after Mike Douglas caught a 10-yard pass then fumbled at the UMass 30, where the ball was recovered by Josh Wurst.

After that, the Minutemen never got closer than the Colgate 40.

"It was a great win today for Colgate and a great win for the Patriot League," said Colgate coach Dick Biddle. "We knew we belonged, we believed we deserved to have a home game, the team belonged. This is a very good football team. This is the best defense I have seen from this team."