Hamilton, NY--Four out of five dentists may prefer Colgate, but it left a bad taste in Harvard's mouth Saturday afternoon.

For the second straight weekend, an injury-plagued Harvard football team was unceremoniously bounced from the Empire State, dropping a 34-14 decision to the 1997 Patriot League champion Red Raiders in front of 9,355 at Andy Kerr Stadium.

Despite forcing seven turnovers--six fumbles and one interception--and starting four drives in Colgate territory, Harvard (0-2, 0-1 Ivy) could not capitalize, as the Raiders (2-1, 1-0 Patriot) outgained it 474-297 yards. HARVARD  14 COLGATE  34

"I'll be surprised if we play a better team all year," Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. "You have to defend so many things against this team. You have to defend the dive, the pitch, the quarterback, and they've got an excellent passing attack."

Colgate junior quarterback Ryan Vena, who missed last week's Patriot League opener at Towson State, marshaled an option-heavy offense with poise, completing 16 of 25 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns and carrying 19 times for 80 yards.

Vena's favorite target, senior flanker Corey Hill, added seven catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Raider attack.

This week, the Crimson was without starting tailback Chris Menick, who broke his left thumb and sprained his right ankle on consecutive days in practice this week.

His replacement, sophomore Chuck Nwokocha, battled to shoulder an increased rushing load, finishing with 18 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown.

But the blowout final score was deceptive. The Crimson hung with an explosive Raider offense for the bulk of the afternoon and trailed 20-14 at the start of the fourth quarter.

On the opening drive of the quarter, Colgate drew two penalties for 19 yards and ended up in a 3rd-and-17 situation at its own 43-yard line.

With the blitz on, Hill beat Crimson safety Aron Natale--who had fallen in pursuit--on a square out pattern to the right sideline. Vena's pass went for 23 yards and a crucial first down that kept the drive rolling.

Three plays later, on 3rd-and-10, Vena connected with Hill once more, this time hitting the flanker in the left flat at the 15-yard line.

Hill crossed the field in front of the Harvard safeties, then broke back to the middle for a 34-yard scoring strike. Vena's quarterback keeper on the two-point conversion opened the lead to 28-14 with 12:55 to play.

"Colgate just poured it on," Murphy said. "At20-14, we had a hell of a ball game. If that[drive] wasn't the nail in the coffin, it gavethem the adrenaline they needed to finish us off."

On the ensuing possession, senior cornerbackKane Waller returned the kickoff 47 yards to theColgate 46-yard line, but the Crimson's ugliestoffensive series of a long afternoon broke itsback.

Junior quarterback Rich Linden--who was sackedfour times for 26 yards--hit the dirt on twoconsecutive downs for 15 yards in losses. Onfourth down, junior punter John Patton could nothandle a high snap. He recovered, but his hurriedpunt went for a four-yard loss.