Monmouth, 46.
Yale, 56.
Now Penn, 65.
Lehigh's defense has given up 203 points in 4 games, and has given up more than 200 yards rushing to four straight teams.
This week's Ivy League player of the week will undoubtedly be Penn RB Karekin Brooks, who ran for 268 net yards, and scored 3 touchdowns, two on the ground, and one through, of all things, a pass. It will be the second straight week that an offensive opponent will become a first-time Ivy League Offensive player of the week, the honor last week going to Yale QB Kurt Rawlings.
The Mountain Hawks' opponents have scored in all 16 quarters this year, and they've allowed at least 13 points in every quarter.
The defense hasn't forced a turnover all season, while the offense turned over the ball four different times today, and after each turnover, the defense would yield a score each time, including a brutal one to start the game when Lehigh desperately needed to jump out to a quick start.
For the second straight week, missed extra points have made it just a tiny bit harder to come back, something Lehigh has found itself doing almost the entire season.
And anyone who witnessed this debacle would have also been treated to all sorts of things, like a Penn running back executing a jump pass for a touchdown; a certain interception bouncing out of the hands of the defender and into the hands of a Penn receiver and a Lehigh 2-point conversion resulting in an interception return by Penn going the other direction.
Someone happier than me right now might bring up junior QB Brad Mayes' 400 yards passing, senior WR Gatlin Casey's 3 touchdowns, and junior RB Dominick Bragalone's strong offensive days today, and indeed, the numbers were impressive. But Lehigh fans reading this should not be fooled by the pretty numbers - Lehigh never was ahead in this game, and in a tiring refrain, killed themselves multiple times with untimely turnovers and couldn't reverse momentum when the offense turned the ball over.
And it could have easily been worse. Yes, Virginia, in a game where Lehigh gave up 65 points, it could have indeed been worse, with a Penn TD overturned by a penalty near the end of this game, making the officials the only thing stopping Penn from putting up 70 on Lehigh this afternoon.
If you're looking for a positive for this 0-4 game, here it is: Lehigh may have hit rock bottom. I mean, how could it get worse than this?
Tune in later for more thoughts, at least the ones I can deliver and still keep this blog PG.
Comments
I couldn't even listen to the radio call of this game, because it was clear from their tone that they knew clearly knew in advance when Penn got the ball- they were either going to score or hit a really big play, and the only way Penn would avoid this was to have a holding penalty or fumble. I am so glad I am not at Goodman this year, because I would have left at halftime today.
This is a really bad, absolutely TERRIBLE Lehigh defensive team and coaching staff, actually the worst defensive coaching staff in nodern history. Horrible, likely the worst in FCS in 2017, and certainly the worst LU defensive team of the last 50 years, about the time I've been following the team as a kid. Lets not worry about making the players feel bad...they are sick about it. Everyone knows now that LU has ignored defensive recruiting in the last several years, and ignored quality coaching recruting. Giving up an average of 50 points a game against mostly average to poor teams is nothing to ignore, and no amount of weed pulling can whitewash this reality. God help us when we face Holy Cross and Gate.
The offense has some stars in Casey Pellitier and Bragalone...terrific NFL eligible players. Brad Mayes is 75 per cent there as a QB but the kid has to learn not to force the ball into traffic or make bad decisions. The catches of G Casey would light up any pro Scout. Pelitier also great. Bragalone was a little small(?) otherwise the kid is playing for a Big Ten team imo.
So the problem is lack of recruiting on Defense Was this done on purpose?? I am not sure But Lehigh's biggest selling point have been the gaudy offensive stats. However, all you need is a couple of very good D players to be respectable. That said our ex LB C Caslow is sorely missed this year
Time for Joe Sterret to step in and help solve the problem e.g. More incentive to come to Lehigh for coaching/students This means reworking the budget and paying the staff more (??) Maybe we need to target the transfer market like convincing talented student athletes at Pitt PSU Delaware or other major programs who are bench warmers to come here I think Joe Flacco left Pitt or PSU for DE for that reason
Thank you
I welcome all comments
Here is the quote from Coen in today's Morning Call, for those who haven't seen it, stuff that is approaching Trumpism/Spicerism. Very strange.
Coen made changes after the Yale game and went with more physical practices.
"That helped us this week, that made us better this week."'
RIGHT Andy. Exactly. So who exactly picked this current Defensive Coordinator? Someone previously with that powerhouse Franklin and Marshall on his Resume? Did that choice make you better Andy?
Particularly troublesome are recent losses to Ivy League schools. We did fairly well against these folks when we did not have athletic scholarships. Now that we have had scholarships for a few years, would one not expect a serious step up in performance? The coaching staff/athletic department may not have the mindset to compete in the "scholarship era". A change may be necessary.