Sunday's Word: Fitness

I put a lot of thought into this Sunday's word. "Hubris"? Was it hubris that had us losing this game? "Ivy"? Was it the Ivy just simply putting the smack down on us? "Granite"? Was it our guys, whenever we needed a big running play, they looked like they simply ran into a block of granite?

After watching the replay, to me the word that sticks out is "fitness".

Why? I can't say if the players went out there expecting to beat an Ivy team before the game was even played, so "hubris" gets thrown out. Similarly, the "Ivies" put a real good hurting on the whole Patriot League this week (heck, even Colgate was down 7-6 at half to.... Dartmouth.) It *could* be league-wide hubris. But that's not why we lost.

"Granite" comes closer. On 2nd-and-goal from the 3, we hand off to senior RB Marques Thompson and he gets stuffed by Princeton LB Doori Song. 3rd-and-6, and then we see another incompletion. 4th down... and the FG hits the post. When we got into the red zone, Thompson and the running game hits a block of granite and comes up with nothing.

But "Granite" is related to "Fitness". And "Fitness" is the word this week.

If football games were 30 minutes, we'd be unstoppable. But it's clear that as the game goes on the effectiveness of the offense is going down. In the fourth quarter, we're not ripping the huge gains and getting the TDs. Instead, we're getting stuffed at 2nd-and-goal at the 3.

Why? "Fitness" could be as good a reason as any. When the game is on the line, and we need a big 4th-and-1 or a big push at 2nd-and-goal, we're not getting those yards. It's not just the line, or the QB, or a receiver. It's the whole offense as a unit.

You can see it. Off-target throws, for a variety of reasons. Mental errors resulting in penalties and killed drives. Drives deep in the red zone with no points to show for it. (I give Donchez a pass for the pass interference call, which probably prevented an interception.)

Sedale had another game where he looked sharp in the first half, only to struggle in the second. The types of errors that occurred seemed to me to be the type that occur because Sedale is trying to do too much out there, especially by forcing passes. Princeton has an experienced, wily secondary. I'm hoping that this game was an eye-opener for Sedale.

Not that the defense gets a total pass either. In the second half, Princeton stepped on our throats and we looked lost out there at times. A terrible mental error gave Princeton the ball at midfield and it took all of four plays to score.

Lehigh lost to a very very good football team on Saturday. Anyone who tells you Princeton is a bad team is not looking hard enough at the films. Princeton is a solid, talented team that tackles well, can play effecient offense and can block. Our last three losses at home - to Lafayette, Princeton and Albany - were to good teams. (Yes, Albany DID beat Delaware at the Tub on Saturday night, 17-13 - that wasn't a typo.) One of the things that bugged me about the film was that Lehigh was getting beat on both lines. Princeton's lines may be small, but they got the better of us on Saturday.

But if the offense finds their "Fitness", and strings together a full 60 minutes of effectiveness, we still have a chance to win championships and play in the I-AA playoffs. Again, last I checked, if Lehigh wins all their league games they don't have to worry about at-large bids to the playoffs. We still can do it. Hopefully, two weeks from now against Harvard, we'll see more "fitness" against another brutally tough Ivy team.

I still beleive we've got a good team here, and I think our best Saturdays are yet to come. If our team develops some "Fitness" and can execute well for 60 minutes.