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Yale 26, Lehigh 20, OT final

Yale is a good team. They did things against this Lehigh defense that nobody has been able to do for a long time. But horrible execution in the overtime period by the offense doomed our chances before Yale's offense even took the field.

What sticks in my mind is: We had 1st-and-goal at the 7. And came away with nothing. And it's not like Yale did a fantastic job on defense. We gave all three downs away on preventable mistakes. This failure on offense was not the product of one player. It was a team failure on three straight plays, starting with the "O" line. Making these types of mistakes in early part the game would have been bad enough. Making them in the ultimate crunch time is completely inexcusable.

Lehigh is not a good team right now. Period. We are sitting at 2-4 and unable to make the big plays to win football games. I'm tired of getting close yet again to beating somebody, but falling short. This team has to find a way to win these games. The old saw is "good teams find ways to win these games", and sadly, it's true. I am not used to opposing offensive players dominate out defensive line of scrimmage like this. I am not used to our "O" line making big mistakes in big spots. We are not finding ways to win football games. Five times we've had chances to find ways to win football games. Four times we have not. Until we figure out how to win, we're not a good football team. We've had chances. We're simply not very good.

Bucknell, and Holy Cross, our next two opponents, are coming off of wins this week. That's one more win than we have right now. These guys "get it". They know how to win. I'm not sure this Lehigh team does.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"Yale is a good team."
Jeez, I thought we were going to get the Albany, Princeton, Harvard spin. Glad to see you finally have acknowledged that this team is lousy. I have not seen an LU underachieve like this in the last 20 years.

This team once expected to win when it took the field. It is clear that it now expects to lose. Coen has certainly brought in a new culure. What's really scary is that this is a senior dominated team. Just think what next year is going to be like.

By the way Chuck, no comment on why on earth LU took the ball first on OT. A freakin' peewee coach knows not to dot this.
Anonymous said…
Chuck:

You noted:

"2nd down - one-hopped to Thompson.

"3rd down - Threatt runs into his own man, while two WRs are wide open in the end zone."

These ain't O-line breakdowns. This is a QB execution problem, and these weren't the only ones.

What's your take on Threatt?

Will he ever be as good as the way he played or was touted last year?

He seems like a great leader, but leaders have to perform, too.
Anonymous said…
I live in Connecticut and I have season tickets. I'm sick of this. I have season tickets. I haven't gone to a home game yet and GUESS WHAT, I don't think I will bother. And I CERTAINLY will not be a season ticket holder ever again. IT'S BEEN TORTURE BEING A LEHIGH FAN FOR THREE YEARS. AND IT WON'T CHANGE WITH THIS BONEHEAD COACH.
Anonymous said…
Lets get off Coen for his pick of offense in OT. I agree with picking offense. The guys on the radio said Lehigh should think about Offense first beacuse their defense had just been out there for 3 minutes. We should get on the whole offense for not scoring inside the 10 in OT. Threatt is the LEAST of our problems. He continues to be the best player on this team, while making some questionable plays. Without him this team would be winless. Bottom line is Lehigh's 3 preseason goals are still possible. Beat Lafeyette, Win PL, and go to the playoffs. Also, Yale, Albany, Harvard, and Princeton are all good teams. We must face the fact that the Ivy has passed the PL.
Anonymous said…
"You, and others, pushed for a new coach because, horror of horrors, Lembo only won 75% of his games, went 8-3 last yr with his starting OB out with a broken ankle, and the players thought he was too tough on them."
My frustration with Lembo was the 1-3 record against Lafayette in the last 3 years and his inability to beat A-10 teams. His timeout last year to allow Tavani to change his mind on trying a 52 yard field goal was the last straw.

I expected Coen to adapt to the talent and implement his system as he recruited players to support a new system. If this was a sophomore and junior dominated team, implementing his system might be fine. This is senior dominated team which has an identity based on the last 3 years.

What pisses me off most is his macho BS attitude in regards to running the ball. He doesn't have an offensive line big enough to pound the ball. Hell, he admitted that had to try to teach them to run block. Let them do what they did last year. Spread the offense and use the pass to set up the run.

On defense, LU was always 1 or 2 in the league. Again, the weak spot on this defense coming into the year was linebacker, so he implements a 3-4 defense. Number 8 can't cover anyone and is constantly being exploited. If the competition sees it, why doesn't he. Either get Ahye some help, or get him out of there. Even when he actually covers someone, he has no clue on how to play the ball. The pass interference call and the 20 yard pass in OT were brutal.

Andy W. Bush,sorry Coen, seems incredibly stubborn and is clearly committed to staying the course.
Anonymous said…
"Lets get off Coen for his pick of offense in OT. I agree with picking offense."

Your right Mrs. Coen. Andy is a genius and a trend setter. All those coaches that take the ball second in OT are the idiots.

I don't know why I didn't see the fact that the Ivy League is now filled with the juggernauts of 1-AA football. I feel so much better knowing the LU is now playing far superior competition and the team is really as good as last year's 8-3 team and the 9-2 2004 team that lost to the eventual N.C. by 1 point. Poor Andy's just a victim of a major upgrade in scheduling.

By the way Mrs. Coen, in my humble opinion, the best player on the team is Frank Trovato. However, you do make it tough to argue with logic like Threatt continues to be the best player on this team, while making some questionable plays. Based on this criteria, does this make Ahye the second best player?

I know you've been away for awhile Mrs. Coen, but the school in Easton is L-A-F-A-Y-E-T-T-E.
Anonymous said…
WOW another loss. Someone please explain to a novice, how after you hear the "Lehigh Football Tradition" speil from the recruiter this is as good as it will be? Next Year
Anonymous said…
Amen Ngineer, doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Coaching staff CHANGE SOMETHING, ANYTHING!! Pleeeeeeeeease.
Anonymous said…
It seems to me that the talent level of this team is not up to what has been the norm for nearly a decade. It is most obvious at wide receiver, line backer and corner back.

Andy Coen is not a coach of the year candidate, but this is not his doing. Perhaps this is the reason why Lembo left.
Anonymous said…
The two best receivers are on the bench
Anonymous said…
Anon:I have been watching LU football for more yrs than I care to remember through good and bad but I have to agree with mot of the comments that this appears to be the most confused and unorganized team I have seen. It must be attributed to the coaching. Just 2 examples: taking the ball on offense in OT. Just think if Yale goes 1st and scores a TD and we end up on the 6 yd line on 4th down, we wouldn't be kicking a stupid FG. Also, we oviously have a pretty small OL. Why, with a 5ft 5 RB we are trying to play smash mouth football up the middle over and over? He averaged 21/2 yds per carry. Lembo was right: pass 1st and run 2nd.
Anonymous said…
yea i agree. Coen needs to make a change on offense and use the spread again. Thompson is not a inside runner. He needs to get sweeps and draws. They need to run their running plays out of the shotgun with option hand offs. Sedale can run the ball and they need to get back to that. Also, Sedale isnt a drop back passer. The Wrs need to get better hands, #9 a redshirt freshman looks amazing and he needs to play asap. I didnt get a chance to watch the game so i cant comment on the defense but Thomas needs to be playing every down at CB. I think this team will turn it around and win a below average patriot league.
Anonymous said…
Excellent post LU in NJ. You hit it all right on the money. If Coen wants to run the ball down the opponents' throats then Pastore or McGowan should be pounding it. But then again, this O-line was built for Lembo's wrist band passing game. It seems the only time they look competent out there is when they resort to the no-huddle, short pass game.

Personally, I find the defense to be a disaster waiting to happen. They are easily picked apart by any decent QB. The D-back seem to have a lot of trouble judging where the receivers' breaks come in and when or where the ball is coming. I call that bad coaching. Lining up on the wrong side of the formation and an endless parade of penalties can also be attributed to a lack of coaching.

I'm certainly not screaming for Coen to go but I ho[e the usual exodus of assistants occurs again. Perhaps then Andy can bring in "his" guys then we can judge just what kind of coach he really is.

But another year of Sedale under center scares the hell out of me. I don't know whether it's the coaching or we just expected too much, but about this time last year I had visions of one of the all-time Lehigh QB greats. Has anyone bothered to show him how to look for secondary and tertiary receivers? And somebody needs to tell him that he's not going to make it in college ball with his legs. He's not that great a runner nor does he understand the idea of tucking the ball in.
Anonymous said…
Is this a chat board?
Anonymous said…
Appears to be a lot of that going around lately.....

I thought the voy board seemed awfully quiet, was wondereing where everybody went for a while...

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