I couldn't be happier that Lehigh put in a much better performance this week than they did last week, proving me wrong in a 32-21 victory.
It's a game that shouldn't have been that close - after Princeton had argubaly one of their worst halves in the Roger Hughes era, Lehigh had a 23-0 lead that should easily have been 30-0. Four turnovers in the first half, the Tigers only had nine mnutes of possession time, and Lehigh ran 52 plays. 52! Two missed FG and a missed extra point meant the Tigers were in it at halftime.
In the second half, Princeton battled back and made it a much more interesting game, cutting it to 23-14 late in the 3rd quarter. But much to Lehigh's credit, they stomped on Princeton's throat early in the 4th quarter with a late drive to go up 32-14 and ending their hopes at a comeback.
Once again, Lehigh showed flashes of brilliance on offense, punching in the first two takeaways/gifts for touchdowns. Yet Lehigh had the chance to go for the jugular and simply blow them out of the building, and they couldn't do so. Still, it feels like complaining for the sake of complaining - Lehigh did a great job, especially in the secondary, against a team which is supposed to be in the running for an Ivy League title this year.
"We're obviously happy to get the win, but it wasn't a clean football game by any stretch of the imagination," coach Coen said in the postgame press conference. "We did well on the first two drives of the game, but then our offense kind of sputtered, and I wasn't pleased with the overall execution offensively. In the second half, defensively we gave up some big plays and let Princeton back into the game, but I've very pleased that we found that 'finishing mentality' on the 13-play drive to seal the game."
Statistically, senior QB Sedale Threatt didn't have the greatest day, going 14-for-33 passing with 149 yards and 1 TD. Two freshmen, however, did all the running at running back and both had great days considering they've been Lehigh students for less than a month: freshman RB Kwesi Kankam, with 73 yards and a TD (and converted a huge 3rd-and-15 screen play on the game-clinching drive), and freshman RB Jaren Walker, in his first game, getting 59 tough interior yards rushing getting bashed inside the tackles and 1 TD (which was set up with a big 4th-down conversion bby Walker with an outside sweep at the end of the 1st half.)
Overall, some flashes of brilliance in every phase of the game, some mistakes on offense and defense - but most importantly, a win and some momentum coming back home against VMI. This team is not there yet, but hopefully will continue to get better each week.
But today, we enjoy the win. We enjoy that Lehigh finally went for the jugular, and that we've righted the ship and started some winning ways. We celebrate.
It's a game that shouldn't have been that close - after Princeton had argubaly one of their worst halves in the Roger Hughes era, Lehigh had a 23-0 lead that should easily have been 30-0. Four turnovers in the first half, the Tigers only had nine mnutes of possession time, and Lehigh ran 52 plays. 52! Two missed FG and a missed extra point meant the Tigers were in it at halftime.
In the second half, Princeton battled back and made it a much more interesting game, cutting it to 23-14 late in the 3rd quarter. But much to Lehigh's credit, they stomped on Princeton's throat early in the 4th quarter with a late drive to go up 32-14 and ending their hopes at a comeback.
Once again, Lehigh showed flashes of brilliance on offense, punching in the first two takeaways/gifts for touchdowns. Yet Lehigh had the chance to go for the jugular and simply blow them out of the building, and they couldn't do so. Still, it feels like complaining for the sake of complaining - Lehigh did a great job, especially in the secondary, against a team which is supposed to be in the running for an Ivy League title this year.
"We're obviously happy to get the win, but it wasn't a clean football game by any stretch of the imagination," coach Coen said in the postgame press conference. "We did well on the first two drives of the game, but then our offense kind of sputtered, and I wasn't pleased with the overall execution offensively. In the second half, defensively we gave up some big plays and let Princeton back into the game, but I've very pleased that we found that 'finishing mentality' on the 13-play drive to seal the game."
Statistically, senior QB Sedale Threatt didn't have the greatest day, going 14-for-33 passing with 149 yards and 1 TD. Two freshmen, however, did all the running at running back and both had great days considering they've been Lehigh students for less than a month: freshman RB Kwesi Kankam, with 73 yards and a TD (and converted a huge 3rd-and-15 screen play on the game-clinching drive), and freshman RB Jaren Walker, in his first game, getting 59 tough interior yards rushing getting bashed inside the tackles and 1 TD (which was set up with a big 4th-down conversion bby Walker with an outside sweep at the end of the 1st half.)
Overall, some flashes of brilliance in every phase of the game, some mistakes on offense and defense - but most importantly, a win and some momentum coming back home against VMI. This team is not there yet, but hopefully will continue to get better each week.
But today, we enjoy the win. We enjoy that Lehigh finally went for the jugular, and that we've righted the ship and started some winning ways. We celebrate.
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--Ngineer