Press Roundup: Colgate 27, Lehigh 20

(Photo courtesy Colgate Athletics)

There was precious little coverage in the papers this weekend on the game, especially in the upstate New York area where all we have is the AP mentions that a game was played in Hamilton and that the 7-1 Raiders still are very much in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs and maybe the Patriot League autobid.

The local papers also mostly ran modified versions of the official Lehigh recap, though to their credit the Morning Call did do a follow-up piece today as well. Even the student-run Brown and White didn't mention the game at Colgate this weekend, which leaves my recap as the only independent record of the game this Saturday.

Lehigh Athletics: Lehigh Can't Hold Early Lead, Falls to Colgate 27-20

"I thought the kids fought hard, they competed right to the end there. But we need to win one of these close games,” Mountain Hawks head coach Andy Coen said after the game. “I thought junior QB J.B. Clark did a nice job running the offense today. He knew we would ask him to tuck the ball and run with it a little more than usual and he handled that very well. We had a chance there at the end, it was a bang-bang play but we couldn’t pull it out.”

Morning Call: Lehigh's Schedule Doesn't Get Any Easier

Andy Coen said it was ''an ugly day - rainy, windy, miserable'' at Andy Kerr Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The frustration is apparent, but Coen, his staff and players can only press on and work toward turning things around.

''Obviously, it's disappointing to be right there and have a chance to win it, or at least tie it, late in the game and not be able to do that,'' Coen said. ''We continue to struggle to find a way to win the close games. I thought we had things figured out, but it didn't happen. It was a somber locker room and a long ride home. And that's the way it should be when you lose a game like that.

''That wasn't the case a few years ago. I remember a few years ago when we lost at Colgate, by the time I had gotten back in the locker room after talking to the media, you would have thought we had won the game judging by the reaction. But these guys took it hard. They care. They have kept a good attitude through a tough season.''

Coen said that the defense, which had been stout through most of the season, gave up ''too many big plays for the first time in a long time.''

...

''It was our best day with no turnovers and not having as many penalties, but that was a big one there before the end of the half,'' Coen said. ''And then we had a sack on the next play and didn't get any points out of it. We didn't protect the quarterback as well as we've been. We did a lot of good things up there, just not enough.''

...

But even though things appear gloomy, Coen has no doubt that the players will continue to compete.

''The attitude, the work ethic, their desire has been there all year,'' he said. ''It has just been a play here and there. We've got a lot of young guys playing, and that's not an excuse, but some of them are still growing into their positions and learning.

''We know it doesn't get any easier this week with Holy Cross, but I know our kids will respond well as they have all season.''