Colgate and Villanova

Back-to-back PL champs 2016 and 2017.... but need to get back to relevance in the national FCS scene.
Go Lehigh TU Owl
Posts: 431
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 11:34 pm
Contact:

Colgate and Villanova

Post by Go Lehigh TU Owl » Sat Aug 24, 2019 11:28 pm

Made the trip to Hamilton to get a first hand view of the Raiders and Wildcats today. Wow! I did not see that butt kicking coming Hamilton! Outside of a 7-8 minute stretch in the second half, Colgate was completely outplayed. What surprised me is how bad their lines were controlled by 'Nova. 'Gate returned a loaded OL but had no answer for the 'Nova D. They struggled to run and Breneman was under consistent pressure. On defense, 'Nova was able to run right at 'Gate with a ton of success. Wheeler and Ionelli had good games but the rest of front 7 struggled. Gate's linebackers and secondary are no where close to last years level. Twyman looked better than Matthews at RB and their WR's are a work in process.

'Nova looked really good. Unless Lehigh comes out and beats St. Francis by 4+ TD's i'm expecting a good butt kicking on the Main Line. Their new QB is solid and they can run to ball. Lehigh's DL is going to get mauled. Lehigh needs to head to Hamilton 2-2.

Gate and Holy Cross could be in for a world of hurt in the OOC. Between injuries and losses, both of their seasons could be in tatters by the time PL play starts. Hopefully the PL doesn't send another sub .500 rep to the playoffs.


Lehigh74
Posts: 174
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 11:19 pm
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by Lehigh74 » Sun Aug 25, 2019 10:17 am

Just because Villanova dominated Colgate doesn’t necessarily mean they will dominate Lehigh. Even in years when we had one of the worst defenses in all of FCS, we had some pretty competitive games with them. Given our new coaching staff and schemes, it will be interesting to see how we match up.
Sundayamqb
Posts: 676
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 10:42 am
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by Sundayamqb » Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:07 am

Lehigh74 wrote: Sun Aug 25, 2019 10:17 am Just because Villanova dominated Colgate doesn’t necessarily mean they will dominate Lehigh. Even in years when we had one of the worst defenses in all of FCS, we had some pretty competitive games with them. Given our new coaching staff and schemes, it will be interesting to see how we match up.
I watched part of the 'Gate game and 'Nova looked THAT good.

Hard to be optimistic, but ... there's a reason we play the game.
User avatar
RichH
Posts: 3904
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:53 pm
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by RichH » Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:07 pm

Gate has Air Force this week. If history has any clue, Gate's OOC wont have much relevance to PL games.
My question for this year is has the PL improved relative to our OOC. Next few weeks will tell us more.
Go Lehigh TU Owl
Posts: 431
Joined: Sun May 13, 2018 11:34 pm
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by Go Lehigh TU Owl » Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:20 pm

RichH wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:07 pm Gate has Air Force this week. If history has any clue, Gate's OOC wont have much relevance to PL games.
My question for this year is has the PL improved relative to our OOC. Next few weeks will tell us more.
Or Lehigh in 2017 and Lafayette in 2013.

This has the feel of Colgate's 2016 season. They finished 2015 in the quarterfinals and ranked in the Top 15. Entered 2016 with tons of hype but completely fell apart in the OOC. The Raiders ultimately finished 5-5 because they felt they were "too good" to play Bryant.

PL teams just need to win games. Scheduling tough and losing (often getting crushed) does nothing to increase a teams credibility. If you're going to challenge yourself you better have the ability to stand up to the competition. Otherwise you're nothing more than a home coming cupcake that teams will happily schedule for an easy win. Colgate better man up and be willing to meet the challenge that is playing Air Force at 7,000 feet.

Clearly PL teams can't beat Villanova. The Wildcats are 33-4 (soon to be 35-4) against the PL since 1986.
User avatar
RichH
Posts: 3904
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:53 pm
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by RichH » Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:53 pm

Go Lehigh TU Owl wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:20 pm
RichH wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:07 pm Gate has Air Force this week. If history has any clue, Gate's OOC wont have much relevance to PL games.
My question for this year is has the PL improved relative to our OOC. Next few weeks will tell us more.
Or Lehigh in 2017 and Lafayette in 2013.

This has the feel of Colgate's 2016 season. They finished 2015 in the quarterfinals and ranked in the Top 15. Entered 2016 with tons of hype but completely fell apart in the OOC. The Raiders ultimately finished 5-5 because they felt they were "too good" to play Bryant.

PL teams just need to win games. Scheduling tough and losing (often getting crushed) does nothing to increase a teams credibility. If you're going to challenge yourself you better have the ability to stand up to the competition. Otherwise you're nothing more than a home coming cupcake that teams will happily schedule for an easy win. Colgate better man up and be willing to meet the challenge that is playing Air Force at 7,000 feet.

Clearly PL teams can't beat Villanova. The Wildcats are 33-4 (soon to be 35-4) against the PL since 1986.
Pretty much agree. PL has to book competitive tough games. Part of improving our conference is upgrading our OOC schedules. See nothing wrong with an occasional FBS game for spice. We should focus on tough FCS squads. CAA, Big South, SoCon are all easy road trips. NEC , while not sexy, has become a very competitive league.An NEC, 2 power FCS, an Ivy or 2 seems like a good balance.
Nova UC Davis are reaches for us this year but nice to see on the schedule. 3 NEC games is surely overkill. :shock: :D No real upside for us .A W is nice but expected usually. An L is news and not in a good way.
A rebuilding year for us this year in many ways. So perhaps a good idea, if we get 3 Ws.
I think the 2 Bye weeks early this season are crucial for this so very young team.
ngineer
Posts: 1119
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 10:54 pm
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by ngineer » Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:54 pm

I watched the Battle of the Apostrophes and agree that 'nova did dominate 'gate for the most part. However, one also has to remember this was an early opener, let along a first game of the season. Many early season match ups do not reflect how a team will be come October. Can't forget two of 'nova's second quarter TDs came from turnovers--one a pick six. Do agree that 'gate QB was under constant pressure, big contributor to the pick six. We're going to have to get the "ball out" quickly to WR,TE and RBs to slow the rush. 'gate has a freshman WR would could become a force. Excellent size. Scan of the stands looked like almost as may 'nova fans as 'gate fans. Did I hear correctly taht the 'nova QB was a transfer from...Campbell??
User avatar
RichH
Posts: 3904
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:53 pm
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by RichH » Mon Aug 26, 2019 2:00 pm

ngineer wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:54 pm I watched the Battle of the Apostrophes and agree that 'nova did dominate 'gate for the most part. However, one also has to remember this was an early opener, let along a first game of the season. Many early season match ups do not reflect how a team will be come October. Can't forget two of 'nova's second quarter TDs came from turnovers--one a pick six. Do agree that 'gate QB was under constant pressure, big contributor to the pick six. We're going to have to get the "ball out" quickly to WR,TE and RBs to slow the rush. 'gate has a freshman WR would could become a force. Excellent size. Scan of the stands looked like almost as may 'nova fans as 'gate fans. Did I hear correctly taht the 'nova QB was a transfer from...Campbell??
Yup. A grad transfer. Set all kinds of records at Campbell. Dual threat type QB.
Sundayamqb
Posts: 676
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 10:42 am
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by Sundayamqb » Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:50 pm

RichH wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:53 pm Nova UC Davis are reaches for us this year but nice to see on the schedule. 3 NEC games is surely overkill. :shock: :D No real upside for us .A W is nice but expected usually. An L is news and not in a good way.
I can't help but think -- again, and you all rag me about it -- that if the PL can no longer compete nationally in FCS, it has no business being there.
User avatar
RichH
Posts: 3904
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:53 pm
Contact:

Re: Colgate and Villanova

Post by RichH » Mon Aug 26, 2019 10:07 pm

Sundayamqb wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:50 pm
RichH wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:53 pm Nova UC Davis are reaches for us this year but nice to see on the schedule. 3 NEC games is surely overkill. :shock: :D No real upside for us .A W is nice but expected usually. An L is news and not in a good way.
I can't help but think -- again, and you all rag me about it -- that if the PL can no longer compete nationally in FCS, it has no business being there.
No other option actually. But, we already know we can compete here.Wevhave done very well both before and since the PL. There is no doubt that schollies , albeit necessary, have not done well for us or the PL. Schollies became essential as our niche was quickly disappearing.to the expanding CAA and the schollie NEC. The problem initially was a very slow adaptation to schollie recruiting compounded by the Ivies amping up their student aid and recruiting. We have gotten better players and more of them. That said ,the truth is we havent kept pace with our competition.Our league rules have insured that. The answer is not to drop but to be more assertive in forcing changes to our rules.
As it stands PL will occasionally get a team like Gate. IMO schollies should be adequate to at least keep us at a par with our teams preschollie nationally.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 40 guests