LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Back-to-back PL champs 2016 and 2017.... but need to get back to relevance in the national FCS scene.
datruph
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LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by datruph » Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:16 am

Great atmosphere...wish Lehigh could create the same. It felt like real D1 college football. Once again I sat very close. You can really see whats going on when your this close. The good thing besides Shoups nose bleeding after being stopped at the end it looks like we came out ok. Monaco took a lot of hits again and did come out towards end of game with what looks like a helmet to arm in the end zone. Besides that I saw a lot of frustration like helmet throwing. No biggie!!! I must say my posted prediction of this game came out exactly as I thought. We played nose for nose with a very good team for one half. They grinded us down. First of all they were much bigger than us on both sides of the ball. Our d-line got manhandled the second half. We have no depth there and these guys did great for one half but wore out. Face it, we are thin at d-line-lb,o-line and receiver. I thought we showed well. Nova changed the flow of blocking in the second half and that killed us. Normally there blocking would flow with which way the back is running. Second half line blocked opposite of back and they were caving in our under-sized line. If we can play a half with a team like that we should be okay if we stay healthy. DB'S were out of position (fresh) a few times but inexperience causes that. On offense, we came out with a nice plan. Quick and short. We moved the ball through the air. The o-line with two freshman did decent. Allen isnt seeing the lil holes. He's been hit so much he isn't even looking anymore. 30 kept his head up and peeled a nice run. I love our tight end. We had 7 drops this game and 6 last game. What bothers me is fundamentals. Receivers using there chests to catch at d1 level??? I think Monaco has kept this offense moving despite all the factors because of his throwing ability. He completes passes that are big league throws. He sees the field well. I agree that our red-zone offensive play calling needs to be looked at but without a run game half your plays are off the board. It limits the play-calling. We still cannot get a 3 and 1 on the ground. It's sad and i'm sure frustrating to the OC. Our receivers are under-sized so fades and jump balls are also off the table. It's tough. I listened to the Villanova feed of the game and all they did was praise our QB. Composure, accuracy and how many hits he had taken. I think we have something building for Patriot league play. Our defense is decent and much improved from last year. Our offense has the runners a very good tight end and a strong accurate QB. The o-line is hanging in there. One injury to our o-line,d-line,lb or qb and its a differnt ball game. The odd seating arrangement forced us to sit next to all Villanova fans and the y were praising our defense the first half and praising our qb. Lets stay positive and get out of California healthy and then see what happens. I think UC Davis is going to throw all over our defense. If we find a run game our offense will be able to move the ball on them. We do need to get our backs in to the flats with quick passes a lot more. Also, I think we just missed on two backside screens when o-lineman missed his block or those plays would have went far. D-line concerns me. We need to disguise our size with multiple fronts. I like our lb's but not enough of them...UC D avis 48-13 but we are going to be okay. GILMORE VERY ANIMATED ON SIDELINE...HES A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP. LOL NICE TO SEE.


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van
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by van » Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:54 am

thanks for the candid analysis, lot of young guys getting PT, should help in the long run, gotta keep the faith for now
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RichH
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by RichH » Mon Sep 09, 2019 10:34 am

Appreciate the eyewitness.Great recap. Agree for the most part. Coach K did use a lot of stunts and slants as well as blitz packages. Simple truth tho is good bigs will wear down and beat good smaller bigs. Monaco a bit up and down. Drops didnt help but neither did the misses. We need Dambach to get healthy. Both he a Mickens, our only tall WRs are on the sideline for now. Allen getting pummeled mercilessly.Petey looked good vs Nova's 2s as did Shoup.
Hopefully OL will get better at run blocking. Rather a muddle now with injuries. Hope Z can get same 5 guys together for extended reps and PT.
Until then? We have to spread the field. Right now opponents have no respect for our pass attack. We complete under 50% of our throws. Not all on Monaco. Lots of contributing factors. Lots of moving parts to fix.
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RichH
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by RichH » Mon Sep 09, 2019 12:00 pm

DL depth may improve if and when we get Nace and Kircher back on the field. I wonder about Colton. Highly recruited and touted DT. Hurt??
LUFAN
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by LUFAN » Mon Sep 09, 2019 12:01 pm

Lehigh fans are easy to please.

QB barely managed 50% completion rate after 40% last week and a pick 6 this week...so the Lehigh offense has now scored the same number of TDs this year as opposing defenses. 5 of 18 on 3rd down conversions. 8 drives of less than 10 yards. Not good numbers at all.

Back-up RB shows ability to slash...could be a bright spot for O.

Defense allowed 227 rushing yards and 7.6 per carry. No sacks and no turnovers. Aggressive play from Lehigh D but shows an inability to compete with a team of Nova’s quality.

Just keeping it real. Long way to go when it comes to OOC games.
datruph
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by datruph » Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:41 pm

Gloom and Doom LUFAN. As a previous coach Im not one to point fingers. Lets get answers. Im trying to look for the positives on both sides of the ball. We have improved drastically on defense from last year but we are thin on both sides. One injury will really hurt us anywhere...thats Patriot league football and our scholarship issue. So what do we do? I reiterate, we were horrible on both sides of the ball for two years and did not play kids...why??? I noted last year that some of our skilled position kids had beer-bellys. I will not mention names. Gilmore can only do so much. The team is playing hard but a lion can only go so long before the hunt is over. I'm not campaigning for Gilmore or any coach. I do think he inherited a mess. Under-achieving kids who were there just for the degree. I keep saying this team is transitioning and unfortunately it will take time. We have some good pieces and I like the coaching staffs direction. I do question our size. I do question our play calling inside the red zone. It's going to work out. We have won eight games in two years. I think 82 is learning and could be decent down the road. Made a couple of nice catches but the pick six was directly in front of me and he did not come back for the ball. He let the defender jump the route. Inexperience!!! He will learn and hopefully be a stud. We made some bad mistakes on special teams pinning us deep. Inexperience. On defense we are good enough to win the Patriot league if we stay healthy. We are small and that concerns me against Colgate. On offense I see much brighter things then what you keep posting. If Rod Carew hit four line drive outs and was o for 4 does that make him a bad hitter? If this o- line gets there act together we have the other pieces to make a run at things. We are 25 in Passing yards in the FCS. We are 112 in rushing yards out of 124. If Zakorski and Brisson can balance this out we will the Patriot league. Stop looking at the percentages and look at the things that the coaches are looking at. Thats why Gilmore keeps saying we are very close. Im seeing what he is seeing. Misery loves company...
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News
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by News » Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:53 pm

Well said DT, but having said that I also see a lot of things that need cleaning up from last week.

* You can't win against Villanova when you have 3rd and 2 and procedural penalties turn it into 3rd and 7.

* Too many times the offense followed a terrific play with a momentum-killing no gain or mistake.

* Coaches thought the 1st half defense was great, but tackling got sloppy in the second half, and again, that's not good enough to beat Villanova.

* Overall the team doesn't seem 100% on the same page all the time. To a degree this comes from Week 1/Week 2 jitters, new coach, etc. But once again, it's not good enough to beat Villanova.

I broadly agree that things are very much pointed in the right direction. Good things seem to be happening that aren't showing up in the box score. Having said that it's hard to say how much cleanup or how long is required. A higher level of execution overall is required to beat Nova, UC Davis, Colgate.
LUFAN
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by LUFAN » Mon Sep 09, 2019 4:14 pm

datruph wrote: Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:41 pm Gloom and Doom LUFAN. As a previous coach Im not one to point fingers. Lets get answers. Im trying to look for the positives on both sides of the ball. We have improved drastically on defense from last year but we are thin on both sides. One injury will really hurt us anywhere...thats Patriot league football and our scholarship issue. So what do we do? I reiterate, we were horrible on both sides of the ball for two years and did not play kids...why??? I noted last year that some of our skilled position kids had beer-bellys. I will not mention names. Gilmore can only do so much. The team is playing hard but a lion can only go so long before the hunt is over. I'm not campaigning for Gilmore or any coach. I do think he inherited a mess. Under-achieving kids who were there just for the degree. I keep saying this team is transitioning and unfortunately it will take time. We have some good pieces and I like the coaching staffs direction. I do question our size. I do question our play calling inside the red zone. It's going to work out. We have won eight games in two years. I think 82 is learning and could be decent down the road. Made a couple of nice catches but the pick six was directly in front of me and he did not come back for the ball. He let the defender jump the route. Inexperience!!! He will learn and hopefully be a stud. We made some bad mistakes on special teams pinning us deep. Inexperience. On defense we are good enough to win the Patriot league if we stay healthy. We are small and that concerns me against Colgate. On offense I see much brighter things then what you keep posting. If Rod Carew hit four line drive outs and was o for 4 does that make him a bad hitter? If this o- line gets there act together we have the other pieces to make a run at things. We are 25 in Passing yards in the FCS. We are 112 in rushing yards out of 124. If Zakorski and Brisson can balance this out we will the Patriot league. Stop looking at the percentages and look at the things that the coaches are looking at. Thats why Gilmore keeps saying we are very close. Im seeing what he is seeing. Misery loves company...
First...it’s not gloom, it’s reality. Those are the actual numbers. To insinuate that it’s okay to throw 50 incomplete passes in 94 attempts is simply insane. How is that percentage ignored? YES...percentages matter very much in this game and you as a “coach” should know that. I have coached for 20 years and stats tell me a great deal about my team and our inefficiencies/strengths.

You state Lehigh ranks 25th in passing yards and 112th in rushing. Since you chose to attack my fact driven analysis as gloom, you should be aware of these rankings:

101st in passing efficiency
98th scoring offense (and they accidentally included SFU TD)
99th completion %
111th Red Zone offense (note this ranking is consistent with others, it is NOT just red zone problem)

...I will stop there. I think you get the point. The offense is extremely inefficient right now and ranks 25th in passing yards only because they have thrown it 46x per game.

Tom Gilmore stated that the offense is very inconsistent which is supported by all of the stats presented. “We are close”...I am not sure what that means but I think TG realizes that the stats above are not acceptable. He has made some noticeable improvements...this is not an indictment of anyone, just simple observations.

If Rod Carew hit 4 line drives and made 4 outs he would be O for 4 and he didn’t help his team win. You don’t get points for line drives. Rod would tell you that I’m sure.

82 comment...that INT cannot be thrown to the inside when DB has inside leverage. Ball must be positioned to the outside so DB has to go through WR to get to it. Not 82s fault at all. In fact, Lehigh’s CB #7 made a similar break later in game but ball was to outside and commentator actually made that point. If it were inside, #7 has a pick 6.

Lastly, no fingers were pointed at any player or coach. These are facts and statistics that have contributed to an 0-2 record, which all agree should be 1-1. You can make your own assessment as to why.

Must improve to compete with the likes of Nova.
datruph
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by datruph » Mon Sep 09, 2019 6:32 pm

The great thing about sports is everybody is entitled to there opinion. Right or wrong...Fans opinions dont count. Theres only been two hitters in major league baseball to hit a legit 400 batting average. Both of these guys are considered legends. A 400 avg means they failed 6 out of 10 times. Remember these are legends!!! If a qb hits a receiver in the hands 10 out of 10 times and the reciver drops them all that must mean hes a poor qb? Coaches have there careers on the line and it is there decision of who plays. If they do make a move and it fails they have sealed there fate. Regardless of my opinion and any other posters it really doesn't matter. I like blonde hair women you might like black, that is our choice. We do not have a family counting on dad (coach) to bring home a paycheck each week. I will continue to be positive and support the regime. You will see the game your way and I will see it mine. It's what makes sports GREAT... enough said.
TMH
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Re: LEHIGH VERSE NOVA

Post by TMH » Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:02 pm

OK...I disagree. :-) There are 14 HOFers that hit .400 in a season. I'll assume that Ted William's was legit. Who did you choose as the other one....Hornsby or Cobb who each did it 3 X.
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