RIVALRY

[HFO]

30 points over 5 losses was differnce between 9 win season and 4 win season. 2 FG or 1 TD per game. LEHIGH deserved those loses because of miscues. Penalties, turnovers, play execution, clock management, play calling. It is stuff that all is owned by Head Coach not having everyone as prepared as they need to be if they want to contest for Patriot League Championship.

Gilmore not my first choice, but he is here minimum of 4 more years and likely to get contract extension before Sterrett retires. So expect him 9 years.

1. Recruit and build up linemen to be best in Patriot Leauge. PA produces some of the best.
2. Recruit guys who know LEHIGH and want to be here. Focus on NC and North and IL and east. Getting the 20th best guy from FL, TX, GA is not a winning situation.
3. Push assistant coaches to up there game. Have them go through entire season of film and find their own mistakes. Rebuild their calls and decision trees for 2020 season.

IMO Gilmore is not far off from pulling an 8 win season next year. It would be nice also if he landed some Lehigh Valley and Central NJ talent. Hit the winning programs. St. Joseph's Prep, LaSalle College HS, Archbishop Wood, the top tier LV programs, Phillipsburgh, Bergen Catholic, etc.

Recruit 2 star kids who know and expect to win.

[Sundayamqb]

My biggest problem with yesterday’s game and the whole season for that matter, was our total ineptitude in the red zone. Three times yesterday we had to settle for field goals. If one of those three was a touchdown we win the game. We had 4 or 5 times during the season when we had first and goal at the 1 yard line and didn’t get a touchdown. Those failures cost us several wins. What is really puzzling about our red zone problems is the total lack of creativity by the coaches. How many times do you have to run up the middle from the shotgun without success, before you realize you should try something else? Albert Einstein once said “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result”

Exactly, and that is why we need a new oc

+6

Awful play calling.

Last I heard, QB sneaks still were in playbooks.

The play-calling and performance with a minute left was pretty sketch, too, though the QB had limited game experience.

[RichH]

Pretty much agree ngineer. Recruit group off to a solid start but a lot more yet to do. Both Bucknell and Holy Cross have verbals from a number of touted players. Way ahead of everyone else to date. The next 3-4 weeks will tell the tale.Guardedly optimistic.
Rewatched game last night. Yeah, I know I'm a masochist
My main bitch remains the same tho. I dont like TG over coaching his staff. He is more of a hands on coach than Andy. Fine but he should keep that to individual players. Technique is for position coaches. Play calls should be made by the OC and DC. That's their job.
OK past time to put this season to bed.
Next year's schedule a bit more manageable except for Nova opening the season.
Have no real idea of how many schollies we will have next year. Hope and Spencer may add 2 but you have to hope wonder if we can replace them with at least equal ability. Are Monaco and Rosen returning? Amount of funding a real factor in the talent level and size of next year's class.

[lfnadmin]

To put things in a little bit of perspective, Lehigh:

* started the 3rd string QB on the preseason depth chart
* started 2 healthy OL from the preseason 1s on the depth chart
* Starting preseason all-PL WR1 and productive freshman WR3 out
* Missing productive RB in the transfer portal and who knows if Hill was 100% after being out two weeks

Yet Lehigh held a 16-14 lead in the final minute.

I too was frustrated with the offensive performance - 4 turnovers - but c'mon. Any FCS team not named North Dakota State would have struggled on offense in this situation. And the turnovers came from one kid in his second GAME of Division I action and a freshman playing in his first Rivalry. These aren't excuses for losing, but painting this a some sort of disaster is comically overblown. Maybe next year with a full healthy season under their belts these things don't happen.

You gotta take this as a learning experience for everyone involved. The amount of youth out there was immense. TG knows the Rivalry, but he had to work extremely hard to pull together a team that could compete that was 3-8 last year and lost its 2 year starter at QB and 4 year letterman and recordholder at RB. That Lehigh was competing for a share of the PL championship on the final weekend of the year is a testament to him.

The loss sucks but I am eager to see who TG and his recruiting wizards bring in. The Patriot League needs to desperately make changes to bring the league in line with the rest of FCS, but that's not Gilmore's fault. Despite that, overall Lehigh's future is still very bright to me. Gilmore will get players here. He did that at Holy Cross and will do that here but better.

[RichH]

To put things in a little bit of perspective, Lehigh:

* started the 3rd string QB on the preseason depth chart
* started 2 healthy OL from the preseason 1s on the depth chart
* Starting preseason all-PL WR1 and productive freshman WR3 out
* Missing productive RB in the transfer portal and who knows if Hill was 100% after being out two weeks

Yet Lehigh held a 16-14 lead in the final minute.

I too was frustrated with the offensive performance - 4 turnovers - but c'mon. Any FCS team not named North Dakota State would have struggled on offense in this situation. And the turnovers came from one kid in his second GAME of Division I action and a freshman playing in his first Rivalry. These aren't excuses for losing, but painting this a some sort of disaster is comically overblown. Maybe next year with a full healthy season under their belts these things don't happen.

You gotta take this as a learning experience for everyone involved. The amount of youth out there was immense. TG knows the Rivalry, but he had to work extremely hard to pull together a team that could compete that was 3-8 last year and lost its 2 year starter at QB and 4 year letterman and recordholder at RB. That Lehigh was competing for a share of the PL championship on the final weekend of the year is a testament to him.

The loss sucks but I am eager to see who TG and his recruiting wizards bring in. The Patriot League needs to desperately make changes to bring the league in line with the rest of FCS, but that's not Gilmore's fault. Despite that, overall Lehigh's future is still very bright to me. Gilmore will get players here. He did that at Holy Cross and will do that here but better.

+1
Apt perspective.

[LHFtball]

To put things in a little bit of perspective, Lehigh:

* started the 3rd string QB on the preseason depth chart
* started 2 healthy OL from the preseason 1s on the depth chart
* Starting preseason all-PL WR1 and productive freshman WR3 out
* Missing productive RB in the transfer portal and who knows if Hill was 100% after being out two weeks

Yet Lehigh held a 16-14 lead in the final minute.

I too was frustrated with the offensive performance - 4 turnovers - but c'mon. Any FCS team not named North Dakota State would have struggled on offense in this situation. And the turnovers came from one kid in his second GAME of Division I action and a freshman playing in his first Rivalry. These aren't excuses for losing, but painting this a some sort of disaster is comically overblown. Maybe next year with a full healthy season under their belts these things don't happen.

You gotta take this as a learning experience for everyone involved. The amount of youth out there was immense. TG knows the Rivalry, but he had to work extremely hard to pull together a team that could compete that was 3-8 last year and lost its 2 year starter at QB and 4 year letterman and recordholder at RB. That Lehigh was competing for a share of the PL championship on the final weekend of the year is a testament to him.

The loss sucks but I am eager to see who TG and his recruiting wizards bring in. The Patriot League needs to desperately make changes to bring the league in line with the rest of FCS, but that's not Gilmore's fault. Despite that, overall Lehigh's future is still very bright to me. Gilmore will get players here. He did that at Holy Cross and will do that here but better.

Very well said Admin. Were there disappointments and miscues along the way? Sure there were, but Lehigh battled in almost every game and showed real toughness. How many teams could have overcome those turnovers and been in a position to win with 3 minutes to play? I have followed this program for a while and I saw just a few wins when I looked at the 2019 schedule.

The OL issues were beyond anyone's control and left Lehigh with a very young group up front who struggled to build chemistry. If this group stays together I think the OL issues will be a thing of the past come September of 2020.

The initial QB decision may not have been the best for the future of this program. A "de-facto" QB, who was described as a game manager, was not the answer behind a young inexperience OL, in my opinion. Lehigh needed a playmaker that the team could grow with moving forward. The good news is that it appears you you found him on Saturday. On a big stage, the sophomore settled in after some early jitters, made good decisions, threw some very good balls and he adds a dimension with his legs. He clearly outplayed the Lafayette QB who is highly regarding within the league.

The freshman RB will likely learned a lot also on Saturday. He and Allen are a powerful 1-2 duo out of the backfield. Losing the other freshman hurts but #30 is also a shifty kid who I saw in the spring and he adds more depth to that group.

WRs and TEs all back except Bibbens.

The Lehigh defense was great. Schemes got LBs free to make plays and the blitz packages designed by the DC were terrific all season. You will lose a few key players but some very talented underclassman came in last year.

Everyone knows the PL scholarship rules hurt depth, but I would be fairly optimistic that things are on the upswing.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I know it's easy to say that "Lehigh is on the upswing" and that maybe be true but you have factor in other teams trends. Holy Cross is definitely on the upswing so long as Chensey is there. He inherited a program in the dumps following Gilmore's ugly last few seasons and won a title in his second year. Granted he did it with a mediocre team but he still won the league. I think he's easily the best coach in the league. He's been a head coach for 10 years and his team's posted winning seasons in 9 of them. This is the 4th time in the last 5 years ('15, '16, '17 D2 Playoffs with Assumption) he's coaching in the NCAA playoffs.

I think Colgate finally started to play better once Breneman was healthy. I'd bet the house that they return to at least respectability. I think they've only had one back-2-back losing seasons once ('13 Biddles last season/'14 Hunt's first) since Sweeney's last two years in '94 and '95.

Lafayette finished alone in second in the PL and will return a ton of experience from this year's team. They haven't had a winning season since 2009. Maybe next year they get over that hump?

I think Bucknell will also be better in two year under Cecchini. With that said, I still think Bucknell's ceiling is only so high as program. Not sure if they can win the PL even in its current state.

Fordham is a complete enigma under Conlin. He might be coaching for his job next year. Georgetown collapsed this year and lose a lot of experience. Sgarlatta might be a good coach but the results just aren't there. This year was a huge disappointment for the Hoyas. Something has to give in DC. Going 1-5 in the PL with what they had returning is brutal. Still only one winning season, 2011, since they joined the league in 2000.

I'd go
1. Holy Cross
2. Colgate
3. Lafayette
4. Bucknell
5. Lehigh
6. Fordham
7. Georgetown

[datruph]

Let's keep in perspective that Lafayette is a horrible team. On offense they are horrible. QB is as bad as all the other Patriot league QB's. How they won was exactly what has happened all year. The defense all though improved cannot get a stop when needed. Lafayette on defense decided not to blitz allowing our QB all day to throw. We eeked out an ok offensive day with no pressure. A lot of picks and fumbles against a very very bad coached team. Lehigh is happy with Patriot league titles which is like winning the losers bracket in youth football. Lehigh fans are conditioned to expect mediocrity and they love it!!! Bucknell destroyed almost 3 qb's when they played us. Sacred Heart was very average and Lafayette was awful. Lehigh tries to put pretty make-up on an ugly face. This scholarship thing is concerning. Somebody mentioned we need to recruit kids who want to be here...huh??? How do you identify that kid? Nobody comes to Lehigh to play football. They come for an education, right? Well, these are the kids who are now on that field. These are good kids that try hard. We cannot get great football players and great students. Patriot league football is reflecting its own rules every saturday on the field and we are supposed to expect more? If we keep weakening our schedule we will get to 8-3 and everybody will be happy. Take Villanova off the schedule and its pretty lame next year. Any o-line commits yet? Lets accept that Patriot league football is the amateur league for the FCS. We will compete with the Pioneer league soon. Things must change or continue to weaken the schedule and the Lehigh facade (that we are a legit program) will stay alive.

[LUFAN]

Let's keep in perspective that Lafayette is a horrible team. On offense they are horrible. QB is as bad as all the other Patriot league QB's. How they won was exactly what has happened all year. The defense all though improved cannot get a stop when needed. Lafayette on defense decided not to blitz allowing our QB all day to throw. We eeked out an ok offensive day with no pressure. A lot of picks and fumbles against a very very bad coached team. Lehigh is happy with Patriot league titles which is like winning the losers bracket in youth football. Lehigh fans are conditioned to expect mediocrity and they love it!!! Bucknell destroyed almost 3 qb's when they played us. Sacred Heart was very average and Lafayette was awful. Lehigh tries to put pretty make-up on an ugly face. This scholarship thing is concerning. Somebody mentioned we need to recruit kids who want to be here...huh??? How do you identify that kid? Nobody comes to Lehigh to play football. They come for an education, right? Well, these are the kids who are now on that field. These are good kids that try hard. We cannot get great football players and great students. Patriot league football is reflecting its own rules every saturday on the field and we are supposed to expect more? If we keep weakening our schedule we will get to 8-3 and everybody will be happy. Take Villanova off the schedule and its pretty lame next year. Any o-line commits yet? Lets accept that Patriot league football is the amateur league for the FCS. We will compete with the Pioneer league soon. Things must change or continue to weaken the schedule and the Lehigh facade (that we are a legit program) will stay alive.

Cheer up old fella!

[RichH]

Let's keep in perspective that Lafayette is a horrible team. On offense they are horrible. QB is as bad as all the other Patriot league QB's. How they won was exactly what has happened all year. The defense all though improved cannot get a stop when needed. Lafayette on defense decided not to blitz allowing our QB all day to throw. We eeked out an ok offensive day with no pressure. A lot of picks and fumbles against a very very bad coached team. Lehigh is happy with Patriot league titles which is like winning the losers bracket in youth football. Lehigh fans are conditioned to expect mediocrity and they love it!!! Bucknell destroyed almost 3 qb's when they played us. Sacred Heart was very average and Lafayette was awful. Lehigh tries to put pretty make-up on an ugly face. This scholarship thing is concerning. Somebody mentioned we need to recruit kids who want to be here...huh??? How do you identify that kid? Nobody comes to Lehigh to play football. They come for an education, right? Well, these are the kids who are now on that field. These are good kids that try hard. We cannot get great football players and great students. Patriot league football is reflecting its own rules every saturday on the field and we are supposed to expect more? If we keep weakening our schedule we will get to 8-3 and everybody will be happy. Take Villanova off the schedule and its pretty lame next year. Any o-line commits yet? Lets accept that Patriot league football is the amateur league for the FCS. We will compete with the Pioneer league soon. Things must change or continue to weaken the schedule and the Lehigh facade (that we are a legit program) will stay alive.

Conditioned to expect mediocrity ?? Huh. The issue is the exact opposite. Right now its disappointed expectations for now and the last few years of Andy. We expect to be at the top of the PL every year. And most of us want to get back to national relevance. Hence the constant bitching about PL rules and mediocre years. At no point during my 50+ years has Lehigh accepted mediocrity in football. We've had our rebuilding years which have always resulted in streaks of winning years. While I have doubts about the longevity of TG's style here, I have no doubt he will rebuild the program.
I agree Lehigh has college students playing football not just players coming for a uniform. Cannot get great players and great students? We have gotten quite a few over the years. No we dont beat the Ivies often but we do a bit more now with schollies. Our competition for recruits now centers more on MAC CAA and the Academies than the Ivies.
I thought owl had the most negative post mortem post. You are really giving him a run for the title.