Lehigh/Holy Cross Preview Up

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Couldn't contain myself - had to get 'er done.

http://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.com

[LUHawker]

Nice write-up LFN. The irony point is interesting. In a bizarre way, I'm hoping for a wet game, because I think Coen's emphasis on running the ball will pay dividends.

[JRGNYR]

Not to nitpick, but that matchup in '91 was 43-42 HC, and HC was also undefeated going into that game and ended the season 11-0. The schedule you reference, with the tie vs. UMass and the loss to Army, was 1990.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Not to nitpick, but that matchup in '91 was 43-42 HC, and HC was also undefeated going into that game and ended the season 11-0. The schedule you reference, with the tie vs. UMass and the loss to Army, was 1990.

That's not a nitpick.. :eek: Thanks, I've corrected it.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I've been checking out the CrossSports board (with HC folks actually talking about football for a change) and they're all to a person predicting a Sader victory, while all the Lehigh folks seem to be predicting a Lehigh victory. Every fan is saying it will be a close game.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

:confused: Lehigh fans are awfully quiet?

[LUHawker]

:confused: Lehigh fans are awfully quiet?

Well, I don't think we know what to make of HC or Lehigh. HC has had a suspect schedule, but defeated our archrival. Is Lafayette really down this year or is HC really stepping up. Other than that game, HC's record doesnt' tell us much. They defeated the patsies, even needing OT to defeat lowly Dartmouth and lost to Harvard and Northeastern.

Lehigh posted a convincing, nearly mistake-free game against Bucknell but the jury is still out on whether Lehigh is really putting it together or was Bucknell just not that good.

With high probability for a soggy field, Lehigh will probably go more with run while HC 's passing attack could be slowed. Lehigh has showed signs of brilliance this year (comeback win vs. Villanova, big lead on Harvard, and leading Princeton) but has also showed inconsistent play and breakdowns (blowing the Harvard and Princeton leads). It is tough to call, but Lehigh played very well against Bucknell. Even though the Bison are a struggling team, Lehigh didn't make any mistakes that weren't under their control - few penalties, no turnovers, smart QB play; this is the most encouraging thing. I haven't seen HC play yet, and their record doesn't give me a good idea of their quality. Even Lafayette is confounding this year, so that is not as good a measuring stick as it would have been the last two years. Still, Lehigh is starting to gel and I see a 24-19 LU win.

[ngineer]

Lehigh is fully capable of running the table. It has shown that capability in almost all of its games this year, but ,except for Bucknell, has failed to play to its capability for a full game. Harvard and Princeton were like Jekyll and Hyde. Dominating for half a game, multiple screw ups the other half. Being the eternal optimist, I assume a focused Lehigh team will show up--especially due to last year's fiasco. HC aint sneaking up on anyone this year. The heavier/steady rain should be Lehigh's benefit. However, simply a wet field helps HC's passing game with advantage to the receivers. Regardless, Lehigh will need a stellar game from the Defensive Front. Can't let Randolph just sit back and throw.

[Lehigh74]

I was really impressed with Coen's play calling and the execution of the offense in the Bucknell game. Sekou Yansane looks like he is starting to become a big time player.

At times I am puzzled by the defensive schemes. Why do they keep playing Julian Ahye when he keeps giving up big plays? What has happened to Royce Morgan? At one time he was the arguably the best defensive lineman in the league. He has done little this year and is playing less and less. The man has a lot of ability and it seems to me the defensive coaches are not putting him in a position to take advantage of his speed and quickness. I hope I am wrong, but something tells me we need to have a solid pass rush against Randolph or we could be in trouble.

[JRGNYR]

This game is clearly HC's biggest since 2000 in our first winning season since 1991, but with what may eventually be on the line, this has to be the biggest game for the Cross since the Lehigh game in '91.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I was really impressed with Coen's play calling and the execution of the offense in the Bucknell game. Sekou Yansane looks like he is starting to become a big time player.

At times I am puzzled by the defensive schemes. Why do they keep playing Julian Ahye when he keeps giving up big plays? What has happened to Royce Morgan? At one time he was the arguably the best defensive lineman in the league. He has done little this year and is playing less and less. The man has a lot of ability and it seems to me the defensive coaches are not putting him in a position to take advantage of his speed and quickness. I hope I am wrong, but something tells me we need to have a solid pass rush against Randolph or we could be in trouble.

I think most of this is an adjustment to the 3-4 scheme and coach Kotulski's defensive philosiphy, especially in Morgan's case. It will be way interesting to see what our DC has cooked up for the Crusaders this weekend.

[JRGNYR]

Usually against a run and shoot/spread offense, the defense just tries to bend but not break, and take advantage of a mistake. If you play it too aggressively, Randolph has any number of outs he can check down to, and as he was quoted in articles after the Lafayette game, he was throwing mostly to his 2nd and 3rd options.

You need a great pass rush too, and Lehigh's D will have to get in Randolph's face. The problem is, if you blitz, you leave man-to-man coverage in certain matchups and if Randolph can get the ball off quickly enough, he might be able to take advantage of a WR vs. a LB scenario.

Should be a great one though. If I don't have to work tomorrow, I'll be listening.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

With the way the weather is looking i think it's going to be a big advantage for Lehigh. Sometimes the rain can help the passing team since the wr's know where they're going and the DB's do not. However with torrential rain and 40 mph winds Randolph will have very little success throwing the ball. Lehigh basically has 4 RB's if you count Threatt and as long as they protect the ball, if it was just that easy, i think they'll win. This is about the most confident i've been in picking Lehigh this year. With that said Lehigh wins 16-6.

[JRGNYR]

16-14 HC, that's my guess.

[ColgateTD]

As an impartial observer I see a close win for the Engineers, 17-14...

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

As posted on the Lehigh board. My final thought on the game....:rotateh:

12 hours til kick off and the monsoon has begun. Rain, 50 mph hour winds, the red coats are comming or not, Lehigh has to stay focused on doing the little things to win. Consider each offensive and defensive drive a series of tasks, hold on to the ball, no penalties, positive yardage, good snaps etc. etc and then the big picture will take of itself. This team needs a game like this in these elements in some ways. The rain has been somewhat of a curse obviously because while they were failing to excecute the little things while their opponents were. Winning a game in these elements will really help this team. All season long the game they've lost have been a result of so many self inflicted wounds. Go out today do the those things i mentioned above and the team will have exorcised a lot of demons IMHO; the most important one will be the mental one...

[breezy]

I was at last year's Lehigh - Holy Cross game in Bethlehem. It was played in a monsoon and HC took advantage of two key plays to win, 13-10. The two key plays were Silva's punt return for a TD and a long pass into the end zone where the Lehigh DB seemed to intercept the pass and it was ripped from his hands by the HC receiver. Oh, and Lehigh had 11 turnovers, many caused by the wet conditions. Last year, aside from the turnovers, the wet conditions seemed to neutralize Lehigh's team speed.

I agree that the wind more than the rain could have a serious adverse effect on the HC passing game. Still, the HC team is playing with great confidence, and has found a way to win close games this season -- games that they would have been expected to lose in past years. I expect a close game. I may be speaking more with my heart than my head, but my belief is that HC will again find a way to win.