Archive For The “1912” Category
Even at the time, legendary Lehigh QB Pat Pazzetti had a reputation for doing it all.
The Brown and White’s dynamic playmaker did a little of everything for the team.
Back in the days when players went both ways and there weren’t designated specialists, Pazzetti not only was the quarterback, but he also kicked punts and returned kicks as well.
In 1912, after a 35-0 thrashing by national powerhouse Princeton and facing the prospect of playing Navy – who had gone 9-0-1 against Lehigh in their last ten games – things had to be looking bleak for the Brown and White’s season, even with a team with some national ambitions.
After all, Navy hadn’t lost a football game in three years’ time.
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Going into the 1912 season, the Rivalry was at a point when Lafayette was a dominant force over the Brown and White.
In an era where Princeton, Yale, and the Carlisle Indian School all competed for the top, Lafayette was right there alongside the top teams in the nation.
And soon, Lehigh would be in the conversation once again as well.
In 1911, Lehigh announced their seriousness to vault back into contention by signing four key transfers, including a future Brown and White hall-of-fame quarterback, QB Pat Pazzetti, from Wesleyan.
“The Pennsylvania college is pulling strongly for a record-breaking football team this year – hoping to put one on their old rival, Lafayette – and is doing all in its power to get the athletes in the institution,” The Lafayette reported.
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“At last Lafayette approaches the real climax of her football season,” the Leopard paper of the time, The Lafayette, stated on November 22nd, 1912. “The football world always watches this contest with the closest interest for it is the greatest of the annual struggles between small college teams.
“To the ardent supporters of these two colleges, even the Yale-Harvard game is but a minor incident in comparison to the deciding of this championship. No matter how many games Lehigh may lose during the season, she always tackles Lafayette with a sturdy confidence and hope of victory.
“No matter how many great games Lafayette wins in the season she always enters this struggle ready to fight, knowing that upon the outcome depends the real success or failure of the season and knowing that her opponents will be worthy of every possible effort.”
After an era of near-complete dominance by Lafayette in “The Rivalry”, in 1912 the roles of the Brown and White and the Maroon and White were suddenly reversed, and the student writer at The Lafayette knew it.
“Sweeping victories for the past three years have caused Lafayette to assume a rather superior feeling toward Lehigh,” the reporter said. “Not so this year. Lehigh has the best team that has represented that institution in the past ten years.”
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