Archive For The “2015” Category
It was still very much a game after the first quarter.
After James Madison took their opening drive and drove 72 yards in 8 plays to go up 7-0, Lehigh responded with a perfectly-executed pass from junior QB Nick Shafnisky to freshman RB Dominic Bragalone over the middle, where the speedy running back from South Williamsport, PA showed a burst of speed, outracing the entire James Madison secondary to tie the game at seven.
They absorbed the Dukes’ first wave of offense, and showed a sign that they might be able to get into a shootout with James Madison.
But in short order, the Dukes offense, pelting the Lehigh defense in waves, proved to be overwhelming.
Buoyed by 334 yards passing by QB Vad Lee, 286 yards rushing by a bevy of backs and a big special teams play converted into a touchdown, the Dukes scored 31 unanswered points in about a 14 minute span in the second quarter to overwhelm the Mountain Hawks.
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It was still very much a game after the first quarter.
After James Madison took their opening drive and drove 72 yards in 8 plays to go up 7-0, Lehigh responded with a perfectly-executed pass from junior QB Nick Shafnisky to freshman RB Dominic Bragalone over the middle, where the speedy running back from South Williamsport, PA showed a burst of speed, outracing the entire James Madison secondary to tie the game at seven.
They absorbed the Dukes’ first wave of offense, and showed a sign that they might be able to get into a shootout with James Madison.
But in short order, the Dukes offense, pelting the Lehigh defense in waves, proved to be overwhelming.
Buoyed by 334 yards passing by QB Vad Lee, 286 yards rushing by a bevy of backs and a big special teams play converted into a touchdown, the Dukes scored 31 unanswered points in about a 14 minute span in the second quarter to overwhelm the Mountain Hawks.
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We break down the James Madison game – and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip.
This will be the Dukes’ second game of the season, after last week’s shellacking of non-scholarship Morehead State, 56-7.
They never really took their foot off the gas.
The Dukes racked up a school-record 713 yards against the hapless Eagles, including three position players rushing for over 100 yards. Morehead State only turned over the ball twice, but the frenetic-pace-of-play Dukes still managed to execute 90 plays on offense and probably could have gotten up to 100 plays had they not relented just a little in the 4th quarter.
It’s not enough for Lehigh to hold James Madison to less than 713 yards in order to have a chance. They’ll need to do more.
It’s a season where Lehigh is supposed to be turning the page from a disappointing 2014. Every player interviewed so far has said so, from senior TE Chris Ruhl, junior QB Nick Shafnisky and the rest of the team.
In a strange sort of way, 2014 was buried by a different sort of numeric combination.
The Mountain Hawks would win their first game of the year by the poetic score of 20-14, in the process finally putting the final shovelfuls of earth on top of last year’s disappointing season.
It’s not so much the win but the way it was won – won with a strong defensive effort that very nearly shut out the Blue Devils in the first half, won with a game-clinching drive that ate up the clock when a stalled drive might have opened the door for more, won with a kicking game that turned in critical points that were the difference between winning and losing.
Last year, Lehigh found ways to lose. Tonight, the young Mountain Hawks found a way to come together and finish the game when it was on the line.
Not a bad way to bury the corpse of last season.
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Offseasons are long after season-ending losses to Lafayette, but it seems like no game after a Lafayette loss has been as anticipated as this one.
All offseason – and I’ve been as guilty of this as anyone – there’s always been question for the Mountain Hawk football team concerning a football game played last November:
“Did you actually watch a tape the 150th Rivalry game in Yankee Stadium last November?
“What was your reaction? Did you toss the DVD out the window, or set it on fire?”
“Do you think about that loss every day, or simply once a week?”
This Friday up at New Britain, Lehigh football players and their fans will finally have something to talk about that doesn’t involve that infernal game in the Bronx last November.
Oddly enough, they are facing a team that comes from a similar place. The Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, 3-9 last season and in their second season under head coach Pete Rossamondo, wants to erase the memory of a six-game slide that doomed their 2014 season.
| Lehigh QB Nick Shafnisky (Morning Call) |
Junior QB Nick Shafnisky spent Patriot League media day telling the gathered media about haters drinking the haterade.
Well, he didn’t exactly say it like that. But he did talk about proving the haters wrong.
“I love having people either be there for me or count me out,” he said. “Personally, I love it all. I love haters. I was just saying to my dad – the more people are talking bad about you, the more people you have to prove wrong. I love proving people wrong, and making my coaches from high school proud.”
Now finally healthy, Shafnisky finally has the chance to prove a lot of people wrong – those that doubted his ability to recover from a Rivalry game he’d rather forget, those that thought he might not get over the injury that severely limited him last season, those that picked Lehigh to finish fifth, sixth, or even seventh in the Patriot League.
Despite an infections optimism that carried all the way through the preseason, you could see the chip forming on Shafnisky’s shoulder that day, as well as junior LB Colton Caslow‘s.
How Shaf and Caslow perform with that chip on their shoulder is going to play a big part in the 2015 season.
“We want to show that the 3-8 team you guys saw last year is not what Lehigh’s about, and it’s not what Lehigh football is about,” Shaf said. “When they announced that we were picked fifth, Colton and I just looked at each other, and said, ‘We’ll see.’ Everyone has a different chip on their shoulder to prove everyone wrong.”
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It doesn’t take an Engineer to see that much is expected of Lehigh football’s underclassmen this season.
As Lehigh football fans start looking at the season opener, a mere 5 days away, they’re looking at their theoretic depth charts and see some recurring themes:
Freshman. Freshman. Sophomore. Freshman. Sophomore.
Football is the ultimate team game, where experience counts in terms of knowing what it takes to win Division I football games. Yet up and down Lehigh’s roster, it’s very evident: to win in 2015, head coach Andy Coen will be relying on his underclassmen in a big way – underclassmen who will be a big part of this season.
“Thery’re going to get their opportunities early,” coach Coen told me during Patriot League Media day earlier this month. “I think we have 54-56 guys that are going to be freshman, sophomore-level eligibility. And there are going to be some kids from that freshman class that are going to play – that’s without a doubt.”
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For the second year in a row, ESPN will be ushering in the first FCS football game of the year on the flagship station.
And for the second year in a row, the matchup will be worth your time.
It’s hard to picture two more iconic FCS programs in the last ten years than the North Dakota State Bison, winner of four straight FCS National Championships, and the Montana Grizzlies, who have made the playoffs eight of the last ten years and also made it all the way to two national championship games in the last decade.
It might not be easy to see Mount Sentinel in the distance with possible smoke from the huge wildfires in Eastern Washington, but what is certain is that these two perennial Top 25 teams seem likely to usher in the FCS football season with style.
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In a typical Lehigh football season, there is one early “stretch game” that tests the Mountain Hawks in regards to their potential stature in thw wider FCS world.
There’s little question that Lehigh’s trip to Harrisonburg, Virginia is going to be that test.
Last year, first year head coach Everett Withers guided the Dukes, whose fan base expects FCS playoff appearances and deep playoff runs, probably exceeded expectations, going 9-4 and making the playoffs in his first year as James Madison head coach.
In 2015, the Dukes will be in an unfamiliar place – living up to the expectations.
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Recently, Lehigh’s Week 2 opponent, James Madison, announced their kickoff times and broadcast schedule.
This allows us to update what we know about this fall’s schedule.
What is clear is that Lehigh’s first two road games will not be broadcast on TV.
However, they will be streamed online – and for free.
If you’re not headed to New Britain, Connecticut to catch the season opener vs. Central Connecticut State or to Harrisonburg, Virginia to see the Mountain Hawks vs. James Madison, you will be able to watch the games with the help of a computer.
While TV information is not completely available, it does seem like there will be a live stream of every game online, and in nearly every case, the online streams are free.
