Archive For The “Football” Category
All WR Troy Pelleiter and OL Zach Duffy ever wanted was a shot at the NFL.After the NFL Draft concluded this past Saturday, they learned that they both would be getting a chance.Troy, whose name is plastered all over the Lehigh record books, was invite…
All WR Troy Pelleiter and OL Zach Duffy ever wanted was a shot at the NFL.After the NFL Draft concluded this past Saturday, they learned that they both would be getting a chance.Troy, whose name is plastered all over the Lehigh record books, was invite…
All WR Troy Pelleiter and OL Zach Duffy ever wanted was a shot at the NFL.After the NFL Draft concluded this past Saturday, they learned that they both would be getting a chance.Troy, whose name is plastered all over the Lehigh record books, was invite…
Many Patriot League football fans remember the 153rd meeting between Lehigh and Lafayette, one that ended happily for the Mountain Hawks.
They might remember the MVP performance of QB Brad Mayes, or perhaps the halftime speech by OL Zach Duffy that seemed to spur the Mountain Hawks to victory.
Or perhaps they might remember the spectacular single play of Mayes rolling right and finding WR Gatlin Casey in the end zone to give the Mountain Hawks a lead they didn’t relinquish. It was an incredible play by Mayes, who returns this upcoming year for his senior season, and Casey, who, having exhausted his eligibility at Lehigh, will be playing one more year at Middle Tennessee State.
As great as those individual moments are, though, they are not my biggest takeaway of that game.
Too many Lehigh people forget that Lehigh was down 31-21 at half, and that victory was no sure thing. And they sometimes forget that so much of that victory came from the grinding of WR Troy Pelletier, delivering huge 3rd down reception after huge 3rd down reception, and grabbing the critical touchdown that cut Lafayette’s lead to 31-28. They forget the absolute receiving clinic he put on against Lafayette DB Phillip Parham – himself no slouch – not only by running perfect routes, which he always did exceptionally in a Lehigh uniform, but by using his body to get open and become a bigger target for Mayes.
It’s no easy task to make a 9 catch, 107 yard, 2 touchdown day against your bitterest Rival seem like another day at the office, but that’s exactly what Troy did, in his quiet, intense, hard working way. And that’s my biggest takeaway from that Rivalry game.
Many may forget, but I do not. And this week, in the run-up to the NFL Draft, we are going to find out which NFL teams have been paying attention as well.
Read more »
Many Patriot League football fans remember the 153rd meeting between Lehigh and Lafayette, one that ended happily for the Mountain Hawks.
They might remember the MVP performance of QB Brad Mayes, or perhaps the halftime speech by OL Zach Duffy that seemed to spur the Mountain Hawks to victory.
Or perhaps they might remember the spectacular single play of Mayes rolling right and finding WR Gatlin Casey in the end zone to give the Mountain Hawks a lead they didn’t relinquish. It was an incredible play by Mayes, who returns this upcoming year for his senior season, and Casey, who, having exhausted his eligibility at Lehigh, will be playing one more year at Middle Tennessee State.
As great as those individual moments are, though, they are not my biggest takeaway of that game.
Too many Lehigh people forget that Lehigh was down 31-21 at half, and that victory was no sure thing. And they sometimes forget that so much of that victory came from the grinding of WR Troy Pelletier, delivering huge 3rd down reception after huge 3rd down reception, and grabbing the critical touchdown that cut Lafayette’s lead to 31-28. They forget the absolute receiving clinic he put on against Lafayette DB Phillip Parham – himself no slouch – not only by running perfect routes, which he always did exceptionally in a Lehigh uniform, but by using his body to get open and become a bigger target for Mayes.
It’s no easy task to make a 9 catch, 107 yard, 2 touchdown day against your bitterest Rival seem like another day at the office, but that’s exactly what Troy did, in his quiet, intense, hard working way. And that’s my biggest takeaway from that Rivalry game.
Many may forget, but I do not. And this week, in the run-up to the NFL Draft, we are going to find out which NFL teams have been paying attention as well.
Read more »
(Photo Credits: Lehigh Athletics)Just like that, the 2018 Spring Session comes to a close this week, giving us a taste of what is to come in the late summer and fall.Here are my quick observations about what I saw at Murray Goodman on Saturday.Read mor…
(Photo Credits: Lehigh Athletics)Just like that, the 2018 Spring Session comes to a close this week, giving us a taste of what is to come in the late summer and fall.Here are my quick observations about what I saw at Murray Goodman on Saturday.Read mor…
The Lehigh coaching staff took a page from Ole Miss’ spring game in their annual Brown/White scrimmage at Murray Goodman stadium.
The scoring system Ole Miss used was to spot their defense a 23-0 lead, and the scrimmage’s goal was to have the offense drive on the defense just like a regular football game.
It is the hope of every Lehigh football fan in every game in the upcoming 2018 season that the offense scores more than 23 points a game. Last year, the Lehigh offense averaged for than 35 points per contest.
But the Brown defense this Saturday was up to the challenge of containing the White offense.
Twelve times, the offense lined up with a potential drive to score points, and nine of those times, the defense forced the offense to punt or stuffed a 4th down conversion.
It’s true that the offense scored three touchdowns, one from rising senior QB Brad Mayes, one from junior QB Tyler Monaco, and one from sophomore QB Addison Shoup. It is also true that the offense had some really good moments. But on Saturday the main story was the defense, who looked really good in holding the offense to only those three scores – almost getting two pick sixes, and getting a blocked field goal attempt in another drill to boot.
Read more »
The Lehigh coaching staff took a page from Ole Miss’ spring game in their annual Brown/White scrimmage at Murray Goodman stadium.
The scoring system Ole Miss used was to spot their defense a 23-0 lead, and the scrimmage’s goal was to have the offense drive on the defense just like a regular football game.
It is the hope of every Lehigh football fan in every game in the upcoming 2018 season that the offense scores more than 23 points a game. Last year, the Lehigh offense averaged for than 35 points per contest.
But the Brown defense this Saturday was up to the challenge of containing the White offense.
Twelve times, the offense lined up with a potential drive to score points, and nine of those times, the defense forced the offense to punt or stuffed a 4th down conversion.
It’s true that the offense scored three touchdowns, one from rising senior QB Brad Mayes, one from junior QB Tyler Monaco, and one from sophomore QB Addison Shoup. It is also true that the offense had some really good moments. But on Saturday the main story was the defense, who looked really good in holding the offense to only those three scores – almost getting two pick sixes, and getting a blocked field goal attempt in another drill to boot.
Read more »
According to the FCS record books for 2017, there are 123 Division I schools listed in the team statistical Rankings.
Out of 123 teams, Lehigh was ranked 119th in total team defense, allowing 477.7 yards per game.
And the defensive numbers don’t get much better the more you look.
Rushing defense, 117th. Passing yards allowed, 89th. Team sacks, 118th. Red zone defense, 103rd.
Total sacks in 12 games: 10, or 0.8 per game. Total interceptions in 12 games: 4, or 0.25 per game. Total takeaways: 13, or a little over 1 per game.
Though the final defensive numbers from 2017 are unable to be sugar-coated, nobody involved with Lehigh’s defense is running away from the facts this spring. In fact, they feel they are better than this.
“When you hear so much about your defense not being good,” defensive coordinator Craig Sutyak said this week, “you start to believe it, and I think our kids started to believe it too the last couple of years. But we’re not going to beat ourselves. We’re going to have faith in ourselves, faith in the guys next to us, and we’re going to continue to grow as a unit.”
