Lehigh picked for PL

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Lehigh was picked to win the PL during the leaguea annual media day.
Lafayette was picked second

Preseason Offensive POY Mark Borda QB Lehigh
Preseason Deffensive POY Sean Conover DL Bucknell
Special Teams POY Dante Ross KR/PR Bucknell

Here's the full article PL media day report (http://patriotleague.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080205aaa.html)

[cosmo here]

Lehigh was picked to win the PL during the leaguea annual media day.
Lafayette was picked second

Preseason Offensive POY Mark Borda QB Lehigh
Preseason Deffensive POY Sean Conover DL Bucknell
Special Teams POY Dante Ross KR/PR Bucknell

Here's the full article PL media day report (http://patriotleague.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080205aaa.html)

I think you misread that, it wasn't voted on by the media.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

I think you misread that, it wasn't voted on by the media.

Sports Information and Coaches voted. Held for the media, my bad.

[colgate13]

Hello, Bullseye?

Yes?

Go hang around on Lehigh's back this season, OK? :)

[ngineer]

We'll take it. I think the voting, though reflects what everyone has been saying, yes, Lehigh has the most balance coming back, BUT,the top 5 are very competitive. Anyone can beat anyone else if the 'favorite' isn't on top of their game. Interesting that Colgate got more points than Fordham, but the Rams had 2 first place votes to the Raiders one. I'm already getting excited for this year...

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I'll go into this further in a blog posting, but I think the preseason polling was ridiculous. They really should have included media in their picks.

Colgate and Fordham having 1st-place votes? Bucknell finished to finish 5th?

[colgate13]

Colgate and Fordham having 1st-place votes? Bucknell finished to finish 5th?

Why and why?

Colgate and Fordham could easily make a case for 1st place votes. They return a lot and it wasn't like Lehigh and Lafayette man handled them.

Colgate beat Lafayette and lost to Lehigh by 7. Yes, Brown, Branch and Graham are gone but it wasn't like they had stellar games against Lehigh. The defense is what kept us in it and they are for the most part back. Throw in able replacements at the offensive skill positions (and I'm really not trying to be a homer here, but IMO there won't be much if any drop off there) and a favorable home schedule... Colgate's not a stretch vote, especially when you consider how difficult it has been to repeat in this league.

Fordham lost to Lehigh by 7 as well and by 15 to Lafayette. They bring back a pretty exciting offense, and again, picking last year's champions to win again this year might not be a great idea (I'll be doing it but I question it myself).

Bucknell should finish where exactly? They've got some good defense coming back but lost their one man offensive show. They've got a tough road schedule if I remember correctly too. Methinks the margin of success is very small this year, and besides Conover and Ross on D (I need to do my full write up but this is my impression) they've got a lot of unknowns going into this year. The biggest question is can they keep it up from last year.

All in all only one point separated Bucknell and Fordham, so it's not like they were put down with Georgetown.

[Fordham]

I'll go into this further in a blog posting, but I think the preseason polling was ridiculous. They really should have included media in their picks.

Colgate and Fordham having 1st-place votes? Bucknell finished to finish 5th? LFN, I agree with you about us & gate getting any 1st place votes. It's the old discussion of what's possible v. what's probable ... and "probable" is what these polls are supposed to reflect. Given last year's performances and all the players both LU & LU <ahem> LC ... have returning, there's no doubt in my mind that they earned the right to split all #1's and #2's.

I don't follow you on the surprise at B-nell finishing 5th, although I wouldn't have put up an argument against it if they had been picked 3rd. I just agree with gate that on paper you can rationalize any of the middle 3 into any of the 3, 4, 5 slots and someone had to be 5th (so it may as well be B-nell). That's why I think any PL pre-season poll is really dealing with 3 major questions and that the explanation of why one was chosen over the other for those 3 questions is what makes it interesting/valuable as a poll:

1. Lehigh or Lafayette at #1?
2. What order do Gate, Fordham & Bnell go to occupy 3, 4, 5?
3. What upsets, if any, are you predicting for G-town & HC?

[LBPop]

so it's not like they were put down with Georgetown.

OUCH! Couldn't you have left that last comment out? :(

[colgate13]

OUCH! Couldn't you have left that last comment out? :(

One word pop: Monmouth. You lost me at Monmouth. Time to make amends on the field!

[LBPop]

Time to make amends on the field!

You are so right. No argument with the prediction, just wishing you hadn't made the comment. :o

[Go...gate]

IMHO, Colgate will be a strong contender; they have recruited well the past several years and I think PL-watchers may be surprised. I don't know if we can beat UMass, but I think we can go at least 4-2 in the Patriot League which definitely puts us in the thick of things.

[colgate13]

IMHO, Colgate will be a strong contender; they have recruited well the past several years and I think PL-watchers may be surprised. I don't know if we can beat UMass, but I think we can go at least 4-2 in the Patriot League which definitely puts us in the thick of things.

shhh.... no sense in alerting the competition to what awaits them! :eek:

[DFW HOYA]

One word pop: Monmouth. You lost me at Monmouth. Time to make amends on the field!

Monmouth is not that bad a team, and with the number of equivalencies in the NEC, may have had more on the field than the Hoyas that day. Remember, the Hawks finished 10-1.

The bad loss last season was Duquesne.

[colgate13]

Monmouth is not that bad a team, and with the number of equivalencies in the NEC, may have had more on the field than the Hoyas that day. Remember, the Hawks finished 10-1.

The bad loss last season was Duquesne.

I doubt Monmouth has more equivalenices than Georgetown but that is really besides the point e.g. Duquesne. I believe the NEC max is what, 30? Georgetown is not 25-30 equivalencies behind the rest of the PL.

I don't mean to disparage Monmouth or rehash mid-major arguments, but Monmouth's 10-1 was not against top teams in I-AA. Their loss was a 27-0 shutout to Stony Brook - who lost 25-2 by a very "rusty" Lehigh team that should have put up more.

To make it worse, from the sounds of it they handled Georgetown to the tune of 27-10. Robert Morris only lost to them 29-27. My impressions from the game was that it wasn't even close. PL teams should not be getting handled by NEC teams.

So since then, I've really been down on G'Town and I'm waiting for them to actually win something worthwhile on the field before I sing their praises again.

[MU Alum]

I don't mean to disparage Monmouth or rehash mid-major arguments, but Monmouth's 10-1 was not against top teams in I-AA. Their loss was a 27-0 shutout to Stony Brook - who lost 25-2 by a very "rusty" Lehigh team that should have put up more.

To make it worse, from the sounds of it they handled Georgetown to the tune of 27-10. Robert Morris only lost to them 29-27. My impressions from the game was that it wasn't even close. PL teams should not be getting handled by NEC teams.


I dont think it is fair to compare OOC games with in conference games sometimes. I feel that your in conference games have closer scores due to the familiarity of the teams. The Robert Morris game was in Pittsburgh and RMU has a solid team in our conference, which can make for a close game. The Stony Brook game was just a terrible game for us, they were actually a very talented team that just never put it together last year. That happens sometimes, but I dont think our entire season should be discredited on one bad loss. Look at Colgate real quick. They lost to Bucknell 42-7 last year. Duquesne only lost 30-20 to Bucknell, so you can jump to conclusions there if you want, but it just doesnt make much sense to. Colgate prob. just played poorly on that day and Bucknell was clicking. Going into that Georgetown game, Monmouth expected to win. We had beat them the year before at their field on their homecoming. No offense to Georgetown whatsoever, I like thier program and academics, but lower tier Patriots are not as good as our top teams.

[LBPop]

.

The bad loss last season was Duquesne.

Hey, DFW, I am a big fan of what you contribute, both on this board and the Hoya board, but I have trouble defending the Hoyas' performance last year. For that reason I take no exception to the projections for the Hoyas to finish last in the league.

I did not attend the Monmouth game, but I did listen to the entire broadcast. I did attend the Duquesne game. In both those contests I saw/heard a team with at least equal talent to its opponent get waxed. I do not blame the staff and I do not doubt for a minute that those Georgetown kids put out the effort. They were killing themselves early in the second half of the Duquesne game and were close to getting back in it. Then a turnover visibly deflated them and sealed the loss.

Last year they seemed to frequently play well in the early stages of games(like Duquesne and Monmouth) and then there would be a critical play that would go against them. For reasons that I can only guess, the momentum would permanently change and the Hoyas would lose to someone they could have (and maybe should have) beaten. I think I could also include in that category the games against Lafayette, Bucknell, and Holy Cross. Add the fact that they outgained Lehigh, but got blown away on the scoreboard, and you have an utterly frustrating season.

Having said all that, I am encouraged by what I saw last year. If some upper classmen take control on the field and if a few new faces add some additional enthusiasm, these kids have the ability to pull off a few upsets. More than virtually any game I know, football games can turn on emotional swings. I think this year's team has the talent to win...now they just gotta do it. Until they do, the people who watch this stuff will properly not give them any credit

[colgate13]

lower tier Patriots are not as good as our top teams.

I'll give you G'Town to your Monmouth, but who else are we talking? Year in and year out, PL teams beat mid-majors. Also, looking forward, Lafayette and Bucknell, along with Fordham just before them, have ramped up considerably. This year should be all PL when it comes to OOCs with NEC or MAAC teams.

[DFW HOYA]

Clearly, Georgetown had a poor season last year, and it's not solely an equivalency issue. LBPop correctly pointed out that the team lost heart in different points of games and you could literally feel it.

I said that Duquesne was the worst loss only because of the circumstances--Duquesne scored on its first possession, whereupon Keith Allan coughed up the ball on the first possession and DU was up 14-0. In fact, the offense turned over the ball on four straight possessions and after that, I can't see the defense doing much to force a rally. Allan finished 2 for 15 for 24 yards.

Georgetown was down only 10-7 to Monmouth at the half. Monmouth scored to go up 17-7, and then, another huge mistake--a fumble at its own three yard line.

Clearly, there is more expected out of the offense. The Hoyas have been very unstable at QB over the last four years (Peterson, Paulus, Booth, Crawford, Paulus again, Turner, Crawford again, Allan, Cangelosi, back again to Crawford) and there needs to be stability at the helm for the defense to do its part.

2005 should see improvement across the board.

[colgate13]

2005 should see improvement across the board.

In all seriousness, I think the entire PL hopes so and wishes you well... except when your playing them! :p