Holy Cross

Back-to-back PL champs 2016 and 2017.... but need to get back to relevance in the national FCS scene.
Sundayamqb
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by Sundayamqb » Sat Mar 13, 2021 3:31 pm

Go Lehigh TU Owl wrote: Sat Mar 13, 2021 3:06 pm The offense is inept and based on what I've seen I'm not sure what would be the reason for optimism? When you fail to develop a competent OL and QB you don't have a chance.

Point totals under Gilmore/Brisson. This is worse than the Troy Brown era...

12 games

13, 10, 13, 10, 21, 30 (OT), 27, 17, 10, 6, 16, 3
Exactly.

Just imagine how fun it would be to bust your butt in practice every day and then have to be part of or watch this kind of play calling and offensive failure -- especially if you are a WR. It reminds me of some of the inept, run-happy offenses Holy Cross had under Gilmore (when it didn't have Randolph or Pujals).

You can blame a lack of experience, injuries, whatnot, but the offense has been bad for several years.

Loved Johnson's hands.

Several guys on D -- Hafner stood out -- were amazing. Kudos to them.


TMH
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by TMH » Sat Mar 13, 2021 3:51 pm

OK, I may be in the minority of 1 but I came away with more optimism than pessimism.

First, my expectations were low coming in. These are not normal times and I said over and over that these games are like exhibitions to prepare for fall. Football, probably more than any other sport, requires chemistry maybe even more so than pure talent. We were going to be a really young tem this year but to compound everything, there were no summer workouts and after only a few weeks of fall drills, practice was halted for 5 weeks due to Covid. Classes ended in November and everyone was sent home. Most teams have their own horror stories but when you are young and the QB is new to the program, a team is starting from scratch only weeks before the 1st game and to a large part it showed. Remember, HC returned 15 starters this year.

So why the optimism? I thought the defense played quite well with brand new corners and that was an area of concern for me. Of course it is still early. So why the pessimism? If there is one lesson we learned a few years ago it's that you can have the most talented skill players in the world but unless the offensive line plays like a well oiled unit, it's meaningless. Our O-line was less than stellar last year but improving. 40% of that line is gone. There has been some position changes, a new O-Line coach meaning a new system and very little time to implement.

So when judging Wilkinson, I urge patience. Mayes and Bragalone for that matter were superstars during their junior year. and quite pedestrian during their senior year. They were veterans, well schooled in the system. They didn't change. Their offensive line did.

My views for this spring hasn't changed. What I look for now is continued improvement.
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RichH
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by RichH » Sat Mar 13, 2021 4:16 pm

owl

I agree but I will give O a bit of slack. Much more trurnover than D particularly at OL and QB. No Spring or Summer camps. 11 workouts in Fall. All prep basically squeezed into late afternoon and occasional 10 PM practices. I am not optimistic about the way this O is run. Think the cohesion will improve tho with time. Hope play calling does also
LU808
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by LU808 » Sat Mar 13, 2021 4:23 pm

In this crazy season the first game is a throw away given te experience level.

My interest is in seeing progression from game to game. Individual execution and line cohesion.

That's my measuring stick.
Go Lehigh TU Owl
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by Go Lehigh TU Owl » Sat Mar 13, 2021 4:34 pm

Rich,

Holy Cross faced significant headaches in recent weeks as well. They had to shutdown the Luth Center iirc. That was when their basketball team was forced to pull out of the PL bball tourney.

Lehigh's issues on offense run well beyond covid and lack of cohesion. It's 2 years of failed development and imagination/creativity.

Holy Cross doesn't have much on offense either. Degenhardt is serviceable, they lost Cozier at RB, they were also without their top WR (Ayeni) and they have a respectable but far from great OL (Lehigh got constant pressure). Sophomore Asasnte, who beat Lehigh a few times, has the potential be very good; already is solid. I thought Chesney would give Considine a shot at QB. HC needs to be better on offense if they want to compete at a national level.

As it was, they were able to execute just enough to win against a bad team.

I'm interested to see how all these PL teams trend into the fall. I just want to see some legit improvement from Lehigh and a win. An 11+ game losing streak is not out of the realm of possibility if the offense doesn't get better.

Colgate up next. They're currently down 14-0 to Lafayette midway through 2Q. 'Pards look real good; some nice creativity on offense sprinkled in with a stout run game....
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van
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by van » Sat Mar 13, 2021 4:52 pm

RichH wrote: Sat Mar 13, 2021 1:36 pm Cross is not a run threat. Why is Brisson using read handoffs to RBs. Just slows down the play.
I have been saying that for 3 years, live with until brisson is gone
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van
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by van » Sat Mar 13, 2021 4:59 pm

As for the D, other than a few mistakes, they were solid, LBs, #29 and #90 stood out to me
lufan1987
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by lufan1987 » Sat Mar 13, 2021 6:08 pm

Defense looked real good and the young guys faired up decently well in my mind. Saw Wimberley and Jablonski got the start as well as Harris and Roof getting a lot of playing time. Just need to work on the O.
Go Lehigh TU Owl
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by Go Lehigh TU Owl » Sat Mar 13, 2021 6:33 pm

Lafayette takes care of Colgate 24-10. Northup did just enough at QB and their defense, especially DL, caused havoc all game. Really impressed with the 'Pards preparation and execution given the circumstances.

I thought Breneman (19/31 237 yards 1 INT) played quite well given the fact Colgate couldn't run the ball (49 yards).

Next week will be a battle of two teams in need of some positive mojo. Colgate's on a pretty ugly run too dating back to the conclusion of their 2018 playoff season.
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RichH
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Re: Holy Cross

Post by RichH » Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:24 pm

Just some slack owl. I have little confidence in Bris to right the O. He is calling an O that this group cannot execute.
Quite sure every team has gone thru a tough time preparing for this season. Cross has a veteran team with a 2 deep stocked mostly with jrs and srs. That team can weather difficulties in prep for season that a young team like Lehigh could not nearly as well. That is my point about some slack.
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