Villanova

[Local82]

Nova is not a Top 10 team or even Top 25 team.

[RichH]

One game does not make a season.

We should ALL expect adjustment and growing pains after the start of a total revamp.

It's gonna take more than a few games to get everyone on the same page....especially against a top 10 FCS team like Villanova that have built in system advantages v Lehigh in recruiting and retention.

Patience

Exactly. D was as expected decent to good. On the field way too long. O had moments but the comparative lack of speed was stunning.. No outside speed Nova stuffed the box. OL outnumbered too often. Silbor showed nerves and inexperience not lack of talent. RBs lacked speed to get outside and no place to run inside.
Key now is improving. Merrimack is a good team but not at Nova's level.
Speed becomes less of an issue, save at Monmouth going forward

[IPSY1975]

One game does not make a season.

We should ALL expect adjustment and growing pains after the start of a total revamp.

It's gonna take more than a few games to get everyone on the same page....especially against a top 10 FCS team like Villanova that have built in system advantages v Lehigh in recruiting and retention.

Patience

Plus 1

Nova a strong contender for CAA champs

Lets move forward..Cahill wants to be at that level . Gut says he finds a way to compete at Top lvl like Holy Cross

[Lehigh74]

Nova is just better in every way. Heck, they had 19 5th year players on the roster and we had 3. That tells you everything you need to know. It was the first game with a new coaching staff and new offensive and defensive playbooks. Turnovers aside, there were definitely some things to build off of. The team didn’t quit, at any point, and started to play better as the game went on. I loved the fact that the tight end was involved in the offense. That was missing all through Gilmore’s tenure. Considering it was his first game, and the fact that we were unable to move the ball on the ground, I thought Silbor played reasonably well. He has the potential to be one of the better quarterbacks in the league. Not sure if we will beat Merrimack, but I believe we’ll see improvement next week.

[LUFAN]

This is the remnants of the Tom Gilmore disaster. Cahill cannot undo 4 years of incompetence in a season. This will be a process. Tom set this program back years. Many to blame for that decision, but no use focusing on the past. See ya in 2025.

[LU808]

Nova is not a Top 10 team or even Top 25 team.

With their depth, skills, experience AND playing in one of the toughest conferences....they easily get into top 25. Can't help it if you can't see the forest from the trees.

[Old Timer]

Nova top 15 in my book! Dominant today despite competition

[Mountain Hawk]

One game does not make a season.

We should ALL expect adjustment and growing pains after the start of a total revamp.

It's gonna take more than a few games to get everyone on the same page....especially against a top 10 FCS team like Villanova that have built in system advantages v Lehigh in recruiting and retention.

Patience

Genuinely like to know what you mean about the built in advantages

[jimk72]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it is my understanding that the Patriot League has academic restrictions on who can be recruited, restrictions that the CAA and most of FCS does not have. The talk was that William & Mary and Richmond would consider joining if not for these restrictions. The league also restricts the number of full ride equivalents to a number slightly below the max allowed at the FCS level. It should be noted that wrestling is not in the Patriot league so they don’t have these restrictions.

That said, Holy Cross and Colgate have the same rules, and they’ve done pretty well now and then in the playoffs. So it can be done apparently, but there are things to overcome.

[Sundayamqb]

Some day, I’d like to hear an explanation for the Gilmore hire.
The AD is good guy and dedicated to the school, but hiring Gilmore was Sterrett’s Folly.
It’s still incomprehensible even after the end of the G-man Era.

-- The Gilmore hire: My hypothesis: At the time, the D was nonexistent and it was late in the year when AC left. What better way than to fix it than to hire an old LU assistant hoping to rekindle old LU magic? Hindsight shows it was a bad call.

-- Before I turned today's game off at 31-3, I saw some decent LU play:

Silbor's arm (though he will need lots of reps -- and better to speed things up vs. Nova vs. some patsy FCS team. It should be downhill from here).

Some decent tackling and coverage (though some were missed, too). I expected much worse.

Liked some new receivers and the punting game.

-- Pregame, coach said he likes Nova as an opponent to see how we measure up. He is right.

Real problem is LU is not built to compete with top FCS programs. The gap between the top teams and everyone else has become too great IMHO with NIL and other professionalism of college sports.

It's almost time for a third, lowest, level of DI, where academics is a clear No. 1.