Villanova

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I watched the first quarter before having to make the 4 hour drive home from D.C. Few thoughts...
- Cahill is definitely someone who is willing to try different things give his unique philosophical approach. This goes back to institutional interests beyond football
- Until the OL can assert its will on Top 40, let alone Top 25, level front 7's the offense is not going anywhere.
- Until the QB can handle pressure, create big plays, truly scare defenses the offense is not going anywhere.
- The WR's and TE can play! Still a bit disappointed in the RB's, Garcia and DiPietro are very similar. However, Garcia fumbles way too much. I miss a healthy Zaython Hill!
- The defense hung in for a while despite being dealt a bad hand by the offense early on. I definitely see some potential here. The DL must get bigger and stronger however. 'Nova and Holy Cross have legit dudes up front.
- Hopefully improvement will be seen next week. Can they make it a 4 quarter game against a good but not nearly as experienced/talented as 'Nova Merrimack team?
- I just want to see something positive being built heading into the Cornell, Dartmouth and Monmouth stretch. I look at Cornell as almost a must win to ensure the season has the capacity to be better than last, even marginally. Monmouth provides a shot at another mid-tier CAA team.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

PL Results
- Syracuse 65 Colgate 0 (Colgate is at 'Nova next week, Dakotsky, like Gilmore last year, has no chance of seeing next season. He's in way over his head!)
- Georgetown 49 Marist 7 (I shared a hotel with Marist last night, they looked like a 4A PA high school squad)
- Holy Cross 42 Merrimack 20 (This was a close game heading into the 4th, HC at BC next week!)
- JMU 38 Bucknell 3 (It was only 17-3 at half! The Bison honestly put forth a helluva an effort!)
- Lafayette 19 Sacred Heath 14 (Nice road win for the 'Pards)
- Fordham 46 Wagner 16 (I watched a good bit of this one, the Rams have a lot of good players! If Conlin can figure out the attention to detail thing Fordham will do damage this year)

[News]

New-Look Mountain Hawks Find Familiar Result In 38-10 Defeat to Villanova

Villanova looked like a well-oiled machine with tons of veterans and few weak spots, at least in the first week of the season.

Read more: https://www.college-sports-journal.com/ ... villanova/

[Local82]

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.

A mere statement of fact as of Game Day.
They’ll move up. As of last week, they were among “others receiving votes.”

Between the pandemic, the rule changes and Gilmore, especially Gilmore — that still makes zero sense — this team has been through a lot and the new guy deserves a lot of patience.

[RichH]

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.

A mere statement of fact as of Game Day.
They’ll move up. As of last week, they were among “others receiving votes.”

Between the pandemic, the rule changes and Gilmore, especially Gilmore — that still makes zero sense — this team has been through a lot and the new guy deserves a lot of patience.

+1. Been thru a lot of rebuilds here. Most have worked. This last one not so much. Covid hurt. The early recruit groups were excellent. The staff could not create a cohesive team for whatever reasons.
Cahill has brought in change and superior organization. He'll get there.
After rewatching game, I noticed a takeaway I missed at first. We are not a speed team but we are not that slow. New sets. New coaches. I got the impression O players were thinking their way thru plays not doing the plays. Kids need a lot more reps and more confidence that they are executing properly.

[LU808]

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

Red Shirting, Scholarship, NIL?, Legacy of excellence, consistently good coaching, prestige conference, better in and out of conference schedule.

[Local82]

Some passing plays looked way off, routes were not followed. Combine that with little time to throw.
Nova’s line play on both sides of the ball is superior to what anybody in the PL will have.

[Old Timer]

With 19 6th year players this game was a lock for Nova. I maintain these games should be discontinued until Cahill can right the ship. There is nothing wrong with opening with a D-2 team at home every year. Hell, that may also guarantee 6 homes games yearly!

[RichH]

With 19 6th year players this game was a lock for Nova. I maintain these games should be discontinued until Cahill can right the ship. There is nothing wrong with opening with a D-2 team at home every year. Hell, that may also guarantee 6 homes games yearly!

Used to be standard to have a cupcake start yearly. Scheduling landscape has changed tho. Particularly for early games. Caveat ,when this season scheduled we were just starting the rebuild. Optimisticly expected a solid team by 4th and 5th yrs. Didn't work out.

[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

Red Shirting, Scholarship, NIL?, Legacy of excellence, consistently good coaching, prestige conference, better in and out of conference schedule.

Can we not redshirt football players? We do have scholarships, do they have more? Not sure about NIL there or here for football at this level. The rest of your list is nothing built in, but rather the byproducts of running a great program which are clearly not doing. Villanova, a big Jesuit school in suburban Philly has cleaned our clock on the field and now gets recognized for having a top undergrad business school where we really do not.

That, friends, is dropping the ball.