Pete Lembo 11/22/04
11/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dear Alumni and Friends -
We suffered a disappointing 24-10 loss to Lafayette yesterday at Fisher Field in Easton, PA. After a great first period that included a score on an eight minute, 14-play drive, and a defensive effort that held Lafayette to just 20 total yards, we were plagued by mental mistakes, critical turnovers and were handled physically at times on defense in the final three periods.
The loss drops our record to 9-2 as Lafayette improves to 8-3. We are officially patriot league co-champions with the Leopards for 2004, but Lafayette earned the automatic berth to the playoffs with the head-to-head victory on Saturday. Fortunately, the selection committee was impressed with our accomplishments this season and we will return to the I-AA playoffs next Saturday for the first time since 2001.
A jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, our offense continued to move the ball well, particularly on the ground. However, we missed some opportunities on our second drive and came away empty on our third drive of the game deep in Lafayette territory when tailback Eric
Rath fumbled on a power play into the boundary.
The Leopards turned around and mounted an impressive 18-play drive that chewed up the remaining possession time of the second quarter. Fortunately, sophomore safety Courtney Elder came up with an interception in the end zone off a tipped pass by senior linebacker Jason Murray. We simply took a knee to run out the few remaining seconds in the half.
While we were pleased to have a half time lead, the fact that we had just three offensive possessions in the entire first half was a major concern. We anticipated that the Leopards would look to shorten the game and keep it close by running the football. Unfortunately, their plan was
working - particularly with designed quarterback runs that kept the chains moving.
Nonetheless, the attitude in our locker room at the half was very upbeat. Despite some mistakes, the players seemed just as focused and excited for the second thirty minutes as they were in pre-game and for the entire week leading up to the game. We were already packing the box with defenders and mixing our fronts and coverages, so the key was to correct some miscues and simply play physical, sound defense in the second half. We utilized many of the same schemes we employed to contain Colgate quarterback Chris Brown three weeks ago, but we were far less effective in doing so on Saturday.
To begin the third quarter, we attempted a bloop kick away from Lafayette's primary returner, Larry Johnson, who had hurt us in the first quarter with a sizable return on a deep kick. However, kicker Matt Mcnelis's bloop failed to get much height and the Leopards took possession on the 34 yard line after a modest return along our sideline. Just four plays later, Lafayette quarterback Brad Maurer found the end zone on a 26 yard run and the game was tied 7-7.
On our next offensive possession, an errant shot gun snap immediately put us in a long yardage situation and we had to punt three plays later. Kyle Keating got off an impressive 48 yard boot and the Leopards took over at their own 25 yard line. From there, Lafayette put together a 14-play drive that included several key conversions. However, our defense held in the red zone and the leopards had to settle for a field goal.
Our offense was well rested and primed to get the ball back on the next possession in hopes of regaining the game's momentum. However, on the ensuing kick off, returner Eric Rath had his second costly fumble of the day. The miscue enabled Lafayette to regain possession at our 34 yard line. It also put our defense back out on the field, where it had been the majority of the third quarter. Four plays later, Lafayette receiver Brandon Stanford scored on a reverse for what would be the game winning touchdown. Our safety failed to read his key when the tight end executed a drive block instead of a cut off, and ended up out of position to defend the reverse.
We recovered a surprise on sides kick on the next kick off but were unable to move into scoring position. Quarterback Mark Borda ended up completing 70% of his passes for the afternoon, but was never able to get into a smooth rhythm - due at least in part to the fact that we had so few possessions.
The leopards would add one more score - capping an 18 play drive against our tired defense, before we countered with a field goal of our own to end a 15 play, 70 yard drive. However, our on sides kick attempt failed to go the necessary 10 yards, and any late comeback attempt was thwarted.
After narrowly missing an at-large bid last year at this time, we are excited to be back in the NCAA field of 16. Saturday was a poorly executed effort that was not reflective of this team's accomplishments this season. I am delighted that this group of players and assistant coaches will have an opportunity to redeem themselves in another big contest. This is nothing short of a blessing for our program and we are very humbled by it.
As you may have seen on ESPN news earlier this afternoon, we will be hosting 9-2 James Madison at Goodman Stadium this Saturday. The Dukes only I-AA loss was to William & Mary, and they share the 2004 atlantic-10 championship with the Tribe. James Madison has a reputation for being a very fast and physical football team, and I am sure they will be nothing short of angry to be playing on the road this coming weekend.
Yesterday's loss will not be forgotten despite this great opportunity. As I told the squad and coaches in the locker room after the game, I am proud of how they prepared all week long, but embarrassed by how we performed in the game itself. We disappointed a lot of people on Saturday, and we are well aware of that fact. While we will be facing a great challenge, I am hopeful that we can represent our conference and ourselves more appropriately this weekend.
Thanks for your ongoing interest and support of the football program.
Sincerely,
Pete
