Lehigh puts in 60 minutes, comes away with win
9/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Of the Morning Call
Seven years of covering Lehigh football and I can't remember one like this.
I can't remember the Mountain Hawks being stuffed so much on offense, failing to capitalize on most of their limited opportunities, and yet still finding a way to win.
Saturday's heart-pumping 20-13 win over Harvard bodes well for this team, and no, I'm not trying to make a pun with defensive tackle Paul Bode, whose 27-yard fumble return with 30 seconds left sent Lehigh fans home happy.
''All we talk about is competing,'' Lehigh coach Andy Coen said. ''Our motto this year is Fight Like Champions. We want to fight for 60 minutes and we did today. It wasn't pretty offensively, but our defense played incredibly spirited and got after the ball.''
For most of my time on the Lehigh beat, and even in the golden Kevin Higgins Era that preceded me, it was the high-powered offense that excited the Goodman Stadium crowds and overcame any deficiencies on defense and special teams.
But Lehigh's signature win of 2007 was all about the defense and special teams.
Freshman Jimmy Kennedy set the tone with a 45-yard return on the opening kickoff.
The fact that Lehigh's offense lost 5 yards over three plays and wasted a possession that began at the Mountain Hawks 49 was an omen of frustrations to come.
''I knew going in that we were going to have our hands full against their defense,'' Coen said. ''Our plan was to spread the field and create some plays that way. But they had a great pass rush all day and blitzed us more than they had shown. We were able to make a couple of big plays, but, obviously, not with the consistency that you'd like.''
So, Lehigh relied on field position delivered by punter Jason Leo, who averaged 44 yards on eight boots, including a 66-yarder. Harvard's average starting position was its 21.
It should be pointed out that Leo also mishit a 25-yard punt that led to a Harvard field goal just before halftime, and, while he made two early field goals, he also missed a 38-yarder in the third quarter.
But Leo did a lot more good than bad on this day.
The same could be said of the defense, which struggled at times to get Harvard off the field and allowed drives of 96 and 85 yards.
''They got some yards and a touchdown there, but we didn't let down,'' said middle 'backer Tim Diamond, whose 22 tackles were the most by a Lehigh defender since Sam Brinley's 22 in a 1997 loss at Bucknell.
''We bent, but we didn't break,'' Diamond added.
Without Diamond causing the fumble that led to Bode's winning dash to the end zone and Diamond grabbing a loose ball on Harvard's last-ditch, hook-and-lateral, Lehigh hearts would have been broken.
The Mountain Hawks lost four games just like this one in 2006, including a bitter 35-33 home setback to Harvard that took place one year ago today.
Maybe Saturday's snatch-victory-from-the-jaws-of-defeat thriller is a harbinger of things to come.
Coming out of a difficult opening month at 3-1 when some predicted 1-3, is a plus for a team plagued by injuries.
''We're very happy to be 3-1,'' Coen said. ''I mean, if you told us that we'd be 3-1 without [starting tailback] Matt McGowan taking one snap, I'd have said you're crazy.''
But the offense, despite some brilliant flashes each week, remains inconsistent.
With Fordham and Yale -- impressive winners over Colgate and Holy Cross, respectively, on Saturday -- coming up next, the schedule hardly softens.
Until the offense comes around, Diamond said: ''They need to know that the defense has got their backs.''
And while that's not the way it has been, it's the way it may have to be in 2007.
This story originally appeared in the Sunday, September 30, 2007 edition of The Morning Call. Used with permission.
