Lehigh University
0-4
Harvard
2-1
Mountain Hawks drop 28-14 decision to Harvard
10/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
 |
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh marched down the field on its opening possession and took a 7-0 lead, but five Mountain Hawk turnovers led to 28 unanswered Harvard points as the Crimson dealt Lehigh its fourth consecutive loss 28-14 in front of 5,457 fans Saturday at Goodman Stadium. Sophomore Chris Lum made his first career start and finished 22-of-42 for 269 yards, one touchdown and four costly interceptions. With the loss Lehigh begins a season 0-4 for the first time since 1982.
"Obviously we're not happy to be 0-4," Mountain Hawks head coach Andy Coen said afterwards. "I thought Chris (Lum) did some nice things out there today, but he made his fair share of mistakes, too. We'll go back and watch the tape to determine where we go from here (with the quarterback position)."
The Mountain Hawks took an early first quarter lead when Lum connected with junior tight end Alex Wojdowski on a one yard touchdown pass. It was the first time this season that Lehigh was able to score a touchdown on its first possession and only the second time this season the Mountain Hawks have scored in the first quarter. Lehigh drove 83 yards on its opening drive which included a 55 yard run by backup quarterback Michael Colvin out of the wildcat formation. "Mike's been doing a great job for us all season whenever he gets an opportunity. He's a very good athlete and showed that once again today," Coen said.
Harvard capitalized off a Lum interception as junior quarterback Collier Winters connected with Cheng Ho for a 14 yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7 less than three minutes into the second quarter.
The Crimson capitalized on Lehigh’s second interception of the game when they drove 38 yards in a little over three minutes. Winters eluded the Mountain Hawk pressure and found a wide open Adam Chrissis for a three yard touchdown to give Harvard the 14-7 lead.
The Mountain Hawks finished out the first half with a big third-down stop off a sack from sophomore Mike Groome for a 12 yard loss. With 13 seconds left Harvard failed to make a 36 yard field goal to extend its lead to 10 going into the half.
Lum finished the first half 9-13 for 62 yards and one touchdown. Colvin led Lehigh in rushing with 59 yards on two carries.
The Crimson opened up the scoring at 6:54 into the second half as Ho scored his second touchdown of the day, this time on the ground, to put Harvard up 21-7. The senior pushed his way through the trenches for a five yard score.
The Mountain Hawks defense forced their first turnover since the third quarter of the season opener when senior Jesse Sanchez picked off Winters in the end zone, but Lehigh was unable to turn the turnover into points.
In its opening drive of the fourth quarter Lum led Lehigh down the field, but his fourth-and-ten completion to Jake Drwal ended up just short of the first down marker.
Lum led Lehigh down the field in its next two drives, but both drives ended in interceptions, the second; an attempted screen-pass was picked off by Jon Takamura who raced 60 yards to paydirt to give the Crimson a three touchdown lead.
Lehigh scored its second touchdown of the day with 3:51 remaining in the fourth quarter when Lum pushed through on a one-yard quarterback sneak, capping off a nine-play, 80-yard drive.
For the game, Lehigh out-gained Harvard 375-333, with the Mountain Hawks holding a 269-152 advantage through the air and the Crimson out-gaining Lehigh on the ground 181-106. Ho finished with 132 yards rushing on 21 carries for the Crimson. Colvin was Lehigh’s leading ground gainer with 74 yards on five carries, while junior Jay Campbell gained 46 yards on 11 rushes. Drawl and De’Vaughn Gordon each caught six passes for 83 and 93 yards respectively.
Senior Al Pierce and sophomore Colin Newton paced the Lehigh defense with ten total tackles apiece. "I thought our defense played well enough once again to help us win. We just need to start making more plays on offense and cut down on the amount of mistakes we're making," Coen said.
Harvard moves to 2-1 on the season with the victory.
The Mountain Hawks will return to the gridiron next Saturday when they open up Patriot League play against Georgetown. Kick-off is set for 12:30 and tickets can be purchased in one of three ways: by calling 610-7LU-GAME, by visiting the Lehigh Athletics Ticket Office, located in Grace Hall, or by logging onto Lehighsports.com.
EXTRA POINTS… Saturday was Heroes Day at Goodman Stadium which Lehigh was proud to welcome all members of the U.S. Military, local law enforcement agencies, fire protection services and medical/emergency personnel… United States Marine Sergeant Greg Blackburn, a representative of the Wounded Warrior Project, served as an honorary captain for Lehigh… The 25 second play clock in Goodman Stadium’s south end zone malfunctioned prior to kickoff so the play clock was kept on the field by the back judge, who used his arms to signal the quarterbacks as time ran down… Saturday’s game will be replayed Sunday at 10 a.m. on Service Electric 2 Sports and Thursday at 8 a.m. on Fox College Sports Atlantic.
Lehigh - Harvard Post-Game Extra
Team Stats
HARV 0, LEHIGH 7
LEHIGH - Wojdowski, Alex 1 yd pass from Lum, Chris (Randazza, Tom kick) 12 plays, 83 yards, TOP 5:25
HARV 7, LEHIGH 7
HARV - Ho, Cheng 13 yd pass from Winters, Collie (Long, Patrick kick) 8 plays, 63 yards, TOP 3:40
HARV 14, LEHIGH 7
HARV - Chrissis, Adam 3 yd pass from Winters, Collie (Long, Patrick kick) 8 plays, 38 yards, TOP 3:01
HARV 21, LEHIGH 7
HARV - Ho, Cheng 5 yd run (Long, Patrick kick), 10 plays, 62 yards, TOP 3:05
HARV 28, LEHIGH 7
HARV - Takamura, Jon 60 yd interception (Long, Patrick kick)
HARV 28, LEHIGH 14
LEHIGH - Lum, Chris 1 yd run (Randazza, Tom kick), 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:00
