Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh talks about upcoming game at luncheon
9/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh returns to action this weekend when the Mountain Hawks head to New Jersey to take on the Princeton Tigers at Princeton Stadium. On Wednesday afternoon, head coach Andy Coen, along with seniors Brian Jackson and Adam Watson gathered at the Copperhead Grille on Airport Road in Allentown to discuss the upcoming contest with the Tigers.
Below is the transcript from Wednesday’s luncheon.
LEHIGH HEAD COACH ANDY COEN
On Lehigh’s last game: “Villanova was obviously a disappointing day for us. It was a game where I think we had a lot of opportunities to make plays that could’ve helped us win the football game and we missed out on a bunch of those.”
On playing Princeton next: “Going into Princeton we’re obviously very excited. I know the guys enjoyed having a little bit of time off, but they’re even more excited to get back and play a football game. I know our New Jersey kids always get excited about an opportunity to go back home.“
On the Princeton Tigers: “I think it’s going to be a very good football team. We’re going to have to play a very good game on Saturday. We cannot expect Princeton to turn the ball over five times in the first half like they did a year ago. We’re going to have to create some plays without Princeton’s help this year. We’re looking forward to it and I think it’ll be a great night.”
On how the Mountain Hawks dealt with the bye week: “Our approach was, after giving the kids a couple days off, going back to more of a camp type mode. We had two real physical practices, did a lot of our first offense versus our first defense, and we combined that with just really working fundamentals with blocking and live tackling drills, which are things you shy away from as you get farther into the season.”
On Villanova’s success defending the rollout punt: “Yeah, they did a nice job with it. That’s one thing that we’ve spent quite a bit of time on in the off week. We’ve got more than a few answers for what people are going to do. But philosophically we want to continue with that, so you may see some different things this week.”
On the Patriot League’s opening-weekend success: “I think our kids will be fired up to go and play against an Ivy League opponent. I think they take a lot of pride in how Lehigh always matches up against the Ivies. The other group that I know takes a lot of pride is the alumni. It’s a lot of fun at the water coolers on Monday when you can say your team beat an Ivy League team.”
LEHIGH SENIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN BRIAN JACKSON
On playing a night game in Princeton: “If anybody is going to be overanxious, I’m going to be. I don’t know where the energy comes from but the night game just provides so much extra. It just makes you want to play harder, faster, better.”
On Lehigh’s defense: “The scary part is we could be a much better defense than we showed at Villanova. It’s exciting to know that we have the potential to be one of the best defenses, not just in the Patriot League, but in the nation. Once we clean up all those mistakes and errors and scheme problems, I think we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
LEHIGH SENIOR FULLBACK ADAM WATSON
On playing in his home-state of New Jersey: “It’s always nice going back home and getting some of our friends and family to come watch us in our home state. I know there will hopefully be some people from our high school watching. It kind of pumps me up going back home and playing in New Jersey again. ”
On establishing the run: “Establishing the run is going to be big, it’s always big. On our offensive line we have a bunch of big guys that like to hit people, I like to hit people, (Matt) McGowan likes to hit people. With running, we take pride in that. It’s always a big thing and we all know that we need to establish the running game and it’s our job to churn out the yards when the time comes.”
Lehigh and Princeton will get things going at 6:00 on Saturday evening from Princeton Stadium. The game will be televised live on WFMZ-TV as well as Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh and Fox College Sports-Central. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 AM and live video will be shown on Lehighsports.com.
Lehigh football luncheon - September 24, 2008
