Saturday, September 25
Hamilton, N.Y.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
3
at
30
Colgate
Mountain Hawks Drop Patriot League Opener At Colgate
9/25/2021 5:16:00 PM | Football
HAMILTON, N.Y. – A sluggish start spotted Colgate 14 first quarter points and the Lehigh football team was unable to recover as the Mountain Hawks fell 30-3 to the Raiders Saturday in the Patriot League opener for both teams at Andy Kerr Stadium.
A turnover on Lehigh's second play from scrimmage resulted in a Colgate touchdown two plays later and the Raiders added a second score five minutes later.
Lehigh was held to 101 yards of offense on the day, while giving up 449 to the Raiders. The Mountain Hawks' defense improved after halftime, limiting the Raiders to 178 yards and a pair of field goals.
Colgate picks up its first win of the year and moves to 1-3 overall, while Lehigh falls to 0-4.
"We dug ourselves in a hole right away with a big turnover and they were able to capitalize and put us down real early in the game right off the bat," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "Obviously, that's never good. I think we struggled to get the bleeding to stop for a little while, but once we did, I thought we tightened some things up. I thought defensively, we really tightened a lot of things up, but still gave up a couple of big plays that we shouldn't have."
Sophomore Dante Perri made his first career start at quarterback and completed 13-of-19 passes for just 46 yards. He was sacked three times. Perri was picked off on Lehigh's second play of the game by Collin Heard and two plays later Colgate quarterback Grant Breneman scored on a nine yard run to put the Raiders in front.
Breneman completed 14-of-24 for 169 yards and a touchdown and also ran 16 times for 119 yards and a score.
Perri was expected to split time with junior Nigel Summerville, but Summerville was injured on his first series of the game and did not return.
"He has to take what's there and he has to trust what's there and not try to make a big play every single time," Gilmore said of Perri's performance." I think when he did that, there were plays. They might not have been big plays, but we have to string together smaller gains and that's how you win football games. You're not going to get a big play every single down. We just have to trust it. Some of those small gains can turn into big gains if you can break a tackle."
Senior RaShawn Allen paced the Lehigh rushing game with 47 yards on 11 carries, including a 20 yard rush in the first quarter.
"Offensively, we're still just struggling right now," Gilmore said. "We can't get in any consistency and every time it seemed like we did move the chains, a lot of times, we hurt ourselves with a penalty. We can't make mistakes. I don't think any team can make mistakes like that. We're on the five-yard line the one time, we committed a penalty. We just got a big eight-yard gain on first down and then we commit a penalty and now we're right back to second and long. We have to eliminate those kinds of things to give us a better chance to execute the base things that we're doing."
Defensively, Lehigh was led by junior Jack Bush, who finished with nine tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Senior Nate Norris added eight stops.
Colgate extended its lead on its second drive as the Raiders moved 53 yards in seven plays and Garrett Oakey scored on a nine yard run.
Lehigh caught a break early in the second quarter as Colgate had a bad snap on a punt, junior Dean Colton got a hand on the punt attempt and sophomore Corey Melzer picked up the loose ball and returned the ball to the Colgate 10 yard line. The Mountain Hawks weren't able to put the ball in the end zone and junior Dylan Van Dusen kicked a 32 yard field goal to bring Lehigh within 14-3.
A 27 yard Jacob Jaworski field goal followed by a 20 yard touchdown pass from Breneman to Myles Bradley put Colgate up 24-3 at halftime.
Gallery: (9-25-2021) Football at Colgate, 9/25/21
In the second half, the Mountain Hawks defense made the plays they weren't making in the first half, which helped limit the Raiders to Jaworski field goals midway through the third and fourth quarters.
"We just started making the plays," Gilmore said of the second half defensive effort. "They were running a lot of the same plays in the second half, but we were defending them a lot better. We did make a couple small adjustments, but it was just a matter of us trusting our reads and our assignments. And once we did that, we minimized a lot of those big gains from the first half.
"We just definitely have to get the ball moving on offense," Gilmore concluded. "We have to be able to move the ball more consistently and we obviously have to get into the end zone. That's an obvious thing, but we have to find a way to get that done and that might mean we have to make additional changes. We need to figure out a way with the guys that we have to get the ball moving consistently and give us a chance to win these games."
The Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium next Saturday to host Yale on Tackle Cancer Day presented by Red Robin in partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Game time is set for noon. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh lost its first game against a league opponent for just the fourth time in 14 seasons… prior to Saturday's game, Lehigh had won two straight games in Hamilton and four of the previous five… Perri and sophomore defensive lineman Ben Murphy made their first career starts… senior captain Justin Gurth made his season debut, starting at right guard… freshman running back Blake Hartman had the first two carries of his career… Perri completed passes to 10 different receivers (including himself)… senior Alex Snyder had two catches for 19 yards and sophomore Eric Johnson had two for 17… sophomore Trevor Harris and junior Stephon Bland registered sacks, giving Lehigh nine for the season… Lehigh's 11 game losing streak dating back to 2019 is its longest since losing 11 straight in 1943 and 1944.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
A turnover on Lehigh's second play from scrimmage resulted in a Colgate touchdown two plays later and the Raiders added a second score five minutes later.
Lehigh was held to 101 yards of offense on the day, while giving up 449 to the Raiders. The Mountain Hawks' defense improved after halftime, limiting the Raiders to 178 yards and a pair of field goals.
Colgate picks up its first win of the year and moves to 1-3 overall, while Lehigh falls to 0-4.
"We dug ourselves in a hole right away with a big turnover and they were able to capitalize and put us down real early in the game right off the bat," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "Obviously, that's never good. I think we struggled to get the bleeding to stop for a little while, but once we did, I thought we tightened some things up. I thought defensively, we really tightened a lot of things up, but still gave up a couple of big plays that we shouldn't have."
Sophomore Dante Perri made his first career start at quarterback and completed 13-of-19 passes for just 46 yards. He was sacked three times. Perri was picked off on Lehigh's second play of the game by Collin Heard and two plays later Colgate quarterback Grant Breneman scored on a nine yard run to put the Raiders in front.
Breneman completed 14-of-24 for 169 yards and a touchdown and also ran 16 times for 119 yards and a score.
Perri was expected to split time with junior Nigel Summerville, but Summerville was injured on his first series of the game and did not return.
"He has to take what's there and he has to trust what's there and not try to make a big play every single time," Gilmore said of Perri's performance." I think when he did that, there were plays. They might not have been big plays, but we have to string together smaller gains and that's how you win football games. You're not going to get a big play every single down. We just have to trust it. Some of those small gains can turn into big gains if you can break a tackle."
Senior RaShawn Allen paced the Lehigh rushing game with 47 yards on 11 carries, including a 20 yard rush in the first quarter.
"Offensively, we're still just struggling right now," Gilmore said. "We can't get in any consistency and every time it seemed like we did move the chains, a lot of times, we hurt ourselves with a penalty. We can't make mistakes. I don't think any team can make mistakes like that. We're on the five-yard line the one time, we committed a penalty. We just got a big eight-yard gain on first down and then we commit a penalty and now we're right back to second and long. We have to eliminate those kinds of things to give us a better chance to execute the base things that we're doing."
Defensively, Lehigh was led by junior Jack Bush, who finished with nine tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Senior Nate Norris added eight stops.
Colgate extended its lead on its second drive as the Raiders moved 53 yards in seven plays and Garrett Oakey scored on a nine yard run.
Lehigh caught a break early in the second quarter as Colgate had a bad snap on a punt, junior Dean Colton got a hand on the punt attempt and sophomore Corey Melzer picked up the loose ball and returned the ball to the Colgate 10 yard line. The Mountain Hawks weren't able to put the ball in the end zone and junior Dylan Van Dusen kicked a 32 yard field goal to bring Lehigh within 14-3.
A 27 yard Jacob Jaworski field goal followed by a 20 yard touchdown pass from Breneman to Myles Bradley put Colgate up 24-3 at halftime.
In the second half, the Mountain Hawks defense made the plays they weren't making in the first half, which helped limit the Raiders to Jaworski field goals midway through the third and fourth quarters.
"We just started making the plays," Gilmore said of the second half defensive effort. "They were running a lot of the same plays in the second half, but we were defending them a lot better. We did make a couple small adjustments, but it was just a matter of us trusting our reads and our assignments. And once we did that, we minimized a lot of those big gains from the first half.
"We just definitely have to get the ball moving on offense," Gilmore concluded. "We have to be able to move the ball more consistently and we obviously have to get into the end zone. That's an obvious thing, but we have to find a way to get that done and that might mean we have to make additional changes. We need to figure out a way with the guys that we have to get the ball moving consistently and give us a chance to win these games."
The Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium next Saturday to host Yale on Tackle Cancer Day presented by Red Robin in partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Game time is set for noon. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh lost its first game against a league opponent for just the fourth time in 14 seasons… prior to Saturday's game, Lehigh had won two straight games in Hamilton and four of the previous five… Perri and sophomore defensive lineman Ben Murphy made their first career starts… senior captain Justin Gurth made his season debut, starting at right guard… freshman running back Blake Hartman had the first two carries of his career… Perri completed passes to 10 different receivers (including himself)… senior Alex Snyder had two catches for 19 yards and sophomore Eric Johnson had two for 17… sophomore Trevor Harris and junior Stephon Bland registered sacks, giving Lehigh nine for the season… Lehigh's 11 game losing streak dating back to 2019 is its longest since losing 11 straight in 1943 and 1944.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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