Saturday, September 4
Bethlehem, Pa.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
0-1
3
vs
47
Villanova
1-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Villanova
6
14
24
3
47
Lehigh
0
3
0
0
3
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Turnovers Doom Mountain Hawks In Season-Opening Loss To No. 15/16 Villanova
9/4/2021 4:38:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh football team couldn't get past a nationally-ranked Villanova squad as the 15th-ranked Wildcats took down the Mountain Hawks 47-3 Saturday in the season-opener for both teams on Dog Day at Goodman Stadium. Saturday's Dog Day game was presented by JFR Salvage.
The Wildcats racked up over 500 yards of offense and scored 24 of their 47 points off of six Lehigh turnovers.
"We played a very good football team," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "They played an outstanding game and executed very well. Once we start going down that path, we need to be tougher and fight harder in those situations. It just seemed like that snowball effect where once something went downhill we let the slide continue."
Villanova scored the game's first 20 points before an interception by sophomore Mike DeNucci late in the first half led to a 34 yard field goal by junior Dylan Van Dusen as time expired.
With the Mountain Hawks trailing 20-3 at the break, Villanova pulled away with 24 third quarter points, turning three Lehigh turnovers in the period into 17 of those points.
"I thought in the first half we did a lot of things well," Gilmore said. "I was very hopeful going into halftime that we could play a lot better than we did in the first half but we just ultimately didn't do that."
Lehigh was held to 139 yards of offense on the day. Junior quarterback Cross Wilkinson completed 15-of-26 passes for 134 yards, but threw three interceptions. Sophomore Dante Perri entered in the second half and finished 3-of-6 for 17 yards and an interception. Lehigh also lost a pair of fumbles and yielded four sacks.
Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith completed 13-of-21 for 182 yards and three touchdowns, with two of those scores going to Dez Boykin. Justin Covington rushed 18 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns. The Wildcats rushed for 275 yards and passed for 231 in a balanced effort.
Offensively, Lehigh's top producers were senior tight end Alex Snyder, who hauled in five passes for 56 yards and junior Johnny Foley who had 53 yards on five receptions.
Senior Pete Haffner led the defensive effort with 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, half a sack and a pass breakup. Juniors Mikhari Sibblis and Michael Callahan added five tackles, with Sibblis picking up a sack on the game's opening possession. DeNucci also had five tackles, including a tackle for loss.Gallery: (9-4-2021) Football vs. Villanova, 9/4/21
Villanova led 6-0 after one quarter following a pair of Cole Bunce field goals. Covington then scored on runs of 13 and 51 yards to put the Wildcats up 20. Smith connected with Jaaron Hayek on a 17 yard touchdown in the third quarter and hit Boykin on scoring passes of 30 and 61 yards.
"This is a hard way to learn some of those lessons for a lot of these young guys to lose a game by a margin like this," Gilmore said. "This is a motivating factor on what we have to do to get better. What are we going to do moving forward? Working harder both physically and mentally. One play at a time over the course of a game. It was a big challenge but I think it'll be a motivating factor. We won't let these guys get discouraged. We're better than what we showed today."
The Mountain Hawks will head on the road next weekend to face another CAA foe as Lehigh heads to Richmond to face the 22nd-ranked Spiders. Game time is set for 2 p.m. from Robins Stadium. The game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Washington and FloFootball, while audio coverage will be available on Lehighsports.com.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh has now lost its last three openers and has lost 10 straight games against CAA opponents… Villanova has now won nine straight games in the series to take a 12-5 lead… Lehigh had three first-time starters including senior wide receiver De'Shun Mickens, sophomore center George Padezanin and DeNucci… Villanova had 24 first downs to Lehigh's 11 and held a 37:25-22:35 edge in time of possession… sophomore Jack DiPietro and freshman Gaige Garcia led the Lehigh rushing attach with 36 combined yards on nine carries… sophomore Roemello Miner had the first three receptions of his career… eleven of Lehigh's 26 first-year players saw action on Saturday… Saturday's attendance was 4,101.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
The Wildcats racked up over 500 yards of offense and scored 24 of their 47 points off of six Lehigh turnovers.
"We played a very good football team," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "They played an outstanding game and executed very well. Once we start going down that path, we need to be tougher and fight harder in those situations. It just seemed like that snowball effect where once something went downhill we let the slide continue."
Villanova scored the game's first 20 points before an interception by sophomore Mike DeNucci late in the first half led to a 34 yard field goal by junior Dylan Van Dusen as time expired.
With the Mountain Hawks trailing 20-3 at the break, Villanova pulled away with 24 third quarter points, turning three Lehigh turnovers in the period into 17 of those points.
"I thought in the first half we did a lot of things well," Gilmore said. "I was very hopeful going into halftime that we could play a lot better than we did in the first half but we just ultimately didn't do that."
Lehigh was held to 139 yards of offense on the day. Junior quarterback Cross Wilkinson completed 15-of-26 passes for 134 yards, but threw three interceptions. Sophomore Dante Perri entered in the second half and finished 3-of-6 for 17 yards and an interception. Lehigh also lost a pair of fumbles and yielded four sacks.
Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith completed 13-of-21 for 182 yards and three touchdowns, with two of those scores going to Dez Boykin. Justin Covington rushed 18 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns. The Wildcats rushed for 275 yards and passed for 231 in a balanced effort.
Offensively, Lehigh's top producers were senior tight end Alex Snyder, who hauled in five passes for 56 yards and junior Johnny Foley who had 53 yards on five receptions.
Senior Pete Haffner led the defensive effort with 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, half a sack and a pass breakup. Juniors Mikhari Sibblis and Michael Callahan added five tackles, with Sibblis picking up a sack on the game's opening possession. DeNucci also had five tackles, including a tackle for loss.
Villanova led 6-0 after one quarter following a pair of Cole Bunce field goals. Covington then scored on runs of 13 and 51 yards to put the Wildcats up 20. Smith connected with Jaaron Hayek on a 17 yard touchdown in the third quarter and hit Boykin on scoring passes of 30 and 61 yards.
"This is a hard way to learn some of those lessons for a lot of these young guys to lose a game by a margin like this," Gilmore said. "This is a motivating factor on what we have to do to get better. What are we going to do moving forward? Working harder both physically and mentally. One play at a time over the course of a game. It was a big challenge but I think it'll be a motivating factor. We won't let these guys get discouraged. We're better than what we showed today."
The Mountain Hawks will head on the road next weekend to face another CAA foe as Lehigh heads to Richmond to face the 22nd-ranked Spiders. Game time is set for 2 p.m. from Robins Stadium. The game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Washington and FloFootball, while audio coverage will be available on Lehighsports.com.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh has now lost its last three openers and has lost 10 straight games against CAA opponents… Villanova has now won nine straight games in the series to take a 12-5 lead… Lehigh had three first-time starters including senior wide receiver De'Shun Mickens, sophomore center George Padezanin and DeNucci… Villanova had 24 first downs to Lehigh's 11 and held a 37:25-22:35 edge in time of possession… sophomore Jack DiPietro and freshman Gaige Garcia led the Lehigh rushing attach with 36 combined yards on nine carries… sophomore Roemello Miner had the first three receptions of his career… eleven of Lehigh's 26 first-year players saw action on Saturday… Saturday's attendance was 4,101.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
VU
LEHIGH
Total Yards
506
139
Pass Yards
231
151
Rushing Yards
275
-12
Penalty Yards
60
40
1st Downs
24
11
3rd Downs
6
3
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
37:25
22:35
1st Quarter
VU 3, LEHIGH 0
VU - Bunce, C. 35 yd field goal 7 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:36
VU 6, LEHIGH 0
VU - Bunce, C. 49 yd field goal 9 plays, 54 yards, TOP 4:25
2nd Quarter
VU 13, LEHIGH 0
VU - Covington, J. 13 yd run (Bunce, C. kick), 7 plays, 61 yards, TOP 3:51
VU 20, LEHIGH 0
VU - Covington, J. 51 yd run (Bunce, C. kick), 6 plays, 89 yards, TOP 3:30
VU 20, LEHIGH 3
LEHIGH - Van Dusen, D. 34 yd field goal 2 plays, 19 yards, TOP 0:13
3rd Quarter
VU 27, LEHIGH 3
VU - Hayek, J. 17 yd pass from Smith, D. (Bunce, C. kick) 6 plays, 45 yards, TOP 2:58
VU 34, LEHIGH 3
VU - Boykin, D. 15 yd pass from Smith, D. (Bunce, C. kick) 3 plays, 20 yards, TOP 1:33
VU 37, LEHIGH 3
VU - Bunce, C. 30 yd field goal 6 plays, 16 yards, TOP 1:55
VU 44, LEHIGH 3
VU - Boykin, D. 61 yd pass from Smith, D. (Bunce, C. kick) 3 plays, 69 yards, TOP 1:31
4th Quarter
VU 47, LEHIGH 3
VU - Bartel, W. 26 yd field goal 9 plays, 39 yards, TOP 5:14
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
Players Mentioned
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RB
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WR
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RB
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OL
/ FootballQB
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K/P
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