Rivals in dire need of rebound

How can Lehigh, Lafayette get back?

Lehigh and Lafayette meet for the 158th time Saturday at the Leopards’ Fisher Stadium, and in the latest edition of college football’s most-played rivalry, as the cliché goes, you can throw out the records in this one.

There’s no doubt both the Mountain Hawks and Leopards would love to throw out their 2022 records; maybe toss them into the trash, the nearby Delaware River, burn them or send them into outer space on the next Artemis launch.

Lehigh enters at 2-8, Lafayette at 3-7.

No matter who wins and whose student body gets to storm the field Saturday, the teams will exit the season with a combined 6-16 record.

It will mark the second straight year that they will have combined for a 6-16 record since both finished 3-8 last season after Lehigh’s 17-10 win at Goodman Stadium.

Lehigh hasn’t had a winning season since 2016 and Lafayette hasn’t finished with more wins than losses since 2009. The last time both entered what is known as “The Rivalry” with winning records was 2005 and the Leopards prevailed 23-19 at Lehigh that year to win the Patriot League championship and earn an FCS playoff berth.

This game remains the highlight of the football season and the most anticipated event on the athletic calendar on both campuses.

But the question is when will the game have more meaning than mere local bragging rights again? When will Lehigh and/or Lafayette compete for a Patriot League title and a playoff berth again?

These are not easy questions to answer.

Lehigh and Lafayette are not alone when it comes to Patriot League football members seeking answers.

Only league champion Holy Cross (10-0, 5-0) and Fordham (8-2, 4-1 have winning records. The other five — Bucknell, Colgate and Georgetown plus the two local schools — are a combined 13-37. For those five programs, just three wins have come outside the league.

Colgate beat Maine, Georgetown topped Marist and Lafayette edged Sacred Heart.

So, make no mistake, the struggles are not limited to College Hill and South Mountain.

The gap between the Colonial Athletic Association, considered the SEC of FCS football at least in the eastern half of the country, and the Patriot League has grown in recent years. Lehigh lost to Villanova, Richmond. and Monmouth by a combined 110-30. Lafayette fell to its lone CAA opponent, William & Mary, 34-7.

There was also a time when the Ivy League and Patriot League were on fairly equal terms. Lehigh and Lafayette went 0-4 against the Ivies this year with both programs losing to Princeton.

The CAA has had a huge advantage over the Patriot League in regard to redshirting, which means allowing a student-athlete to be a part of the program, practice and attend classes and do everything the regular players can except participate in games.

Look at the rosters of programs such as Richmond and Villanova and there are a lot of R’s in front of the players’ classes.

There are advantages in roster sizes, and scholarships allowed.

The Patriot League normally allows a maximum roster size of 90, but that limit has been expanded for those exempted student-athletes who got a league eligibility waiver as a result of COVID-19.

The league also has a maximum of 60 scholarship equivalents per season, three shy of the NCAA FCS maximum. Georgetown doesn’t give scholarships.

Distributing 60 scholarship equivalents through a 90-man roster can be a challenge especially when the Ivy League schools, who don’t offer scholarships, have increased the amount of financial aid they can give athletes.

The Patriot League has high academic standards, just like the Ivy League, and their programs often compete for the same kids. However. the Ivy League, just by virtue of its history and brand recognition, often has the edge in the recruiting wars even though the Ivies don’t compete in the playoffs and thus have no shot at a national championship.

As superb academically as Lehigh and Lafayette are, it’s tough to go against someone who has an offer on the table from Harvard, Yale or any of the other Ancient Eight.

So, the Patriot League is in a bit of a bind with its emphasis on the student part of the student-athlete equation.

In terms of local recruiting, bringing in more local kids should create more interest in your program and put more people in the stands for home games. Having more Lehigh Valley kids builds stronger connections to the Lehigh Valley high school programs.

That bond between either Lehigh or Lafayette and the schools in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference could and should be fostered in other ways as well by more outreach and giving more local kids reasons to come out to Lehigh and Lafayette games through promotions.

Of course, the negative part of bringing local kids on campus to be a part of your program is if those don’t get to play, it creates a sour taste and negative comments right in your backyard.

Lafayette has a good start on next year’s class with the commitment of Easton’s Sean Wilson, a two-way EPC South all-star. Wilson has said he can’t wait to play college football in his hometown and get on campus.

Then there’s the issue of the schedule.

With just seven teams in the league that means there are six league games each year and five open dates. How to fill those dates is another dilemma.

On the one hand, coaches want their players competing against the best possible opponents in those five open dates feeling that the better teams they play, the more they’ll be ready for the six league games. And, there’s an additional benefit to giving your kids a special experience by playing Temple at Lincoln Financial Field as Lafayette did this year or playing at Duke next year, Buffalo in 2024, or Bowling Green in 2025.

On the other hand, teams can get beat up mentally and physically going against the CAA schools and FBS programs.

The bottom line is both programs feel they are headed in the right direction. Lafayette coach John Troxell, who will complete his first full season in charge on Saturday, has been able to identify the program’s strengths and weaknesses and has a better handle on what’s required than he did 11½ months ago when he was hired. He is thrilled with the support he has received from president Nicole Hurd and athletic director Sherryta Freeman.

“Our No. 1 goal is to get the kids more developed, bigger, and stronger,” Troxell said. “In the first offseason I had here we had to do a lot of teaching with a new offense and defense and getting our kids to understand what we’re doing. Now, it’s about developing and we’ve got a new strength coach in Shane Davenport who I think will do wonders for the kids because we’re not as big and strong as some of the other teams.”

Troxell said he’s also hoping his team can be more efficient on offense.

“We’re still getting to know the kids and they’re still getting to know us and we need to figure out who we have and get to know them better in terms of knowing their strengths,” Troxell said. “The staples here are always going to be playing great defense and special teams and not turning it over on offense. But the emphasis in the offseason will be on getting better offensively.”

Lehigh is very similar to Lafayette in terms of playing solid defense but needs to get better, more consistent play from the offense.

Coach Tom Gilmore, who is completing his third fall season at Lehigh in addition to an abbreviated three-game slate in the spring of 2021, has kept the team together and playing hard through some long losing streaks as evidenced by all the emotion on display after Saturday’s win over Colgate.

He understands, however, that it’s a results-based business and people don’t see the improvements that those closest to the program see.

“We are in a better position than we were at this time last year,” he said. “I think we’ve recruited well with our three full recruiting classes and there’s talent in the program that’s developing and getting better. It’s finally coming together. We’re moving in the right direction. Everyone sees the wins and the losses and we know that’s the most important thing. You’re competing to win. But what people outside the program don’t see is the progress. We do. Sometimes it gets sidetracked with an injury or another problem, but there’s a lot of things that are building with the program.”

Gilmore didn’t inherit the best situation after the late Andy Coen had to resign after the 2018 season. His battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s, something that went on for several years, had a more profound impact on the program than was ever known. And then one season into his tenure, Gilmore had to deal with the negatives of COVID-19.

“There were things we had to overcome and things that needed to be built back up,” Gilmore said. “It took longer than any of us would have liked to see but we’re definitely headed in the right direction. I think everyone on the inside knows that and has a lot of confidence in that.”

As tough as it has been for both programs, the one certainty that remains is that a win in “The Rivalry” can make you feel a lot better about the season just ending and the future ahead.

Gilmore and Troxell both said how fortunate they feel to have this game at the end of the season, giving both sides an opportunity to erase bad memories and celebrate their hard work for pushing through adversity.

“Win this one and you get an extra boost,” Gilmore said. “It sets a positive tone for the offseason. A lot of people don’t have an opportunity to play in a game like this. There are rivalries, but then there are big rivalries and this one is huge rivalry. Just being able to play in a game like this raises the stakes, raises the emotion, and everything else. This one is important.”