Yale maintained its perfect record this season with a narrow victory over Cornell on Saturday. The Bulldogs will look to stretch their unbeaten run even further when they take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in an intriguing showdown this coming Saturday.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this college football matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between Harvard and Georgetown.
Yale’s hot start continued on Saturday with a thrilling 33-26 come-from-behind victory over Cornell at Yale Bowl. It was a stunning comeback win for the Bulldogs, who were down by as much as 19 at one point in the game. Leading the way for Yale in this back-and-forth contest was Morgan Roberts. He finished 25 of 47 for 371 yards and three touchdowns, and also added a 7-yard touchdown run. Roberts’ 52-yard touchdown pass to Sebastian Little with 32 seconds remaining in the game helped seal the victory for Yale in its second game of the season.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]For the Bulldogs to preserve their unbeaten record against the Mountain Hawks this coming Saturday, they will need to continue their excellent play on the offensive end, particularly their passing game. They are eighth in the FCS in passing offense, averaging 332.0 yards per game this season, and will fancy their chances against a Lehigh secondary that’s allowing a whopping 259.0 passing yards per game this season, 93rd in the entire FCS.
The Bulldogs will also take comfort in the fact that they have fared extremely well against the Mountain Hawks of late. Yale rallied from an early 21-0 deficit last year to record a memorable 54-43 victory over Lehigh. Roberts was the hero in that game as well, passing for 376 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lehigh Mountain Hawks will play their final non-league game and the last of three consecutive outings against Ivy League opponents as they host Yale in a blockbuster showdown at Goodman Stadium this coming Saturday. The Mountain Hawks are desperate to bounce back from a 52-26 defeat at Princeton, which dropped their overall record this season to 2-2.
For the Mountain Hawks to return to winning ways this weekend, they will need to do a much better job of protecting the football. They committed four costly turnovers on Saturday that allowed Princeton to pull away in the second half. It’s also crucial for the Mountain Hawks that they get their ground game going against Yale. Dominick Bragalone had his best rushing day as a Mountain Hawk against Princeton, with the freshman tailback gaining 129 yards on 21 carries including his first career rushing touchdown. A two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week, Bragalone now has 237 rushing yards and 171 receiving yards through his opening four games.
With his performance against Princeton, Bragalone became the second Lehigh freshman in as many weeks to rush for 100-plus yards in a game. He will look to dissect a Yale defensive line that’s allowing 150.5 yards per game on the ground this campaign, 46th in the FCS.
Also expected to play a major part in this upcoming showdown with Yale is Troy Pelletier. After being limited to just three receptions in his opening two outings, Pelletier has exploded in the Mountain Hawks’ last two games, grabbing 25 receptions including a school-record 15 catches at Princeton. He gained 158 yards against the Tigers and caught his fourth touchdown of the season in that game. A week earlier against Penn, the sophomore had ten catches for 109 yards and two scores.
That being said, Lehigh’s success this coming weekend will ultimately depend on their ability to make stops on the defensive end. In their two victories this year, Lehigh’s defense has allowed an average of 375 yards and 17.5 points per game. And in those games, the Mountain Hawks recorded five sacks and allowed opponents to convert just 25 percent (8-of-24) of their third downs.
It’s a totally different story, though, when it comes to their two losses this campaign. Lehigh is yielding an average of 548.5 yards and 53.5 points per game in its two defeats this season. The Mountain Hawks have just two sacks in those two contests, with opponents converting 56 percent of their third downs.
