Lafayette mid-season grade: one win saves it

I can remember more than once during my high school and college days that the score on a single test brought my overall course grade up considerably. It then became a matter of whether I could hold on to the higher average the rest of the term.

Well, the score I’m thinking about today was 31-24. It was anything but knocking it out of the park, but for the Lafayette football team, a victory over favored Central Connecticut State, which was earned with a drive that was completed with only 33 seconds left in the game, boosted the Leopards’ mid-term grade (at least in the mind of this one “professor”) from a probable best of D- or a worst of F to a C and the possibility of even better before the end of the term at something around 4 p.m. on Nov. 17 in Fisher Stadium.

The first four games of the season, including three in which Lafayette didn’t score a touchdown, looked eerily like the 2017 season. John Garrett’s team scored only 26 points and gave up 142. Coach Garrett had told us that his team was “miles” ahead of last year, his first on College Hill, but the results didn’t back up that assessment.

The four-game rushing yards average was up from 15.8 ypg to 46.8, but point production was down from 53 to 26 because passing average was down 57 yards per game. Rushing touchdowns were up (from 0 to 1), but passing TDs were down (from 7 to 2). Fumbles lost were zero last year, four this year. Ball security must improve.

Defensively, the Leopards intercepted six passes in the first four games of 2017, just one in this year’s first four. The second and third quarters continued to be the biggest problem. Opponents outscored the Leopards 116-9 last year and 90-10 this year in the middle periods.

The bottom line was that the Lafayette teams of last year and this year were both winless entering Game 5, and into all that negativity came a CCSU team that was the preseason favorite to win the Northeast Conference.

But the Leopards, just as they did on Holy Cross’ Fitton Field a year ago, found a way to turn things around.

At Holy Cross, linebacker Brandon Bryant punctuated a 15-tackle day with a stop on a Crusader fourth-and-1 play that gave the Leopards the ball at the Holy Cross 33 with 1:42 remaining. On fourth down at the HC 26, Jeffrey Kordenbrock booted a 43-yard field goal as time ran out for a 10-7 win.

Against CCSU on Sept. 29, Lafayette combined a 37-yard kickoff return by J.J. Younger, four straight pass completions by Sean O’Malley and a nifty 23-yard touchdown run by C.J. Amill to pull out the victory that broke the Leopards’ six-game losing streak that went back to the final two games of 2017.

So, here we are, 1-4 overall, but, unlike a year ago, 0-1 in the Patriot League. Here’s my for-entertainment-purposes-only evaluation of the first half.

OFFENSIVE LINE – This bunch was supposed to be the biggest liability. While still a long way from overpowering, the big nasties have accepted the challenge and, with a little tweaking of the passing scheme, has been the most pleasant surprise of the season’s first half. Getting Kevin Zataveski back has been a big boost. The unit has a bit of depth this year thanks to six freshmen, and while a number of them have already contributed, Zataveski, Logan Grieser, Gavin Barclay and Jake Mariotti are more experienced. The o-line hasn’t been guilty of a presnap penalty since the first series of the Delaware game or a hold since the second period at Delaware, and that’s pretty much unheard of. And they have been protective to the point where quarterback Sean O’Malley has been sacked only six times. The one thing keeping them from getting better is the lack of a ground game. GRADE: B-.      

RECEIVERS – After taking a big hit through graduation, this group is still in the midst of a battle for playing time. And what a nice thing that has been. Three receivers who had not caught a college pass until this season – sophomore Quinn Revere, junior Julian Spigner and senior Chris Granjean – are among the tops in the stats. Revere’s 20 catches are the most, one more than junior Nick Pearson, who has 19 catches for 325 yards. Granjean is the biggest surprise, having had a breakout day with six catches for 104 yards in the CCSU win. He and O’Malley hooked up on plays of 27, 28, 32 and 12 yards. The Leopards have lots of speed among the receivers, but not a lot of length. If O’Malley improves on his consistency and the line continues to give him time to throw, explosive plays are inevitable. The receivers have shown they can catch it and get yards after the catch; having such a large group will make it tough for opponents to defend. The one thing most keeping them from getting a higher grade is the lack of touchdown passes. Two in five games needs major improvement. Also, three IMHO underused tight ends have a total of just seven catches. GRADE: B-.

RUNNING BACKS – Four plays – a 23-yarder by C.J. Amill that provided the winning points against CCSU, 19-yarders by Selwyn Simpson and J.J. Younger and an 18-yarder by O’Malley – account for 79 yards. The other 110 rushing plays by the Leopards gained a net 192 yards – just 1.745 per carry. I’m sure the offensive line has been working at it, but those guys haven’t been able to establish anything. Just 18 first downs and three touchdowns on running plays. Opposing teams are going to be scheming for those end-around plays guys like Younger and Pearson like to run. Pearson hasn’t been totally healthy and has only four rushing attempts for seven net yards. He had more than 90 in just one half last season against Lehigh. Coach Garrett still says he wants to run the ball, but the numbers are 114 running plays to 178 passing plays. Sixty-one percent passing. Forty-one percent of the plays accounting for 21 percent of the yards gained. Only one of the 10 guys in the rushing stats is averaging more than 20 yards per game. Not good. GRADE: D.

QUARTERBACK – Coach Garrett surprised everyone when, in the season opener, he gave backup QB Cole Northrup enough playing time to throw nine passes and run the ball seven times. Cole hasn’t played as much since then, and it’s pretty obvious now that this is O’Malley’s team. The overall numbers for the sophomore haven’t been impressive, but it seems that the coaches made some adjustments to make better use of O’Malley’s mobility. With fewer receiver options, his confidence seems to rise. Against CCSU, he made some nice touch throws as well. He wound up with a career high 328 yards. Three connections with Granjean -- a 27-yarder, a 28-yarder and a 32-yarder – led to scores, and four completions contributed to the winning drive. A five-interceptions-to-two-touchdowns ratio is still unacceptable, even though none of the picks has yielded any opponent points. His completion percentage is down. The question now is: is Northrup the backup or does freshman Troy Fisher work his way into the mix? GRADE:  C.

DEFENSIVE LINE – Like wide receiver, this position took a licking from graduation, but it still figured to be a strong point. Veterans like Andrew Chuma, Keith Earle, Demetrius Breedlove and Ryan Barnett have held their own and also have been mentors for newcomers like freshmen Malik Hamm (7 tackles for loss and 3 sacks among 22 tackles) and Ian Grayson, who was a starter until being injured against CCSU; Army West Point transfer Harrison Greenhill (20 tackles and a blocked kick), and Billy Shaeffer, who forced a fumble at the end of the CCSU game. Tony Giudice, a preseason all-league selection even though he had to miss the first half while serving an NCAA suspension, returns this week. However, he is still recovering from hip surgery and will not play. Opposing teams have averaged 206 yards rushing per game (95^th in the FCS), 30 more than the 2017 average. They have had nine sacks but have allowed opposing teams to be successful on 46.5 percent of third-down plays and 90 percent of fourth-down plays. Opponents have scored points on 21 of 23 trips into the red zone, 18 of the scores being TDs. GRADE: C-.

LINEBACKERS – I guess I should stop talking about the Brandon Bryant factor, except that losing his all-around presence has been huge. Seniors Michael Root and Jerry Powe and sophomore Major Jordan have started all five games and rank 1-2-3 in tackles. They have 111 among them, but just six for losses and just two sacks. M. Jordan is in his first year as a full-time starter and had eight tackles to lead the team in its only victory and had 10 against Delaware. Root had the season high of 11 vs. the Blue Hens. They also must share part of the blame for third- and fourth-down success by opponents. They will also need to put more blitz pressure on quarterbacks if the Leopards are to get into the league title chase. It all begins this week. GRADE: C-.

DEFENSIVE BACKS – Lafayette ranks No. 54 among FCS teams in passing yards allowed – 215.2 per game. However, they have had only one interception – by Yasir Thomas – in 145 passes in the first five games. They had 15 picks in 2017, when Phillip Parham was among the nation’s leaders. He is gone, of course, but Eric Mitchell, who had three interceptions last season and who has started 22 of 27 games in his career, is the leader. He paces the team with six pass breakups, but he hasn’t had an interception. Tre Jordan has three breakups. Team captain Trent Crossan is the top tackler in the secondary with 26, including 17 solos. The Leopards have allowed eight passing touchdowns and share in the third- and fourth-down woes. Fifty-one opponent first downs have been via passes. GRADE: C-.

SPECIAL TEAMS – When you talk about this phase of the Lafayette game, you run the gamut from J.J. Younger’s 95-yard kickoff return to C.J. Amill’s 57-yard punt return touchdown to two missed under-30-yard field goals by Jacob Bissell. You have Bissell’s 43-yards-per -punt average, eight punts inside the opponents’ 20 and 11 kickoffs resulting in touchbacks. But you also have a missed extra point and three missed field goals on six tries and two kicks blocked. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out going forward. Bissell was replaced by Jeffrey Kordenbrock as the placekicker against CCSU; he was good on his only attempt. There is no doubt which kicker has the stronger leg, but Bissell now needs to find a way to put the failures behind him. Meanwhile, the kick return unit will command the respect of every team. 

Five of the games in the second half are against league opponents, and the PL, with the exception of unbeaten Colgate, hasn’t frightened anyone. That means that every league game is likely to be winnable for either team. So, the Leopards could win all five, lose all five. A lot of good grades can still be earned, but it will take more work. The Garrett quote that I like more than any other is: "Make yourself hard to beat." 

The non-league game against Army? Forget it. Lafayette will hope to survive that one with enough manpower to go against Lehigh the following week.