Defensive struggles continue as No. 19 Lehigh football drops to 0-2

After jumping out to a 27-20 lead in the second half, the Lehigh football team surrendered 26 unanswered points the rest of the way to Monmouth University to drop its second-straight game, 46-27 Saturday afternoon. 

Despite a fourth quarter interception, junior quarterback Brad Mayes threw for 334 yards and three touchdown passes. This is coming off of last week, where Mayes threw for over 400 yards and four passing touchdowns. 

Unfortunately for Lehigh, Mayes and the rest of the offensive unit were unable to keep pace with Monmouth as the defense gave up 555 yards to Monmouth’s offense. 

Lehigh’s passing game yielded results from seven wideouts, with the majority of the production coming from junior wide receiver Luke Christiano and senior wide receiver Troy Pelletier. Christiano was able to put together a 104-yard performance with one touchdown, with his longest play of the day being a 54-yard touchdown. Pelletier caught five passes for 61 yards. His fourth reception placed him at the top of Lehigh’s all-time receptions list with 238 career receptions.   

Despite scoring three touchdowns in the first half, Lehigh’s offense was held to only one touchdown in the second half, which came on the second play of the third quarter. Monmouth was able to clamp down defensively while the offense was consistently productive throughout the game. Monmouth eventually limited the time that the Mountain Hawks’ offense had on the field by draining the clock late in the game. 

This isn’t unfamiliar territory to Lehigh as it started 0-2 last season before reeling off nine-straight wins en route to a Patriot League title. The Mountain Hawks will return to Goodman Stadium next weekend for a matchup against Yale University.