EWING – For the second time in five years, Kean University has come into Lions stadium and spoiled The College of New Jersey’s Homecoming football game.
The Lions struggled on both sides of the ball in a 26-3 to Kean, keeping fans quiet most of the game.
When the Lions did have success, it was short lived and uninspiring. Head coach Casey Goff talked about his team’s struggles against Kean.
“We came out flat,” Goff said. “We came out flat and played uninspired, unemotional football. We’re going to look at the film and see what we got.”
Earlier in the week the Lions looked sharp during practice. The team got in many practice snaps preparing for Kean’s explosive offense. Goff preached to his players that the game would be different than others. Homecoming would provide a lot of distractions, but they needed to shut those things out and play their brand of football. Goff commented after the game on the distractions of the event.
“There’s a lot of distractions at homecoming,” Goff said. “There are a lot of things that take you out of your mindset. Frankly, it is what it is. It’s great opportunity to see the team and see old friends. It simply is what it is. As a football team, you must learn to overcome things.”
It would be the Cougars that overcame the Lions in this game. The Lions were only able to amass a total of 169 yards on offense, a far cry from the kind of offense they have been able to field the past two weeks.
The signal caller for the Lions, Trevor Osler struggled to get the ball out to his receivers. The offensive line was blown up at the point of attack and as a result, Osler was under constant pressure and was sacked or knocked down frequently.
Osler came into the game after two back-to-back career games. Last week, he was named the Offensive Player of the Week. Against the Cougars, however, Osler would spend most of his time under duress. In the fourth quarter, he was forced to leave the game with what seemed like a non-throwing shoulder injury and did not return.
“Trevor is a little banged up,” Goff said. “He got a little banged up in the game. A lot of that was making sure we are protecting our starting quarterback. Trevor is our guy. We are going to finish the season out with Trevor. He is playing at a high level. He is playing intelligent football. We are going to protect him and that shoulder.”
Lions defensive back Sam Jackson set his team up with excellent field position after a clutch interception in the
middle of the field. Osler rallied his offense and drove the ball down field, showing his football I.Q. in the process.
To start the drive, the Lions ran the ball with running back Khani Glover, who racked up six yards. The next play, the Lions set up a screen play where Osler pump faked to a deep route, stunning the defense and allowing him to flip the ball out to Glover, who picked up a nice first down.
The Lions offense stalled, but Osler made veteran decisions to run out of bounds on what could have been a sack for massive loss and then to throw the ball away to set up for a Lions field goal. Kicker Zach Pharo kicked the 36-yard field goal to put up the only points for the Lions.
The offense stalled a lot for the Lions. They went 2-for-11 on third down and only managed to pick up 11 first downs. The rushing attack just was not there for the Lions for the third straight week, only squeaking out 40 yards on the day.
Earlier in the week at the Thursday practice before the game, defensive lineman coach Marcel Wynychuk talked about the offense and its identity change from the begin season. To start the season, the Lions were a run heavy team, but in recent week the team has seen more success with the passing game.
“I think it’s the team coming together,” said Wynychuk. “I think it’s the offense starting to believe in each and in the system. Especially on the offense, it takes time for the team to start to gel and they are really getting to that point. Trevor has battled through a lot of different things. But, let’s be honest he gets hit a lot. He always bounces up though. He’s a competitor.”
Ultimately the Lions took steps backward at homecoming. They were not able to gel the way they did in the previous week where Osler had 340 yards through the air and three touchdowns. Maybe the Lions can bounce back next week against William Paterson University.
Goff said it best. When questioned about where this Lions team goes from here he simply said, “Wherever they want to go. It’s up to them.”
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