When asked last Thursday about his concerns headed into Saturday’s game with Georgetown, Lehigh Head Coach Andy Coen was fairly straightforward.

“We have two freshman playing at running back, so we are putting too much pressure on

[senior quarterback Sedale Threatt],” Coen said. “And we need to make more tackles on defense.”

So Coen inserted junior Matt McGowan into the backfield and punished his underachieving defense with a week of hard-hitting practice. On Saturday, McGowan then soared for 128 yards and two ountain Hawk scores in the first quarter, and the Mountain Hawks recorded their first shutout since 2002.

Final Score: Lehigh 45, Georgetown 0.

Problem solved.

Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Kelly said that this wasn’t what the Hoyas were looking for after recording their first win of the season.

“After the Bucknell win, I was just really disappointed we weren’t more competitive,” Kelly said. “Lehigh was just more physical than we were.”

The Mountain Hawks scored on each of their first three possessions en route to a rout of Georgetown before 9,084 at a rain-soaked Goodman Stadium. The Hoyas made it easy on McGowan, turning the ball over twice in the first half, leading to two ountain Hawk scores. Freshman right guard Will Rackley and the rest of the Lehigh offensive line did the rest.

“It felt great to be back out there today,” McGowan said in a Lehigh press release. “All of the credit goes to our offensive line and fullbacks for the way they blocked today; you could have driven a truck through some of those holes out there.”

Georgetown may have been thrown for a loop when Threatt did not trot out to the Mountain Hawk huddle on the first Lehigh possession. Coen surprised the Hoyas by starting sophomore Chris Bokosky in place of the preseason Patriot League offensive player of the year, who had been struggling to get on track this year. Bokosky responded by tossing a 24-yard touchdown pass to Joe Sutherland after senior linebacker Tim Diamond picked off Matt Bassuener midway through the first period.

Threatt finally entered the game late in the second quarter, only after Lehigh had run up 31 points on the Hoyas. The dual-threat quarterback got his later in the contest, scampering into the end zone from five yards out following a 63 yard drive.

“Obviously just by looking at the score you can tell it was a tough game, and unfortunately we’ve had our fair share of those this season,” senior linebacker Mike Greene said. “No side of the ball got it done on Saturday: offense, defense or special teams, and that meant another long bus ride back down to D.C.”

McGowan scored on runs of seven and two yards, and junior fullback Adam Watson added another short touchdown jaunt in the second quarter, all part of a 307 yard rushing day for the Mountain Hawk offense. The Georgetown defense, which has been plagued by injuries all year, lost another valuable component in Saturday’s melee. Sophomore linebacker Scott Coffman, the team’s eighth-leading tackler, went down with a leg injury early in the contest. The 6-foot-2, 215 pound Texan had surgery on onday and will not play again this season.

With Coffman gone, Kelly faces the harsh reality of starting yet another unproven youngster.

“We’re still playing a lot of young guys and there are a number of guys who are making progress,” Kelly said. “With that said, if our guys are a half a step slow here and make a mental mistake there, it can hurt us.”

Georgetown saw its upstart passing game slip away in the drizzly conditions. Bassuener finished the game with nine completions for 51 yards and an interception. The Hoyas put the game in the hands of sophomore running back Charlie Houghton, who lumbered for 83 hard-fought yards. But Georgetown bogged down when it mattered

most – the Hoyas failed to penetrate the red zone all day – and turned the ball over in crucial situations.

“The offense turned the ball over a couple times early in the game,” Greene said. “And the defense didn’t rise to the challenge.”

By the fourth quarter, Coen was doing his best Bill Belichick impression, sending freshman quarterback J.B. Clark into the game to throw a 27-yard screen pass which upped the score to 45-0.

Two games remain for the Hoyas: a road date with lowly Marist on Saturday followed by a home spat with the Colgate Raiders on Nov. 10. For Greene, each moment is precious.

“The end of my football career is fast approaching,” Greene said. “I’ve been putting on pads every fall for the past 13 years of my life, and now I’m down to the last two games I’ll ever play.”