The College of New Jersey football team knew it had to make a statement after losing to nationally-ranked Salisbury.
The Lions did just that, convincingly.
TCNJ was solid in every phase of the game — the offense scored points, the defense pitched a shutout and special teams contributed — as it raced past William Paterson 42-0 last Saturday.
This week the Lions (4-1, 1-1 NJAC) head to beautiful Vermont for a meeting with the New Jersey Athletic Conference’ s newest affiliate, Vermont State – Castleton (2-3, 0-2 NJAC) for a noon kickoff.
“Away trips are fun,’’ said Tyler Moody, the Lions first-year head coach. “It’s almost like a small retreat. You get to do the thing somewhere else – that only reinforces the bonds and connection. People pay a lot of money to see Vermont in the fall — we get to play football in that type of setting — what’s better than that.’’
Certainly coming back with a win will make the fall foliage all the more appealing.
What has been most appealing to the Lions this season has been the ability to run the ball.
Against Paterson, they rushed for 246 yards and had five players over 20 yards total in the game. Joe Visaggio led the way with 56, Alex Dille had 51 and Jordan Morrell had 42 to pace the attack.
As the season continues the depth at that position is going to be a key as often the toughest foe in Division III football is the injury bug
“Depth is huge at any program,’’ said Moody. “I’ve coached at three different levels, FCS, DII, and DIII. The same challenges we face here are the same ones we had at the DII and FCS level. Depth allows you to practice, which allows you to get better, which allows your program to have a process, which allows for overall growth and development. I think a lot about depth. To me, it comes with how our structure is set up, practices, lifts, meetings. I think about it all the time and try and tweak things or see things coming as best as I can.’’
Morrell is third in the conference with 69.6 yards a game and Visaggio is fourth at 66.4 yards a game.
Coming off the Paterson win and hoping to find a restaurant in Vermont that will feed 80 hungry players, coaches and support staff the Lions are heading north with a lot of regained confidence.
“I was impressed with how the guys responded and stayed the course throughout the game,’’ said Moody, of the Paterson win. “It was truly a team win – all three phases had their fingerprints on it.’’
