Press Roundup
For a game that was supposed to be one that the press was supposed to fall over themselves to cover, oddly enough there was only one beat story on the game:
Express-Times:
League opener, former coach get Mountain Hawks stoked
The Brown & White, after all their promises of great coverage of the games, didn't even get a preview out of the game - all I can find on their site is Albany post-game analysis. And the Morning Call didn't have squat online. Surprising.
(Oh, well. You always went here for Lehigh news, right?)
Choice quotes:
"New defensive coordinator Shannon Morrison can sense it... His Lehigh University players can feel it... And an old friend who happens to be the opposing head coach this Saturday is certainly aware of it.
"The Patriot League season is about to begin for Lehigh. Which only means it's time for the Mountain Hawks to turn it up a notch.
"I can see the emotion difference," Morrison said, gushing that an earlier practice session this week was one of Lehigh's best of the season. "I felt there was an emotion difference in the Villanova game and this game, compared to Albany and Stony Brook. The kids seem more focused."
"It is a little unusual, I guess, to be competing against former coaches and former colleagues who you know so well," Gilmore said. "Going against your former players, that's kind of a strange situation from that point."
"To what degree Eric will be able to play, it's hard to say," Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said. "We still are much more banged-up than I'd like to see."
That last quote is the biggest concern I got from the whole article. I'll be watching on Saturday to see how Rath is.
Live updates from the Lehigh/Holy Cross game?
I am celebrating my son's 1st birthday by having some Lehigh friends over to celebrate and watch the Lehigh/Holy Cross game. I may try to sneak out and audblog posts during the game.. but I'm not sure. So, stay tuned to the blog for possible updates, but I'm not promising anything.
Predictions of other games:
In the Patriot League:
Brown at Fordham. Fordham will probably play better than their less than great performance at Holy Cross, and Brown will not play as well as in their great win against Rhode Island. It won't be enought for Fordham to win, though. Brown 31, Fordham 28.
Penn at Bucknell. Bucknell nearly knocked off Penn last year at Franklin field, and has played everybody tough. Penn looked shaky against Villanova but rebounded in a big way versus Dartmouth. I think this is a tight, exciting game, that Bucknell wins by a field goal. Bucknell 23, Penn 20.
Lafayette at Columbia. Lafayette has at least shown me something. Columbia has started 0-3 and haven't shown a very good offense. The Leopards take it to a lower-echelon member of the Ivy League. Lafayette 35, Columbia 17.
Princeton at Colgate. Think Colgate will be up for Princeton? If they lose this game, they will be out of the national rankings and have no chance at a playoff bid unless the win the Patriot League. Princeton doesn't have that much at stake, which is why Colgate will roll - they have no real choice. Colgate 31, Princeton 20.
VMI at Georgetown. Just the thing for the Hoyas, who are struggling offensively - a team that is struggling more offensively than they are. G'town 17, VMI 7.
In the Top 25:
Villanova at Northeastern. A must-win for both teams for any playoff aspirations. The loser is definitely out. Give me Northeatern at home, by a field goal. N'Eastern 27, Villanova 24.
UMass at James Madison. JMU is on the rise, whereas UMass has lost two straight and must win in order to have any prayer at playoff hopes. UMass loses their third straight as JMU starts to look ahead to a big matchup in Orono, Maine next weekend. JMU 35, UMass 10.
Maine at Richmond. The Black Bears, playing with a lot of confidence, face Richmond, who still haven't quite gotten over the Lafayette loss two weeks ago. I don't see this as a trap game - Maine rolls over the Spiders. Maine 31, Richmond 6.
Idaho St. at Montana. Idaho St. usually plays Montana tough... in Idaho. Montana will put an end to Idaho St.'s big sky hope for this year, resoundingly. Montana 45, Idaho St. 21.
Furman at Appalachian St. Returning to one of scene of one of the most strange final plays in college football history, Furman seeks to exorcise the ghosts of the ill-fated 2-point conversion returned by App. St. to win the game. They will. Furman has too much talent and is too focused on revenge to lose this game. They win, and it isn't close. Furman 30, App. St. 10.
Georgia Southern at Western Carolina. WCU's woes continue against one of the top teams in the nation. It won't be close. GSU 44, WCU 17.
W. Kentucky at N. Iowa. Technically a "must-win" for N. Iowa, who laid it all out on the field in a loss to Southern Illinois last week. No way the get it up for another very good Gateway team, even in a must-win. WKU 29, NIU 20.
N. Arizona at E. Washington. One of the more intriguing matchups. One of these Big Sky teams will be a dark horse for the title, and both will be eager to make their case. EWU showed me a lot last week, so I'm taking their "D" to shut down NAU's passing attack. EWU 28, NAU 21.
S. Illinois at Youngstown St. SIU should roll over the Penguins of YSU. Bad. SIU 44, YSU 7.
William & Mary at Liberty. The Tribe should have no problem beating the Flames, though Liberty should make things interesting in the first half with their physical play. W&M 38, Liberty 10.
1-A Florida International at Stephen F. Austin. SFA is simply better than FIU. They were when they were 1-AA, and they will again now that they've gone to 1-A. Bad. SFA 45, FIU 0.
Cal Poly at Southern Utah. This should be a great game, with undefeated Cal Poly playing an SUU team who has survived a brutal road schedule to finally play their first home game of the year. I think SUU wins in a defensive struggle. SUU 21, Cal Poly 7.
Go Lehigh!
For a game that was supposed to be one that the press was supposed to fall over themselves to cover, oddly enough there was only one beat story on the game:
Express-Times:
League opener, former coach get Mountain Hawks stoked
The Brown & White, after all their promises of great coverage of the games, didn't even get a preview out of the game - all I can find on their site is Albany post-game analysis. And the Morning Call didn't have squat online. Surprising.
(Oh, well. You always went here for Lehigh news, right?)
Choice quotes:
"New defensive coordinator Shannon Morrison can sense it... His Lehigh University players can feel it... And an old friend who happens to be the opposing head coach this Saturday is certainly aware of it.
"The Patriot League season is about to begin for Lehigh. Which only means it's time for the Mountain Hawks to turn it up a notch.
"I can see the emotion difference," Morrison said, gushing that an earlier practice session this week was one of Lehigh's best of the season. "I felt there was an emotion difference in the Villanova game and this game, compared to Albany and Stony Brook. The kids seem more focused."
"It is a little unusual, I guess, to be competing against former coaches and former colleagues who you know so well," Gilmore said. "Going against your former players, that's kind of a strange situation from that point."
"To what degree Eric will be able to play, it's hard to say," Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said. "We still are much more banged-up than I'd like to see."
That last quote is the biggest concern I got from the whole article. I'll be watching on Saturday to see how Rath is.
Live updates from the Lehigh/Holy Cross game?
I am celebrating my son's 1st birthday by having some Lehigh friends over to celebrate and watch the Lehigh/Holy Cross game. I may try to sneak out and audblog posts during the game.. but I'm not sure. So, stay tuned to the blog for possible updates, but I'm not promising anything.
Predictions of other games:
In the Patriot League:
Brown at Fordham. Fordham will probably play better than their less than great performance at Holy Cross, and Brown will not play as well as in their great win against Rhode Island. It won't be enought for Fordham to win, though. Brown 31, Fordham 28.
Penn at Bucknell. Bucknell nearly knocked off Penn last year at Franklin field, and has played everybody tough. Penn looked shaky against Villanova but rebounded in a big way versus Dartmouth. I think this is a tight, exciting game, that Bucknell wins by a field goal. Bucknell 23, Penn 20.
Lafayette at Columbia. Lafayette has at least shown me something. Columbia has started 0-3 and haven't shown a very good offense. The Leopards take it to a lower-echelon member of the Ivy League. Lafayette 35, Columbia 17.
Princeton at Colgate. Think Colgate will be up for Princeton? If they lose this game, they will be out of the national rankings and have no chance at a playoff bid unless the win the Patriot League. Princeton doesn't have that much at stake, which is why Colgate will roll - they have no real choice. Colgate 31, Princeton 20.
VMI at Georgetown. Just the thing for the Hoyas, who are struggling offensively - a team that is struggling more offensively than they are. G'town 17, VMI 7.
In the Top 25:
Villanova at Northeastern. A must-win for both teams for any playoff aspirations. The loser is definitely out. Give me Northeatern at home, by a field goal. N'Eastern 27, Villanova 24.
UMass at James Madison. JMU is on the rise, whereas UMass has lost two straight and must win in order to have any prayer at playoff hopes. UMass loses their third straight as JMU starts to look ahead to a big matchup in Orono, Maine next weekend. JMU 35, UMass 10.
Maine at Richmond. The Black Bears, playing with a lot of confidence, face Richmond, who still haven't quite gotten over the Lafayette loss two weeks ago. I don't see this as a trap game - Maine rolls over the Spiders. Maine 31, Richmond 6.
Idaho St. at Montana. Idaho St. usually plays Montana tough... in Idaho. Montana will put an end to Idaho St.'s big sky hope for this year, resoundingly. Montana 45, Idaho St. 21.
Furman at Appalachian St. Returning to one of scene of one of the most strange final plays in college football history, Furman seeks to exorcise the ghosts of the ill-fated 2-point conversion returned by App. St. to win the game. They will. Furman has too much talent and is too focused on revenge to lose this game. They win, and it isn't close. Furman 30, App. St. 10.
Georgia Southern at Western Carolina. WCU's woes continue against one of the top teams in the nation. It won't be close. GSU 44, WCU 17.
W. Kentucky at N. Iowa. Technically a "must-win" for N. Iowa, who laid it all out on the field in a loss to Southern Illinois last week. No way the get it up for another very good Gateway team, even in a must-win. WKU 29, NIU 20.
N. Arizona at E. Washington. One of the more intriguing matchups. One of these Big Sky teams will be a dark horse for the title, and both will be eager to make their case. EWU showed me a lot last week, so I'm taking their "D" to shut down NAU's passing attack. EWU 28, NAU 21.
S. Illinois at Youngstown St. SIU should roll over the Penguins of YSU. Bad. SIU 44, YSU 7.
William & Mary at Liberty. The Tribe should have no problem beating the Flames, though Liberty should make things interesting in the first half with their physical play. W&M 38, Liberty 10.
1-A Florida International at Stephen F. Austin. SFA is simply better than FIU. They were when they were 1-AA, and they will again now that they've gone to 1-A. Bad. SFA 45, FIU 0.
Cal Poly at Southern Utah. This should be a great game, with undefeated Cal Poly playing an SUU team who has survived a brutal road schedule to finally play their first home game of the year. I think SUU wins in a defensive struggle. SUU 21, Cal Poly 7.
Go Lehigh!
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