Lehigh Football Nation

If Bucknell didn't score a meaningless TD at the end of the game, my original prediction - Lehigh 41, Bucknell 9 - would have been almost exactly on the mark. Borda had a fabulous day - again. 5 TD passes, nearly 400 yards passing. Looks like Borda will be getting another game ball from me, and he might again be Patriot League offensive player of the week for the third straight week! Gerran Walker, more than 100 yards receiving, 1 TD, and Adam Kovacs also had more than 100 yards receiving and 2 TDs. Game balls for them as well! The defense was unbelievable. Sack after sack. 2 big turnovers. I'll comb over the stats to see who the players of the week, but Nelson and Lawrence will be getting balls I'm sure. Two key injuries during the course of this game that we'll have to see about this week. FS Kaloma Cardwell was carted off the field (as a precaution) and his ankle put in an air cast, but it's not clear how bad the injury is. OL Jim Petrucelli is another p

Exchange of touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. Sounds like we're doing a decent job holding things together. OL Jim Petrucelli, who started today, is out of the game, meaning next week we'll have a brand-new OL alignment - again - against Colgate. One more TD would make me start to relax. Too many penalties for Lehigh killing drives! Go Lehigh!

If you subtracted the bad errors by Lehigh - 4 turnovers(!), a missed extra point, and a missed FG, we'd be able to go back to our tailgates at halftime while our beers were still cold. Having said that, even with those mistakes, we're looking like we're in good shape. 300 yards of offense, and our "D" held the Bison to only 2 first-half first downs. The two-minute drill at the end of the half, like last week, gives us momentum going into the second half. Borda has had a great day if you subtract the 2 fumbles. Senior WR Adam Kovacs has 2 TD passes, including a clutch 4th-down conversion in the corner of the end zone for a TD. Into the second half, I'm looking to keep up the defensive pressure, and HOLD ON TO THE BALL! And make those kicks! Go Lehigh!

Borda sounds awesome. 8-for-8. Gerran Walker with a fumble, but we got the ball back on the ensuing posession. Massive kicking problems for Musilek. Kickoffs out of bounds, a missed FG, and a missed extra point. The field sounds like a wet mess. Offense has been great, and defense has taken care of business. Bergen just fumbled, and Bucknell has the ball at the Lehigh 30. More at halftime. Should be 20-0. and Lehigh dominating. Now, instead, Lehigh could be only up 13-6.

Predictions of other games: In the Patriot League: Lafayette at Fordham. A very intriguing game; a must-win for both teams. Lafayette is coming off their 14-13 upset of Bucknell, and Fordham is coming off a penatly-marred, turnover-filled loss to Brown. It will be a nailbiter all the way - the question is, can Lafayette give the ball to Joe McCourt nearly 40 times like they did last week? My feeling is, Fordham finds a way to pull this off by stacking eight a the line and forcing Maurer to throw. Fordham 17, Lafayette 13. Holy Cross at Colgate. Colgate hasn't broken out and pounded any opponent all year. Holy Cross is coming off a good win against a decent Dartmouth club. Colgate should take care of business, but they don't play big enough to dominate. Colgate 27, Hoy Cross 20. Georgetown at Monmouth. Duquesne beat Monmouth earlier in the year. Monmouth is a better team, and playing at home. Monmouth rolls. Monmouth 31, Georgetown 10. In the Top 25: Hofstra at New Hamp

Final Press Roundup A few more articles on this weekend's tilt: Express-Times: Kicking Game Gets Emphasis for Stretch Run Morning Call: "O" Line is Enjoying the Possibilites Lewisburg Standard-Journal (Bucknell): Bison's Gridiron Karma Due to Change Your quotes: "Bucknell head football coach Tim Landis has to shake his head in amazement when he looks back at the Bison's three losses this year, realizing that each loss basically hinged on one key play. "The Bison... lost their first heartbreaker in Philadelphia against nationally-ranked Villanova - the season opener - when a fourth-and-goal play from the Wildcat 1-yard line was snuffed out. Bucknell dropped a double overtime decision to Penn on its home turf in week five - a decision that would never have come to overtime were it not for a holding penalty that negated a Daris Wilson 30-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter. " [Rough.. no matter how you look at it.] &q

Hey, you! Tear yourself away from baseball for a minute to check out this Lehigh/Bucknell preview! I know it's not easy (this is coming from a lifelong Red Sox fan, see previous post), but there are important games to be played in this Patriot League season, and they continue this weekend at Murray Goodman stadium. But first.. I thought, going into this week versus Bucknell, that it would be interesting to read the following piece in the Express-Times on the strategy that Lafayette used beat Bucknell: Tavani takes page from Tuna's playbook Something sticks out at me about this article, quoted below: "Lafayette, lining up in more two-tight-end sets than maybe anyone in the country but Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions, went straight at the Bison. "It didn't matter the Leopards only had six yards rushing and just one first down by the end of the first quarter. Tavani's club had a plan ... the Leopards weren't afraid to tell the Bison: "

You'll have to forgive me for taking a night off to celebrate Luke Skywalker blowing up the Death Star. Honest to God, this is an excerpt of an email I sent to my family after staying up Sunday night to watch Game 5: "[A]fter having seen the Sox being mismanaged, battered and bruised; inexplicably seeing Derek Lowe yanked in the 6th; having seen Mike Timlin in said inning give up 2 runs with not a single ball leaving the infield; after seeing countless Sox opportunity wasted inning after inning; with unhittable Mariano Rivera pitching an impeccable inning of relief, going into the 9th inning, I had an odd thought: "WE'VE GOT THE YANKEES RIGHT WHERE WE WANT THEM!" And I have to brag, since I was right! Here we are! If you didn't know before I was also a member of Red Sox Nation, you know now (although "Lehigh Football Nation" is a pretty good hint). O, how I've waited for this day. The Yankees - the only team ever - ever! - to blo

Borda snags Patriot League Player of the Week... Again Oops... Borda did it again. Patriot League Names Weekly Award Winners After the second straight impressive week, where he outdueled Yale's Payton award candidate QB Alvin Cowan, Borda snags his second consecutive honor. Most impressive was the 0 interceptions and 0 fumbles. To think, my pick in August was to have Keating start the season. Congratulations, Mark, for making me happily eat some crow. Yale Game Balls You've seen this segway before.. time for LFN's virtual game balls! This week they go to: Junior QB Mark Borda (Patriot League Off. Player of the Week) Sophomore WR Lee Thomas (6 catches, 124 yards) Sophomore RB Eric Rath (117 total yards, 2 TDs) Senior TE Adam Bergen (4 catches, 45 yards) Senior P Kyle Keating (4 punts, 41.2 average) Junior FS Kaloma Cardwell (10 tackles, 1 pass defensed) Senior OLB Anthony "Graz" Graziani (7 tackles) Junior ILB Owen Breninger (7 tac

Press Roundup Glowing press reports about Lehigh from Saturday's come-from-behind victory against a very good Yale squad: Lehighsports.com: Lehigh rallies and holds on for big win at Yale Morning Call: New Heroes Emerge in Lehigh's Win at Yale Express-Times: Borda triggers Lehigh Comeback Brown & White: Lehigh rallies to defeat Yale Hartford Courant (reg'n required): Losing Control Your choice quotes: "Lehigh rallied from deficits of 14-0 and 21-7 for its fourth straight win and fifth in six games overall. The nonleague triumph over a team that beat Colgate gives it a boost heading into the critical five-week stretch of Patriot League games that closes the season." This was a great game against a great team," said Yale coach Jack Siedlecki, a former Lafayette assistant. "That's as good a start as this football team is going to have. But we did not sustain it." Blame Lehigh's fired-up defense, which allowed