Lehigh Football Nation

I-AA Playoff Predictions Without any further ado, here they are. Here in eastern Pennsylvania, if you are a I-AA football nut like me, you can catch the Delaware/William & Mary game on CN8 at noon, and then, assuming you haven't got enough, you can then check out New Hampshire against Montana at 3:00PM on ESPN2. Delaware at William & Mary. Here in the east, this is the marquee matchup. Two teams who are both members of the A-10, who have faced each other earlier this year (Delaware coming out on top 31-28 at the Tub). Advancement in the playoffs; A-10 supremacy; and if all that weren't enough, a Lambert Cup also may be on the line (given to the best Eastern I-AA Football team). So who to take? Both teams scored come-from-behind victories last week. The Tribe will be looking for revenge; Delaware, however, has been here before. W&M has Payton-award candidate Lang Campbell at the helm; Delaware has QB Sonny Riccio who led a gutty drive to take the le...

The following is a lark I've decided to pursue in these pages. I decided that it might be fun, and instructive, (if not about Lehigh) to issue fictional "press releases" that Division I-A football has decided to adopt the wonderful I-AA method of having a 16-team playoff. I figure, if the real world won't let potentially 5 undefeated teams duke it out on the gridiron for the national championship, the very least I can do is create a fictional world where it's done for everyone. What's really sad is, in reality, at least 2 and potentially 4, teams will end up undefeated at I-A season's end, and only 1 will be considered national champions. It seems ludicrous to me that a bowl system that is supposedly so "healthy" is furiously hoping teams like Hawaii win as to ensure that no teams *with losing records* make the bowls. The funny part is, a playoff this year, with 5 undefeated teams, one defending champion, and a slew of other solid teams...

Press for final Lehigh Game of 2004 All press accounts, and all accounts of Lehigh's performance in the postseason, were positive and complimentary of the Mountain Hawks' performance this past Saturday. Allentown Morning Call: Lehigh Regains Pride in NCAA Playoff Loss Lehigh Can Look Back With Pride Easton Express-Times: Lehigh's Stand Falls Short Quotes: ''We came up a little bit short,'' Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said. ''In a game like this you want an opportunity to win the game in the fourth quarter and that's what we got. We couldn't punch it in when we needed to, and that's disappointing. But I'm extremely proud of our kids and coaches. From our coordinators down to the scout team, they gave it everything they had.'' "But a controversial personal foul penalty against Lehigh's Josh Cooney gave JMU a fresh set of downs from the 2. The Dukes were denied three more times before Hines, who finished wi...

A New I-AA Diary To see my play-by-play diary of the Lehigh/James Madison game on I-AA.org, click on the link below: I-AA Diary: Lehigh vs. James Madison Again, I felt like Lehigh played a very good game on Saturday against a great team. Lehigh has nothing to be ashamed of with a great effort, with no turnovers, awesome defense, and brave offense standing up to James Madison's physical play. Proud Patriots Lehigh and Lafayette both played excellent games against the best conference in I-AA, the Atlantic 10, and in both cases nearly came away with the victory. On this blog you won't see much praise of Lafayette, but they need to get their props for scaring the entire state of Delaware on Saturday. A laughingstock to the rest of I-AA before Saturday, they clearly showed that they were the equals to Delaware last Saturday and very nearly pulled off the biggest upset of the 1st round. Overall, despite the losses, both schools did the Patriot League proud, and can ...