Lehigh Football Nation

A great game for Lehigh. The story of this game is the 3rd quarter where Lehigh took 2 consecutive Harvard turnovers into TDs, thus putting the game out of reach at that point. Throw out the meaningless TD by Harvard late in the game, Lehigh simply dominated the 3rd quarter, and you knew when Murphy yanked O'Hagan to start the 4th quarter he was basically throwing in the towel. "Graz" always seems to play well, but when it's a big game he really turns it up a notch. Every Harvard play he seemed to be either in on the tackle or around the ball, and his 2 INTs were huge. If he had an 18 tackle day I wouldn't be surprised. He's a lock for a game ball. Borda, after a tough first half, really came back in the second and got the job done. I was impressed how he shrugged off the early problems and took over, with zip on his passes, good decisions and 2 nice TD runs. This has definitely been the closest Lehigh has come this year to a "perfect game". T

Oh yeah. Ahye's INT sets up Borda-to-Zebluim. And now I spy "Graz" with his second INT of the day! Mark my words, "Graz" is a lock for Patriot Defensive player of the week. Now we're driving yet again, and I have a big, big, warm and fuzzy about beating this ranked team. What a great quarter after going down 17-14! Lehigh put it all together and played up to their potential. I think it's safe to say that we finally have started to see the Lehigh team we wanted to see all year. "TNT" Rath automatic again in the red zone. He may get Patriot Offensive player of the week too. Let's keep it going!

A great, effecient drive by the offense. Borda has regained the confidence now. Great call on 3rd down, lining in shotgun and then lining up and sneaking it for the 1st. Great open shot to Zebluim (which should have been called a TD, but who's complaining) to set up the punch-in. "TNT" Rath is becoming automatic in the red zone. Let's see how the Lehigh "D" responds now.

Looks like this is going to be a close one all the way. Both teams are frighteningly similar, with stretches of great play, while getting done in by their own turnovers. Borda: 3 INTs. I'm a bit concerned about Borda's throws. They haven't been crisp. He needs to regain his confidence, and fast. If I were Lembo I'd work on running often in the 2nd half to set up the pass. "TNT" Rath again is having a very good day running so far, with 1 TD and poised for more. On defense Lehigh has been outstanding, holding Dawson to a miniscule amount of rushes and only 10 points. Graziani has been awesome. They'll need to keep this up in order to get the "W". Just win, baby.

"Graz" well on his way to get a game ball early, especially with that red zone INT I just saw. A quality first quarter, except for that ill-advised pass by Borda in the red zone that led to his INT. 91 yard TD reception for WR Winfred Porter! Splits coverage and skies down to the end zone! Lehigh looking great in the early going! "D" must coninue to shut down Dawson and the Harvard offense. Looks like Dawson and the defense are jawing at each other a little. Dawson appears to also be dinged up. I'm liking what I'm seeing early.

Some other fun predictions for this glorious 1st day of October. Patriot League: Marist at Bucknell. Poor Bison. 2 QBs and their best RB out before Marist comes to town, and - again - they look like they will struggle to put points on the board. Heck, DB Dante Ross has been playing QB for them, and this week the injury list is no better. Unfortunately, a tragic season will continue with another loss. Marist 19, Bucknell 16. Cornell at Colgate. Always a big rivalry game, the Big Red have to be licking their chops after watching the Raiders be so up-and-down. But this game puts the Raiders at an important crossroads. My bet is the Raiders pour it on Cornell's porous pass defense and get a big "W" before conference play. Colgate 28, Cornell 17. Holy Cross at Yale. Another team at the crossroads, Holy Cross may be, just may be, a legitimate contender in the Patriot title race. With only losses at nationally-ranked Delaware and Harvard, a lot of eyes will be on the Crusader

A huge game tomorrow as Lehigh plays Harvard on national TV. Hey, man, I love the Red Sox too, but what's more important, the Red Sox on their march to another inevitable World Series title, or the game that's going to determine the direction of our beloved Lehigh's football season? (Besides, the game starts at 12:30 EST, and the Red Sox don't start until *at least* 1PM.) As promised, here's the official Lehigh Football Nation injury report, followed by the Lehigh Football Nation Press roundup and digest. Injury Report Junior FS Courtney Elder (Shoulder, Out) Sophomore DB Daynin Blake (Hip, Questionable) Junior LB Travis Stinson (Shoulder, Questionable) As banged-up as our secondary is, I have complete confidence in junior FS Julian Austin in the starting role for Elder, while sophomore Erine Moore steps into Blake's backup position. Stinson's injury is more worrisome, with junior Chris LaMont stepping in if Stinson is unable to go. All in all, the injury re

Yeah, I'm working on about 2 hours of sleep. Yeah, I've done a pretty poor job as a self-described Lehigh football fanatic hyping everyone up for what could be one of the most important games on Lehigh's schedule in regards to the I-AA playoffs. But here I am, and here is this week's Lehigh/Harvard preview. This is going to be a huge game, with much of I-AA nation tuning into CSTV nationally (and to channel 69 in the Lehigh Valley) to watch. (Not to neglect that the radio play-by-play will be on AM 1230 and 1320 in the Lehigh Valley as well.) With Lehigh ranked at #12, and Harvard at #14 according to the Sports Network, I-AA nation wants a few questions answered: 1) Is Harvard as good as some people say they are? 2) Is Lehigh *really* a candidate for the I-AA championship, or are they just a bunch of hot air like the rest of the Patriot League? From the Mountain Hawk perspective, this will very likely be the highest-ranked team they will play for the rest of the year. A

Check out a new blog poll. To your right, there. Please vote. Were you wondering who was one of the "jokers" who voted Harvard #1 in their Top 25 Any Given Saturday Poll? That would be me. Here it is below. 1. Harvard 2. New Hampshire 3. Furman 4. Delaware 5. Montana 6. Western Kentucky 7. James Madison 8. Cal Poly 9. Montana St 10. Eastern Washington 11. North Dakota St 12. Southern Illinois 13. Northern Iowa 14. Lehigh 15. William & Mary 16. Hampton 17. South Carolina St 18. Appalachian St 19. Western Carolina 20. Northwestern St 21. Texas St 22. Lafayette 23. Grambling 24. Coastal Car 25. Eastern Kentucky Harvard at #1? Yep. They survived a true test against a great Brown team, and they are a spectacular team. I did have them at #4 last week, so it's not exactly a stretch to put them #1. You *choke* actually dropped Lehigh? I sure did. Their near-miss to VMI didn't deserve the statu

As you may have expected, the press roundup ain't pretty (though this picture, courtesy of Chuck Steenburgh via the Morning Call, is). It doesn't seem like anyone's real happy - all of Lehigh Nation is disappointed at a squeak-it-out win, and VMI is upset that they couldn't take advantage of all of Lehigh's "gifts". If I added the message board chatter from Any Given Saturday , it would get even more ugly and harsh. There are a lot of things I look at again in the box score that feel like dodged bullets. A missed VMI FG in the 3rd quarter that could have been the difference. A VMI backflip on the interception return that caused the 2-pt conversion try to be from the 18 yard line - which cost them the tie. Finally, junior FS Julian Austin's interception from the 21 yard line - had it been dropped... that could have been the difference. But in every season, there's one game where nothing seems to go right - a tipped pass goes for a 90 yard TD run, mu

Something from my press roundup from Friday really resonated with me after some reflection on yesterday's lo.... I mean, win. "I've been telling our guys for two weeks that whether you're playing Army, Navy, Air Force, the Merchant Marine Academy, Coast Guard or any of the service academics, it's different," Lembo said. ''What these guys do from 3 to 6 daily at practice or from 1 to 4 on Saturday game days may seem like vacation to them. It's the easy part of their day. "So, you know they are going to be very passionate, very physical and they will play you to the final whistle whether they're up 14 or down 14. Our guys need to understand that and respond." It's redundant that the Lehigh players didn't totally understand this. But what really needs to be emphasized that the rest of of the teams on the schedule are going to be the same way. The target is on our backs now. Always. We were fortunate to get a win, and every ga