Lehigh Football Nation

Want to know what Lehigh is made of? Check this game out. Lehigh down 21-6, a little more than 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Yale has the ball after a couple of punts. How many of you were starting to jump off the bandwagon then? A Yale punt to the 18, aided further by a penalty driving us back to the 9. Thinking of packing it in? Not these guys. 3rd and 10 - at the 9! - senior QB Mark Borda completes a 35 yard pass to senior WR Kevin Zebluim and we're on our way. Borda then moved the chains, getting into scoring position after Yale had stymied us all day. Borda then rifled a 12 yard pass to that junior WR Lee Thomas had the presence to come down with the ball. 21-13. Lehigh's "D" then holds Yale to their 42. They punt, and Borda basically motors us down the field yet again. At 4th and 3 at the Yale 25, a pass to Zeblium falls incomplete. How many of you were thinking at that moment, just short, yet again... we're so close, yet again, just didn...

WHEW!!!!!! Great win for Lehigh! I'll weigh in later with more analysis - boy, am I happy!!!!!!

Nervewracked. Yale QB Mroz is rattled, and our QB Threatt is unproven in a big spot. I hope this comes down to a FG attempt. Nervous. Go Lehigh!

Tie game! YES!!!!! Mark Borda is hurt... sophomore QB Sedalle Threatt got the big TD pass, and then got the big 2-pt conversion. Momentum (and the wind) are on Lehigh's side. Make a statement. Win the game, 'Hawks!

The Mountain Hawks are taking years off my life. I could have lived with a 7-6 deficit at half, but that turnover that led to a Yale TD... what a deflator. Yes, Lehigh does have another half of football to go, but it's clear that Lehigh hasn't made a statement so far in this game. The announcers have said Yale is dropping eight into coverage - well, that's adjustable. Here's hoping the coaching staff gets it together. Got to take care of business in the second half. We got to.

Sunny! Hope the sunny, dry weather equals a big day at the Lehigh game - and, of course, the "W". And here are my other predictions for today's other games: Patriot League: Villanova at Bucknell. The Wildcats, winless on the road in 2005, re smarting after a 38-20 spanking at the hands of Richmond, while Bucknell got drummed by Penn last week 53-7. With the Bison so banged up, it's hard to give them much of a chance. Villanova 27, Bucknell 7. Gerogetown at Cornell. Cornell, fresh off their win at Harvard, should continue their roll. Cornell 31, G'town 9. Fordham at Colgate. The Raiders start their home campaign after getting a great 16-10 win against Princeton last week. The Rams embark on their incredible fifth road game in 6 games this week, and their nightmare looks to continue. Colgate 38, Fordham 7. Harvard at Lafayette. Harvard went from getting first-place votes to being an afterthought this week, where they play a tough Lafayette squad who ripped up th...

Word is from Goodman that the field will be soft, but it won't be the chewed-up mess that some fields around the Northeast will be dealing with. At Lafayette, Delaware, UMass and undoubtedly other venues around I-AA, there have been questions as to the conditions at their fields and stadiums. Delaware had to cancel a home date with Richmond, while UMass's game versus James Madison came very close to cancelling theirs. Lafayette's field was also pretty ripped up, and may be in bad shape for the Harvard game. However, Lehigh's muddy field from last week has been "rolled out", worked over and will be in decent shape (all things considered) this weekend. Gametime tomorrow may even dry out a bit, should Bethlehem get some sunny weather and some wind. That's the current forecast for the Lehigh Valley - now, let's keep our collective fingers crossed that it holds. Here's your press roundup for tomorrow. Allentown Morning Call: Lehigh Trying To Look Ahead ...

With last week's loss to Holy Cross, this week's game versus Yale has taken on a new importance for the 2005 Mountain Hawks. Certainly my eyes and ears will be focused on seeing how the team comes out and plays against a quality Yale team that is looking seriously at an Ivy League championship this year. I'd imagine that the rest of the I-AA world will be interested as well in Lehigh's reaction to last week's loss. Will the Mountain Hawks fold up the tent, or will Lehigh be a team that nobody in I-AA wants to face the rest of the year? Yale is a bit of an enigma this year. At 2-2 with convincing wins against Dartmouth and Cornell, they have lost to Holy Cross and mid-major San Diego. They seem like a team that could be extremely dangerous should they put everything all together, but as of this point have not completely. Having said that, they are 2-0 in Ivy play and would like nothing better to return home with a win over Lehigh to make a statement that they...

New poll on your right; and we're #21 in the Any Given Saturday and #20 in the Sports Network polls. This could be a very good thing should Lehigh run the table the rest of the way. You know that some of the teams above them in the polls will fall when all is said and done. Lehigh should have an opportunity, no matter what happens with Holy Cross, to be able to qualify for the playoffs, as long as they win games. I think we re going to see what Lehigh is made of next Saturday. I think we're going to see a mad, dangerous team that will be playing at their best. I think when the Mountain Hawks play at their best, they can beat anyone in the country. The only question is, will they play their best for 6 more games this season? The Yale game will be the answer to that question. My Lousy Picks 4-2 Patriot, combined with a horrible 8-12 in the rest of the Top 25, equals a 12-14 record. Incredibly lousy. Good thing I don't do this for a living (contrary what you might believe). Re...

To reiterate from yesterday's post, my customary game balls this weekend are not going to be given out. There also won't be a press digest of the game. Instead I'd strongly suggest you mosey on over to I-AA.org to read my comprehensive writeup of the game. You're looking for the link? Why, I'll be happy to provide it below, along with all the other links to the online press. Well, OK, I lied a little bit. I will cut-and-paste from Keith Groller's Monday Morning Call piece, which to me is required reading for Lehigh fans after Saturday's game. There is some good stuff there, as always: Coach Pete Lembo emphasizes each week that his team can't get distracted by stadium locations, mid-term exams, injuries, or even the worst playing conditions for a Lehigh home game in years. ''No way,'' bristled quarterback Mark Borda when asked if the rain was to blame.... ''We have a sign in our locker room that [lists] controllables and uncontroll...

(edit to fix: Drew Nelson defending the pass, and further clarification) I'm up way too late writing this (after taking care of my I-AA.org piece), but this loss really hurts. I give Holy Cross full credit in never giving up and finding a way to pull this one out. Lehigh did make some mistakes, but really didn't make any key mistakes on the specific plays that resulted in Crusader TDs. On the TD pass, senior CB Drew Nelson had the correct position on WR Sean Gruber, and once the ball was underthrown he had the ball in his hands. No mistake there - Nelson played the ball perfectly, and on 2nd down, personally I would have wanted him in a position to make the pick there, not try to bat the ball down. On RB Steve Silva's punt return for a TD, freshman P John Leo punted the ball over Silva's head. He ran back to get the ball, caught a couple of blocks, and got the TD. No mistakes there - it was a very good booming punt in the rain, and the punt coverage unit didn't ove...