Lehigh Football Nation

What a great win by Lehigh. Play of the game: Nelson's interception return for a TD. But there's a lot of heroes to go around. The "O" line impressed me a lot again this week, and I think I may be throwing them another game ball with their gutty performance. Ultimately, the game came down to turnovers. 2 early turnovers led to 6 vital Lehigh points in the first half, and 2 TDs in the second half (if not 3 TDs) were the result of Colgate's turnovers. 20 points off of turnovers will be the difference in any game. Credit to the secondary to create huge turnovers to get us the "W". Special teams were awesome. Forget Musiek's extra point, he was awesome going 3-for-3 on FG. I also can'f forget the booming punts by Leo, and the Raiders were not able to make any hay on special teams. An outstanding performance. Colgate's performance was very solid, to their immense credit. I was worried immensely about this game all week. I was also worried about t...

OH BABY!!!!! INTERCEPTION FOR TD!!!! WOW!!!!!

What a half! I couldn't blog fast enough to keep up with all the action. Crucial to this game may be the Colgate turnovers that led to 6 Lehigh points - and directly caused this game to be tied at half. Got to give credit to both offenses, who have done an incredible job moving the football against two great defenses. For my part, I'm hoping the Lehigh "D" can do a better job in the second half, especially against the run. Scott is close to 100 yards already - when was the last time anyone did that against Lehigh? Maybe JMU - and Saraceno is also doing great rushing the ball too. Threatt again is playing like an upperclassman. His rushes are something to watch - and we have him for two more years. I'm lovin' that! He's been great triggerman so far this game. I'd be remiss in not praising the "O" line as well, who have driven Colgate back on several key offensive downs this game. It's a barn burner. I maintain that this favors Le...

Lehigh gets another gutty TD by Eric Rath. 2 TDs for him tody against one of the top rushing defenses in all of Division I. Awesome! The Lehigh "D" needs to step up further.

I said Lehigh would need 28 points in the game to beat Colgate. It looks quite possible that Lehigh may have that by the end of the first half . Penalties have killed Colgate. After taking a 14-7 lead, giving us the same gift we gave them on a kickoff - catch interference on a short kick - Threatt played like a senior with huge 33 yard gain. Rath then punched it in for a 14-14 tie. Then, a big Raider turnover off of an option play became 3 points for Lehigh. Let's hope that's the difference. What a great 1st quarter so far. Is this what's in store for Lehigh today? I think a barn-burner favors Lehigh - by a long shot.

Hard to believe there's any other game this week than Lehigh/Colgate, eh? I'll try to get through this quickly so we can focus on the big game of the week. I neglected to mention how you can listen to Lehigh broadcasts of the game today in the manuscript I've written earlier today. Here's the information: TV: Channel 69, WFMZ (Lehigh Valley) Fox College Sports Atlantic Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh DirecTV 628 Lehighsports.com Radio: AM 1230/1320 ESPN Radio Lehighsports.com Predictions: Patriot League: Holy Cross at Fordham. A mad Crusaders team isn't exactly a great recipie for a struggling team, even at home. HC 49, Fordham 10. Bucknell at Lafayette. The #1 defense in the Patriot League has another great shot at a shutout. Lafayette 20, Bucknell 0. I-AA Top 25: #3 New Hampshire at #4 UMass. This could very well decide the A-10 title, and UNH looks to me to be able to punish the Minutemen. UNH 56, UMass 17. #5 Texas St. at Nicholls St. The Colonels may be tough a...

Don't miss the exclusive recently unearthed documents concerning the Lehigh/Colgate rivalry (right under this post) concerning the "Legend of Engine #13" - right below today's Press Roundup and predictions page. First and foremost, let's look at some predictions around the internet about this week's game. Not really a lot of bulletin-board material here ,but the most prominent prediction comes from Matt Dougherty , picking Colgate: Lafayette and Holy Cross are going to make the race interesting, but there isn’t a bigger game for conference title implications on a yearly basis in the Patriot League than Lehigh-Colgate... Without starting quarterback Mark Borda, that task will be difficult for the Brown and White. Sophomore Sedale Threatt did lead the Mountain Hawks to a comeback win against Yale and a pasting of awful Buck nell, but he hasn’t seen a defense like Colgate’s in his very brief career... Colgate’s defense will prove too tough for Threatt and the Mou...

While digging into the legend that is rapidly becoming the Lehigh/Colgate Rivalry, I was talking with 13 (who runs The 13 Yard Line , Colgate's blog), who wanted to start "Blog Bowl I". It's a cup for the annual winner of the Lehigh/Colgate rivalry, and I agreed with him that it was a great idea! However, the only thing that was missing was the historical link; something to bond the schools on this Halloween weekend forever. After doing a little digging in the archives, I was able to find the following document, just recently unearthed in an old dusty attic somewhere in Hellertown, and transcribed onto the internet by a little-known website called myfootballatticlegends.com. (Don't bother looking for it - just recently it's been taken down to make way for a new website about superhighways.) Here's an excerpt of this rare, rare document: "On a cold November day in 1922, Engine #13 of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western RR arrived in Binghamton with ...

By all means, please read my game prediction below this posting you're reading now, but I wanted to add something today to this that I think is important. The key to this game might be the number 28. No, not sophomore RB Richard Forman (though it would be really great if his special teams tackle, or TD catch, was the difference in the game). But the number 28 appears prominently when I'm trying to break down how Lehigh can win this game. 28... minutes of possession of the ball on offense. 28... points on the board. 28... carries for Eric Rath. 28... completions for Sedale Threatt. 28... x3 total rushing yards for Colgate (84). 28... total pass attempts by Colgate. 28... yard line, keeping Colgate behind Lehigh's 28 yard line. 28... yard line, pinning Colgate's opening drives behind their own 28 yard line. Tune in tomorrow for the press roundup.

Every year, the Lehigh/Colgate game is circled on any Lehigh player's and fan's calendar. Every year it seems to have Patriot League title implications, and this year is no exception. In the past I called this game the "Patriot League Championship Game", and while this year it is clearly not that, it still is a vital game for championship hopes, especially Lehigh's. It has evolved into a huge rivalry game between like-minded institutions who are very similar athletically and academically. When Colgate faces Lehigh, I am instantly carried back to my college days in the late '80s and early '90s, when there were classic NFL matchups between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. Both teams had world-class talent, and both had great defenses, but the Giants would have a more old-school, power running team, while the 49ers had the "West Coast Offense" with their vaunted passing attack. Lehigh's and Colgate's football philosiphies als...

Tuesday is the "Polls and Polls" segment, and you know what that means - a new poll to your right, and there's good news that Lehigh is now back to #16 in the major polls . If Lehigh keeps winning, they would most likely be in the top 16 teams, which would bode well for an at-large bid for the I-AA playoffs even if they don't win the Patriot. Of course, that is, if we can keep winning.. if we can beat Colgate, who has beaten us three out of the last four in Hamilton... Colgate, who has beaten A-10 leading UMass, and who has also been riding a four game winning streak, including quality wins against Princeton, Cornell, and of course Holy Cross. As always, they will be physical and will try to beat you up in the trenches. It should be a great game in any event. I can't wait for Saturday to arrive. Here's the press digest for this week. You need to tune in tomorrow to get your Lehigh/Colgate fix. You know it. Lehigh scored on its opening three possessions and nev...

No, it's not time to analyze the huge game up in Hamilton against Colgate just yet (though it may be worthwhile to think of ways to stop this guy, senior LB Jared Nepa, from being a big factor in this week's game.) First, it's time to give out some game balls for last Sunday's win against Bucknell. There are so many heroes on offense, it's impossible to give game balls to everybody. Some would be just way too easy, like to sophomore QB Sedale "No Nickname Yet" Threatt, or senior RB Eric "TNT" Rath. But I'm going to give them instead to the guys that may not be so obvious. There's not that much on the stat sheet for offensive linemen to gloat over in most games. But in this game, there are many things to cheer. "0", as in sacks that Bucknell's vaunted "D" line got against us - in a base 4-4 no less. "510" as in total offensive yards. I could live without 3 offensive penalties, but I still think the ...

A very busy weekend has come to a close for me. With my new I-AA piece on the Penn/Yale game in the books, and a full day of family time, I can finally sit down and take an objective look at the Bucknell game and fill in the gaps from the weekend. So, no, I'm not slackin'. (Eric Rath, to my right, certainly isn't slackin' in this picture courtesy of Patrick Thornton of the Brown & White.) First and foremost, Colgate gave every Lehigh fan an early Christmas present by knocking off the tough Crusaders this weekend. In a way, it gives Lehigh control of their own destiny when it comes to at least a share of the Patriot League title. Win their last four games and they will tie for the Patriot League title, and have a shot at the I-AA playoff autobid. If there's a 3 or 4 way tie for the title, there is an unusual Patriot League rule which states that the Sports Information Directors of all the schools vote as to who the I-AA playoff representative would be. Let'...