Lehigh Football Nation

Two quick big news items that hit the wire today, both covering the entire world of FCS football. First was that Lehigh and the Patriot League were singled out for praise in an AP story in regards to academic performance . The NCAA singled out 712 sports teams across the NCAA for their excellent work in the classroom, of which 150 were from the Ivy League and 89 were from the Patriot League. Yale produced the most impressive classroom performance for the second straight year. Of the 29 men’s and women’s sports offered by the school and measured by the NCAA, the Bulldogs made the list in 28 sports. Dartmouth was honored 24 times, followed by Brown (21), the University of Pennsylvania (20), Princeton (19) and Harvard (18). Other schools that fared well included Bucknell (17), Lehigh and Holy Cross (15), Davidson (14), Lafayette and Colgate (13). The Naval Academy, Duke and Georgetown each had 12 teams on the list, and Notre Dame had 11 although the Fighting Irish did not make it in fo...

No, I can't say it's particularly... well... original, but with Lehigh's Brown/White game completed , it's time to catch up with with some of the (shudder) buzz - or rumors, and the like - that's hovering around the Patriot League and the Lehigh program. (Why do I feel, well, dirty after writing that? Is it only because "buzz" feels ...so... so... 1996?) We'll start with the NFL Draft, make a side trip to the Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame, "The Rivalry", and end up with new plans for Murray Goodman Stadium' new (natural) turf. And I'll try to do so without making a single reference to Independence Day . Let's start with Don Bostrom's Morning Call column today talking about the number of local Lehigh Valley athletes that have been NFL draft picks, including hall-of-famer Chuck Bednarik. That doesn't interest me as much as the fact that he lists Lehigh football players that have been draft picks over the years... and (...

As promised, here's my transcript of my Q&A with coach Coen at the conclusion of the Brown & White game. Tell you what, I'm pretty excited to see what this linebacking unit can do against a live offense in Drake in September. Only 138 days until the opener! LFN: Tell me about your impressions of the Brown/White game. Coach Coen: Well, we're very pleased with the defense. They've really been ahead of the offense all spring, which is fairly common, but they did a great job turning the football over today. They did a much better job playing the football in the air, certainly, than we did a year ago, so I'm pleased with that. Good effort, certainly. But on the other hand, you're disappointed that we had as many turnovers as we did offensively. We've got to keep working. The kids all worked hard in the spring, we had a great offseason in the weight room, we've just got to keep getting better, bigger, stronger, faster, and those things. LFN: T...

The Sunday papers had three articles talking about the Brown/White game complete with post-game reactions from coach Coen and some of the players. More commentary pn the spring game tonight from coach Coen on the Lehigh Sports Magazine (8:30PM tonight on WFMZ, or online on lehighsports.com ). Expect pictures, and the transcript of my conversation of my interview with coach Coen, up soon. Morning Call: Defense Dominates Brown & White Game Morning Call: Homegrown Hawks To Play Important Role Express-Times: VanAckeren Likes Hawks Secondary The press is raving about senior SS Brendan VanAckeren and some other local products as well, such as senior FS Quadir Carter , junior LB Matt Cohen , and junior WR Travis Artim . Highlights: Senior tailback Matt McGowan, one of the four captains named before the game, gained 11 yards on three carries. For him, it was just good to feel healthy again. A hamstring injury in preseason camp limited the former Hazleton star to just one start all last se...