Lehigh Football Nation

The Rust family has guaranteed that football alumni will always have a dry place to tailgate for Lehigh games - the Rust Family Football Pavillion, to be dedicated on September 6th before the Drake game , is a new, dedicated area on Goodman Drive for football alumni to gather before and after Lehigh games. (Hopefully they'll let this non-football alumnus get some shelter under the pavilion every once in a while - and maybe offer me some fried turkey, too.) Tailgating at the pavilion will start at 10:30AM, while at 11:30 AM an official dedication ceremony will also take place. I hope to be there to witness the dedication myself. The final piece of the broadcast puzzle fell into place for Lehigh's broadcast TV schedule, which was announced today by Lehigh Athletics : Game TV Broadcasts Sept. 6, Drake, SE2 Sept. 13, at Villanova, (none) Sept. 27, at Princeton. WFMZ-TV, FSN Pittsburgh, FCS Oct. 4, Cornell, SE2 Oct. 11, Fordham, SE2, FCS Oct. 18, at Harvard, WFMZ-TV, NESN Oct....

On a football Friday, just before Colgate plays Stony Brook and a day after Jacksonville State let me down against Georgia Tech, I bring you the continuation of my "Patriot League Offseason" series. Next up: *your* Holy Cross Crusaders. HOLY CROSS Coaching Changes: We all knew it was too good to last, right? After a year where the Crusaders' staff remained intact, Holy Cross saw the architect of its high-flying pass offense, offensive coordinator Chris Pincince, fly the coop to Rhode Island (along with a bunch of New Haven University folks, included several former Holy Cross assistant coaches) to become offensive coordinator for the Rams. Gilmore promoted from within to fill the position, making tight ends coach Mike Pedone the new offensive coordinator. There are more new faces, too: Andy MacKenzie was hired as a quarterbacks coach, and Matt Fanning joins the staff as running backs coach. The Hardest Guy To Replace: Randolph's two top targets from last year, WR ...

In other words, the College Sporting News (the news outlet I write for) has released a slew of information, including their preseason all-America team . Senior DL Brian Jackson made it on the second team . For those that don't know, tonight is when the 2008 college football season kicks off, and I've written a CSN Way article about it - imploring Appalachian State fans to, well, not get hurt when LSU pounds them this Saturday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. Included is also my predictions of the only game this week involving a Patriot League school, Colgate: Colgate at Stony Brook. What seemed like just another opening-day matchup becomes much more interesting when Raider runningback Jordan Scott was suspended for this particular game for an offseason incident. The Seawolves, eager to show off their team now teeming with 63 scholarships, have the goal of an at-large playoff spot and will have a running threat of their own in runningback Conte Cuttino. Who takes this one? I think...

Continuing the Patriot League offseason blog series, I introduce to you: *your* Georgetown Hoyas. GEORGETOWN Coaching Changes: Say this about Georgetown athletics: they are incredibly patient. Entering Year Three of head football coach Kevin Kelly's rebuilding project in our nation's capital and coming off a dismal 1-10 season, the main cogs of the entire Hoya coaching staff remains intact for the first time in coach Kelly's tenure. The only addition comes in the form of a new volunteer assistant Matt Shea, who also worked with the NFL's Washington Redskins as a video coordinator. The Hardest Guy To Replace: Even though the Hoya offense ranked last in the Patriot League in 2007 in scoring (15.1 points per game, 11.7 points per game in league games), the player responsible for more than half of those points is graduating. Tough QB Matt Bassuener not only was the primary signalcaller all year (1,874 yards passing, 8 TDs), he was also the teams 2nd leading rusher (30...

In the online poll on Lehigh Football Nation, readers were absolutely right. Breaking news from Keith Groller at the Morning Call : Sophomore QB J.B. Clark , a 6-4, 215-pound Jupiter, Fla., product, has been named the starting quarterback by Lehigh University football coach Andy Coen. Clark beat out junior QB Chris Bokosky and fellow sophomore QB Trace Cisneros for the job, even though Bokosky had played in seven games and made three starts after the benching of Sedale Threatt in 2007. "It was a very hard decision," Coen said. "The kids really brought the best out of each other. I wanted to give each of them all of the reps and the most opportunities before making my decision. "J.B. had the strongest arm and is the most athletic of the candidates. Those are tangible things, but there were other things about him that we liked. He just has a very good way about him. He's respected by his teammates. This is an opportunity to see where we can go with him....

Continuing my "Patriot League Offseason" series, next up under the microscope is last year's Patriot League champions: *your* Fordham Rams. FORDHAM Coaching Changes: Masella's housecleaning in the 2006 offseason in the coaching department paid the ultimate dividends: a win over Columbia in the "Liberty Cup", a winning record, and practice on Thanksgiving (another way of saying they won the division and were slated to play in the playoffs). Unfortunately for the rest of the league, the same key coaches (offensive coordinator Ed Argast, defensive coordinator Frank Forcucci) are still here, along with all the main coaches from last year. The one new name is a familiar one to Patriot League fans: Shawn Johnson, who nearly transferred to Fordham in 2003 when he graduated from Duke but still had a year of eligibility. Unfortunately for Colgate, the folks at Fordham steered him to Delaware where Johnson helped the Blue Hens trounce the Raiders in the I-AA Champi...