Lehigh Football Nation

It doesn't get much more frustrating than this. When a game is tied 7-7 going into the final three minutes of the game and you have a 2nd and 4 on the opposition's 36 yard line, you've got to feel like you have a good chance to win the game. Never mind that senior RB Matt McGowan has struggled to get the running game going. Never mind that sophomore QB J.B. Clark hadn't found consistency yet on the evening. Never mind that we had a grand total of 234 total yards of offense up until that point in the game. You throw all that out. You find a way to make a play, to get that first down, to give your kicker a chance to make that field goal and win the game. Never mind what folks will say about you or write about you on Sunday. Make plays, win the game . On three plays on offense, Lehigh simply didn't make the plays they needed to make. Three rushes; one by McGowan through the line for two yards, another by McGowan for a yard and a half, and one by senior FB Adam...

It's time to gather once again around the water cooler and talk Patriot League picks for the week and the upcoming game of course... but what's been dominating my mind these days is the bizarre altercation between the Citadel cadets and Princeton's band last weekend in Charlotte, SC. Princeton's scramble marching band, or the Princeton University Band (or PUB for short) marched through the middle of the Citadel campus in an effort to "get people hyped for the game", which was kind of like the English marching through Scotland about how they shouldn't be alarmed how their armies are going to kill, pillage and (let's just say) dishonor your women. The Princeton University student paper called it a "culture war", and they're right in a way. What's interesting and unsaid, however, is what it shows about each student body's attitude towards football. Football, for those in the Ivy League, is a fun day out. It's a tailgate on a p...

(Photo Credit: Princeton Athletics) Aaaah, Princeton. For me, this game means a lot personally. Not only because it's the game that geographically the closest to my house, but I actually met my future wife at a Lehigh game at Princeton exactly nine years ago on this very day. I'm also used to Lehigh beating Princeton. I admit it; I've been spoiled over the years. Lehigh has an 7-1 record against the Tigers in the last 10 years, including a 32-21 victory I witnessed last year. The only time Princeton beat Lehigh during that stretch they were Ivy League co-champions, and had a bonfire in Princeton for the first time in a long time. (Every year, the school with the best record in the Harvard/Yale/Princeton football games celebrate with a huge bonfire on campus.) In past years, Lehigh entered the Princeton game picked to win the Patriot League, or at least to contend for the title. This year, Lehigh was picked in the preseason to finish fifth in the league - an indicator...

(Photo Credit: Mustafa al-Ammar, The Daily Pennsylvanian) I'm trying something new in an effort to make my weekly wrapups better: I'm going to attempt to sum up all the scores of the Patriot League for the week and also add to it other scores of interest from the Ivy League, CAA, NEC and others as I see fit. The focus will still be from a Lehigh perspective (meaning: the focus will be on Lehigh's past and upcoming opponents), but I think it's worth taking a peek at football elsewhere in the East as well. At Franklin Field Saturday afternoon, a former Lehigh foe (Villanova) faced off against Penn (Lafayette's foe next week) in a "Big 5" rivalry game. Despite junior QB Antwon Young 's four interceptions, Villanova escaped with a 20-14 overtime victory after senior DE Dave Dellasandro forced a fumble in the overtime that was recovered by Villanova - and after the Wildcats had their extra-point blocked, meaning a touchdown and an extra point would have ...

Not surprisingly, this week there wasn't much to report on Lehigh football since it was the bye week. But aside from senior LB Tim Diamond 's appearance on Lehigh Sports Magazine on Monday (available to anyone who gets the Lehigh Broadcast package on Yahoo! Sports), there were two other reports from Lehigh Athletics' website this week. Bayani's one of the Big Boys Now Bayani benches more than 400 lbs., but he is not alone on the Mountain Hawks at that mark. He and fellow offensive lineman Will Rackley compete with fullback Anthony Fossati for the bench-press crown each year. “Whenever we max out it’s about who’s going to be on top this time,” Bayani said. “Fossati got me in the winter, but I got him in the summer, so it’s a back and forth battle.” Tailgate Information Released For October 18th game at Harvard On Saturday, October 18, the Lehigh Football team will take on Harvard in its final non-league game of the season, while at the very same time, the Lehigh Row...

I know what you're thinking: what on earth is ol' Chuck up to? I'll give you a hint: on a bye week where the Patriot League went 2-3, two former Lehigh head football coaches were behind at halftime and came back to win, and James Madison pulled off a legendary comeback in an incredible 35-32 victory over last years' national champions Appalachian State, I'm going to be bringing up something a lot more frivolous. Ever notice that everything right now is a "Nation"? While frantically checking college football scores last night, one of my web stops is frequently ESPN - after all, they are the sun around which college football rotates, and they (I thought) were likely to have up-to-date scores that sometimes The Sports Network hasn't updated quite yet. I didn't find FCS scores: but I did end up smiling at my screen. In the right-hand corner, I saw a link to ESPN's new "blog network" and College Football Nation . It's not so much a...