Lehigh Football Nation

In a season with excruciating losses, it was certainly fitting that Lehigh would have the ball under two minutes to go with yet another chance to win a game just to fall short. Yet just like the other four excruciating close losses this year, the nuts and bolts of the defeat came long before the fateful moment. "It just came down to that we made too many mistakes," coach Coen said after the game. "Obviously extra points, you've got to start right there. That obviously hurts; that changes the flow of the football game. Penalties in the first half, turnovers in the first half, giving them the ball on a short field. You can't make mistakes like that, and we've been making too many of them during the course of the season. You add them up in one point games, and it's tough." What was equally as frustrating - if not more so - was that for four quarters, Lehigh hung strong with the 24th-ranked team in the country. Rallying from a 21-6 second-quarter de...

Call it "Family Weekend", "Hate the 'Gate" weekend (a term coined by former Lehigh LB Matt Mohler), or what you will: meaningful November football is back in Bethlehem this weekend. And not even a trip to Disney could keep me away from Murray Goodman stadium at 12:30PM this Saturday. Last year, Lehigh had already amassed two league losses and was out of the title race when they travelled up to Hamilton. Lehigh's side didn't appear to have a lot of juice as they lost 21-7. This year, however, there's a tantalizing glimpse of a game that could be in the mold of the exciting Lehigh/Colgate games that used to determine the Patriot League champion on a regular basis. Start with the fact that Colgate, who knocked out the Leopards' starting QB last weekend before scoring three second-half touchdowns in a 21-13 victory, found the 24th position in the Sports Network Top 25 last week. Add to that the fact that Lehigh, with one league loss, has to beat...

I'm away from the blog now, but if you want to nominate someone for Player of the Week vs. Georgetown, you can nominate them by adding a comment to this post. [EDIT] It's a little late, but I did read all the comments and its senior FB/RB Adam Watson who gets LFN Player of the Week honors this week. When senior RB Matt McGowan went down with a bad ankle injury, Watson took over with 38 yards on seven tough carries, including five on Lehigh's final drive to ice the game for the Mountain Hawks. It's hard to underestimate the effect that a big injury has on the offensive gameplan, and Watson made sure that the gameplan never suffered. Other honorees this week: Reader's Choice: Senior FB/RB Adam Watson Offense: Junior WR Brien Ruyak (6 catches, 86 yards, 1 TD, all career highs) Defense: Junior LB Al Pierce (7 tackles, first play of second half was a 37 yard interception for a TD) Special Teams: Sophomore WR Craig "Braveheart" Zurn (2 kickoff returns for ...

Here's the Lambert Power Rankings for this week: 1. (1) James Madison (CAA, 8-1, 98.5 points) 2. (3) New Hampshire (CAA, 7-1, 82.5 points) 3. (2) Richmond (CAA, 6-3, 73 points) 4. (10) Colgate (Patriot, 6-2, 69 points) 5T. (6T) William & Mary (CAA, 6-2, 67.5 points) 5T. (6T) UMass (CAA, 6-3, 67.5 points) 7. (9) Villanova (CAA, 6-2, 66 points) 8T. (5) Maine (CAA, 6-3, 63 points) 8T. (NR) Albany (NEC, 6-3, 63 points) 10. (4) Lafayette (Patriot, 6-2, 61 points) In the official ECAC release , Harvard (7T) and Holy Cross (10), make an appearance, replacing Albany (since there was a tie for 10th place, actually 11 teams made up the rankings this week).

Note: This blog posting was written days before the 2008 election. And yes, we voted early! Below is my prediction for what happens on this very important election day, 2008. Fearless Prediction It was a lot closer than the polls stated in the run-up to the election, but ultimately Obama ended up winning the presidency. Not the blowout some folks expected, but ultimately McCain couldn't get Ohio or Pennsylvania in the win column, and that was the difference. With a 307 to 231 electoral vote advantage, it was Pennsylvania and Ohio going blue that made the difference. It sounds like a huge win, but in reality it was a squeaker. New Hampshire and Missouri going to McCain was a real surprise, but Obama's wins in Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada were huge. The idea that Indiana, North Carolina and Georgia were going to be targets for Obama ended up being a pipe dream. Florida, once again, was close, but ultimately it was McCain that won them over - in a surprise to many people....

As you may or may not know, I'm on vacation this week and I wrote this blog posting sometime last week. By now we will know a clearer vision of the Patriot League title race. Either Colgate or Lafayette will have one loss. Bucknell will either be effectively reduced to the role of spoiler by Holy Cross - or Holy Cross will have been shockingly upset by the Bison, adding another team to the playoff mix. And Georgetown will either wreck Lehigh's season, or Lehigh will win this week and move on to "Hate the 'Gate" weekend on South Mountain. But I still wanted to get out a "Sunday's Word" this week, and so I am doing so now. It's a familiar topic, the "academic index", or A.I. But the changes to the academic index haven't been really explained in any sort of media outlet. I talked with the Patriot League commissioner this week about the changes that are in effect for football (and basketball) as of this incoming recruiting class....