Lehigh Football Nation

I'm developing an uncanny knack for taking pictures that, unfortunately, tell the story of Lehigh games in 2009. This one came late in the first quarter, with Lehigh holding a 7-0 lead and - by any measure - had some serious momentum in the early going. Against the heavily-favored Crimson, Lehigh had their first lead of the year, thanks to an opening drive sparked by a 55 yard run from freshman QB Michael Colvin and finished beautifully by an across-the-body touchdown pass by sophomore QB Chris Lum to junior TE Alex Wojdowski . After the defense forced a three-and-out, Lehigh was in a position to really put the screws to Harvard. Out of the wildcat, the ball went to Colvin, flea-flickered back to Lum, and lofted downfield - an attempt to capitalize on the positive momentum that was created. Instead - well, my picture tells the story. Harvard senior SS Ryan Barnes was not fooled, and grabbed the momentum from the Mountain Hawks with what would end up being the key interception...

(Photo courtesy switched.com) I'm sure this won't be appreciated by the latest famous freshman to attend an Ivy League school. No, no, I'm not talking about Brooke Shields, I'm talking about Emma Watson, the actress who is best known for her turn as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies. We always knew there was something, well, different about kids who went to Harvard - a bit of an upturned nose, perhaps, annoying arrogance, or maybe even some Brahmin-ness while we're at it. Turns out, though, that some students were up to something more sinister: stalking Ms. Brown University at the Harvard/Brown game last weekend, as reported by the New York Post : Page Six reported on Tuesday that the "Harry Potter" starlet and Brown University freshman looked "quite shaken" on Saturday as Harvard beat Brown 24-21 in Cambridge. Watson was reportedly flanked by security guards to protect her from gawkers. But her discomfort was actually the result of...

"The game was lost in the first half; we made too many mistakes and didn't make the big play." While this might seem like a quote from last week's postgame press conference, it wasn't: it was coach Coen's comments following a tough 27-24 loss to Harvard last year in Cambridge . Looking back on that game , it sounds eerily similar to last week's loss at Princeton. Like last week, Lehigh dug themselves in a hole early in that game with an interception returned for a touchdown that was a great individual play by a linebacker. Two turnovers directly resulted in points. Those errors - along with key defensive injuries - didn't keep Lehigh down forever, however: the Mountain Hawks came roaring back with some offensive momentum, while the defense made some huge stops. Yet during their final offensive drive, Lehigh simply couldn't make a big play to come away with the victory. It's a script that has played out too many times in the last few years ...

Some quick notes before we enter the preview of Lehigh vs. Harvard. First of all, here are this week's LFN "Players of the Week": Offensive Hawk: Junior RB Jay Campbell (career-high 88 yards rushing vs. Princeton) Defensive Hawk: Senior LB Matt Cohen (6 tackles, 3 tackles for loss including 2 sacks) Special Teams Hawk: Junior DB/RS John "Fear Itself" Kennedy (110 yards in kickoff returns including a 50 yard return) In this week's game notes , the media luncheon and reported in the Express-Times , sophomore QB Chris Lum was anointed the starter for this weekend's game versus Harvard. "Hard decision to make," coach Coen told Michael Lore. "For whatever reason, things haven't clicked with junior QB J.B. Clark the way they were doing last year. Chris had three opportunities and he's done a great job every time he's gone out there. I felt I needed to give Chris the opportunity to be the starter to see if that changes any...

(Photo courtesy Fordham Athletics) There were a lot of thrilling games this weekend around the world of FCS, but none more controversial or more important than the one in Hamilton, New York this past weekend. It was a game that few folks had on their radar screens since it featured an undefeated team at home facing off against a winless league rival. It ended up being a thriller. From the official recap from Fordham Athletics: "The game ended on an odd play as Fordham senior QB John Skelton was sacked with under ten seconds left on the Colgate 28 and the Rams out of time outs. Fordham rushed to the line and appeared to have gotten the snap off in time but the players were confused. Some stopped playing, assuming the game was over while others started running the play. Skelton himself took a few steps back and stopped before rolling out to his right and finding junior WR David Moore in the end zone but there was no touchdown signal from the officials. The referee gathered with s...

(Photo Credit: Brian Castell, The Brown & White ) It's difficult for everyone to write a wrap-up during a tough loss. The reports coming from all corners in Lehigh's 17-14 defeat at the hands of Princeton show interesting glimpses at what's happening within the team. Official release: Lehighsports.com "I think we out-played Princeton for the most part but in the end they made two big plays and that proved to be the difference," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "We had a chance to win there at the end. We had the ball with two minutes to go, driving down the field and just couldn't get it done. We've been in this position before and have come up short too many times." Morning Call: Lehigh Offense Can't Get it Done Against Princeton ''We're still a football team that's trying very hard to find ways to win games like this,'' Coen said. ''If we're going to be a good football team, we've got to win...

While originally I thought about writing a "Sunday Word" that would have accurately reflected some of the thoughts going through my mind after yesterday's loss, it would be too easy to sit here and dwell on the errors of yesterday's game, or the first two games for that matter. No, I didn't like losing to a team that only gained six first downs. No, I didn't like tearing my hair out watching the game. But kvetching about it will not help. The first three games are in the books, and they are losses. They happened. They are over. A win would have gone a long way towards making people forget the errors in the first three losses. But that didn't happen. Right now the only thing that is important is how everyone involved with the program reacts. It's this critical time that will determine the course of this season. ***** There are two reactions everyone can have: to "build" and learn from the hard lessons of those games, or not to learn from...