Lehigh Football Nation

Syracuse was in a pickle. Last July, they canceled out of a home-and-home deal with Virginia Tech that left a gap in their schedule for 2010.  Whether they bummed out on their deal with the Hokies to aim for a different matchup or just to get a difficult opponent off their schedule, it's impossible to be sure.  But at the Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician blog, their prediction of " well know who's filling those spots sooner rather than later " ended up being incorrect. Syracuse waited .  And waited .  And waited .  And nothing materialized from other FBS schools - either Syracuse didn't want a multi-game deal with any of these teams, or they just didn't want a bad FBS school on the docket that wouldn't generate any excitement. Nine months later, it took some interesting maneuvering not from Syracuse, but their ancient nearby football rival 40 miles to the east to save Syracuse's schedule - and secure a fantastic opportunity for the Raiders in...

Courtesy Philadelphia Inquirer Dear Owen Thomas, You never knew me.  Granted, you were never a player on Lehigh's football team (even though you were from Parkland High school, which made you a local boy), so you probably wouldn't have seen too much of my stuff. But you came close to coming to Lehigh, and as a national columnist on college football I had followed the progress of your team, the Penn Quakers, very closely. Your decision to end your own life, Owen Thomas, defensive end for the Penn Quakers, has made me very sad. I don't know if it's a good idea to write this blog posting at all. Perhaps I'm glorifying your decision to end your own life, even though I don't mean to. Can I make sense of it? No way. But I have this large sadness inside of me that I hope brings something to the world about your death. So here goes.  (more)

(Photo Credit: Zennie62 blog from the San Francisco Chronicle ) Normally, Patriot League watchers don't pay a lot of attention to the NFL Draft, at least in regards to which rounds the "best of the best" Patriot League players might end up.  With this year's crop of players, however, there were three players (and, arguably, four) that had solid chances to be picked in the NFL draft - if things fell just right.   Unsurprisingly, things did fall just right for QB John Skelton , who saw the NFL's Arizona Cardinals trade up to the 5th round to grab the strong-armed Texan by way of the Bronx.  For the rest of the Patriot League, the phone calls did not come on draft day itself.  They came shortly after Weber State WR Tim Toone was picked as the final college player in the NFL draft, and they all became free agents, able to pick their spots.  And all the big names: QB John Skelton , QB Dominic Randolph , and WR Pat Simonds - have great NFL opportunities this ...

(Photo Credit: Bill Adams/The Easton Express-Times) The spring game is, essentially, a scrimmage to allow football fans to take a look at what next year's team might look like that will be flying out to Des Moines, Iowa on Labor Day weekend this September.  (Might sophomore WR/RB Marcus Dormevil , pictured here fighting for positive yards, be one of those players?) Hopefully you read my take on everything, but what was the review from the rest of press who spent some time on a Saturday morning to see what was going on?  Below the flip you'll get the full story as seen by Lehigh's official release, the local media, and even some fans. (more)