Lehigh Football Nation

The Morning Call's Keith Groller gave me a shout out on his blog this morning, calling me "Captain Sunshine" - a hilarious nickname that I actually like, incedentally - and mentioned that I thought if Lehigh played the perfect game this Saturday, they could beat New Hampshire in their place.

After watching the game up there, I still feel that to be true.

But Lehigh did not play the perfect game up in New Hampshire.

The 31-10 victory shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lehigh still has a lot of work to do if they hope to win the Patriot League this year - and have a successful season. And the gap between the FCS Top 25 and Lehigh is as big as ever. (more)

For those who are interested - below the flip are my selection of picks tomorrow's Patriot League football games being played.

For my picks of the rest of the week, click here to visit the College Sporting News and read: "Armanti Envy", where I pick the Sports Network Top 25.

Last weekend, I went a very, very acceptable 5-1, only missing the Georgetown/Yale game that I had correct until the last ten seconds of the game. Picking Lehigh to rebound against Princeton, Penn to upend Lafayette, Bucknell to lose to Dartmouth, Fordham beating Columbia, and Harvard beating Holy Cross - it was a good week in Chuckland. That puts my record on the year at 11-7.

You already know my Lehigh/New Hampshire prediction: let's see the rest. (more)

If the folks at Yale have their way, their football staff will be celebrating a lot like the folks pictured here to my left.

Originally posted at the New Haven Register and reprinted in the American Chronicle, Yale athletic director Tom Beckett and current head football coach Tom Williams came out last week with a whopper to the rest of the Ivy League: that not only do they want an 11th game, played one week earlier than their current mid-September kickoff, but they want to count towards a bowl victory should they choose to use that game to schedule an FBS opponent.

There's a problem with their proposal, however. The Ivy League is - in theory - "non-scholarship". Under current NCAA rules, only schools with at least 56 1/2 scholarships are to cound as "bowl counters". That means that they'd have to apply for an exemption from the NCAA to "count". In other words, Yale is "non-scholarship", but not really. (more)

(Photo Credit: The New Hampshire)

Could the timing have been any worse for the Mountain Hawks?

Plenty of fans might have predicted that New Hampshire - the perennial Top 25 ranked, FBS-upsetting, playoff game-playing Wildcats - would be 1-1 going into Week Three of the season.

While Central Connecticut State of the NEC might have been a challenge for the Wildcats, it was easy to see big, bad New Hampshire beating them. Similarly, it was just as easy to see New Hampshire struggle against FBS Pitt - which is a step up in weight class against the Marshall's and Army's that they've beaten in recent years - to give them a 1-1 record.

But their shocking 28-25 defeat to Rhode Island last weekend doesn't just put the Wildcats at 1-2. It makes their game this weekend vs. Lehigh an absolute must-win if they hope to achieve any of the goals that have become expected up in Durham: contention for the CAA title. Playoffs. And a run at the FCS championship. (more)

You can probably figure out who this week's LFN Players of the Week will be, but here they are for posterity:

Offense: Senior TE Alex Wojdowski (4 catches, 72 yards, 2 TDs, including the last two of the game)
Defense: senior CB/PR Jarard "Main Man" Cribbs (7 tackles, 2 interceptions) and junior LB Mike Groome (11 tackles, 1 pass breakup)
Special Teams: freshman DB Courtney Jarvis (4 kickoff returns 88 yards, stepping in very well after senior CB/KR John "Prez" Kennedy was banged up)
Underclassman: sophomore QB Michael Colvin (10/14 passing for 128 yards, 37 yards rushing, 1 TD)

Congratulations to the winners!

(Photo Credit: Jonathan Wiggs/The Worcester Telegram-Gazette)

If you're an avid fan of Football Championship Subdivision football, perhaps you've heard of the "Hatch Attack", the type of triple-option offense used by head coach Andrew Hatch down at Murray State. Hatch, a former head coach at Georgia Southern, came up with the offense and was the unquestioned owner of that term going into this weekend.

After the 34-6 drubbing of Holy Cross by Harvard, though, it has a new owner and usage.

Harvard senior QB Andrew Hatch, riding a near-perfect evening, dismantled Holy Cross 34-6 in a game that should serve as notice for future opponents of the Crimson this year. Beating Harvard is going to be awfully tough. (more)

(Photo Credit: Denise Sanchez/The Morning Call)

Lehigh's 35-22 win over Princeton got a slew of coverage this weekend, including a (brief) mention by Sports Illustrated, in their "Streaks" section from the Associated Press: "Lehigh snapped a seven-game losing streak against Ivy League with a 35-22 win over Princeton."

Locally, however, there were more writeups of Lehigh's hero performance than you can shake a stick at, including another gallery of photos from the Morning Call and even a current student with a few shots of the game as well.  Read on below the flip.  (more)

In the NFL's strike-shortened 1982 season, the Washington Redskins had a major setback in their quest for the Super Bowl title: hall of fame wide receiver WR Art Monk was injured, and would miss their run in the playoffs.

His teammates, receivers WR Virgil Seay, WR Charlie Brown and WR Alvin Garrett, along with TE Rick Walker and TE Don Warren, wanted to have a tribute to Monk if they scored a touchdown in the playoffs.  In a game against the Detroit Lions which the Redskins would win 31-7, this "Fun" Bunch performed a choreographed high-five in the end zone after their score.  Fans and media would enthusiastically approve - even if the NFL didn't, and would make their infamous ban on "excessive" end zone celebrations in 1984 - and the "Fun" Bunch was born.

Today, there are plenty of rules discouraging "excessive" celebrations after touchdowns, even at the college level.  But the chest-bump of senior PR/CB Jarard "Main Man" Cri…