Lehigh Football Nation

(Photo Credit: Kevin Mingora/The Morning Call) When head coach Andy Coen was asked where the win this weekend ranks with him - excluding the wins against Lafayette in "The Rivalry", of course - a smile escaped. Coen wasn't the only smiling Mountain Hawk fan this afternoon, either. In a game that was billed as one that would probably be a dogfight until the very end, Lehigh jumped out to a 31-0 lead and never really looked back in a 44-14 stomping. The Maroon Marauders that were supposed to run all over Lehigh's "bend but don't break" defense with the top rusher in FCS, RB Nate Eachus , didn't. The Lehigh offense, that was supposed to struggle against a top-flight team, didn't. This Lehigh team, which was supposed to lose the close games against the great opponents, didn't. It had to be the most satisfying non-Lafayette win in coach Coen's career. (more)

(Photo Credit: Colgate Connect) I talk a lot about "hating the 'Gate" during this week. On my Facebook page , I'm listing 27 reasons why I "hate the 'Gate", and it's a good-natured ribbing of Colgate from a guy who actually respects the Raiders the other 51 weeks out of the year. It's fun, it fires up the Lehigh and Colgate fans, and it gets folks to come out and see a really good football game where a pair of high-academic, solid football programs are facing off in spirited competition. Or so I hope. Attendance for non-Lafayette football events has been in serious decline over the past few years. Some of that is due to the fact that Lehigh hasn't been Patriot League champions since 2006 - and even that year, where Lafayette pounded Lehigh 49-27 and earned the autobid to the Patriot League playoffs instead, hardly felt like a championship - and it's clear that the bandwagon fans turn out for a winner in big games. But that folk...

(Photo Credit: Colgate Athletics) Over the years, Lehigh/Colgate games have earned their reputation as being big games in the Patriot League race. Start with the history of the Patriot League. Lehigh and Colgate own or share fourteen Patriot League championships in football. They own six of the seven postseason wins in the FCS playoffs of the Patriot League. (Fordham has the other.) Many years, this game looms as important as to determining the champion of the Patriot League - and for precious bids to the FCS playoffs. And as a result, fans have flocked to this game in the past. In 2004, the Lehigh/Colgate clash was a battle of Top 20 teams, and was played in front of 13.929 fans. But this "Hate the 'Gate" rivalry - as coined by one-time Lehigh LB Matt Mohler - hasn't been the same in the past three years. The Mountain Hawks haven't been nationally ranked now for quite some time, while Colgate has often been in the FCS Top 25. Furthermore, Lehigh h...

Should I just hand out my awards to sophomore WR Ryan Spadola every week? This week's LFN Players of the Week awards go to: Offense: Senior WR Craig "Braveheart" Zurn (6 catches, 51 yards) and senior RB Jay Campbell (106 all-purpose yards, 80 yards rushing, 26 yards receiving) Defense: Junior LB Tanner Rivas (4 tackles, 2 QB hurries, 1 forced fumble against a very athletic QB) Special Teams: Senior CB Jarard "Main Man" Cribbs (3 punt returns for 31 yards, 4 tackles, 1 interception) Underclassman: Sophomore WR Ryan Spadola (was there ever a doubt? 6 catches, 111 yards, 130 all-purpose yards, 3 TD grabs, and a downed punt inside the 1 yard line) Congratulations to the winners!

(Photo Credit: Bethune-Cookman Athletics) If you look at the College Sporting News ' Gridiron Power Index , this week, there are two undefeated teams that are not a total surprise in the list. No. 1 on the list, 7-0 Appalachian State - you've probably heard of them, the poster kids for a "little" FCS team upsetting FBS teams, not to mention their perennial FCS playoff appearances and national championships. Coming in at No. 4 is 8-0 Jacksonville State - another team that has become accustomed to splashy headlines as well, first by becoming the home of LSU QB Ryan Perrilloux and then by winning an epic game against an FBS team eariler this year in their 49-48 double-overtime win against the Rebels Rebel Black Bears. Ole Miss hasn't exactly been SEC royalty this year, coming in at a weak 3-4 so far, but the Gamecocks' win - and undefeated record, with their SEC victory - has given them the accolades. Point is: if you follow FCS, you know something abo...

(Photo Credit: Denise Sanchez/The Morning Call) With the Brown and White , Lehigh's student newspaper, not providing coverage for homecoming, and the local Lewisburg papers' staying away from this 1-6 Bison team this week, coverage was pretty slim pickings this week in terms of the game. You could reread my great coverage of the game , of course, but you can also enjoy the local writeups of the game as well. (That includes a fantastic set of photographs by Denise Sanchez of the Morning Call that show sophomore WR Ryan Spadola's fingertip catch in the end zone in the first quarter. All those links are provided below. (more)

(Photo Credit: L.A. Times) It seems destined that this weekend's "Sunday Word" would have both a Colgate and a Bay Area tilt.  "Hate" would have to be a close second, considering that  it's going to be "Hate the 'Gate" week once again, but with the Giants besting the Phillies in one of the most excruciating MLB playoff games in history, there's another commonality between the Bay Area Bozos (my nickname for the San Francisco Giants - do I sound bitter?  Really?)  and the word I chose for this Sunday's "Word". Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis has had a slogan that has defined his team for several generations: "Just Win, Baby", an expression that has been softened from its original implications of winning dirty to drilling down the game of football to what's important - it's not the number of first downs you win, passing yards you get, or penalties you suffer, as long as you end up the winner of the scoreboa...