Lehigh Football Nation

If you came looking for pretty football, you were probably disappointed. If you came looking for subtlety, it probably wasn't your cup of tea. If you came to the UNI Dome to root, root, root, for the home team, you were definitely not a happy camper. But what you did see is a pretty damned good Lehigh defense shut down the University of Northern Iowa 14-7. You saw a Panther team get more and more scared as Lehigh kept stopping them drive after drive, making huge interceptions in key spots, blocking field goals, seemingly tackling UNI QB Terrell Rennie behind the line of scrimmage every play.  You didn't see an offense that achieved 44 points against Colgate - but you did see one that made two gigantic big plays exactly when they counted the most. You saw a team that won the first postseason game for the Patriot League since Colgate went to the national championship game in 2003. Lehigh, you have the national stage. (more)

If you're in the Bethlehem area, and you want to take in the big game, you have two options. One, you can go to Starters Riverport at about 1:00PM where the South Side Boosters are setting up a viewing party.  "No guarantee of sound as of yet," Lehigh fan ngineer reported , but it's likely that the game will have an ol' AM Radio handy so that the voices of Matt Kerr and Steve Lomangino can be heard calling the game while they carry the live streaming from the NCAAsports.com feed . If you can't make it to Starters in Bethlehem, you can still enjoy the game this weekend - on your big screen. Finally delivering what former Lehigh executive media director Jeff Tourial asked me to do months ago, below the flip find instructions on how to stream the game from your laptop or PC. (more)

(Photo Credit: Matthew Putney/The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Times-Courier ) "We just ran out of gas." Those were the terse, displeased words of UNI head coach Mark Farley this week on Panther Sports Radio , trying to put their 30-14 road loss against Western Illinois behind them. There have been no smiles from Farley's face talking about the loss last weekend - one that Panther Nation think cost them a first-round bye in the playoffs, despite the fact that UNI are Missouri Valley Conference champions in 2010. “We fell into the trap of showing up,” a fired-up Farley said after the game . “We’ve proven to be a solid football team if we come out and play. …We came out like it was a Saturday afternoon scrimmage and paid the price for it. You have to prepare every week and you have to play every week. You can’t just show up at these things.” He did, however, have one smile during his recap of last week and previewing next week's matchup - that of the health of thei

(Photo Credit: Luke Sahagian/The Brown & White ) It's been a weekend to remember for Lehigh football. First, "The Rivalry" win over our Leopard-print neighbors, 20-13, and the energy and excitement that the game always engenders. Then, the realization that Lehigh will be travelling to one of the storied programs of FCS in Northern Iowa to compete in the UNI-Dome in the first round of the FCS playoffs this weekend. To top it all off, Lehigh, head coach Andy Coen and a host of individual Mountain Hawks got recognized with post-season awards, prestigious award nominations, and a return to the FCS Top 20 for the first time since 2005. A whole lot of happy news and information follows below the flip. (more)

So how do you come up with a "Word" that includes the 146th version of "The Rivalry", the state of Lehigh's football program, and an upcoming trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the football team - their second trip to the Hawkeye state this year? If you're me, you choose a word that - on the surface, anyway - has nothing to do with football at all. Look into it further, though, and trust me, it will make complete sense. Don't worry, Flyers fans, we won't be talking about Red Wings or (shudder) Blackhawks today. We'll be sticking with football - and how this Lehigh team, and their defensive-minded group, will be travelling to the heart of America to play the champion of the conference that could be considered FCS College Football's "Norris Division". (more)

Two years ago at Fisher Field, J.B. Clark clutched onto the Lehigh/Lafayette MVP trophy throughout the post-game press conference as if someone were going to snatch it away from him. This year in Easton, bearded  senior LB Al Pierce , a man of fewer words than J.B., didn't have the hardware with him after Lehigh's 20-13 victory over Lafayette in the 146th edition of "The Rivalry". He won the MVP trophy, though - the first defensive player to do so since 2000, when CB Matt Salvaterra did so - but when he spoke to the media after the game, the trophy was nowhere to be found.  When asked about the award, he said that it hadn't really "set in yet". Somehow, that was fitting for a senior leader that is a lot more about letting his play do the talking on the field than in a press conference. (more)

The hopes of a Lehigh home game - or a first round bye - were dashed on Sunday morning when the FCS playoff subcommittee elected to send Lehigh to Northern Iowa in the first round of the playoffs . That's the bad news. The good news is: Lehigh will be playing a member of the royalty of FCS in Northern Iowa in the Patriot League's first non-CAA first round game since Lehigh beat Western Illinois 37-7 in Macomb, Illinois in 2000. All things considered, it's a interesting matchup for the Mountain Hawks. (more)