Lehigh Football Nation

Yes, Virginia, there are other big FCS games this weekend, even though it may not seem like it. If you're not up in Hamilton for Biddle Bobblehead day, you can (and should!) catch all the action on the Patriot League network online, and catch the radio broadcast on LehighSports.com. But there are actually other games that will also go a long way towards determining the FCS autobids as well. To catch the critical Lehigh game, here are the links: Saturday, 1:00 PM, Football: Holy Cross at Lehigh: Audio at LehighSports.Com Video via Patriot League Network Live Stats

“They've won a lot of close games this year, which we have done in the past. They know how to win and they are very well coached. And you couldn't ask for a better scenario, to be able to get all the way through the season and have the last league game be for the championship and a bid to the playoffs. We know what to expect and I'm happy for our players. It's a one-game season for a championship, and that's all you could ask for.  We've got to treat it like it's just another game and they're going to wear different-colored jerseys." Those were the words of none other than Dick Biddle , approximately 368 days ago, when Colgate traveled down to Lehigh to face off against the Mountain Hawks for a Patriot League championship. They are also words that could have been torn out of this week's Biddle presser as well, perhaps adding that the Raiders have won four of their last six, and won eight of their last ten Patriot League games. For Lehig

(Photo Credit: Stephen Flood /The Express-Times ) Not that I'm counting, but it's been 369 days since Lehigh lost everything they worked for in the span of game of football. You could say that it was just one loss in an otherwise stellar year.  After all 10-1 is 10-1, a season with a whole lot of success.  (Ask Lafayette whether they would trade many of their seasons for a 10-1 campaign, losing to Colgate and missing the FCS playoffs, but beating Lehigh.) But it was one solitary loss - heck, one half - that was the difference between a Lehigh Patriot League championship, and none.  The difference between a spot in the playoffs, or none.  The difference between the sweet feeling of receiving championship rings, or none. As it stands now, it's a giant game for both sides.  A Raider win gives Colgate the Patriot League title (sans Fordham) and autobid to the FCS playoffs.  A Mountain Hawk win allows Lehigh to survive, and continue, in their quest for the Patriot Lea

(Photo Credit: Chris Shipley /Special to the Morning Call ) There's no doubt about the fact that it was a terrific day for Lehigh football on Saturday. For the only the second time this year, the Mountain Hawks never trailed, and the many questions that surrounded the team after the loss to Bucknell were, in large part, answered. But I also heard something interesting, too, in several conversations with fans. It's the idea that Lehigh's "losing" to Bucknell was the perfect thing to happen to this team at this time.

If you went into Murray Goodman Stadium and said you knew exactly what to expect from this Lehigh Mountain Hawks team, you were lying. Everyone involved with the Mountain Hawks football program had seen, or heard about, the loss to Bucknell. If they had sharp eyes, too, they saw the former starting quarterback, Brandon Bialkowski , on the sidelines in a jacket, his arm immobilized so his collarbone can heal. You had to go back a long way to find a Lehigh team with this much uncertainty, with this much at stake, with three games left. And in this environment, this Mountain Hawk team responded. The Mountain Hawks would never trail in this game, though the Crusaders would tie the game twice, at 7-7 and 13-13.  But then, after filling in permanently after what seemed to be a rib injury to junior QB Matt McHale , freshman QB Nick "Shaf" Shafnisky came into the game and guided Lehigh on three touchdown drives in a convincing 38-20 victory.