Lehigh Football Nation

In 1927, the Rivalry was in trouble. “Thousands of vacant seats at Saturday’s game, mostly on the south side of the field, were a silent protest to Lehigh’s poor teams,” the Easton Express wrote after another lopsided Engineer loss to the Leopards.  “The dear public was asked to part with $4 a ticket to see Saturday’s game.  Of course, the public doesn’t have to go.  They can stay at home.  That is what many did on Saturday.  But there are thousands of Alumni of both institutions who deplore the situation and a crying for relief.“ The game in question was a 43-0 shellacking by Lafayette, capping off a dismal 1-7-1 season for Lehigh where the Brown and White were outscored 196-31 by their opponents. For Lehigh, losing to Lafayette had become routine.  It was their eighth straight loss to their rivals.  The Brown and White had last scored a touchdown against Lafayette in 1921.  Three entire classes had gone without scoring a touchdown again...

Ever think that, sometimes, it takes all the stars to align for an upset victory? In Lehigh's 34-27 win over New Hampshire last season , it felt like that could have been the case. The Wildcats were a young team with somewhat dampened expectations, coming to Murray Goodman stadium to try to find themselves.  Meanwhile, Lehigh, fresh off one of the most improbable Mountain Hawk wins ever, their 29-28 win over Princeton , had momentum and confidence to spare. While Lehigh is expected to lose to supposedly "full-scholarship" teams from the CAA, everything seemed to align - the weather, the home game, and a Wildcat team that was still a work-in-progress. But the stars aligning for Lehigh last year, however, makes for a much steeper challenge in 2014.