Patriot League Media Day: Lehigh Picked 5th

In the past, the opening comments from the Patriot League Executive director took a good ten to fifteen minutes.

But since it was Jennifer Heppel's second day on the job, her opening comments were short and sweet.

"I turned on the computer, retrieved a voicemail, and despite the fact that I was convinced I would lose the battle, I considered it a day well lived," she said.

Before addressing the assembled media at the Green Pond Country Club, she had met with all seven Patriot League football coaches and discussed the different rules changes.

"I couldn't be more excited to be here honored to be the next leader of the Patriot League," she continued in her brief comments.

A few minutes later, Lehigh was picked to finish fifth in the preseason Patriot League football poll. Sophomore WR Troy Pelletier, junior LB Colton Caslow and senior P Austin Devine were named to the preseason all-League team, and just like that, the media were unleashed to meet with the coaches, administrators, and athletes.

The preseason poll was the closest vote I could remember, which was a bit of a surprise to me since I had Fordham pegged as my preseason No. 1.

Instead, Bucknell finished a mere 3 points behind the Rams at the No. 1 spot.

Colgate and Lafayette were next, followed by Lehigh, Holy Cross, and Georgetown. Only two points separated 5th placed Lehigh and 6th placed Holy Cross.

1. Fordham - 66 (10)
2. Bucknell - 63 (4)
3. Colgate - (48)
4. Lafayette - (44)
5. Lehigh - (31)
6. Holy Cross - (29)
7. Georgetown - (13)

Holy Cross had junior QB Pete Pujals on the pre-season all-Patriot Team, as well as junior WR Jake Wieczorek. The preseason offensive player of the year, no surprise, was Fordham sophomore RB Chase Edmonds, winner of the Jerry Rice award for the best freshman in FCS.

On defense, the Rams made it a clean sweep with senior LB Stephen Hodge taking the top honor.

Edmonds and Pelletier were two of three sophomores that made the preseason all-Patriot team. Bucknell sophomore DL Abdullah Anderson was the other.

Tune in this week as I wrap up what else I learned at media day, including a Lehigh preview for 2015 and knowledge of Lehigh's upcoming opponents.

2015 Patriot League Football Preseason All-League Team
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Chase Edmonds, RB, Fordham (So.)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Stephen Hodge, LB, Fordham (Gr.)

Offense
QB Peter Pujals, Holy Cross (Jr.)
RB Chase Edmonds, Fordham (So.)
RB C.J. Williams, Bucknell (Jr.)
WR Will Carter, Bucknell (Jr.)
WR Troy Pelletier, Lehigh (So.)
WR Jake Wieczorek, Holy Cross (Jr.)
TE John Quazza, Colgate (Sr.)
OL Julie'n Davenport, Bucknell (Jr.)
OL Ramy Kased, Bucknell (Sr.)
OL Garrick Mayweather, Fordham (Sr.)
OL Connor Staudle, Lafayette (Jr.)
OL John Weber, Colgate (Sr.)
OL Nick Zataveski, Lafayette (Sr.)
RS Matt Smalley, Lafayette (Sr.)
PK Jonah Bowman, Colgate (Jr.)

Defense
DL Abdullah Anderson, Bucknell (So.)
DL Marlin Crook, Fordham (Jr.)
DL Victor Steffen, Colgate (Sr.)
DL Justin Vaughn, Fordham (Jr.)
LB Colton Caslow, Lehigh (Jr.)
LB Kyle Diener, Colgate (Jr.)
LB Mark Dodd, Lafayette (Sr.)
LB Stephen Hodge, Fordham (Gr.)
DB Clayton Ewell, Bucknell (Sr.)
DB Jared Roberts, Lafayette (Sr.)
DB Ettian Scott, Georgetown (Sr.)
DB Matt Smalley, Lafayette (Sr.)
P Austin Devine, Lehigh (Sr.)

How The Ivy League Is Able To Break the NCAA's Scholarship Limits and Still Consider Themselves FCS

By now you've seen the results. In 2018, the Ivy League has taken the FCS by storm. Perhaps it was Penn's 30-10 defeat of Lehigh a couple of weeks ago . Or maybe it was Princeton's 50-9 drubbing of another team that made the FCS Playoffs last year, Monmouth. Or maybe it was Yale's shockingly dominant 35-14 win over nationally-ranked Maine last weekend. The Ivy League has gone an astounding 12-4 so far in out-of-conference play, many of those wins coming against the Patriot League. But it's not just against the Patriot League where the Ivy League has excelled. Every Ivy League school has at least one out-of-conference victory, which is remarkable since it is only three games into their football season. The four losses - Rhode Island over Harvard, Holy Cross over Yale, Delaware over Cornell, and Cal Poly over Brown - were either close losses that could have gone either way or expected blowouts of teams picked to be at the bottom of the Ivy League. W

UMass 21, Lafayette 14, halftime

Are you watching this game? UMass had this game under control until about 3 minutes in the second quarter, and then got an interception, converted for a TD. Then the Leopards forced a fumble off the return, and then converted THAT for a TD, making this a game. It's on CN8. You really should be watching this.

Made-Up Midseason Grades for Lehigh Football

We are now officially midway through the 2023 Lehigh football season. The Mountain Hawks sit at 1-5 overall, and 0-1 in the Patriot League. I thought I'd go ahead and make up some midseason grades, and set some "fan goals" for the second half. The 2023 Mountain Hawks were picked to finish fifth in the seven team Patriot League. In order to meet or exceed that expectation, they'll probably have to go at least 3-2 the rest of the way in conference play. Their remaining games are vs. Georgetown, at Bucknell, vs. Holy Cross, at Colgate, and vs. Lafayette in The Rivalry. Can they do it? Culture Changing: B+ . I was there in the Bronx last week after the tough 38-35 defeat to Fordham, and there wasn't a single player emerging from the locker room that looked like they didn't care. Every face was glum. They didn't even seem sad. More frustrated and angry. That may seem normal, considering the agonizing way the Mountain Hawks lost, but it was a marked chan

Lehigh Football Nation

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