Lehigh Football Nation

It's the Patriot League Championship game, it's being played in Bethlehem on a spotless November Day, and it's bound to be a great game. Below the flip, see Georgetown broken down, as well as my "Keys to the Game" - and, of course, the "Fearless Prediction".

(Photo Credit: Rick Sinclair/Associated Press via the Washington Post) Head coach Andy Coen tried to say it, in a preseason article in the Morning Call. (subscription required) . I tried to say it, in a preseason piece on the Hoyas called: " Know your 2011 Opponents ". Even the casual blogger Casual Hoya said it, too, with a refreshingly ill-researched homer piece about how the Hoyas were going to compete this year for the BCS National Championship. The consensus was: Watch out for Georgetown. Now, in Week Eleven of the college football season, the first winning record for the Hoyas since Georgetown joined the Patriot League isn't simply a feel-good story about a team that's spent more than a decade losing a lot of football games.  It's a story about a Patriot League Championship game, taking place in Bethlehem, for sole possession of the title and autobid. And for the Hoyas, potential payback for last year.

(Photo Credit: John McDonnell/The Washington Post) I don't make it a habit to read the Casual Hoya blog, whose main focus is their Big East-playing, fisticuffs-in-China-flying, men's basketball team. But when he had his version of a prediction of the Hoya football season, I couldn't help but laugh out loud . Here's something else that isn't a laughing matter: the Hoyas are a far cry from the sad sack team that went 0-11 in 2009.  They will win more Patriot League games this year.  And if the cards fall right, they could find themselves in November once again fighting for a Patriot League championship. (more)

The halftime score read: Georgetown 7, Lehigh 6. And head coach Andy Coen , as you might guess, was none too pleased with his team. All week, he had told his team to focus on Georgetown. To not overlook them on the way to playing "that school in Easton". To not think about rings. To not settle for a share of the Patriot League championship. To be hungry. And yet, there it was. Georgetown 7, Lehigh 6, going into half. A Georgetown team that was different from the other Georgetown teams challenged Lehigh almost the entire way. But ultimately the Mountain Hawks wrestled the game away from the Hoyas and got the 24-7 win they wanted - and removed the "co-" from the Patriot League championship. It would be a celebration to remember - because this was no coast of a win over the Hoyas. Not by a long shot. (more)

(Photo Credit: Georgetown Athletics) "Georgetown - with a combined 5-38 record since head coach Kevin Kelly took over the program in 2006 is now sitting atop the Patriot League with a 3-1 record and a 2-0 record in Patriot League play, thanks to their defensive-minded 17-7 victory over Holy Cross this weekend," I wrote in the last weekend in September . What a difference a month makes. The Hoyas' extremely promising 3-1 start in September turned into a winless October - and a 3-6 record. The whispers that "this Hoya team is different" were silenced, as Georgetown returned to what they had done an awful lot in the last nine years - lose football games. But for the Hoyas, a good part of their frustration this season could be overturned if they manage to beat Lehigh. It won't just be for pride, or even just the Hoyas' tiny senior football class - they could also stay alive in the race for their first-ever playoff appearance, too. (more)

(Photo Credit: Jane Therese/The Morning Call) With apologies to Prince , you have to believe that Georgetown, fresh off their 28-24 upset over Lafayette, have at least thought about putting that classic song in their iPods. The upset victory gave them only the second time the Hoyas sat atop the Patriot League standings - something they did for only one week in 2005, when they beat Bucknell 16-13 to start the year.  Their reign only lasted one week, however, when they were spanked 48-6 by Holy Cross the following week - and never sat atop the Patriot League standings until this week. How did they pull off their first 2-0 start since Prince 's favorite year, 1999, when they were a part of the non-scholarship MAAC?   (more)