Lehigh Football Nation

I know it's been several years in the making.  I know we are almost at the eve of the biggest edition of the Lehigh/Lafayette Rivalry yet, the one in Yankee Stadium, the 150th meeting, the one I've been waiting for years to arrive. Yet it's one play, one play , that I keep thinking about in the run-up to this game. Bubble screen. I keep seeing that bubble screen in the 149th meeting of Lehigh and Lafayette, the one that put the game out of reach, the one that turned Lehigh's bid for a championship last season become one that fell just short of a championship.

With the secondary out of the way , it's time to focus on Lehigh's spring roster battles as they relate to the rest of the defense, the linebacking unit and starting defensive line. On the coaching front, rabid Lehigh football fans will recognize the two position coaches at both linebackers and defensive line. Both coached alongside of current head coach Andy Coen during two of the Brown and White's best-ever defensive seasons in 1998 and 1999. Joe Bottiglieri  was the defensive coordinator for the legendary 1998 team, which went 11-0 in regular season play and shocked the world by knocking of Atlantic 10 champions Richmond in the first-ever playoff victory for the Mountain Hawks since Lehigh joined the Patriot League.  Along with current defensive line coach Donnie Roberts , Lehigh's defense held the eventual I-AA champions, UMass, to 26 points and putting Lehigh in a position to win with a minute left in the quarterfinals. This season, Coach Bott and Coach ...

You'd think with a headline like "Past and Present Lehigh Football Players Go Prematurely Bald" that the next sentence I'd be writing would be an ad for "Hair Club For Men". Instead, though, I'm going to be writing about how a bunch of Lehigh football players going prematurely bald is a great, inspirational thing. This past Sunday, "Team Jack" went to nearby Phillipsburg, New Jersey, to get their heads shaved in solidarity with their favorite teammate and biggest fan, ten year old  Jack Knudson , and also raise more than $2,000 for the St. Baldrick's foundation for pediatric cancer research. (You can still donate to "Team Jack" by clicking on this link and clicking the " Donate " button.)

We now find ourselves at 57 days until the start of football season! At no. 57, we find  junior NT Arturo Gyles  as our highlighted Lehigh football athlete in today's countdown.

(Photo Credit: Ron Schwane/The Medina (OH) Gazette) Two new commits have been signed by Lehigh in the past few days, according to Internet reports. One is a "Battling Bee" - as you can see to my left - and the other is nicknamed "T.O."  (The Tuscarora (MD) High School  product might want to consider ditching that nickname: the last T.O. that made his way to the Lehigh Valley didn't work out so well.   'Next question!' ) Read all about these two new commits as the class of 2015 starts to take shape. (more)