Lehigh Football Nation

It's not like ranked opponents are a rarity at South Mountain - just last year, Lehigh laid out a welcome mat for the defending national champions, Villanova - and promptly got trounced, 35-0. And it's not even all that long ago that Lehigh was nationally ranked and playing at home, either.  In 2004, two Top 20 teams faced off at Murray Goodman stadium in a key conference battle - and Lehigh beat their "other" conference rival, Colgate, 21-14. But it's been an awful long while that a nationally-ranked Lehigh team hosted a CAA team at their place - as equals. This weekend, Lehigh players and fans will have a matchup that has a little bit of everything.  A big, bad CAA team facing off against an upstart Patriot League squad.  A battle between two nationally-ranked teams.  A chance for revenge after the Mountain Hawks' worst game of last year.  But for Lehigh, it's mostly a game about respect.  (more)

(Photo Credit: Tyler McDermott/The New Hampshire) There's a lot of football games on the schedule in 2011, but the one that seems to loom the largest - aside from that contest Lehigh plays at the end of November, of course - is the home opener. It's not just because New Hampshire plays in the CAA, the football conference that is getting a reputation as "the SEC of FCS". It's not just because it will almost certainly be a matchup between Top 25 teams - the first such contest at Murray Goodman since 2004. And it's not just because the Wildcats humbled Lehigh in Durham last year, 31-10 . It's because last year's game was one of the last appearances of the "old" Lehigh team than the "new" one that closed out the year in 2010. Of all the games on the schedule in 2011, none feels like "redemption" - except this one. (more)

(Photo Credit: The New Hampshire) Could the timing have been any worse for the Mountain Hawks? Plenty of fans might have predicted that New Hampshire - the perennial Top 25 ranked, FBS-upsetting, playoff game-playing Wildcats - would be 1-1 going into Week Three of the season. While Central Connecticut State of the NEC might have been a challenge for the Wildcats, it was easy to see big, bad New Hampshire beating them. Similarly, it was just as easy to see New Hampshire struggle against FBS Pitt - which is a step up in weight class against the Marshall's and Army's that they've beaten in recent years - to give them a 1-1 record. But their shocking 28-25 defeat to Rhode Island last weekend doesn't just put the Wildcats at 1-2. It makes their game this weekend vs. Lehigh an absolute must-win if they hope to achieve any of the goals that have become expected up in Durham: contention for the CAA title. Playoffs. And a run at the FCS championship. (more)