Lehigh Football Nation

There aren't any books detailing the 4-7 2009 Lehigh football season, nor is it likely that the exploits of that season will be etched in stone at the base of a statue for head football coach Andy Coen . Yet it's a time and place which I return to often when I think back on Lehigh seasons past, and it's where I find myself today as well. The 2009 season felt like an inflection point for Coen's coaching tenure.  His first three seasons, 6-5, 5-6 and 5-6, boasted one Patriot League co-championship, but had fallen short of the lofty expectations that had been set during the Kevin Higgins and Pete Lembo eras of undefeated seasons, playoff wins, and basically scaring the pants off of Lehigh football opponents up and down the East Coast. And when the Mountain Hawks limped to a 1-5 start, the fifth being an awful 7-0 loss to Yale whose only points resulted from a fake punt, it felt like Andy's time at Lehigh was nearing an end.  Nobody actually said  officially ...

Chuck laid down on the couch, his therapist staring at his pencil.  He focused at a spor on the celing, listing to the pelt of rain on the thin roof overhead. "Do you remember it now?" the balding doctor with the shaggy salt-and-pepper beard asked. "I... I don't remember," Chuck said.  "I have a vague recollection, some faint memories, about being... excited.  About being excited for a football game, but not The Rivalry I expected.  It was being played... in a stadium I didn't recognize.  It was a dream.  A nightmare.  It had to be a nightmare." "Go on," the doctor said.  "This is good.  Very good.  By confronting what.... happened last year, you can finally face up to it and defeat it.  Defeat your nightmare.  Defeat a year's worth of angst.   Defeat it." "I don't know," Chuck said.  "It's all so hazy." "Let's see if we can work this out," the doctor said.  ...

The famous NCAA saying for student-athletes goes "Most of us go pro in something other than sports." For Lehigh athletes, of course, that is true.  But that doesn't mean that, often, the pursuit of sports opens the door for unique opportunities after graduation. This offseason, I caught up with two former Lehigh football players, QB J.B. Clark and LB Colin Newton , whose pursuit of athletics has given them unique experiences internationally.

This year, I had the good fortune to attend my 23rd  "Rivalry", the most-played  rivalry in college football with 147 meetings. And as a Lehigh fan, I was immensely pleased with the outcome. And yet, I cannot recall a stranger edition of this game in my experience. To the seniors who played in this historic game, it was a shining moment in their football season - something they had wanted to do since they came to Lehigh in the first place. But I don't think anybody thought it would go down like this.

Crying because it's the bye week, and you can't get your Lehigh football fix?  Fret not.  There are a backlog of articles about Lehigh players that you can enjoy below the flip. If that weren't enough, there's even an article from the Brown & White telling the students to step away from the tailgates - if even for only an hour - and watch the damn game. It might even make up for the fact that there's no game this weekend. Read on. (more)

Some days, the words flow easily.  But not today.  It's not every day that a two-time MVP of "The Rivalry" decides to leave the program. In a stunning turn of events, QB J.B. Clark announced that he is leaving the team after learning that he was dropped to third on the depth chart behind junior QB Chris Lum and sophomore QB Michael Colvin . I wasn't surprised, necessarily, to see Clark not be anointed the starter.  But I was stunned to see Clark demoted to third string and leave the team.  Lehigh's most experienced quarterback on the roster this spring is now gone, leaving big questions that will need to be answered by the Drake game.   (more)

(Photo Credit: Bill Adams/The Easton Express-Times) The spring game is, essentially, a scrimmage to allow football fans to take a look at what next year's team might look like that will be flying out to Des Moines, Iowa on Labor Day weekend this September.  (Might sophomore WR/RB Marcus Dormevil , pictured here fighting for positive yards, be one of those players?) Hopefully you read my take on everything, but what was the review from the rest of press who spent some time on a Saturday morning to see what was going on?  Below the flip you'll get the full story as seen by Lehigh's official release, the local media, and even some fans. (more)

Most coaches would tell you that the spring game is all about getting some kids in their first real sort-of "game situations" and not sustaining injuries. For Lehigh fans in 2010, though, it would be their first tantalizing peek at offensive coordinator Dave Cecchini 's tweaks on Lehigh's offense and the development of head coach Andy Coen 's overall squad. With an offensive line that was heavily banged up, the total answers to those questions were not answered on a beautiful sunny Saturday in April that could have been plucked out of June and placed at the end of spring football season.  But there was enough to get excited about the fall and what could be shaping up. (more)

As soon as he came in the press conference, he told the media folks there that it was "fitting that we win a football game in this way." It was a quote that was used in many of the local press reports of the game as well. What the rest of the media did not pick up was the pause, and the word "Awesome" right after it. Do I know if coach Coen set out to make "awesome" the word of the week - and the game? I don't know for sure, but I do know that as soon as coach Coen mentioned the word, he mentioned it again a bunch of times in the post-game press conference (and, for good measure, on Lehigh Sports Magazine tonight), I knew it simply had to be the "Word". When many folks think of the word "awesome" they think of the 1980s. Big hair, Whitney Houston records, the (ack) Breakfast Club , you know the drill. But that wasn't what coach Coen was talking about.  He was talking about the true definition, meaning "inspiri...

Murray Goodman has been the source of some of the most thrilling chapters of "The Rivalry", and today's heart-stopping overtime win was no exception to that rule. I have been going to see "The Rivalry" every year since 1988, missing the big game against Lafayette only once. Of all the games I've seen, the one I saw this weekend at could have been the craziest one of them all. There have been close finishes before. Lafayette QB Rob Curley two years ago found WR Kyle Roeder on a slant pattern in the end zone in 2007 to deal Lehigh a 21-17 defeat. In 2005, Leopard QB Pat Davis ' heave was found by RB Jonathan Hurt for a dramatic touchdown pass to ruin Lehigh's shot at a playoff autobid in a 23-19 defeat - and in the process put Lafayette in the playoff field as an at-large bid. In 1999, with Lafayette head coach Bill Russo coaching in his last game, his Leopards came very close to upsetting the Mountain Hawks - but were stopped short in a 1...

Last week's valiant effort versus the Raiders results in these players getting nominations for LFN's "Players of the Week": Offensive Hawk: Junior QB J.B. Clark (54 yards rushing, 151 yards passing, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 0 turnovers) Defensive Hawk: Senior LB Troy Taylor (8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss) Special Teams Hawk: Freshman PK Jake Peery , who went 2-2 on field goals (25, 35 yards) and extra points - no mean feat in 20-30 mph winds. Something to think about, with Holy Cross coming to town: the 1969 Lehigh football season. Forty years ago, the Engineers started at 2-5-1 (including losses to The Citadel, Delaware, Wittenburg and Gattysburg). But Lehigh would win their last two games versus Bucknell and Lafayette to become "Middle Three" Champions and would get votes for the Lambert Cup. (Matter of fact, Lehigh's 36-19 victory would come two days before I was born.) That season, R B Jack Rizzo would debut, and soon thereafter Lehigh was playing in th...

(Photo courtesy Colgate Athletics) There was precious little coverage in the papers this weekend on the game, especially in the upstate New York area where all we have is the AP mentions that a game was played in Hamilton and that the 7-1 Raiders still are very much in the hunt for a spot in the playoffs and maybe the Patriot League autobid. The local papers also mostly ran modified versions of the official Lehigh recap, though to their credit the Morning Call did do a follow-up piece today as well. Even the student-run Brown and White didn't mention the game at Colgate this weekend, which leaves my recap as the only independent record of the game this Saturday . Lehigh Athletics: Lehigh Can't Hold Early Lead, Falls to Colgate 27-20 "I thought the kids fought hard, they competed right to the end there. But we need to win one of these close games,” Mountain Hawks head coach Andy Coen said after the game. “I thought junior QB J.B. Clark did a nice job running the offens...

Another disappointment in a season of disappointments. What makes this one even more frustrating is that Lehigh had real chances to make this a game but were unable to pull it out in the end. You couldn't have scripted a better start for Lehigh: after the defense held the Raiders to a 3-and-out, junior QB J.B. Clark led a drive to the Colgate 7, and freshman K Jake Peery nailed a 35 yard FG to give Lehigh the lead. Then, a rarity: a fumble by Colgate junior QB Greg Sullivan gave Lehigh excellent field position after a rare fumble, recovered by sophomore DE David Brown , and Clark would find junior WR Craig "Braveheart" Zurn on a nice left end zone fade to give Lehigh a 10-0 lead. Momentum was squarely on Lehigh's side, but Sullivan and the Colgate offense grabbed it right back. After a questionable late hit call on sophomore LB Colin Newton , Sullivan connected on a deep pass to f reshman WR John Schademan to make the score 10-7. After pinning Colgate at thei...

The fantastic work on offense in Lehigh's 35-16 win over Bucknell deserves plenty of "Player of the Week" nominees. Eight, in fact. Offensive Hawks of the Week: Junior OL William Rackley , sophomore OL Troy McKenna , sophomore OL Jim Liebler , junior OL Ricky Clerge , and senior OL Frank Giacalone (0 sacks, 461 yards of offense) and junior QB J.B. Clark (24 for 37 passing, 327 yardsm 2 TDs, 1 INT). Defensive Hawk of the Week: Junior DB/RS Jon "Prez" Kennedy (65 return yards on 2 kickoff returns, 3 tackles, 1 INT) Special Teams Hawk of the Week: Freshman TE Jamel Haggins (grabbing a blocked XP and returning it for the 2-point conversion) Congratulations to all the winners - and here's hoping that the momentum from this win will carry all the way north to Hamilton.. The third ECAC Lambert Poll was released this week, and it's no secret which team remains at No. 1: that's right, the team that also happens to have been the No. 1 team in the land si...

(Photo Credit: The Sunbury Daily Item) As we watch freshman RB Zach Barket grind out some yards against the Bucknell defense, it's time to look over some of the press that comes out of this weekend. While there isn't a photo gallery of the game from the Morning Call this week, the Sunbury Daily Item did have a couple good pictures in their writeup . Allentown Morning Call: Lehigh Wins Big over Bucknell ''It felt great and hats off to the offensive line first,'' junior QB J.B. Clark said after completing 24 of 37 passes. ''They gave me five or six seconds to throw the ball and the receivers made some great catches. We came out confident.'' ''That was big [for freshman QB Michael Colvin ] to score on the first series,'' Clark said. ''It set the tone for the game, and hopefully, the rest of the season.'' ''I got my opportunity and I think I took full advantage of it,'' Barket said. ''But thi...

Boy, does this one feel good. Lehigh put up 35 points for the first time this year as the Mountain Hawks overcame some early mistakes to coast to a 35-16 victory over the Bison, continuing their twelve year winning streak over Bucknell and keeping their title hopes alive for another week. After the offense was shut out last weekend, seeing the offense put up five honest touchdowns - and junior QB J.B. Clark going the distance and putting up numbers like 24 for 37, 327 yards, 1 passing TD, 1 rushing TD, and only one INT - gives this Lehigh fan some hope that maybe, just maybe, little ol' Lehigh may still have a chance in this Patriot League race thing. Other highlights include freshman QB/RB Michael Colvin getting his first career TD, and freshman RB Zach Barket getting his first TD as well to go with his career-best 77 yard effort. And add freshman WR James Flynn getting three big catches - including one to convert an early fourth down conversion - three greenhorns were asked ...

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Mingora, The Morning Call) Junior QB J.B. Clark and junior WR Craig Zurn seem pretty excited about something in this picture - could it be all the press coverage of Lehigh's Sprng game? The press reports are in from the Brown & White game - including a photo gallery from the Morning Call (and one from yours truly - coming soon when I get a spare moment!) There are no fewer than three press release articles and three blog postings (including the one from yours truly), making this arguably the best-covered spring game in all of FCS. The consensus was that it things seem pretty hopeful on South Mountain after Saturday's final contact until August. The Morning Call: QBs Shine in Lehigh Spring Game ‘’We’re definitely headed in the right direction,'’ [Coen] said. ‘’This is the best I’ve ever felt at this time of year during my tenure here. I don’t know what that means, but I like the attitude of our guys and we’ve got a good recruiting class comin...

This time of year for me, blog-wise, is more of a "Spring Cleaning" than anything: it's the time when I think about a blog redesign (simplify, simplify, simplify), when I dress up my LFN Twitter page , when I try to figure how LFN looks on an iPhone, whein I clean up my LFN page on Facebook (and uploading all those videos and photos I've been meaning to upload to Facebook since, oh, December of last year) and basically do all the things that I've been meaning to do, but haven't. But spring football season is also in full swing, and recently two reports were filed on the goings-on at practice. One was of the print variety, as Keith Groller of the Morning Call mentions that Lehigh is marching into this season with new momentum . Overall, coach Coen seems very please with how the team has progressed this offseason, partually buoyed by the successful season-ending win against "that school in Easton": ''We've had a great off-season,'...

While Lehigh's men's basketball's 77-64 loss to St. Joe's yesterday was no moral victory , it does bring back into focus the big victory from before Thanksgiving: Lehigh's win in the 144th meeting between Lehigh and Lafayette. And you, the readers of the blog, have spoken. According to you, the MVP of the 144th is none other than senior DL Brian Jackson . In the biggest game of the year, he came up with his best day as a Mountain Hawk: 8 tackles with 3 1/2 sacks for 19 yards lost. His pass rush - against, mind you, a powerful Leopard "O" line - was a key reason that Lafayette's offense never got on track against us. His final game as a Mountain Hawk is one that definitely deserves the honors bestowed upon him by you, the readers. Game balls for the 144th: Reader's Choice: Senior DL Brian Jackson Offense: (tie) Sophomore QB J.B. Clark (12/22 passing, 201 yards, 2 TDs), senior WR Sekou Yansane (3 catches, 56 yards, including one ESPN SportsCen...

Despite the disappointing performance this Saturday, sophomore QB J.B. Clark once again gets LFN Player of the Week honors this week. Clark had his best day statistically in a Mountain Hawk uniform, going 24-for-39 with 338 yards passing and 4 TDs (and no interceptions). He also showed a ton of grit, rallying from a 21-6 deficit for 27 unanswered points. He could have very easily had five TDs: he hooked up on a 58 yard strike to senior WR Sekou Yansane that was set up a 6 yard TD run by senior RB Adam Watson , too. His gutty performance makes him the Player of the Week this week. Game balls will be going to: Reader's Choice: Sophomore QB J.B. Clark Offense: (tie) Senior WR Sekou Yansane and senior WR Mike Fitzgerald (Yansane: 6 receptions, 113 yards, 1 TD, Fitzgerald, 7 catches, 111 yards, 2 TDs) Defense: Senior DT Brian Jackson (7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) Special teams: Sophomore DB/KR John "Fear Itself" Kennedy (5 kickoff returns for 89 yards, plus a 15 y...