Lehigh Football Nation

We break down the Holy Cross game - and we give our fearless prediction below the flip. If you look at the statistics, you might think that this game may be a barn-burner.  In the Crusaders' last three games, they've put up more than 30 points each time.  Lehigh has eclipsed 30 point in their last two games as well. If it does end up being a high-scoring affair, it may end up echoing a Holy Cross/Lehigh game that took place twenty-four years ago, and is considered by many to be the most exciting non-Lafayette-related football game ever played at Murray Goodman Stadium. In 1991, Holy Cross was a Division I-AA powerhouse.  Though Gordie Lockbaum had graduated much earlier, the Crusaders' scholarship athletes kept Holy Cross' 34 game winning streak over I-AA opponents alive.  Lehigh, also ranked nationally, was the best chance for Holy Cross to be upset in many years. Both had some of the top offenses in I-AA.  And in front of 14,055 fans, both t...

Perhaps it should be called the curse of QB Dominic Randolph . With Dom as the leader on offense, in 2009 Holy Cross won their first Patriot League football championship in the FCS Playoff era. From there they proceeded to give Villanova all they could handle in a 38-28 thriller.  The Wildcats would go on and win the FCS National Championship, beating Montana 23-21, and had the purpliest or Purple fans wondering about how and when the Crusaders were going to take the next step. Unfortunately for Holy Cross fans, they've been waiting ever since. Sure, injuries have played a part in Holy Cross' struggles over the seasons.  They also, certainly, have had more than their fail share of agonizing, close losses over the last four years.  And even the rest of the league hasn't paid Tom Gilmore's team much mind, either, ranking them sixth out of seven Patriot League teams in the preseason poll. Yet this team doesn't seem like they should be picked sixth.  No...

We break down the Holy Cross game - and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip. The 3-6 Crusaders, like 2-6 Lehigh, are a young team who is looking to show that they are ready to move forward and become a force in the Patriot Leaugue title race in the future. Critically, in their win over Lafayette two weekends ago, they've shown that they can indeed hunker down and figure out how to stomp on a team to win a football game. Holy Cross' schedule shows a lot of close games, with losses by a field goal to Brown, Albany, Colgate, and Dartmouth this season.  It's awful easy to see this team, in an alternate universe, winning all four of these games and heading towards "senior day" with a 6-2 record.

(Photo Credit: Peter Cooke / Boston Globe ) We break down the Holy Cross game - and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip. If you've followed the Patriot League for some time, you know plenty about the wrangling that went on when the league was debating whether to change the existing financial aid structure to allow schools of the League to offer football scholarships that resembled, say, the same types of scholarships that Delaware or New Hampshire can offer. You could argue that this decision has completely altered the course of the Patriot League this season. On Lehigh's depth chart, freshman LB Colton Caslow has stepped into the Mountain Hawk linebacking unit and forced his way into the starting lineup, and other impact freshmen like freshman DB/RS Brandon Leaks have pretty much been instant impact players since very early on the season. Additionally - amazingly, actually - of the six Patriot League schools that are now eligible to offer football scho...