Lehigh Football Nation

  I am an outlier.   I'm a fan of a 1-6 college football team, and I'm headed out to Bucknell next weekend, rain or shine, to watch two Patriot League squads with losing records face off against one another. I realize somewhere in my head that normal people don't do this type of thing. I have no kid playing for Lehigh or Bucknell.  I'm not paid by either school.  I am not paid to watch the game.  But I'll still go.  Like I've done so many times before, I'll still preview and watch the game. And I might get excited, or mad, or want to rip my hair out.  The outcome might cause a deep, gnawing pain deep in my gut or an overwhelming sense of cathartic relief.  But I'll still do it. Why?  It's a question I've asked myself many times over the years. Certainly a game like this weekend against Georgetown, a game were I look at my ripped-out hair, the deep, knawing pain deep in my gut, and the completely irrational anger I feel, definitely does m...

 We are now officially midway through the 2023 Lehigh football season.  The Mountain Hawks sit at 1-5 overall, and 0-1 in the Patriot League. I thought I'd go ahead and make up some midseason grades, and set some "fan goals" for the second half. The 2023 Mountain Hawks were picked to finish fifth in the seven team Patriot League.  In order to meet or exceed that expectation, they'll probably have to go at least 3-2 the rest of the way in conference play.  Their remaining games are vs. Georgetown, at Bucknell, vs. Holy Cross, at Colgate, and vs. Lafayette in The Rivalry. Can they do it? Culture Changing: B+ .  I was there in the Bronx last week after the tough 38-35 defeat to Fordham, and there wasn't a single player emerging from the locker room that looked like they didn't care.  Every face was glum.  They didn't even seem sad.  More frustrated and angry. That may seem normal, considering the agonizing way the Mountain Hawks lost, but it was a ma...

In this holiday time when we're sweeping out 2006 and ushering in 2007, it's a time to look behind, pick Lehigh Football Nation's players of the year, and also to peek ahead a little. 2006 In Review In a season where the Mountain Hawks were picked to finish third in the preseason, you would think Lehigh fans would have been happy with a co-championship in head coach Andy Coen's first year. But in a season with tough losses to the Ivy League and NEC, and Lehigh's third straight loss to Lafayette (and losing a D-I playoff bid in the process), it sure as heck didn't feel like a championship. Yet the fact remains it still was a championship year as coach Coen slowly brought his brand of football to South Mountain, going 5-1 in the league after a 1-4 out-of-conference record. Coming off an offseason which saw the offense and defense have major shifts in phlilosophy, it could have been expected that the Mountain Hawks come out of the gate a little slowly. But after a ...