Lehigh Football Nation

Out of 128 seasons of Lehigh football, only ten teams have enjoyed ten victories or more, and the 2012 chapter of Lehigh football was one of those ten rare teams. Most of the ten victories did not come easy, which, combined with the perception of a weak schedule, had to be the reason why Lehigh was the first 10 Division I-win school since the expansion of the playoffs to 20 teams to be denied a playoff bid. That shouldn't take away from the great accomplishment of this 2012 Mountain Hawk team, however. There is plenty to celebrate from 2012, and plenty of good things to write about.  The cardiac 28-26 victory at sold-out Liberty, in front of nearly 20,000 intense fans, before the Flames would end up being Big South co-champions.  The heart-stopping wins against Fordham, Holy Cross and Georgetown, which all came down to the last play.  And, of course, falling behind 21-10 early to Lafayette in the 148th version of "The Rivalry", before roaring to a 38-21 victor...

(Photo Credit: Express-Times) For their end-of-the-season awards, the Patriot League released their postseason all-Patriot League teams for both academics and athletics , and unsurprisingly, Lehigh athletes put plenty of athletes on both lists. Seven Lehigh athletes made the first team offense and defense: senior WR Ryan Spadola, senior OL Mike Vuono made it on offense, and senior DT Sajjad Chagani, senior DE Tom Bianchi, senior LB Billy Boyko, senior CB Gabe Johnson and senior FS Billy O'Brien cracked the first team. Senior QB Mike Colvin, senior LB Sam Loughery, junior LB Nigel Muhammad and sophomore OL Ned Daryoush all made the Patriot League second team, while Spadola and senior RB Zach Barket made the more important list: the Patriot League All-Academic team. More academic awards and athletic awards await, but congratulations on these awesome Lehigh athletes for what they've accomplished.

(Photo Credit: Facebook/Will Rackley)  Down 14-3 and 21-10, early on it looked like Lehigh's playoff hopes, already dimmed by the Mountain Hawks' loss to Colgate, might be done in completely at the hands of their bitter rivals, who were looking for their first win over Lehigh after being unsuccessful in their last four tries. Then Lehigh put together their best half of football of the year. Scoring 28 unanswered points, and shutting out the Leopards in the second half, the Mountain Hawks finished the regular season with a resounding 38-21 victory. Ultimately, it wasn't enough to get to the postseason, even though it would have been for the first time since the playoffs expanded to 20 teams that a team with 10 Division I wins would not qualify for the FCS playoffs. But that shouldn't obscure a fantastic effort by Lehigh's class of 2013 to stay undefeated against "That School in Easton" and their achievement of being only the 10th team in scho...

I have some things to do before the 148th this weekend in Easton - namely, two weeks of players of the week (since I forgot for Holy Cross in my zeal to cover the Colgate game) and some links wrapping up last week's game. Something that has muted the party  this week has been the heartbreaking story of Lafayette QB Zach Zweizig , whose father, 56, tragically died from complications of a stroke earlier this week. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.  I love "The Rivalry", I really do.  But some things transcend it.

This weekend's tilt against Georgetown was unquestionably the most exciting matchup between the Hoyas and Mountain Hawks in the modern era. You have to go back to 1903 (12-6, Lehigh) and 1910 (6-3, Georgetown) to find two Lehigh/Georgetown games determined by six points or less. You have to believe, though, that neither team turned over the ball seven times. And, happily, there are more pictures of this game than those tilts in 1903 and 1910, thanks to the magic of Facebook and Lehigh Athletics.  Their 82 photo pictorial makes sure that it will be plenty immortalized.

The old saying goes that there's no such thing as a bad win.  "A win's a win", they say.  And it's true.  Lehigh goes to 7-0 on the year after defeating Georgetown 17-14 at Multi-Sport Field in Washington, DC. But Lehigh's offense did their best to test that saying this Saturday. The Mountain Hawks - astoundingly - overcame seven turnovers, including four interceptions from senior QB Michael Colvin , and then hung on to win on after the Hoyas final 37 yard field goal attempt was partially blocked by senior DE Tom Bianchi in the closing seconds. Like so many of Lehigh's wins this season, it wasn't for the faint of heart.  Of the Mountain Hawks' seven wins this year, five have been determined in the last three minutes of regulation.  And including this Saturday's game, three have been determined in the last ten seconds of the game.

(Photo Credit: Kevin Mingora/Morning Call ) It may have been pacing break, but the Columbia/Lehigh game wasn't lacking photo and video evidence that it occurred. I don't know if it was the overcast weather, the colder, more fall-like  temperatures, the pink or what, but the shots of the game from Kevin Mingora of the Morning Call look absolutely stunning, as do the shots from the Brown & White photographers that were at the game. I'd encourage you to go over there and check out the Morning Call's eleven-page gallery , which is filled with great shots. The shot above, too, comes from that collection.  And there is a album of pictures from the Brown & White as well as a video recap of the game as well from Alec Murphy . They make my whopping two pictures on the Facebook Page seem pretty dim in comparison.  Then again, I didn't get to field level this game!

Highlight reels can be very misleading. I'm not saying, dear reader, that Lehigh's 35-14 win over Columbia was bad.  Not at all.  The Mountain Hawks went to 6-0 this afternoon at Murray Goodman Stadium, in front of a pacing break crowd of a little over 5,000 fans. But if you simply judged this game by looking at the highlights, you wouldn't get an accurate impression of how this game unfolded. Sure, Lehigh jumped to 14-0 and 21-7 leads, and the Mountain Hawks made some bursts of impressive plays to score touchdowns on Columbia.  But it was critical Lehigh mistakes that led to the Lions' 14 points - which put a bit of a damper on the post-game celebrations for Lehigh head coach Andy Coen .

This week's LFN Players of the Week awards go to: Offense: Senior QB Michael Colvin (17/32 passing, 221 yards passing, 56 yards rushing, 3 TDs/2 INTs) Offense: Senior WR Ryan Spadola (9 catches, 111 yards) Defense: Junior SS Rickie Hill (6 tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass defensed Defense: Senior LB Sam Loughery (8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss incl. 1 sack) Special Teams: Senior FB Zach Hayden (1 special teal tackle, 1 15 yard kickoff return) Underclassman:  Freshman WR Derek Knott (2 catches, 15 yards, 1 speedy TD, 2 kickoff returns, 22 yards) Congratulations to the winners!

It looked like a trap game.  It felt like a trap game.  And when Lehigh's offense came up empty in its first three drives, it felt like it was going to be a dogfight all the way. But when Lehigh fans asked their defense to carry them through the early part of this game, they rose to the call. A fantastic defensive effort, which slowed down a frantic Princeton attack for four quarters, routinely forced the Tigers to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns.  And when the dust settled - and the Lehigh offense got things together - Lehigh escaped Princeton with a double-digit win.  (more)

This week's LFN Players of the Week awards go to: Offense:  Senior QB Chris Lum  (36-for-54 passing, 401 yards, passing, 6 TDs ) (first 400 yard passing game by Lehigh since QB Phil Stambaugh did it) (tie) Offense: Senior WR Jake Drwal (11 catches, 142 yards, 2 TDs, including slipping free of defender for go-ahead score) Defense:  Junior CB Bryan Andrews (1 tackle, 1 interception, 4 passes defensed) Special Teams:  Junior LB Sam Loughery (4 tackles, critical forced fumble to kick-start comeback) Underclassman:  Sophomore P Tim Divers (5 punts for 42 yards, 4 inside the 20, longest: 51 yards) Congratulations to the winners!

Without question one of my guilty pleasures is that I still listen to Smashmouth, whose late 1990s "we're -pushing-40-so-we-better-cash-in-now" music has not aged well. Astro Lounge songs still grace my digital music player - including, yes, All Star. For incoming Lehigh football recruits, after graduation and before summer football camp, it's not all American Pie - it's also a time for high school all-star games, including the much-publicized Lehigh Valley All-Star Classic (taking place tonight at Nazareth's Andrew Leh Stadium at 7 pm). While there are high-school all-star games in other states, the Lehigh Valley and the state of Pennsylvania seem to have what some might say is an unhealthy obsession with all-star football in June. Pennsylvania has three big-time ones, the "Big 33" game versus Ohio, the PSFCA East/West game, and multiple (only slightly) smaller all-star games like the LV All-Star classic tonight. And that doesn't even cou...