Lehigh Football Nation

(Photo Credit: Alec Turner c/o Lehigh Athletics) For those that care about these things, Lehigh entered the first round FCS playoff matchup 21 1/2 point underdogs. And if we're being fair, that was probably the right number. The Seawolves were 9-2, nationally ranked with seven conference wins in the tough CAA and one of their losses coming to a very strong FBS team in South Florida.  In contrast, unranked Lehigh came into the game 5-6 and only were here because they upset Colgate 41-38 on the road and won enough Patriot League conference games to win the autobid. Yet a young Lehigh team was game to put their best foot forward and to have a heroic sendoff for potential NFL prospect senior WR Troy Pelletier , and in that, the game was a rousing success. With junior QB Brad Mayes expertly picking apart one of the top defenses in FCS, time after time he'd find Troy for reception after reception, each one highlighting his impressive skill set as an audition for the nex...

It was marginally better than last seasons 1st round loss to New Hampshire, but it still wasn't close. After holding Stony Brook scoreless in the first quarter and battling back to a 24-14 deficit at halftime, Stony Brooks' 2-play, 77 yard drive where QB Joe Carbone found TE Cal Daniels for a 40 yard touchdown pass to make it 31-14.  Despite a couple of second half touchdowns to keep it somewhat close, Stony Brook would add four more touchdowns in the second half to really pull away from the Mountain Hawks. Statistically, Lehigh battled pretty hard most of the way - especially on offense, when senior WR Troy Pelletier concluded his Division I football career as gaining the most receiving yards in Patriot League history.  On the day he had 10 catches for 94 yards and a terrific touchdown grab that undoubtedly caught the eyes of some NFL scouts. Junior QB Brad Mayes (33-for-48 passing, 333 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT) and junior RB Dominick Bragalone (75 rushing yards, 40 r...

For whatever reason, you didn't make the trip to Stony Brook, New York.  You've popped your popcorn, iced your Yuenglings, and put the meatballs in the crockpot - and then you panic. How do I watch the game?  What is ESPN3?  Can I watch it on my TV?  Do I need to subscribe to something?  WHAT DO I DO??? Never fear.  LFN's here to help.

At the very least, Stony Brook will be among the best defenses that Lehigh has played against all year, if not the absolute best. Stony Brook is ranked 21st in the FCS in total defensive yards allowed, with 316.9 per game.  This ties them with Colgate (also 21st) but is slightly behind Bucknell (294.6) and Yale (302.8) in that category. But Colgate, Bucknell and even Yale did so with a schedule that isn't nearly as taxing as the week-in, week-out struggle that Stony Brook had as a member of the CAA.  It's one thing to give up a combined six points to Marist and Georgetown, as Bucknell did; it's quite another to hold New Hampshire and Richmond to 24 points, both resulting in wins. Stony Brook is a physical football team - the closest equivalent that Lehigh has faced this season in that department has been Yale.  Over the course of the season, they have run the ball more often than they've thrown it, but when they have thrown the ball, generally after setting up...

I remember the last game Lehigh played on Long Island; I was there.  It also happened to be a FCS Playoff, or back then, I-AA Playoff, game.  It wasn't against Stony Brook, who finished their very first season in I-AA that year with a 5-5 record and a win over St. John's (NY), 28-6. It was against a team that used to be the biggest college football program on Long Island - an East Coast independent, Hofstra, that was led by head coach Joe Gardi .  Like Stony Brook, Hofstra had transitioned to I-AA football, but they had done so much earlier, and even with the challenge of scheduling as an independent, had developed into a playoff team quickly. Hofstra used to have a national presence on the football stage.  Jets fans marveled at the diminutive WR Wayne Chrebet , and fell in love with his story - the local boy who led the Dutchmen in receiving, but only was on the Jets because he hustled his way into a tryout.  Legend has it that the security guard at...

By now, you know that Lehigh has drawn Stony Brook as their first round opponent in the FCS Playoffs. Let's get more familiar with them by starting with the basics. Stony Brook is a member of the CAA, the same FCS football conference that gives use Villanova, Delaware, New Hampshire, and James Madison. They're located near Oyster Bay on Long Island, in Stony Brook, New York, and were established as a part of the SUNY University system in 1957.  Since then, they have grown and expanded in leaps and bounds as a research University, and also collaborate with Lehigh on certain initiatives, most recently with their computer science departments to research machine learning . Their nickname is the Seawolves - which is apparently a real thing - and football-wise they finished 9-2 with their very challenging CAA schedule. They are ranked No. 11 in the country in the FCS coaches' poll and No. 12 in the country in the STATS poll. Oh yeah - they also gave a 9-1 FBS team ...

You didn't ask for them, but here's my pick for this week's FCS Top 25. I'm pretty proud of myself for not falling into the trap of South Dakota State . Many people, after the Jackrabbits' huge win over North Dakota State , vaulted them to the Top 5 of their polls, but I know better.  The craziness of the Missouri Valley I thought would eventually catch up with them, so I had only reluctantly put them at No. 10. Their loss to 3-5 Illinois State , taken in isolation, was a shocker - but perhaps not completely shocking, though, considering the Missouri Valley has not one but two teams that have beaten Power Five Teams and also have five losses . In fact, there are three Missouri Valley teams - Illinois State, South Dakota and Northern Iowa - that can plausibly say, if they get to 6-5, they have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs as an at-large team, thanks to perceived quality wins.

You didn't ask for them, but here's my pick for this week's FCS Top 25. (Photo Credit: Elon Athletics) Let's see, are there any other teams I can curse into losses this week? Last time I was here, I was extolling the virtues of William and Mary and Stony Brook in this space.  This week?  Um, not so much.

You didn't ask for them, but here's my pick for this week's FCS Top 25. Photo Credit: New York Newsday Stony Brook WR Ray Bolden catches a pass a sideline pass and takes it in for a touchdown against Richmond on Sept. 17, 2016. Photo Credit: Daniel De Mato

If you'd like, you can check out my FCS Top 25 vote below. A question FCS voters frequently get is: How to rank FCS over FBS upsets? Bascially, the same questions plaguing rankings on the FBS side ("Is Jacksonville State simply a really, really good FCS team?  Or is Auburn really bad?) cuts the other way in the FCS world. Jacksonville State almost beat Auburn.  But the meaning of that close shave is still undetermined.  Auburn didn't look like much last week after being dominated by LSU.  What if the Tigers finish under .500?  How will Jacksonville State's close shave look then? With Furman's upset over UCF 16-15 , we have another opportunity to play the game of "how good is this team, really?"  Furman's in my Top 25, barely, mostly on the back of their upset win against a team that quite recently was seen as a quality mid-major in the FBS world.  But the Paladins are 1-2, though with one of the toughest schedules in FCS.  So, again:...

It's that time of the week where I share with you your weekly Lehigh fan viewing guide for Week 10 of the college football season.  Why go to website after website when all the information you need is right here? If there was ever a week where you, dear Reader, needed this page, it's this week, since Lehigh has their bye week. Fortunately for all of us (and, of course, I include myself in this), there are a boatload of important games available on live streams to watch this weekend.  Many, many of them are free. It's worth popping open a Yuengling and getting the yard work done early.

It's that time of the week where I share with you your weekly Lehigh fan viewing guide for Week 7 of the college football season.  Why go to website after website when all the information you need is right here? Last week, I was so busy hyping up Lehigh/Fordham that I forget to post my weekly viewing guide. As a result, Lehigh lost. This is reason enough for my viewing guide to make a comeback. If you are not able to attend you can follow the game from the following sources: TV:   NBC Sports Network Dish Network-Channel 159 Direct TV-Channel 220 Online Streaming: NBC Live Extra (free with subscription to NBC Sports Network) Radio:   ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 Internet:   Lehighsports.com/ESPNLV.com

My vote for the FCS Top 25 for the week ending 9/23/2013 follows below the flip. But first, by all means, enjoy this awesome shot of the Gardner-Webb/Wofford game this past week, played in a driving rainstorm. The Runnin' Bulldogs did some of their best wet runnin' this past weekend, a drenched 3-0 win at Gibbs Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with RB Juanne Blount of Gardner-Webb helping them control the clock for 37 minutes.  They did what it takes to win, in crazy weather conditions.

It's that time of the week where I share with you your weekly Lehigh fan viewing guide for Week 4 of the college football season.  Why go to website after website when all the information you need is right here? Last week I was remiss in forgetting to mention Lehigh's broadcast information.  Tonight at 6PM, Lehigh at Princeton will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network, and will also be available for live streaming on NBC Sports Live Extra , if your cable company supports it (you'll probably have to check for yourself). And I'll be listenting to the pregame on ESPN 1230 and 1320 of the Lehigh Valley, too, with Tom Fallon, Matt Kerr and Matt Markus .  That will also be live streamed here .

(Photo courtesy Fred Comegys/The Delaware News Journal) Going into last weekend, the specter of five CAA teams in the playoffs loomed large. But with James Madison's 20-8 upset of Delaware and Maine's 19-9 upset of UMass made it that much more likely that the CAA only puts three at-large teams into the playoffs. If there was any thought that Mickey Matthews' James Madison team was going to roll over the rest of the year, that was dispelled this past weekend on the road against the Blue Hens. Trailing 3-0 at halftime, the Dukes' long-dormant offense finally came alive, with freshman QB Justin Thorpe breaking a ten quarter touchdown-less streak with a 12 yard run. Add to that a smothering defensive performance - forcing Hen junior QB Pat Devlin into a 19-for-42, 2 interception day, and only allowing the Hens a paltry 9 yards rushing. Since beating New Hampshire and remaining in the hunt for a playoff spot, UMass has self-destructed. There's no other way to d...

It's that time of year again. Although Lehigh isn't playing this week, every week during the season I always end the week with "Sunday's Word", one of my favorite parts of doing this blog. This week's word is "Canary". When people think of a "Canary", they think of the color yellow, birds or maybe about mobsters turning state's evidence. But I'm thinking of it in terms of a "Canary" in the coal mine - the miners who brought canaries down with them into the caves to test for oxygen. If the canaries died, it was time to exit fast. It seems to apply in a bunch of areas this weekend. A lot of hopes of FCS teams died this weekend with some really big blowout games with the best teams in FBS. Appalachian State - the team who, let's get real, put FCS on the map for most of the college football world -- played LSU, the first game on Saturday due to the looming evacuation of much of Louisiana later that evening. The Mount...