Lehigh Football Nation

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)

As a head football coach, you always have to be looking for potential "traps" in the schedule for your team. Traps are generally, for example, games on the road. They can be games sandwiched in between "big-emotion" games - like, say, last weekend's 48-41 overtime defeat against nationally-ranked new Hampshire and next weekend's home game against nationally-ranked Liberty. They can also be games that are the home opener for the team involved, where the home team is playing to get the season under way to "defend their house". By any of these three criteria, the game at 6:00PM at Princeton Stadium this weekend would be considered: trap, trap, and trap.  And if there's such a thing as a five-alarm trap game, this game is it for the Mountain Hawks.  (more)

No matter how you look at it, it was a rough year for the Princeton Tigers in 2010. In head coach Bob Surace 's first season at the helm of the Tigers, the senior-laden team collapsed to a 1-9 record, and got swept in Ivy League play for the first time since 1973. It wasn't all his fault - his NFL-caliber linebacker got injured in the 35-22 defeat to Lehigh , and a slew of different injuries afflicted Princeton during the course of the year - but by any measure, it was an incredibly rough rookie campaign for the former assistant coach on the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals. The Tigers, though, will be more dangerous in 2011 than last season's record might suggest.  That's because that NFL-caliber linebacker, senior LB Stephen Cody , took a medical redshirt year and will get one more crack at beating Lehigh. All of a sudden, this game doesn't look like such a cakewalk. (more)

(Photo Credit: Princeton Athletics) Who are these Mystery Men , anyway? You used to pretty much know exactly what you were getting from the Princeton Tigers when Roger Hughes was the head guy.  You had a multiple 3-4 defense.  An athletic QB that would, for the most part, dink and dunk and use a balanced attack to grind out the clock and advance the football. Now, with Hughes terminated after the 2009 season, new head coach Bob Surace brings in a whole lot of "new" and "mystery" to the Tigers.  Don't expect Blue Raja, Shoveler, or Invisible Boy to be suiting up for the Tigers - but expect a whole lot of difference from the team that beat Lehigh 17-14 at Murray Goodman last year.   (more)