Lehigh Football Nation

(Photo Credit: WFUV) Everyone knew that Fordham would be a different team from the Rams that went 1-10 in 2011. The only question was: how different? They changed the helmets - a sort-of cross between the crimson, white-lined black letter of Harvard and the numbered helmet of a Holy Cross or Alabama . They changed the uniforms - presumably to make it resemble those of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals , who, in the early going, a a surprising 3-0 with wins against the Patriots and Eagles.  (That might be no accident: former Ram QB John Skelton is on the roster and started opening day, while his brother, TE Steve Skelton , who also went to Fordham, is on their practice squad.) They even changed the head coach - Joe Moorhead took over for Tom Masella to usher in the next phase of Fordham's transition from need-limited aid to academic index-based scholarships. So far, the Rams are different enough from last year, tripling their win total from last year (1) over their ...

While it was a bit disappointing to hear from the Lynchburg News-Advance's Chris Lang that their paper didn't bring a photographer to the Liberty game that evening - the more to take of the eminently less exciting Bowling Green/Virginia Tech blowout, even though former Lehigh assistant coach Dave Clawson was there, coaching the Falcons - it did allow me to make my own pictures of the action.  My two Facebook albums of the tailgating and action, #1 , and #2 , are linked. Below the flip, find my choices for Players of the Week, and a list of the other recaps of the game from around the internet.

My vote for the FCS Top 25 for the week ending 9/22/2012 follows below the flip.

A few years ago, I got to go to my first "rodeo". In our family trip to Yellowstone park, my wife, son, and I took a long side trip to Cody, Wyoming to experience something that everyone ought to experience at least once in their lifetimes. I remember it well - the clowns, team roping, bull riding, the works.  The crowd was encouraged to participate, and you couldn't help yourself after a while: you had to, somehow, show your appreciation for the displays of ability that were going on. I thought back on that "rodeo" a lot when I flew down to Lynchburg, Virginia to take in the Lehigh football game.  It was a lot more packed than the "rodeo" I went to in Cody - there's a lot more money in Liberty University than there is in "rodeos" - but, like the show I saw in Wyoming, it wasn't just a football game, it was a spectacle.

Down 20-14, and facing a critical 3rd-and-1 on the Liberty 38, Lehigh needed a big play. And in a big spot, senior QB Michael Colvin delivered. Fading back to pass, Colvin instead accelerated past the hole that senior C Tom Ruley and senior OL Vinny Pelligrini opened up, and saw nothing but green turf and white-shirted blockers in front of him. It didn't seem like a big thing at the time during the pregame when it was announced that Pellegrini and sophomore OL Matt Douglas would be switched on the depth chart as first-team right and left guards.  But in a game that seemed like it was going to turn on one or two big plays, it was one of the big plays for Lehigh, who took the game by the horns in that huge 68 yard TD run, riding the wave to a huge 28-26 win over Liberty in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Last week, before the Lehigh/Princeton game, I stopped in to check on a friend, who just happened to be at the Rust Pavillion. FB Brett Snyder , a hero of mine, was there to raise some funds for his ongoing effort to beating ALS, a disease he was diagnosed with nine years ago. Never one to shy away from challenges on the football field, after being given only 18 months to live eight years ago, Brett never gave up, and today he's still fighting.  I was thrilled to be just a very small part of the celebration and fundraiser this past Saturday.

(Photo Credit: Lauren Carroll/ The Missoulian ) We break down the Liberty game - and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip. Two weeks ago, Lehigh faced a team that was trying to find out whom their starting quarterback was: Central Connecticut State QB Andrew Clements or QB Nick San Giacomo . Last week, the Mountain Hawks faced another team trying to find out whom their starting QB was: Princeton, QB Brett Epperly or QB Connor Michaelsen . For the third straight week, Lehigh will not know whom they will be facing at QB.  Head coach Turner Gill , as is his policy, will start the guy who does the best in practice, as per Chris Lang of the Lynchburg News-Advance .