Lehigh Football Nation

Still Mad About Losing Hofstra Football

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:51:00 +0000

(With sincere apologies to anyone involved with the movie Network, and the estate of one of my favorite writers, Paddy Chayefsky.) "I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter... [and now Hofstra's president, in the blink of an eye, drops its football team.] Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about [the demise of Hofstra football]. All I know is that first... you've got to get mad!" - Howard...

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Northeast Football: Endangered Species

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:02:00 +0000

Two weeks ago, the Colonial Athletic Association had twelve teams, had four of the top teams in FCS, and had the biggest conference in FCS. With Old Dominion coming in 2011 and Georgia State in 2012, the future couldn't have looked any rosier. Now, CAA football looks like it will be two teams shorter for next year - and the long-term future of CAA football is very, very much in doubt - and makes one wonder, who's the next domino to fall? ***** Right after the 2009 season - suddenly, and without much warning, Northeastern was the first team to bite the dust. The official release offers some clues (or excuses, if you prefer) as to why they could not sustain football: “Our goal for athletics is to achieve sustainable excellence in all areas,” said Athletic Director Peter Roby, who made...

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Sunday's Word: Worry

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:03:00 +0000

It's the last "Word" of the year, right after the last football game of the year involving a Patriot League team. (Again.) Without a doubt, it's "Worry". The first dimension of this Sunday's "Word" involves the game this weekend. I was definitely rooting for Holy Cross to win this weekend, but going into to the game I didn't have very high hopes for a Crusader victory. Villanova gives teams plenty to "worry" about: a multi-faceted offense, a swarming defense and just great talent at so many positions. After seeing them dismantle Lehigh early in the year, I told anyone that would listen that Villanova had a heck of a lot of answers to a lot of questions. To me, as good as Holy Cross was during the regular season, the Wildcats were going to pose a multitude of matchup problems for...

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Holy Cross 28, Villanova 38. Final

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 04:53:00 +0000

Some years, it's not easy for Patriot League fans to rally behind the league champion as they take on the best teams in the nation in the FCS playoffs. This year was different. With senior QB Dominic Randolph finally breaking the Crusaders' championship drought (1991) and postseason drought (1983), the boys in Purple were a very easy team to root for on Saturday. It took Randolph four years - including a return for a fifth year for his final year of eligibility - to finally get Holy Cross over the hump. After three excruciating November swoons, it was awesome to see Randolph finally get a shot at a national championship. Randolph and the rest of the Crusaders battled hard against a team that is a threat to win the Division I National championship. They gave them a scare, but...

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Happy Thanksgiving - and Holy Cross/Villanova

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:14:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I know mine was great! I wanted to mention that I'll be twittering about the Holy Cross/Villanova game this weekend, as well as writing a full wrapup of the game on my blog. For my College Sporting News preview of the game, click here. Finally, I couldn't be happier for senior QB Dominic Randolph, head coach Tom Gilmore and the long-suffering Holy Cross football fans. I'll be pulling for you.

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Why Dom Randolph Tops My Walter Payton Ballot

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:21:00 +0000

Every year, I get to vote on the major FCS awards of the year, including the Walter Payton award (for the best offensive player in FCS), the Buck Buchanan award (defense), and Eddie Robinson award (head coach). I've been voting on these awards for years, but never have I had a Patriot League player on top of the list. The one I submitted this year did, though. I've seen a lot of quarterbacks this year, and Holy Cross senior QB Dom Randolph is, in my opinion, the most deserving. ***** There are players with gaudier stats (like Stephen F. Austin junior QB Jeremy Moses, with 36 TDs), already-legendary players (Appalachian State senior QB Armanti Edwards) and high-profile FBS transfers (Jacksonville State senior QB Ryan Perriloux). But no team in FCS meant more to his team than...

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All Patriot League Teams Released: Matt Cohen Defensive POY

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:06:00 +0000

Following the most low-key nine-sack, thirteen and a half tackle for loss season in history, senior LB Matt Cohen saw four years of hard work as a Mountain Hawk pay off as he was selected as Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year today. Cohen, a local product from Allentown, was a model of consistency on Lehigh's defense. While he only won Patriot League Defensive Player of the week once (with 6 tackles, and 4 tackles for loss including 3 sacks), in every game he was a disrupting factor, with six games where he had at least one tackle for loss. His 9 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss led the Patriot League, and his 63 tackles were among the Lehigh leaders on a defense that doesn't favor one tackler. It's great to see the quiet supply management chain major get recognized for his...

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Monday's Word: Awesome

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:18:00 +0000

As soon as he came in the press conference, he told the media folks there that it was "fitting that we win a football game in this way." It was a quote that was used in many of the local press reports of the game as well. What the rest of the media did not pick up was the pause, and the word "Awesome" right after it. Do I know if coach Coen set out to make "awesome" the word of the week - and the game? I don't know for sure, but I do know that as soon as coach Coen mentioned the word, he mentioned it again a bunch of times in the post-game press conference (and, for good measure, on Lehigh Sports Magazine tonight), I knew it simply had to be the "Word". When many folks think of the word "awesome" they think of the 1980s. Big hair, Whitney Houston records, the (ack) Breakfast Club,...

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My Nine Favorite Photos of the 145th

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:19:00 +0000

I can't take credit for all of these photos, but I can take credit for a few of them - notably the first five in this series. One comes courtesy of Joe Gill and the Easton Express-Times, and the last three come courtesy of Lehigh Athletics' photo gallery of the game. More will be showing up on my Facebook page as well. And there will be plenty more opining to come this week - a special "Monday's Word", more opining on where Lehigh goes from here, the playoffs, Holy Cross, and some seismic events that deserve some talk. But today it's still about this amazing Lehigh wins, and the seniors like senior LB Matt Cohen and senior DT B.J. Benning that made it happen. (Gotta love that final picture, carried off the field!) Enjoy!

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Lehigh 27, Lafayette 21, OT

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:56:00 +0000

Murray Goodman has been the source of some of the most thrilling chapters of "The Rivalry", and today's heart-stopping overtime win was no exception to that rule. I have been going to see "The Rivalry" every year since 1988, missing the big game against Lafayette only once. Of all the games I've seen, the one I saw this weekend at could have been the craziest one of them all. There have been close finishes before. Lafayette QB Rob Curley two years ago found WR Kyle Roeder on a slant pattern in the end zone in 2007 to deal Lehigh a 21-17 defeat. In 2005, Leopard QB Pat Davis' heave was found by RB Jonathan Hurt for a dramatic touchdown pass to ruin Lehigh's shot at a playoff autobid in a 23-19 defeat - and in the process put Lafayette in the playoff field as an at-large bid. In...

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The Video Rivalry: Watching The 145th

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:51:00 +0000

If you can't be at the game (or you're only going to the tailgate), there are lots of places around the country to watch the game at telecast parties. Nationally and internationally, "The Rivalry" is broadcast everywhere for Lehigh alums to get together, share a cold one and also sing the old Lehigh alma mater with friends. There's also, of course, your TV (FCS Central, and Channel 69) and computer as well though Yahoo! Broadcast if you want to host your own viewing party. (If you're technically savvy - and I've done this before - you can route your laptop through your TV and watch the Yahoo! Broadcastt on your regular TV.) And that's only half the story, too. One of the more underreported parts of "The Rivalry" involve the media surrounding both schools. It could be the only game...

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Preview of the 145th: Lafayette at Lehigh, "The Rivalry"

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:51:00 +0000

(Photo Credit: Joe Gill/The Easton Express-Times) How can a game be at once so similar and so different from last year? For sure the similarities include the run-up to this game for both teams. Lehigh suffered through a disappointing regular season, and will finish at under .500, just like last year. They did poorly in out-of-conference play, beat up on the lower echelon of the Patriot League, and played the best teams in the Patriot League close but couldn't get over the hump to win the games that would put them in title contention. All that Lehigh can do to make the season a success is beat the boys from Easton - an almost mirror image of what happened last year. "That school in Easton", in contrast, started out the year gangbusters. For the first time in recent memory, the...

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"The Hate"

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:59:00 +0000

(Photo Credit: Brown & White) The picture to the left certainly isn't politically correct. It's raw. It's irreverent. And it sums up the feelings between these two schools perfectly. Why is it that we hate what we most resemble? It's not unique to Lehigh and "that school from Easton": Harvard and Yale are both schools with global academic brands that are more similar than different. Army and Navy detest each other, but both share in that armed forces life and face the same challenges as institutions. Demographically, Lehigh and "that school from Easton" are very similar: most of their students come from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They are schools that are known for their hard-studying, hard-partying attitudes - and have had rocky relationships with the towns that host them...

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"The Rivalry"

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:24:00 +0000

(Photo Credit: Jane Therese, 2004, New York Times) "The Rivalry" is more than just a Lehigh Valley game that is sold out. For those of you that are going to be attending one of the telecast parties from all around the country, those of you who are going to be catching "The Rivalry" on Channel 69 or on LehighSports.Com, those of you who will be seeing it for the first time in person, or those of you who are grizzled veterans approaching the coveted "50 Game Club", before trying to tackle the emotional side of things it's (still) helpful to get your mind around the numbers of times Lehigh and "that school from Easton" have played each other over the years. The raw numbers about "The Rivalry" are only a Wikipedia click away, but even those written words and article don't totally capture...

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Housekeeping before the 145th

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:56:00 +0000

With a staff report from the Express-Times and a re-mixed report from the official school recaps on the Morning Call, my blog recap of the game was once again the only independent recap this week. The Brown & White did not file any story either and as far as I know, and no New York media outlet had a recap of the game either. Granted, it was a rainy matchup between two sub-.500 teams, but it still strikes me when I'm really the only person out there doing an independent recap from a Lehigh perspective. Happily, Keith Groller of the Morning Call still weighed in on Monday. Lehighsports.com: Campbell's career day, Lehigh D leads to road win “It wasn’t the prettiest game I’ve ever been a part of, that’s for sure, but it feels a lot better than the last two weeks,” Lehigh head coach...

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Sunday's Word: Evil

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:20:00 +0000

Lafayette isn't really "evil". Or maybe they are. Maybe this week, anyway. I think any fan of a team with a true historic rival can understand this mentality this week. How the rival becomes Darth Vader. General Moff Tarkin. Emperor Palpatine. "Evil". Lehigh, of course, casts themselves as the plucky rebels in this scenario, willing to take on the "big bad Empire". I've found that every team tries to do this, no matter how ridiculous it is in reality. (See: "New York Yankees, 2009 World Series", playing the "Empire Theme" when Philadelphia was introduced. If the Yankees - with a budget bigger than the two cheapest MLB teams put together - are the "plucky rebels" in any plausible scenario en route to their 27th world title, I'll gladly eat a shoe.) "The Rivalry" has definitely...

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Lehigh 35, Fordham 28, Final

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:49:00 +0000

Pretty? Absolutely not. But Lehigh will gleefully take this 35-28 victory at Rose Hill, a game which featured a combined seven turnovers, three missed field goals, and seventeen penalties for 143 yards by both teams. Starting out, it seemed like Lehigh was trying to give the game away as junior DB/RS John "Prez" Kennedy fumbled a punt return that was recovered by the Rams in the end zone to erase a beautiful 11-play, 66 yard drive ending with an 8 yard pass from junior QB J.B. Clark to sophomore WR Jake Drwal. It would be the first of four Lehigh turnovers that led directly to touchdowns the other way. Taken in that way, you could say that had Lehigh took care of the ball a bit better, this would have been a laugher. After a Lehigh fumble ended with a 19 yard strike to Ram sophomore...

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Game Preview: Lehigh at Fordham

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:41:00 +0000

(Photo courtesy Five Boro Sports) Winning against sub-.500 teams. A blowout loss to a CAA opponent. Coming up oh-so-close to Holy Cross and Colgate, but falling just short. A description of Lehigh's football season? It could just as easily been a description of Fordham's as well. Before the season started, Fordham looked like a team that could put things together and make a run at the Patriot League title. They had a QB that was getting NFL looks. Their defensive captain was only two years removed from his pick of Holy Cross senior QB Dominic Randolph to preserve their (near) worst-to-first Patriot League championship in 2007. Like Lehigh, they had horses. They just needed to have them all working together. The Rams started out the year in disarray, with a 41-28 loss to Rhode...

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Players of the Week, Holy Cross vs. Lehigh

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:09:00 +0000

The Players of the Week were pretty easy choices this time around. Offensive Hawk of the Week: Junior RB Jay Campbell (131 yards rushing on 21 carries, 18 yard TD pass) Defensive Hawks of the Week: (tie) Senior LB Troy Taylor (9 tackles, 1 1/2 tackles for loss including 1 sack, 1 key forced fumble) and junior FS John Venerio (7 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup) Special Teams Hawk of the Week: Freshman PK Jake Peery (2/2 XP, 2/3 FGs, 23 yards, 38 yards, missed a long 45 yarder) I've been remiss in reprinting the exclusive pieces that Lehighsports.Com has put out about members of the senior class. Here are two of them: Senior LB Heath Brickner: Relentless the Books and Opposing BacksSenior OL Frank Giacalone: Up for Any Challenge Also, former Lehigh WR Sekou Yansane was named a...

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Press Roundup: Holy Cross 24, Lehigh 20

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:48:00 +0000

(Photo courtesy Denise Sanchez, the Morning Call) Here are the press links for this weekend's heroic effort versus Holy Cross, but before I get to that I just wanted to reiterate how great it was to see Murray Goodman come to life this weekend. Have I become a sudden fan of moral victories? No; but I still feel like this effort was a step in the right direction. There were lessons in this game for the underclassmen, and I'm hoping those lessons will pay dividends next year. Morning Call: Late TD Allows Holy Cross to Escape Lehigh As he tried to come to grips with another agonizingly close loss for his Lehigh football team, coach Andy Coen scanned the stat sheet late Saturday afternoon in a tiny media room at Goodman Stadium and noted the similarities of the final numbers. Both...

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Sunday's Word: Horus

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:36:00 +0000

Yes, I've resorted to Egyptian gods for my "Sunday Word" now. It's a byproduct of following a 2-7 team, I think - the more tough losses I endure, the more creative I have to be. In ancient Egyptian mythology, "Horus" is the son of gods Isis and Osis. He's the Egyptian god of the sky, the sun god, the god of life and the god of war. (Those Egyptian gods seemed pretty malleable, depending on how you felt that week, it seems.) Furthermore, while most translations depict "Horus" having a head of a falcon, the alternative spelling of his name, Nehkeny, means literally "one from Nehken", known as the "city of the Hawk". So for the sake of my belief (and this "Word"), "Horus" is an Egyptian god, with the head of a hawk. (And contrary to popular belief, I do not have a life-sized statue of...

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Lehigh 20, Holy Cross 24, Final

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:47:00 +0000

I was there to see what was almost the biggest Lehigh upset in two decades. The No. 13 team in the country. The Mountain Hawks written off by pretty much everyone, including me. And Lehigh didn't just put forth a great effort, they very nearly shocked the world, pressuring Holy Cross senior QB Dominic Randolph intensely and making the superhuman Crusader QB look a lot more like a regular human being. You got the feeling this one would be different from the opening drive. Lehigh got the ball first and junior QB J.B. Clark led the offense right down the field, punctuated by big runs by junior RB Jay Campbell and a 14 yard TD pass to junior TE Alex Wojdowski. When the Lehigh defense would stop Holy Cross' initial drive at the 7 yard line, forcing the Crusaders to settle for a short...

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Game Preview: Holy Cross at Lehigh

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:52:00 +0000

It's three weeks until the end of the regular season. At 2-6, the Mountain Hawks don't really deserve to have any hope - however infinitesimal - for competing for the Patriot League title. If your record says what you are, Lehigh is an under-.500 team. The record says that Mountain Hawks are a team that beat Georgetown and Bucknell and nobody else. They are a team that didn't score a single point in their last appearance at home three weeks ago. They are a team that played better last week, but still lost a tough game to Colgate 27-20. 2-6. The record tells you what you are, and it's not pretty. This isn't the world of Shallow Hal, where we can be hypnotized like Jack Black into thinking that 2-6 is actually 6-2. And yet, the tiniest hope still exists that Colgate loses this...

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Players of the Week, Lehigh vs. Colgate

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:23:00 +0000

Last week's valiant effort versus the Raiders results in these players getting nominations for LFN's "Players of the Week": Offensive Hawk: Junior QB J.B. Clark (54 yards rushing, 151 yards passing, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 0 turnovers) Defensive Hawk: Senior LB Troy Taylor (8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss) Special Teams Hawk: Freshman PK Jake Peery, who went 2-2 on field goals (25, 35 yards) and extra points - no mean feat in 20-30 mph winds. Something to think about, with Holy Cross coming to town: the 1969 Lehigh football season. Forty years ago, the Engineers started at 2-5-1 (including losses to The Citadel, Delaware, Wittenburg and Gattysburg). But Lehigh would win their last two games versus Bucknell and Lafayette to become "Middle Three" Champions and would get votes for the Lambert Cup. ...

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FCS East Wrapup: Minute Hens Fall, Clarify CAA Playoff Bids

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck B '92) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:30:00 +0000

(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...

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