This Sunday – idiotically slotted against the NFL – the FCS National Championship Game will feature North Dakota State and South Dakota State in what will likely be the least watched ABC National Championship game in our lifetimes.
Author: Chuck Burton
Chuck has been writing about Lehigh football since the dawn of the internet, or perhaps it only seems like it. He's executive editor of the College Sports Journal and has also written a book, The Rivalry: How Two Schools Started the Most Played College Football Series. Reach him at: this email or click below:
Kevin Cahill Looks To Bring Businesslike Mindset To Lehigh Football Program
The leak of the announcement late Sunday, that Yale offensive coordinator Kevin Cahill was going to be the 30th head coach in Lehigh history, was a surprise to many.
OPINION: Deion Sanders Abandoned Jackson State. Let’s Hope He Left Some Sort Of Positive Lasting Change Behind.
Deion’s hopeful legacy at Jackson State is likely to be a lot less lasting and impactful than people thought.
FCS Playoffs ‘Til I Die: Final CSJ Projected Bracket, 11/19/2022
Final Projected 2022 FCS Playoff Bracket
#Rivalry158 Preview, Lehigh at Lafayette
Many have said it’s something you should do at least once in your life. Whether you’re a Lehigh person, a Lafayette person, whether you’re from the Lehigh Valley, whether you consider yourself a college football fan, it’s a pilgrimage, a bucket list item.
OPINION: Great FCS Rivalries Like Montana/Montana State and Lehigh/Lafayette Seem To Thrive And Survive No Matter What Is Happening
For a long, long time – especially this year – I thought that college football might be dying, especially at the FCS level. But this week, especially, I am starting to realize that isn’t the case. The great Rivalries survive, because that’s what they do.
FCS Playoffs ‘Til I Die: CSJ Picks The FCS Playoff Field, 11/15/2022
We’re now officially a week away from Selection Sunday, and Samford, with their win over Chattanooga, is officially in the field. Other than that, it’s a big heaping helping of chaos that means a ton can still happen on the last day of the regular season!
Lehigh Tops Longtime Rival Colgate 36-33 In A Reminder That Rivalries Matter
Lehigh won, but beating Colgate was special in a way that many won’t understand.
Colgate At Lehigh Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 11/12/2022: Does ‘Hate The Gate’ Even Apply Anymore?
When Lehigh (1-8, 1-3 Patriot League) faces off against Colgate (3-6, 2-2 Patriot League) this weekend at Murray Goodman Stadium, there will be stakes.
FCS Playoffs ‘Til I Die: CSJ Picks The FCS Playoff Field, 11/8/2021
Two weekends left to the FCS regular season, we’re even closer to knowing what the 2022 FCS Playoff field will look like. For a big number of teams, there’s a lot to play for – and for some, a lot to see what develops for those precious at-large bids.
Lehigh At Holy Cross Game Preview, 11/05/2022: Mountain Hawks Have One Goal, To Stop The Coronation
WORCESTER, MA – Watching last week’s thrilling Holy Cross/Fordham game as someone who’s watched a lot of Lehigh football in my life, it was hard to not get flashbacks. The thrilling 53-52 win by Holy Cross (8-0, 4-0) over Fordham (6-2, 2-1) was unquestionably the game of the year in the Patriot League, if not […]
FCS Playoffs ‘Til I Die: CSJ Picks The FCS Playoff Field, 11/1/2021
It’s time to really start thinking about what this November’s FCS Playoff field might look like.
Bucknell At Lehigh Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 10/22/2022: Two Teams In Desperate Need To Taste A Win
If you’re a numbers person, it might be best to skip down to the end, because this Saturday, the Bucknell Bison (0-6, 0-2) will be traveling to Bethlehem to take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (1-6, 1-1) in a battle between teams that, to put it mildly, are desperate to get into the win column.
Lehigh At Cornell Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 10/15/2022: One Final Non-League Game To Work Things Out
For the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (1-5, 1-1 Patriot) and the Cornell Big Red (2-2, 0-2 Ivy), the final non-league matchup at Schoellkopf field in Ithaca, NY provides a similar opportunity for both teams.
Second-Half Fordham Surge Sinks Lehigh, 40-28
It took all of three plays at the beginning of the second half for Fordham to retake the lead.
Fordham At Lehigh Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 10/8/2022: This Week Will Reveal All For Both the Mountain Hawks and the Rams
College football is a lot like a burlesque show. As the show rolls forward, more and more gets revealed about what your college football team is.
Monmouth Dominates Lehigh 35-7
After a promising drive stalled ending with a missed 40 yard field goal attempt, Monmouth (3-2, 1-1 CAA) would score the next 35 points en route to a humbling 35-7 win over Lehigh (1-4, 1-0 Patriot), handing the Mountain Hawks their third straight defeat.
Monmouth At Lehigh Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 10/1/2022: What Could Have Been, Had the Patriot League Chose The Hawks?
What might have happened to the Patriot League had the Presidents genuinely gave a fair hearing, and accepted, Monmouth as a member?
Mountain Hawks Left Wondering What Might Have Been After Mistakes Doom Lehigh To A 29-17 Defeat
PRINCETON, NJ – It was a beautiful late autumn day at Princeton stadium, a perfect afternoon for football. And for a half, at least, it was a very good afternoon for Lehigh football as well. The halftime score read Lehigh 10, Princeton 10, and Mountain Hawk fans had every right to be excited. Heavy underdogs […]
Lehigh at Princeton Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 9/24/2022: The Ecstasy, And The Agony, Of Mountain Hawk Trips to Old Nassau
I do not know whether in this game (slated to kick off at 3pm), in this 62nd meeting of the series, Lehigh (1-0, 1-2) will experience a win or a loss against Princeton (1-0, 0-0). What I do know is there is enough of a rivalry between the two schools that I can tell you a little bit about the ecstasy and agony of these matchups.
Udinski And Richmond Spin Lehigh, 30-6
QB Reece Udinski goes 17-for-17 on his first 17 passing attempts, scoring two passing touchdowns before his first incompletion midway through the second quarter.
Richmond at Lehigh Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 9/9/2022: In The Lord Of the Rings Universe, The Mountain Hawks Win This Game
You are probably coming to this preview to get a breakdown on the big game in Murray Goodman Stadium this weekend, where Richmond (0-0, 1-1) will take on Lehigh (1-0, 1-1) in a really tough out-of-conference battle for the home team. Indulge me for a moment, though, while I talk Lord of the Rings.
Lehigh “Just Wins, Baby” – Mountain Hawks Survive Georgetown, 21-19
Despite getting outgained 422-306; despite losing the turnover battle (Lehigh turned it over twice, Georgetown 0 times); despite giving up four first downs with penalties and running 30 fewer offensive plays than the Hoyas, the Mountain Hawks lined up with 1:04 to play with the ability to deny Georgetown’s two point conversion and preserve the win – and they did so, putting them, at least for now, atop the Patriot League standings.
Lehigh at Georgetown Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 9/9/2022: Mountain Hawks Approach Critical Conference Game With Confidence
Despite the fact it’s only the second game of the season, it’s hard to overstate the importance of this game to establish either Lehigh (0-0, 0-1) or Georgetown (0-0, 1-0) as Patriot League contenders in 2022.
No. 5 Villanova Dominates Lehigh At Home, 45-17
In front of 6,101 enthusiastic fans, many of them students, the No. 5 ranked Villanova Wildcats did what was expected of them, running out to a big lead en route to a 45-17 victory.
Lehigh at Villanova Game Preview And Fearless Prediction, 9/2/2022: Don’t Call It A Rivalry, But Call It A Challenge
When I look at Lehigh’s 2022 season opener this weekend at Villanova, I see the ingredients of a possible rivalry, but the truth is, the game between the Mountain Hawks and Wildcats is not a rivalry.
Lehigh Football Preview: With Plenty To Prove, Mountain Hawks Look To Build On Last Year’s Wins
There is also something that feels different about this group than those of the last few years – a feeling that maybe, just maybe, the program is on the verge of turning a corner.
Lehigh Football on Patriot League Media Day: Looking to Player Leaders to Lead The Way In 2022
On Patriot League Media Day, one theme kept recurring when head coach Tom Gilmore, QB Dante Perri, and DL Dean Colton were talking about the upcoming season: leadership.
OPINION: With USC and UCLA Cali Cash Grab, Power Five, Inc. Makes College Football Unrecognizable
I still love college football. But I can’t abide what is happening in Power Five land. I don’t think I can watch it or enjoy it. And it no longer resembles the thing that made it so great for so long.
The NIL Mess Part Two: How Feckless Legislators Created A Lawless Landscape
I often wonder if anybody actually read the legislation that set off the Name, Image, and Likeness fiasco through college sports.
The NIL Mess Part One: How Brett Kavanaugh Set The Wheels In Motion With One Concurring Opinion
How did we get here? How did we get to this place where, under the fig leaf of Name, Image, and Likeness rights, sports boosters have organized to effectively pay some star players seven-figure salaries?
Remembering Andy Coen
He was a great man, taken from us too soon from a horrible disease. I know, because I had the honor of talking to him about his passion, Lehigh football, for his entire hall-of-fame coaching career.
Lehigh Signs A Grand Total of 17 Through 2021 Signing Day Periods
“We landed some very good talent and some are capable of helping early,” Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore told me by email.
OPINION: Are We On the Brink of the Era of the FCS Superconference?
The CAA’s move to become a 13 team superconference begs a different question for the FCS – what if that’s the only way forward for any number of smaller FCS conferences? Are we on the brink of a new era, where five, six, and seven member conferences are a thing of the past?
OPINION: Like Everything Else The NCAA’s Done In the Past Decade, They Punt On Their New Constitution
This Thursday, in unveiling their new constitution, the NCAA did the only thing it knows how to do – punt.
Montana State’s Extraordinary Year Ends Up Putting The Bobcats In Frisco. How Did They Do It?
After hiring head coach Brent Vigen in January – and opting out the the spring season – they find themselves with a 12-2 record and this time facing North Dakota State in Frisco to possibly win their first National Championship in in 37 years. How did they do it?
FCS Playoff Round Two – Game Preview – Holy Cross Crusaders at #5 Villanova Wildcats
Villanova has never lost to a Patriot League school in the postseason; one of their victories came against Holy Cross in their national championship season in 2009 by a 38-28 score.
Sluka’s John Elway Impression Lifts Holy Cross To Last-Second 13-10 Win Over Sacred Heart
The 35 yard spiral from Sluka to Coker was on the money – and Coker came up with it and fell in the end zone, and with it, gave Holy Cross their first-ever FCS Playoff win in five tries.
FCS Playoffs ‘Til I Die: Chuck’s Fearless Picks For the 2021 FCS Playoff Bracket
I ate my Thanksgiving turkey, I looked at all the stats, and I figured out who I think the 2021 FCS National Champions will be.
2021 Division I FCS Playoff First Round Preview: Sacred Heart at Holy Cross
Holy Cross and Sacred Heart are both riding six-game win streaks into the first round of the FCS Playoffs.
FCS Playoffs ‘Til I Die: Chuck’s Final Bracket Projection
One last spin in the dryer.
The 157th Meeting of “The Rivalry” (Lafayette at Lehigh) – Game Preview, Drink Of the Week, And Fearless Prediction
This Saturday, college football’s most-played Rivalry will contest its 157th meeting between the Lafayette Leopards (3-7) and Lehigh Mountain Hawks (2-8), and the hope is that it will be, well, normal.
The 157th Meeting of “The Rivalry” Means To Resume Bowl, And Party, Atmosphere
In terms of the Lehigh/Lafayette Rivalry, however, which resumes this weekend in the 157th meeting between these two schools, for Leopard and Mountain Hawk fans, I think, college football seemed to end on that day on November 23rd, 2019, and never really quite seemed to get back to the college football that fans once knew before they learned what COVID was and how it was to impact their lives.
Lehigh Catches Momentum In 23-9 Win over Georgetown Before Big Rivalry Game
It was a game that wasn’t handed to them, either by Georgetown or Mother Nature, and they fought through and won.
Lehigh Football vs. Georgetown: Drink of the Week, Scouting Report, Fearless Prediction
It is the type of game only real fans understand.
Lehigh Ends Long Losing Streak, Beats Pennsylvania Rival Bucknell 38-6
In the 85th meeting between Bucknell and Lehigh on the football field, the Mountain Hawks rode a friendly home-like atmosphere on the road at Christy Matthewson Stadium to end a long consecutive game losing streak by a score of 38-6.
Fiery, Emotional Battle Between Holy Cross And Lehigh Ends With Crusaders On Top, 31-12
For three quarters, it didn’t really feel like a battle between a winless team (Lehigh, 0-8, 0-3) and a team still with an eye on a conference championship and an FCS Playoff appearance (Holy Cross, 6-2, 3-0).
Lehigh Football vs. Holy Cross: Drink of the Week, Scouting Report, Fearless Prediction
“Who are these guys?”
Lehigh Football at Fordham: Drink of the Week, Scouting Report, Fearless Prediction
Will Lehigh be able to keep this game competitive? It’s not a question that has been too very often asked about the Mountain Hawks (0-6, 0-1) over the years.
Penn Running Game Eventually Punches Lehigh Into Submission In 20-0 Victory
The Penn Quakers leveled their season record at 2-2 after outlasting Lehigh 20-0 at Franklin Field this Saturday.
