No matter when the game is played, when Lafayette and Lehigh get together on the gridiron, it almost always seems to be close and come down to a few plays.
Category: Team Coverage
In-depth coverage of specific college teams
History To Be Made By Lafayette and Lehigh’s Football Teams In 156th Meeting Between Rivals
This April, the same weekend as The Masters, Lehigh and Lafayette will be playing the first-ever Rivalry football game in the spring, a most atypical 156th meeting in the most-played college football game that’s simply called “The Rivalry”.
In 6-0 Spring Loss to Bucknell, Some Surprising Optimism As Focus Shifts to Lafayette
When you look at it in terms of the development of this team – and how this leads into next fall – there’s a lot more positives to draw than a normal fall season when the team is 0-2.
QUICK RECAP: Bucknell Wins The Patriot League South With a 6-0 Slugfest Victory over Lehigh
Two Ethan Torres FGs, one 26 yards, and one 24 yards, were enough to put the Bucknell Bison atop the Patriot League South Division, shutting out Lehigh at Murray Goodman Stadium 6-0.
New-Look Lehigh Shows Inexperience In 20-3 Defeat to Holy Cross
In a way, the opening drive which ended with zero Lehigh points summed up the entire afternoon.
QUICK RECAP: Defensive Slugfest Sees Holy Cross Over Lehigh 20-3
BETHLEHEM, PA – The Holy Cross Crusaders beat the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 20-3 at Murray Goodman Stadium in the first college football game contested by both schools in over 450 days.
GAME PREVIEW: Holy Cross at Lehigh, 3/13/2021
It is uncharted waters for both teams, with plenty of questions to answer playing an unprecedented Patriot League spring football season. But many of the principal contributors in that 24-17 game more than a year ago in Bethlehem will be suiting up tomorrow.
For Lehigh, The Sacrifices Are All Worth It For the Chance to Play Spring Football
For this Lehigh team, who has gone through this unique journey back to playing games that count, it feels like this weekend is almost as much a celebration of what football means to them as much as it is a Patriot League conference game against Holy Cross at Murray Goodman Stadium at noon this Saturday.
2021 CSJ Patriot League Spring Football Preview
It’s been a very, very long wait, but this weekend, finally, we have a weekend of Patriot League football to look forward to.
LEHIGH FOOTBALL: Excitement Is In The Air for an Historic Spring Football Season
“I’ve been very impressed with the enthusiasm and attitude across the board,” Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore told me. “Getting the opportunity to be on the field and to be working towards competitive opportunities has really motivated everyone. It just feels different out there this semester. There’s an excitement in the air whenever we’re on the field.”
Lehigh Football Welcomes 11 New Recruits In An Early Signing Period Like No Other
The signing day celebrations sometimes came with masks, but that didn’t make them any less important or meaningful to a group of athletes that have had a senior year like no other.
OPINION: Lafayette And Lehigh’s Rivalry Put On Hold, As Athletes And Fans Wait in Agonizing Limbo
At the campuses at Lehigh and Lafayette, and the communities that surround them, there is a void in the third week in November, that most are trying to fill with virtual Rivalry activities and hope for a spring football season, making it not a cancelling of The Rivalry, but merely a delay to contest the game when it’s safer to have a more normal gameday experience.
Lehigh Pausing Practices And Training For Athletics Due To Concerns About Positive COVID Tests
On Tuesday, Lehigh University temporarily suspended training and practices for all sports programs after several Lehigh students tested positive for the coronavirus.
COULSON: Power Rushing Closes Out Appalachian State’s 35-20 Win Over Charlotte
As Clark manned the sidelines at Kidd Brewer Stadium Saturday for the first time as the Mountaineers’ head coach, he drew from his football DNA to direct App State to its 35-20 victory over Charlotte in the 2020 season opener for both teams.
Lehigh Football: In Fall Like No Other, Head Coach Tom Gilmore And Staff Use Time To “Fuel The Desire To Play”
For months, fans, players, and Lehigh football head coach Tom Gilmore knew that this game wasn’t going to happen on this day. But Gilmore is trying to make the best of a difficult situation.
Five Burning Questions I Have About A Spring Football Season For the Patriot League
I have five burning questions on the issue that might help to give clarity on what a spring season for the Patriot League might look like.
OPINION: Patriot League Fall Sports Cancellation The Right Thing to Do, But A Terrible (Rivalry) Loss For the Community
Hope is not a strategy, and the truth is any form of national strategy has failed in an effort to have college football this fall. In a community like the Lehigh Valley, it’s a crushing loss to the coronavirus.
ANALYSIS: As Ivy League Contemplates Moving to Spring, NCAA Needs to Clarify Whether An FCS Championship Will Happen
The Patriot League’s dilemmas, whether the rest of FCS admits it or not, is the FCS’ dilemmas. And as we inch closer to an alleged 2020 college football season, the NCAA needs to make some things very clear before a huge mess happens.
Patriot League Council of Presidents Announces Guidance On Fall Competition, Including Travel, Preseason Camp Restrictions
The Patriot League Office announced on Monday guidance regarding the 2020 fall competition, a list of principles to “guide the development of a Patriot League 2020 Athletics Plan.”
Lehigh Football: Technology Allows Team Navigate Unique Stay-At-Home Spring Season
Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore will be the first person to tell you that he’d prefer to have a regular spring assessment season for his football team.
Lehigh Football: Tom Gilmore: “These decisions are unprecedented in response to unprecedented circumstances.”
It was an historic week that nobody could have foreseen.
CSJ’s Ranking of the Patriot League’s 2020 Football Recruiting Classes: The Patsy Ratings
I’m proud to unveil this year’s edition of the Patsy Ratings.
NDSU Out-Executed JMU to Win National Championship
As a JMU fan and alum, it was tough to sit inside a cold Toyota Stadium this past Saturday and watch my team lose. What was even tougher was knowing that JMU lost because North Dakota State simply executed better.
FCS National Championship Game – The Road to Frisco, James Madison Dukes
When looking at James Madison’s road to Frisco and the FCS National Championship game this weekend, you have to look farther back than just the beginning of this season.
CSJ Patriot League Women’s Hoops Preview Week Ending 1/12/2020: Crusaders Perfect 3-0 Week Has Holy Cross Atop Standings
Patriot League Women’s Basketball conference play continues this week with five games on Wednesday, January 8, four on Saturday, Jan. 11 and one on Sunday, January 12. This week features 10 women’s basketball games around the Patriot League with all 10 on the Patriot League Network (PLN).
2019 FCS National Championship Game Position Breakdown – James Madison
We are just over a week out from the FCS National Championship game in Frisco, TX. By all accounts, this should be a tightly contested, close matchup featuring the two best teams in the country. Let’s take a position by position look at the number two team in the country, the James Madison Dukes.
CSJ 2019 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Preview: Appalachian State vs. UAB, How To Watch and Fearless Predictions
Appalachian State vs. UAB (New Orleans Bowl) When: Saturday, December 21st, 9:00 PM EST Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana TV/Streaming: ESPN, WatchESPN (subscription req’d) New Orleans Bowl History (Last 6) Dec. 15th, 2018: Appalachian State 45, Middle Tennessee State 13 Dec. 16th, 2017: Troy 50, North Texas 30 Dec. 17th, 2016: Southern Miss 28, Louisiana-Lafayette […]
COULSON: Former Lineman Shawn Clark Returns To Appalachian State As Head Coach
Clark’s incredible journey came full-circle on Friday afternoon when he was introduced as the 22nd head football coach at Appalachian State.
2019 FCS Playoffs Semi-Finals Matchup: Weber State at James Madison (The James Madison Edition)
The Dukes were not happy with their offensive production. Between penalties, turnovers and missed field goals, Coach Curt Cignetti felt the team left a lot of points on the board. A normally efficient red zone offense struggle to add to the early lead. It didn’t cost them this week, but the coaches know they need to tighten that up the rest of the way.
FCS Quarterfinal Round Playoffs: James Madison Defense Leads the Way in 17-0 Shutout of Northern Iowa
James Madison used a suffocating defense and just enough offense to defeat Northern Iowa 17-0 in the Quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.
2019 FCS Playoffs Quarterfinal Matchup: Northern Iowa at James Madison, How To Watch and Fearless Predictions
The Panthers play exceptional defense. They allowed only 220 yards against South Dakota State and 213 against San Diego. They will need a similar performance to stay in the game against James Madison.
FCS Second Round Playoffs: James Madison Takes Early Punch from Monmouth, Pulls Away For 66-21 Win
The opening fifteen minutes and five seconds of the second round FCS playoff game between Monmouth and Jamses Madison featured six touchdowns, three by the visiting Hawks and three by the hosting Dukes. After that thrilling start, however, James Madison would score 45 unanswered points on the way to a dominating 66-21 victory.
COULSON: App State Runs Past Louisiana-Lafayette In Sun Belt Championship Game 45-38
Evans scampered 58 yards with a screen pass from quarterback Zac Thomas on a third-and-15 play less than two minutes into the game and Appalachian was on its way to the decisive 45-38 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in the second consecutive meeting between the two teams in the conference title clash at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
COULSON: App State’s Evans Unleashed, Mountaineers Defeat Texas State 35-13
The Bobcats may have been 30-point underdogs against one of the elite teams in the Group of Five, but TSU trailed just 14-13 midway through the third quarter. At that point, Appalachian finally unleashed tailback Darrynton Evans, who rushed for 154 yards on 21 carries and three second-half touchdowns to finally lift the Mountaineers (10-1 overall, 6-1 in the SBC) to their comfortable 35-13 win.
QUICK RECAP: Jeffrey Kordenbrock Boots Game-Winner for Lafayette To Win #Rivalry155 17-16
It is rare that the MVP of the Lehigh/Lafayette game is a kicker, but that’s exactly what happened this afternoon at Murray Goodman Stadium as the Leopards beat their bitter Mountain Hawk rivals for the first time in five years in a 17-16 win.
For #Rivalry155, Two Young Teams At Lehigh And Lafayette Get Their First Taste Of Competition In The Historic Series
This season, though, there isn’t the same feeling of continuity that permeated many of these other games. Part of that comes from the fact that, unusually for The Rivalry, both teams are packed with young underclassmen, many of them playing in their first Rivalry ever. Normally, The Rivalry is filled with narratives. This season, it feels like the master narrative is waiting to be written with two teams that, even at this late date, have unknowns.
Sacred Heart’s Julius Chestnut Roasts Lehigh For Two Late TDs In 13-6 Win Over Mountain Hawks
Going into this game, Lehigh’s defense had a serious challenge on their hands – to stop, or a least slow down, the leading rusher in FCS, Sacred Heart RB Julius Chestnut. For three quarters, they did just that, but in the fourth quarter Chestnut would score a pair of rushing touchdowns to lifted Sacred Heart to a 13-6 victory.
COULSON: App State’s Slow Start Reversed By Sutton’s Speed, Mountaineers Jet Past Georgia State 56-28
It is hard to believe that 24th-ranked Appalachian State could play so badly early in its Sun Belt Conference football showdown Saturday night at historic Turner Field and still find time to engineer its 56-28 victory over the Panthers.
A Winning Season For Two Teams On The Line As Lehigh Travels To Sacred Heart
It’s highly unusual for Lehigh (4-5, 3-2) and Sacred Heart (6-4, 4-2)to be playing a non-conference game this late in the season, but for both teams, important milestones remain.
Bucknell Bottles, Bludgeons Lehigh Offense, Which Leads To A 20-10 Bison Victory
It was, depending on your perspective, either the roughest Lehigh offensive performance of the season, or the greatest Bucknell defensive performance of the year.
COULSON: Appalachian State Hangs On, Survives Last-Minute South Carolina Scare For 20-15 Win
It seems like nothing ever comes easy for Appalachian State when it is playing a Power-5 Conference football team. So why would Saturday night before 80,849 fans be any different for the Mountaineers in its 20-15 nail-biter over South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium?
A “Family Reunion”, Of Sorts, As Lehigh Faces Off Against Bucknell
Most games between head coaches in their first years at a school are ones where the opponents need to feel themselves out, thanks to unfamiliarity. That will not be the case this weekend, as Cecchini and Gilmore have more than two decades of awareness of one another and their tendencies. It should have the feel of a brotherly fight.
Holy Cross Wins Battle For First Place In Patriot Over Lehigh, 24-17, A Year After It Was A Battle Of 1-6 Teams
For the players of both programs, it was more about demonstrating how much they had improved over that battle of 1-6 teams on a wet, rainy, homecoming game a year ago in Worcester. Both teams showed exactly how much more they were than those teams with losing records last year, and in the end, Holy Cross showed that they were one play better than the Mountain Hawks on this afternoon.
COULSON: Once Again, Georgia Southern Haunts Appalachian State, In 24-21 Halloween Victory
BOONE, N.C. — In the wind, the cold and the snow of Kidd Brewer Stadium on Thursday, 20th-ranked Appalachian State seemingly watched the cotton boll of its Cotton Bowl hopes wither and die on the vine as arch-rival Georgia Southern held on for a 24-21 victory before 18,796 brave spectators and the national-television, Halloween-night audience […]
QUICK RECAP: Holy Cross Makes One More Play Than Lehigh In The Final Minute, Finishes Off Mountain Hawks In 24-17 Thriller
In the final minute, Holy Cross made one more play than Lehigh.
There Will Be Heat at Murray Goodman As Holy Cross and Lehigh Battle for the Patriot League Supremacy
November in the Lehigh Valley is known for potentially frosty temperatures, blazing red and yellow fall colors, and apple picking season.
Don’t expect anything chill at Murray Goodman Stadium this Saturday, where the combined heat of the Holy Cross Crusaders (4-4, 2-0) and Lehigh Mountain Hawks (4-3, 3-0) should be radiating from both teams.
Surprising Lehigh Beats Georgetown 27-24, Sits Atop Patriot League Standings
After their 27-24 win over Georgetown – their third conference game won on very memorable final plays – what is the Mountain Hawks’ secret for pulling out these conference wins?
QUICK RECAP: Henning 27 Yarder Allows Lehigh To Walk Off Winners Against Georgetown, 27-24
Another week, another nail-biting game with the game in doubt in the closing seconds. Fans of of the Mountain Hawks might have been standing, perhaps cheering, perhaps looking away, unable to watch whether the 27 yard FG goes through the uprights.
Lehigh Tries To Start A New Winning Streak Vs. Georgetown This Weekend
Last season, Lehigh football suffered through a bunch of firsts that Mountain Hawk football fans had no desire to experience. One important one came on the campus of Georgetown on October 20th, 2018.
Up until that point, in the modern era, the Lehigh football team had not lost to Georgetown.
Bibbens Magic Helps Deliver Huge 30-27 Lehigh Win In Overtime Over Fordham
Before the biggest game of the year so far for the Lehigh football program, senior WR Dev Bibbens was left off the depth chart for the Fordham game. Two weeks ago, the New Hope, Pennsylvania native was leveled by a vicious hit to the midsection from a Colgate defensive back, and he didn’t return in […]
