GAME ELEVEN, LEHIGH AT COLGATE – Mountain Hawks Try To Reach Eleven Win Plateau In Hamilton, New York

BETHLEHEM, PA – Last year, I was wondering if I had seen the end of a college football rivalry.

In the week before Lehigh/Lafayette weekend, was Lehigh/Colgate, in the shadow of college football’s most-played Rivalry, both literally and figuratively.

I had seen “Hate the Gate” up close and personal in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, a Patriot League football rivalry based on some shared college football DNA, their (somewhat newly) shared conference affiliation in the Patriot League, and their run of success.

And for me, and a whole generation of Lehigh football players and fans, it was a real thing. There was juice in the air during those games… for decades.

In 2024, however, those rivalry days seemed like a long way away.

While the Mountain Hawks were 6-3 and had a chance to be Patriot League champions, the truth was they hadn’t been in the playoffs since 2017. COVID-19 didn’t help – the Mountain Hawks and Raiders didn’t play in that abbreviated short season – but Lehigh’s run of losing records and Colgate’s winning records were no longer in sync.

Even in 2024, I wasn’t sure I felt the same vibe around the Lehigh/Colgate game that I was used to, even though it most certainly was critical to Lehigh’s playoff hopes.

Casually, at the end of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks decisive 45-17 win over Colgate, I asked the student-athletes in the post game press conference whether they still considered the Lehigh/Colgate series a rivalry.

DL Matt Spatny looked at his coach and teammates, and leaned forward. “I’ll take this one,” he volunteered.

“Yes, it was a huge one,” he said, clearly enthused. “From what they did to us last year, how they completely punked us at their house, we wanted to return the favor for them.”

It wasn’t a long answer, but his passion stood out. While I, and maybe many of the fans had forgotten about the 2023 matchup in Lehigh’s 2-9 season, he and most of the members of the team certainly did not forget about Colgate racing to a 30-0 lead before the Mountain Hawks rallied to make the final score a bit more palatable, 37-21, ruining the return of Lehigh’s offensive coordinator Dan Hunt back to Colgate, where he once served as head football coach.

In fact, it really seemed like even more than whether Lehigh would be Patriot League champs, make the playoffs, or whatever – it was that that seemed to motivate the team more.

Head coach Kevin Cahill also focused on it as well.

“We just focused on ourselves and tried to play the best brand of football we can,” he said in his opening statement last year. “I think we continued to improve today and show that we could play in all three phases. But I’m just excited. Excited for the players, mostly, that they’re having the success when they put the work in all week long and then showing to have success on Saturday. It was a great step forward for us and moving forward overall.”

Lehigh enters this week with a lot more on the line than they did in 2023, or even 2024. The Mountain Hawks are ranked fourth in the nation, and should they win their last two games, they may be setting themselves up for at least one home game in the FCS Playoffs, and potentially more.

But standing in the way of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (10-0, 5-0 Patriot) is a Colgate Raider team (4-6, 2-3 Patriot League) that will be very, very eager to knock out a nationally-ranked progam, the third such program they’ve faced this year.

Finding Themselves Under Fitzpatrick

Back in August, this wasn’t new Raider head coach Curt Fitzpatrick‘s first rodeo leading a program, but he probably would have preferred it to be a bit different than the baptism of fire it ended up being.

Fitzpatrick guided D-III Cortland to a 45-5 record over four seasons, including a national championship in 2023 and four consecutive Empire 8 titles. At the end of last year, he had two very intriguing job possibilities – a lucrative assistant coach position at Syracuse, or head guy at Colgate.

While the offer was tempting for a guy who played high school football in nearby Fulton, N.Y. and wore No. 5 in high school in honor of former Syracuse QB Donovan McNabb, Fitzpatrick chose the Raiders.

“I was blown away he even knew where Cortland was and knew about us, but he’s so connected like that and down-to-earth,” Fitzpatrick said. “We had brief conversations about joining the staff, but then the Colgate opportunity came up. I love being a head football coach so this was the right opportunity for me. It was intriguing and flattering. Coach Fran Brown is one of the best coaches in the country.”

“Growing up in central New York, you know about the academic prestige of Colgate, and the history of football success,” Fitzpatrick said. “To coach a program that has a winning tradition that dates back one hundred-plus years is humbling and exciting.”

It was the right opportunity, but perhaps the Disney script needed a rewrite.

Starting off with nationally-ranked Momnouth – very nearly upsetting them before ultimately falling late, 42-29, it was followed by a trip to nationally-ranked Villanova (L, 24-17) and against Fran Brown’s team, FBS Syracuse (L, 66-24), the Raiders were 0-3 before Fitzpatrick could even get settled into his office.

The 0-3 start was not unexpected, but their close margins against two teams still in the Top 25 stood out. Not unlike Cahill at Lehigh two years ago, Fitzpatrick even from the start had started to rebuild the culture in the locker room.

Befitting his efforts, Colgate’s efforts have been mixed as the Raiders have been rebuilding, though injuries have plagued this team this year.

Start with one of the best offensive players of the Patriot League, WR Treyvhon Saunders.

The senior receiver was in the middle of his best-ever season. Not only was he leading the FCS in receiving yards and catches, but leading all of college football – FCS and FBS – in both categories with 49 receptions and 682 yards.

On a freakish play down in Richmond, Colgate’s second play from scrimmage, Saunders went down with a leg injury, carted off the field. He would return to the sidelines, but in crutches.

Colgate, who was then 1-0 in Patriot League play, battled hard against the tough Richmond defense but fell 24-19, and would fall to Georgetown the following week 21-17. Both were excruciating fourth-quarter losses, falling in the closing ten minutes.

Since then in their last three games Colgate went 2-1, with a gutty win over Holy Cross and an overtime win against Merrimack, before losing a shootout to Lafayette last week 59-42. Their last three weeks they have played differently, more together, even if they were unable to truly contain Lafayette’s amazing offense.

WR Reed Swanson has definitely emerged in the absence of Saunders, catching 9 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown last week, and experienced junior QB Jake Stearney (22-37 last week, 213 yards passing, 31 yards rushing, 3 TDs) pace the offense. On defense, LB Christian Magliacano leads the team in tackles for loss with 8. All of them are juniors; all of them seem like they will be back next year, and will want to show out.

Nothing would show better for the Raiders than beating the No. 4 team in the nation, a team that humbled them last year at Murray Goodman, and a former rival.

Defensive Minded Domination

Last week at Lafayette, Colgate scored 42 points, and overall are averaging scored 29.50 points per game. They’ll be facing off against a dominating defense that has given up a grand total of 3 points in their last two games.

The Mountain Hawks lead the Patriot League and rank in the top five nationally in rushing defense (67.5), scoring defense (12.8), sacks (37) and total defense (273.3). Additionally, Lehigh has allowed just 16 points over its last four games.

“We just take pride in playing physical, relentless football,” DL T.J. Burke said this week. “Just making sure that everything that we do is full, full force 110%. We’re playing really good in the box, and then our back end is also supporting us in the pass game. We’ve been eliminating explosive plays all year. So, just being able to play together year-round, it’s been very special.”

The key to the game this weekend might be which force, Lehigh’s defense or Colgate’s offense, reigns supreme. In addition to their totals on the ground, the Mountain Hawks’ turnover ratio is +9, and have only one lost fumble all season.

LB Brycen Edwards (73 tackles, 9 tackles for loss), DL Matt Spatny (20 tackles, 11 1/2 tackles for loss, 7 sacks), LB Tyler Ochojski (46 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery) and DB Mekhai Smith (43 tackles, 4 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery) also show clearly that the defensive success isn’t just one player – it’s been a full team effort.

“The pass rush is awesome,” Lehigh DB Jackson Dowd said last week. “It makes our job as defense and in the back end a lot easier. You know that if the quarterback’s back there for three, four seconds, he’s not getting the throw off. So it makes our job easier covering those guys.”

Yet Colgate’s offense may actually be the toughest that Lehigh has played all year. The Mountain Hawk defense only gave up more than 24 points once this season, a 44-30 victory over Penn where the Quakers got 316 yards through the air with future NFL prospect WR Jared Richardson notching 141 yards and 2 TDs.

“They do a really good job of just getting the ball out,” Burke said of Colgate. “They do a lot of RPO’s and quick game action with the quarterback back there. So, it makes it harder for the D-Line to be able to get pressure on the quarterback. But our goal this week, especially up front, is just stick to our techniques. Make sure that we’re doing the right things consistently. Don’t try to go out of your way to make plays when he keeps getting the ball out of his hand quick. Let our offense score points. Let us get up, then we’ll make him drop back and pass. Worry about rushing the passer then and obviously stop the run with physicality like we’ve been doing all year.”

This weekend, in cold, possibly snowy Hamilton, New York, FCS Nation will see if Lehigh’s defense can keep doing what it’s been doing all year – winning.

LEHIGH MOUNTAIN HAWKS (10-0, 5-0 Patriot) AT COLGATE RAIDERS (4-6, 2-3 Patriot)
WHERE: Andy Kerr Stadium, Hamilton, NY, Saturday, November 15th, 1:00 PM
STREAMING: ESPN+
TV CREW: PxP – Eric Malanoski; Analysts – Terry Dow, Faith Cain
RADIO: BROADCAST (Fox Sports Lehigh Valley 94.7 FM/1230 AM; LVFoxSports.com):
RADIO CREW: PxP – Matt Kerr; Analysts – Mike Yadush, Connor Brown