LEHIGH AT GEORGETOWN 11/2/2024: Can Lehigh Navigate Through Game One of a Meaningful November, Or Will It Be Diverted To Further Rebuilding?

BETHLEHEM, PA – No Lehigh Mountain Hawk taking the field at Cooper Field in Washington, DC this Saturday played in Lehigh’s last meaningful non-Lafayette November game.

This Saturday’s clash featuring Lehigh (4-3, 1-1 Patriot) and Georgetown (5-3, 2-1 Patriot) will occur on the five year anniversary of a contest most of Lehigh Nation would rather forget – a 24-17 loss to Holy Cross on November 2nd, 2019.

It may seem odd, during Georgetown week, to recall a game versus Holy Cross in 2019. But I don’t think so.

It’s not only that the games will occur on the same date exactly five years apart.

It also shows the fact that November tests teams in ways that they may not have contemplated – that November football is different than September football and October football.

It’s great that Lehigh is here, today, with meaningful November football games.

Competition in these games can propel Lehigh football to titles and/or meaningful wins against Lafayette.

That was the case in 2019, too. Hope was strong in November of 2019.

But instead of November football competition propelling them to titles and Rivalry wins, the loss sent them in a tailspin.

“Though both teams are trying to downplay the ‘championship vibe’ of this game,” I wrote in 2019 with words I could use today, “with the stunning fall of preseason favorites Colgate and most of the rest of the Patriot League guaranteed losing records, it’s clearly going to be a game that brings out the passion in everyone.”

At the time, Lehigh had suffered an up-and-down first season under head coach Tom Gilmore. But they were 4-3 with a 3-0 record in Patriot League play, and Holy Cross, coached by a great young up-and-comer named Bob Chesney, who had a 4-4 Crusader team with a 3-0 record.

The Mountain Hawks entered the game with loads to play for, and a possible Patriot League title in view with a win at home. The players were focused. They knew what was at stake. They upped their game.

“They embarrassed us last year [56-0],” Lehigh LB Pete Haffner said of Holy Cross right after beating Georgetown the week prior.  “We’re ready. We want to come in and get after them, put a spanking on those guys. And we’re excited. We’re just going to keep that one practice that time, get better, preparing to our best of our ability.”

It also must be noted that at this point, Bob Chesney was still not Bob Chesney, architect of four straight Patriot League titles on his way to coach James Madision. The Crusaders were 4-4, and there was every reason to doubt they would win the 2019 title. In 2018, when they walloped Lehigh, they were 1-6. A loss to Lehigh in that game may very well have caused the Crusaders to need to regroup and rebuild instead of run at the title.

The game was a battle, and the Mountain Hawks took Holy Cross to the limit. To that team’s immense credit, they played their guts out, and never gave up.

But it ended up with Lehigh falling behind 24-7 – with some key lapses behind some big plays that ended up as touchdowns – and the Mountain Hawks couldn’t rally all the way back, having the Crusaders escape Bethlehem with a 24-17 win – and eventually the Patriot League title that year.

Lehigh was driving for the game-tying score in the 4th quarter when Holy Cross DB Chris Riley intercepted QB Tyler Monaco‘s pass to stop all thoughts of a Mountain Hawk comeback.

I think what stands out to me from that week was the feeling of hope in that week.

There was a lot of hope because at that point in time, Lehigh fans had seen this before. They had seen the movie where Lehigh reasserts itself and re-establishes their place in the Patriot League title contenders.

They had lived through 2016 and 2017, two title seasons that ended in FCS Playoff appearances. Most of the faces on that 2019 roster had seen, and experienced, meaningful November football, and they remembered a time when Lehigh came out on top.

The 2019 team lost to Georgetown the year before, and the Mountain Hawks enacted their revenge on them. All that was standing in their way was Holy Cross, the defending champions.

Meaningful November football, wasn’t as unfamiliar to Lehigh Nation then as it is now. And after Lehigh hopes got squashed on that day in 2019, it’s as it the Mountain Hawks entered a tailspin they couldn’t recover from.

Sure, there were circumstances beyond any one person’s control at play. The 2021 COVID season certainly did a number on the Mountain Hawks as well, but when Lehigh re-emerged that fall they were a team that forgot how to win. They limped to a few victories, but mostly losses.

In 2021, 2022 and 2023, the only meaningful November games were against Lafayette. The Patriot League title was just a distant dream in those years, a losing record assured.

This week, Lehigh finds itself heading to Georgetown under very similar circumstances as that Holy Cross game.

The Hoyas, fresh off a 21-20 win over Bucknell last week, did what Lehigh could not a month ago versus Bucknell – seal the deal.

The Hoyas are only three weeks removed from doing something Lehigh hasn’t been able to do since 1950 – shut out the Leopards in Easton, 17-0.

Georgetown ain’t your momma’s Georgetown. They are dangerous, playing their game with confidence, and playing at home. They beat Lehigh last year at Murray Goodman, and are very eager to make it two in a row.

How will this Lehigh team react to November football for the first time? How will they react when they play that big, meaningful, November Patriot League football game getting them one step closer to title relevance and maybe, just maybe, national relevance?

How will Georgetown head coach Rob Sgarlata‘s team react to November football? The Hoyas, like the Mountain Hawks, haven’t played in this type of game either. Like Lehigh, they are multiple conference wins and one helpful loss away from a Patriot League title. A win here provides the exact same thing to the Hoyas a Lehigh win would provide for the Mountain Hawks – a critical step towards title relevance.

Like 2019, Lehigh enters this game with a lot of hope, but hope isn’t enough to win football games. Like 2019, this football game could be an inflection point with both teams – one that could set one team to the title, and the other into a tailspin.

In 2019, you can argue that the Lehigh game launched Bob Chesney to the top of the Patriot League, and started the Mountain Hawks on a march away from titles. I don’t know if this Georgetown game will have the same effect on the winning and losing squads, but for both teams, it feels like a win or loss here will set two courses – one towards rebuilding, the other towards a possible championship.

LEHIGH MOUNTAIN HAWKS (4-3, 2-1 Patriot) AT GEORGETOWN HOYAS (5-3, 2-1 Patriot)
WHERE: Cooper Field/Washington, DC, Saturday, November 2nd, 12:30PM
STREAMING: ESPN+
TV CREW: PxP – Jeremy Huber; Analyst – Colleen McNamara
RADIO: BROADCAST (Fox Sports Lehigh Valley 94.7 FM/1230 AM; LVFoxSports.com):
RADIO CREW: PxP – Matt Kerr; Analysts – Steve Lomangino, Connor Brown

Lehigh Rundown

This week’s game notes once again don’t have too many changes – which, in a way, is great, as Lehigh’s stalwart steel beams on the offensive line are once again listed as the starters – Aidan Palmer, Austin Huff, George Padezanin, Langston Jones, and Chris Curatolo. One story that has probably not gotten enough attention is Lehigh’s strength and conditioning and how it has kept this team so healthy and ready to perform each week. The fact that this group has stayed together is a very big reason why Lehigh has been successful.

Both RB Jaden Green – last week’s Rookie of the week in the Patriot League – and RB Luke Yoder have been a powerful 1-2 punch behind those steel beams. Combined, they have contributed to Lehigh having the 20th ranked rushing offense in all of FCS. Their battle against Georgetown’s formidable front seven will be one to watch on Saturday.

LFN’s Drink of the Week

“The Gin Rickey is one of the few classic cocktails that doesn’t have an origin muddled by history or shrouded in rumors and innuendo,” Liquor.com tells us. “The invention of this refreshing highball is refreshingly clear: It was named after Joe Rickey, a Democratic lobbyist living in Washington, D.C., during the late 19th century.”

DC based? It appears in The Great Gatsby? Count me in.

• 2 ounces gin
• 1/2 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed
• Club soda, to top

Fill a highball glass with ice and gin. Wait a couple of minutes for the gin to cool. Add the lime juice and stir. Fill with club soda to top, then server.

Scouting Georgetown

One of the great things about Georgetown is it gives me a chance to talk about one of my favorite fans, Hoya Saxa, whom I’ve known for more than a decade (and met once!). His coverage of Hoya sports (but specifically Georgetown football) is unparalleled and his dedication to the team and craft are something I deeply appreciate and enjoy reading. Read his blog for one second and see how his descriptions of the games go beyond flowery rat poison and get at the heart of things.

His observations of Georgetown’s 21-20 win over Bucknell get right at it, but this stood out:

With 4:45 remaining and a 14-0 lead, Bucknell was on the verge of taking the game over. Following a Bucknell Punt and a 27 yard first down run by Savion Hart, the Hoyas ran Hart two carries for a combined two yards. On a third and eight at the Bucknell 40, the safe play was to have Danny Lauter scramble around for a short pass to Jimmy Kibble or Nick Dunneman, and certainly not to give it to Hart a fourth consecutive time. Surprisingly, this is what Georgetown did, and hart tore through the Bucknell line for 40 yards and the score. It awakened the Hoyas offensively and four minutes later they tied the score.

I can’t get over how similar this was to Lehigh taking a 14-0 lead on Bucknell several weeks ago, only to see a 14-14 halftime score after a kickoff return for touchdown by Bison WR T.J. Cadden and a WR Eric Weatherley TD grab after a turnover. In this game, turnabout was fair play, but it demonstrates that the Hoyas can just as easily flip momentum against the Mountain Hawks as Bucknell did.

Georgetown has had a balanced offensive attack but seems to have evolved into a three- or four- headed rushing attack with Hart (250 yards, 2 TDs), RB Bryce Cox (384 yards, 4 TDs) and RB Nakeem Kearney (333 yards, 6 TDs). QB Danny Lauter (1,651 yards passing, 50 yards rushing, 10 TDs) can also take off with the ball as well, and six Hoyas have at least 50 yards rushing, so expect the Hoya rushing attack to come in waves, with plenty of subs.

WR Jimmy Kibble leads the Patriot League in receiving yards (651 yards, 3 TDs) and he’s a go-to option on 2nd and 3rd down conversions. He’s the extra dimension that makes teams be unable to overcommit against the run, and he’s a person to watch.

Georgetown’s defense, too, has been stellar, no more stellar than against Lafayette a couple of weeks ago in their 17-0 shutout. Their recipe for victory in that game was to get up on them early, force the Leopards to play from behind, then see them have to rely on the pass and then the pass rush and the secondary would be able to just pin their ears back.

The Hoyas are fourth in the FCS with 24 sacks, and DL/LB Cooper Blomstrom leads the team with 6 1/2 sacks, good for second in the Patriot League (only behind Bethlehem Sack Exchange member DL Matt Spatny with 7). Eleven Hoyas have recorded a sack this season, with DL David Ealey III with 5 sacks of his own. Blomstrom also has 11 tackles for loss and 12 quarterback hurries.

LFN’s Keys to the Game

1. Establishing the Run. Lehigh football in 2024 involves the run. I’d like to see that established in a big way, but it won’t be easy. It’s quite possible the trench battle between Lehigh’s OL and Georgetown’s DL could be one for the ages. If Lehigh comes out ahead here, I love the Mountain Hawks’ chances.
2. Stopping the Run. On the flip side, bottling up the Hoya run game is the other side of that, forcing long 3rd downs and forcing the Hoyas out of the balance their offense craves. They disrupt that, that’s good for the Mountain Hawks.
3. Not Falling in the Hoya trap. Lehigh in 2018 and Lafayette in 2019 both fell into the trap of falling behind and relying on the pass to get back into the game. While I anticipate a tough, hard-fought game, avoiding this game script is going to be critical.

Fearless Prediction

It’s been a long time since Lehigh has been a dominant, nationally focused team. While the 2019 team ending up not being that team, there was that fleeting moment where they could have been.

It feels like a sort-of Back to the Future moment where had Lehigh found a way to win that game and Holy Cross lost in overtime, the trajectory of two programs would have been changed.

This week, finally, after a long time in the wilderness, Lehigh has an opportunity to not necessarily jump into national recognition right away, but to take one very critical step in that direction against a team that is looking to do the exact same.

This team is still very young. They have made big strides, but they are not there yet. They will need to make more strides to have a chance to compete for this year’s title, and this year’s Lehigh/Lafayette game. I think they make another tomorrow.

Lehigh 28, Georgetown 13