PRINCETON AT LEHIGH 9/21/2024: Football Is So Back, Baby!

On By Chuck Burton

BETHLEHEM, PA – For a while over the past few years, as the world was returning back to some semblance of normalcy after the COVID pandemic, the meme was, and has been, “We are so back, baby!”

Don’t take my word for it; take the word of Madison Malone Kircher of The New York Times.

“The phrase ‘we are back’ — sometimes upgraded to the even more impassioned ‘we are so back’ — is one half of a popular internet meme,” Kircher writes. “When you’re back, things are good. You’re on top of the world. Your investments are up, your football team is winning, you outplayed an army of bots and scored tickets to see your favorite artist. Or maybe it’s something even simpler. Two weeks of rain finally broke to reveal a gloriously sunny day. A reality show you like is starting a new season. You made it to the weekend.”

It’s hard to describe what “we are so back” really is. Surely future sociologists will look at the early 2020s and see a bunch memes, clips and videos that seem to embody this point in time, probably in a much better manner than I can describe.

But at Lehigh (2-1, 0-0 Patriot League), the feel of “we are so back” is undeniably here.

This weekend, the Mountain Hawks return to Bethlehem with a strange, new feeling of “being back”, to face Princeton (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League), themselves back from their 5-5 Ivy League campaign last season.

The Mountain Hawks – fresh off their first two-game winning streak since the end of 2021 – seem to embody the meme.

For sure, it’s still early. Football seasons are not three games long. For a program that has not had a winning season since 2016, the real risk of overconfidence is there and getting excited prematurely.

And the other side of the meme — it’s so over — can come as quickly as “being back”. When losses mount, or just a particularly heart-wrenching one, the rain picks up again, and that knot in your stomach returns. “Life, as far as this binary meme is concerned, is a constant fluctuation between being back and being over,” Kircher notes.

But you can’t deny a growing feeling on South Mountain – to paraphrase Ms. Kircher – that “investments” are up, Lehigh played a game against an FBS team really hard, the rain of the Wagner win finally broke to reveal the gloriously sunny (and warm) day of the LIU game.

Lehigh is winning. It feels like maybe, just maybe, we are witnessing the turning of a corner. The reality show called Mountain Hawk football is starting a new season – with wins. And – you made it to the weekend. It all fits the meme.

Hope seems to be creeping in – and this shouldn’t be underestimated.

Certainly even the most dour of fans have to grant that the way Lehigh won last week, while not perfect, was the type of win Mountain Hawk fans hadn’t seen all that often the past few years.

Lehigh’s 20-17 win at LIU involved “overcoming adversity”, as head coach Kevin Cahill said this week.

It involving overcoming a fumble on special teams on a kickoff, which was cancelled out by a big interception by DB Davis Rice to turn a near-certain opportunity for LIU to expand their lead.

“I’m really proud of the way we handled that,” Cahill said after the game. “We had a mishap [on special teams]. That’s life. Let’s go play the next play.”

It involved rallying to overcome that deficit with a big touchdown pass, QB Dante Perri finding WR Mason Humphrey for a 27 yard strike. That meant that the turnover not only didn’t hurt Lehigh, it ended up being a potential 14 point swing.

And of course it involved overcoming a very close 4th down conversion by LIU at the end of the game. It happened after Lehigh went for it up 3 with 2 minutes left in the game, very nearly converting the 4th down that would have sealed it, but it was off the hands of the receiver.

“I think it all starts up front,” OL George Padezanin said this week about their success vs. LIU. “You know, we preach that every day in and day out, and I think up front on the offensive line, we did a good job, we just need to finish out the game a little bit better, so we don’t give the ball back to LIU in the 4th Quarter, finish off the game.”

Nonetheless, LB William Parton‘s tackle that sealed the victory.

“Will stayed home and read it the right way,” Cahill said this week, “and got enough of the running back to keep him short of the sticks.”

“Last year, we didn’t finish people in the fourth quarter,” Davis Rice said this week. “This year, we decided to elevate our game in the fourth quarter. I really think that’s what brought us over the hump.”

In a lot of ways, it wasn’t just a win – it was a rallying point.

“Obviously, we haven’t seen what they [Princeton] can do this year,” Rice said to WMFZ 69 this week. “But we know, with three games under our belt, we’ve found our identity, which is something teams struggle with in the first game. So, I think what we’re going to do is approach it like any other game.”

Finding their identity doesn’t necessarily translate to a Patriot League title, or even a winning season. But it’s a start, and more importantly, it’s progress.

For Lehigh Nation, it means that it feels like a break in the clouds, and the sun has come out, and that’s good enough. Lehigh Football is so back.

PRINCETON TIGERS (0-0, 0-0 Ivy) AT LEHIGH MOUNTAIN HAWKS (2-1. 0-0 Patriot)
WHERE: Murray Goodman Stadium/Bethlehem, PA, Saturday, September 21st, Noon
STREAMING: ESPN+
TV CREW: PxP – Marco Socci; Analyst – Mike Yadush
RADIO: BROADCAST (Fox Sports Lehigh Valley 94.7 FM/1230 AM; LVFoxSports.com):
RADIO CREW: PxP – Matt Kerr; Analysts – Jim Guzzo, Connor Brown

Lehigh Rundown and the Ivy League

Lehigh’s game notes are here, and encouragingly the Mountain Hawks once again enter this week very healthy. I can’t remember a year when the same starting five on the offensive line in Week One is the same starting five in Week Four, but it is the case again this week – OL Aidan Palmer, OL Austin Huff, OL George Padezanin, OL Langston Jones and OL Christian Curatolo anchor the line again, and that consistency helps immensely.

That line allowed for Lehigh to hold onto the ball for 8 more minutes than LIU last week, and they’ll need to control the line of scrimmage again to have a chance this week vs. Princeton.

The third week in September is a magical time for all the programs of the Patriot League, but at Murray Goodman it’s an especially great time to be on South Mountain, where views of the changing leaves are perfect. For alumni especially, there’s something really cool about a family weekend tailgate in the tent outside of Goodman with an Ivy League opponent on tap.

With Richmond joining the Patriot League in 2025, the third weekend in September offers a great opportunity for a Patriot League/Ivy League showcase, first floated by Tom Fallon in his Happy Hour podcast.

The reason is the third weekend in September is when the Ivy League has historically chosen to begin their football season since the late 1970s (when they went from a nine game season to a ten game season – no bye weeks, no postseason).

What that’s meant is that historically many Ivy League teams are entering their Week One while the Patriot League is entering Week 3 or 4. It makes for interesting cross PL/Ivy matchups and rivalries.

It would be really cool, as Tom Fallon said, to have all eight Patriot League schools play all eight Ivy League schools on the same weekend for “Future CEO Challenge Weekend”, or something like that. (The title is my invention.)

Picture a schedule like this:
Noon: Lehigh/Princeton, Fordham/Columbia, Colgate/Cornell
3:30PM: Holy Cross/Harvard, Dartmouth/Bucknell, Richmond/Yale
7:00PM: Georgetown/Brown, Lafayette/Penn

For football purists, that’s a great slate of Future CEO football.

Though the rest of FCS has collective amnesia, Ivy League football was and continues to be a pipeline to the pros. Most recently, Princeton WR Andre Iovasias hauled in a 65 yard touchdown pass against Lehigh in 2022 before eventually signing up with the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, where he caught two TD passes last week.

(At about 51 seconds below, tell me after seeing that, you’re not thinking “NFL”, like I did when I saw it live.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR-mSZIZ8sc&t=51s

Lehigh and many Ivy League teams have a rivalry that goes back more than 100 years. Princeton was one of the first schools penciled into Lehigh’s football schedules back in the 1880s (right after Lafayette) and national powerhouse Princeton was happy to have the easy competition to keep them sharp for the bigger games – and, occasionally, used the opportunity to scout Lehigh football players so they could sign them in the future.

One of the best, most colorful wins over Princeton came in 2013, when Lehigh made a trip to Princeton and fell behind 22-3 before mounting an improbable second half comeback of perfection to win 29-28. I called it pulling a rabbit out the the hat. The Mountain Hawks scored touchdowns on four consecutive second half drives, while the defense forced critical turnovers, a magical combination of the offense and defense working in sync to steal the win.

“This is a great group of kids,” head coach Andy Coen said after the game.  “They’re a tight football team, this team is getting tougher every day when they get through things like this. By the end of the game, we were the tougher team.”

LFN’s Drink of the Week

What an incredibly busy week for me. I’m not going to get fancy, or Princeton Eating Club on you today – this week’s Drink of the Week is simply one of my favorite drinks ever after a hot, summer or late fall day – the shandy, basically a combination of San Pellegrino Lemon and a high quality (and ideally higher alcohol-content) beer, like a Belgian style ale. It sounds simple, and it is, but there are fewer more refreshing drinks than this.

Scouting Princeton

As mentioned, it’s not always easy scouting an Ivy League team playing in its first game of the year. There’s no game film, only the sunny optimism of a team with no losses. What we do know, though, is enough to realize that this is going to be big challenge this weekend.

Start with the idea that Princeton head coach Bob Surace wants to make Princeton history with this team.

“Reflecting its rich history, the Princeton University football program will be commemorating the anniversary of three of its greatest teams this fall — the legendary undefeated 1964 Ivy League champions along with the 1969 and 1989 league winners,” The Princeton Town Topic reports. “Princeton head coach Bob Surace, a star center on the 1989 squad who bonded with members of the 1964 team while working their 25th reunion, is hoping that his battle-tested 2024 crew will join the pantheon of Tiger champions.”

“It is very experienced, it is the opposite of last year,” Surace said in the same article. “We literally have starters at 19 positions plus the specialists back.”

The silver lining for Lehigh is that one of the starters that graduated is longtime QB Blake Stenstrom, the QB that connected that bubble screen to the future NFL wideout. It’s not clear if Surace will play one or two QBs – back in the day, he was known to sometimes line up three QBs on the field at the same time, I saw it with my own eyes – but according to the game notes, some combination of senior QB Blaine McAllister or junior QB Blaine Hippa will be taking the field at Lehigh.

Historically, Princeton has played a very controlled game on offense with a lot of ball distribution and no one player that dominates statistically. However, in the offseason longtime offensive coordinator Mike Willis ended up being hired as head coach at Marist, meaning Mark Rosenbaum is the new offensive coordinator for the Tigers. This adds extra uncertainty.

Last season RB John Volker (447 yards, 7 Tds) led the Tigers in rushing (in 8 games), while WR Luke Colletta and WR AJ Barber formed a tough duo and were first and second respectively in receiving. All three are seniors, and all three are weapons to worry about. In addition, Volker is a team captain, giving the Princeton offense a maddening mix of experience and uncertainty. About the only thing we can say for sure is that they will be tough and physical on the lines.

“Two starters on the offensive line, OL Tommy Matheson and OL Nick Hilliard have been instrumental for Princeton at the guard position,” The Daily Princetonian notes. “Heading into their third season together as starting guards, the two linemen haven’t missed a game since the 2021 season when they were both first-years.”

On defense, the Tigers line up in a base 3-4 defense and lose their top two tacklers from last season, both linebackers. But there’s plenty to still worry about on defense, with DL Collin Taylor (30 tackles, 6 TFL), LB Marco Scarano (35 tackles, 5 TFL) and S Nasir Hill (62 tackles, 3 INTs). This side of the team will probably resemble the Princeton defenses of the last few years, multiple and athletic, with a lot of substitutions to keep bodies fresh.

LFN’s Keys to the Game

  1. Execution. Lehigh and Princeton football games frequently come down to execution – which team is within themselves the best. That 2013 game was a tale of two halves of execution. If the Mountain Hawks come out slow – like they notably did versus Cornell last year, after a win over an NEC school – it might be a hole in which they might not dig out.
  2. Trench Battles. Lehigh and Princeton games frequently come down to the battle on the lines. The years when Princeton has been big and physical on the line, it has usually meant a Princeton win. Lehigh will need to win this battle – or at least break even – to have a chance.
  3. Turnover Party. One of the striking plusses of the early going for Lehigh is their opportunistic defense which has led to turnovers. If Lehigh can keep this turnover party going – the Mountain Hawks will have a chance.

Fearless Prediction

How far can a sunny day take you? The answer is – a lot farther than you think. However, I’m struck by the fact that this team, while bubbling with positive vibes, is still an extremely young team. Sure, they’ve been battle tested by Army, and have managed to beat two NEC teams. But Princeton – even at home – will be more of a battle in line with the Army game, most likely, rather than the Wagner game. This team is senior laden and will be very physical.

Every week is a test and a chance to get better, and this unquestionably is a test for this Lehigh team and a fascinating game to the football purist. That this game is being seen as one that the Mountain Hawks could possibly poach at home is a testament to how they’ve done so far. Before the season, most would have automatically put this in the win column for Princeton.

So this week, I’m wondering what we will learn further about this Lehigh team. I think we might learn that this team is still learning. I think Princeton has the horses to win this game.

Princeton 27, Lehigh 20

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