Archive For September 28, 2019

Merrimack at Lehigh Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction, 9/28/2019

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Merrimack at Lehigh Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction, 9/28/2019

It’s what we do every week: copiously go over the opposing game notes and analyze the upcoming game matchup.  I’m starting to call these the “football nerd” previews because it feels like the audience for these detailed team breakdowns are other football nerds like myself. 

For Lehigh fans, there is no greater need for a “football nerd”-level breakdown of an opponent than Merrimack.  Few opponents have been as big as an unknown to Mountain Hawk fans as the school that formed right after World War II in North Andover, Massachusetts.  Helping that sense of mystery is that the Merrimack Athletics’ website offers no football game notes, and when you click on the link called “Weekly Two-Deep”, you get a two-deep from 2018.

Merrimack, until recently a member of the Northeast-10 conference in Division II, announced they are going to join the NEC as a full Division I member in time for the 2023-2024 season.

“The College’s 2011 strategic plan, the Agenda for Distinction, called for Merrimack College to become a Division I institution to compete and excel at the highest level,” president Christopher E. Hopey said almost a year ago in announcing their move to the NEC. “We are pleased that our record of achievement and growth has resulted in this invitation to compete in the NEC and partner with its outstanding member institutions.”

“There’s no question we have the top tier players to be successful,” Warriors head coach Dan Curran said before the season started. “They’ve always been able to play with anyone.  What we need to do going forward is to develop more depth because injuries are going to happen. We’re not where we want to be but we’re getting there. We’re starting to see the gap between the starters and the backups get tight.”

They’ve certainly shown already that they’re not a team to be taken lightly. Besides their two overwhelming home wins against sub-Division I opponents, the Warriors led at St. Francis (PA) at halftime and took Central Connecticut State down to the wire, who came oh-so-close to upsetting FBS Eastern Michigan last week.

“Eight of our 11 opponents are Division 1 and this is by far the most competitive schedule we’ve ever had,” Curran said before the season. “We know what we’re getting into but we’ve shown we can play with the top teams and we’ll be ready.”

The Warriors head coach Dan Curran was a former University of New Hampshire fullback, who helmed the Wildcats under head coach Sean McDonnell and then-offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. His teammate was Walter Payton award-winner RB Jerry Azumah, who broke a multitude of I-AA rushing records and would later play cornerback for the NFL’s Chicago Bears.  After Azumah’s graduation, he ran for 1,000 yards in his own right his senior year and spent some time on NFL rosters professionally.

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Merrimack at Lehigh Tailgate Report 9/28/2019: Beating Cancer, Eating BBQ To Support Your Linemen, And More

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Merrimack at Lehigh Tailgate Report 9/28/2019: Beating Cancer, Eating BBQ To Support Your Linemen, And More

Welcome back to the Lehigh Tailgate Report, a free public service from your pals over at Lehigh Football Nation.

The idea of the Lehigh Tailgate Report is to provide a fun report on what to expect at the game, or not at the game, for this week’s upcoming game.

If you’re planning to go to the game, great! It’s at Murray Goodman Stadium this Saturday at 12:30PM.

If you can’t make it to the game, the game is available to watch or listen in a variety of ways.

 The local radio broadcast, which starts an hour before kickoff and sets the table for the day’s game, can be caught on your AM dial on Fox Sports Radio AM 1230 or 1320. Matt Kerr, Jim Guzzo, Tom Fallon and Matt Markus are on the call this Saturday.

Through internet radio, the pregame, game, and postgame can be streamed through TuneIn or just simply going to the LVFoxSports.com webpage. Full disclosure: When I’m at home, this is my preferred method to catch the game action. Streaming the audio is #LFNApproved.

If through your cable service you get Service Electric 2 (this is available through Service Electric Cable in the Lehigh Valley), you can watch the TV feed on that station. Steve Degler, Doug Heater and Kristi Fulkerson are on the call.

 If not, you can stream the game over the internet through the Patriot League Network. PLN is the streaming service that broadcasts the Service Electric 2-produced broadcast. PLN is free and allows you to stream most Patriot League home games and league football games. It can be streamed in a web browser, or if you have a Roku box, you can access all the Patriot League Network games through the WatchStadium App.
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Lehigh at UC Davis Game Post Mortem, 9/14/2019

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Lehigh at UC Davis Game Post Mortem, 9/14/2019

This weekend, late into the wee hours on the East Coast, Lehigh faced a huge challenge in playing No. 4 ranked UC Davis in their home opener this weekend.

The Aggies, looking every bit the No. 4 team in the nation, executed on offense at a very high level as they beat the Mountain Hawks 41-14.

We’ve all had a few days to catch up on our rest, get back on East Coast time, and think about where Lehigh is after their adventure out West.  So, where are we?

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Lehigh at UC Davis Game Post Mortem, 9/14/2019

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Lehigh at UC Davis Game Post Mortem, 9/14/2019

This weekend, late into the wee hours on the East Coast, Lehigh faced a huge challenge in playing No. 4 ranked UC Davis in their home opener this weekend.

The Aggies, looking every bit the No. 4 team in the nation, executed on offense at a very high level as they beat the Mountain Hawks 41-14.

We’ve all had a few days to catch up on our rest, get back on East Coast time, and think about where Lehigh is after their adventure out West.  So, where are we?

Read more »

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Lehigh at UC Davis Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction 9/14/2019

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Lehigh at UC Davis Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction 9/14/2019

It’s what we do every week: copiously go over the opposing game notes and analyze the upcoming game matchup.  One thing that has been undoubtedly very cool about this rare West Coast game for the Mountain Hawks is how great the Aggies have been in terms of getting out game notes, cool content celebrating the 1977 Division II semifinal, and even local press (I see you, Davis Enterprise).

We live in a world where local press is dying, along with it the written word about previewing what are interesting, fun sporting matchups.  This week has been refreshingly fun, and easy to break down, thanks to all the content celebrating the first meeting, and previewing the upcoming meeting.  It’s great to see two football communities from across the country come together for a week of good-spirited competition.

A special shout-out has to go to The Davis Enterprise again for the incredible pictures of not only the Division II semifinal game but also the eerie, foggy atmosphere of the morning.  They are absolute treasures and really bring the game to amazing life.  Don’t just go to that for the pictures alone – also by all means read their extensive preview of tomorrow’s game as well.  But few pictures leave me speechless.  The five that they provided with the article did.

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Lehigh at UC Davis Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction 9/14/2019

By |

Lehigh at UC Davis Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction 9/14/2019

It’s what we do every week: copiously go over the opposing game notes and analyze the upcoming game matchup.  One thing that has been undoubtedly very cool about this rare West Coast game for the Mountain Hawks is how great the Aggies have been in terms of getting out game notes, cool content celebrating the 1977 Division II semifinal, and even local press (I see you, Davis Enterprise).

We live in a world where local press is dying, along with it the written word about previewing what are interesting, fun sporting matchups.  This week has been refreshingly fun, and easy to break down, thanks to all the content celebrating the first meeting, and previewing the upcoming meeting.  It’s great to see two football communities from across the country come together for a week of good-spirited competition.

A special shout-out has to go to The Davis Enterprise again for the incredible pictures of not only the Division II semifinal game but also the eerie, foggy atmosphere of the morning.  They are absolute treasures and really bring the game to amazing life.  Don’t just go to that for the pictures alone – also by all means read their extensive preview of tomorrow’s game as well.  But few pictures leave me speechless.  The five that they provided with the article did.

Read more »

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Lehigh at UC Davis Tailgate Report 9/14/2019: Hip Hop Rivalries, Vegans At the Gates!, And More

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Lehigh at UC Davis Tailgate Report 9/14/2019: Hip Hop Rivalries, Vegans At the Gates!, And More

Welcome back to the Lehigh Tailgate Report, a free public service from your pals over at Lehigh Football Nation.

The idea of the Lehigh Tailgate Report is to provide a fun report on what to expect at the game, or not at the game, for this week’s upcoming game.

If you’re planning to go to this game, it means one of three things: 1) you live in California, 2) you have way more disposable income than me, or most likely, 3) both.  Nonetheless, below I’ll have some information on where the stadium is and where to tailgate.

If you can’t make it to the game, it is available to watch or listen in a variety of ways.  Note that the kickoff of this game is at 10:00 PM EDT, or 7:00 PDT, so it’s one of the latest kickoffs in all of Division I football. 

The local radio broadcast, which starts an hour before kickoff and sets the table for the game, can be caught on your AM dial on Fox Sports Radio AM 1230 or 1320. Matt Kerr, Matt Markus, and Steve Lomangino are on the call this Saturday.  If you’re on the East Coast, that means 9:00 PM EDT.

Through internet radio, the pregame, game, and postgame can be streamed through TuneIn or just simply going to the LVFoxSports.com webpage.

The best part about this game is that the video stream will be available via a free service called Pluto.TV.  It is available from any web browser here, but where it really shines is if you have a Roku box (install and run the Pluto.TV app, and search for UC Davis) or Google Chromecast (on your phone, load up the Pluto.TV app and cast it to your 55 inch TV).

The LFN Approved way of catching the game is streaming the radio call of the game via Alexa, the internet or whatever, and broadcasting the video to your big-screen TV.  (That, of course, and keeping lots of LFN’s “Drink of the Week” handy.)

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Lehigh At Villanova Game Post Mortem 9/10/2019

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Lehigh At Villanova Game Post Mortem 9/10/2019

This weekend, Lehigh had a tough evening on the Main Line as the Mountain Hawks fell to Villanova 38-10.  After jumping to a 3-0 lead, Villanova would go on 17-0 and 21-0 runs in between a Lehigh touchdown to make the evening a happy one for most of the 8,000 fans in attendance.

Unlike last week, this wasn’t one that got away – this was a more comprehensive loss.  Here’s five thoughts I had after looking over the game last week.

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Lehigh At Villanova Tailgate 9/7/2019: Chicken Sandwiches, Terrible Parking, And More

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Lehigh At Villanova Tailgate 9/7/2019: Chicken Sandwiches, Terrible Parking, And More

Welcome back to the Lehigh Tailgate Report, a free public service from your pals over at Lehigh Football Nation.

The idea of the Lehigh Tailgate Report is to provide a fun report on what to expect at the game, or not at the game, for this week’s upcoming game.

If you’re planning to go to the game, great! It’s at Villanova Stadium this Saturday evening at 6:00PM. If you’ve got questions on how to get there, scroll below.

If you can’t make it to the game, it is available to watch or listen in a variety of ways.

The local radio broadcast, which starts an hour before kickoff and sets the table for the game, can be caught on your AM dial on Fox Sports Radio AM 1230 or 1320. Matt Kerr, Matt Markus, and Steve Lomangino are on the call this Saturday.

Through internet radio, the pregame, game, and postgame can be streamed through TuneIn or just simply going to the LVFoxSports.com webpage.

This Saturday, the Lehigh/Villanova live video game stream is available through FLO Sports. If you’re already a Lehigh wrestling fan, you’re in luck, most likely – FLO Sports is the service that streams many Lehigh wrestling away matches.

If you’re not, a “monthly subscription” fee of $19.99 is required to watch it.

This weekend’s Lehigh game is the only game all season that will require any sort of fee to watch. All Lehigh home games and Patriot League games are on Patriot League Network (free), and the only other game on the schedule, UC Davis, will be available on Pluto.TV, another free streaming service.
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Lehigh At Villanova Tailgate 9/7/2019: Chicken Sandwiches, Terrible Parking, And More

By |

Lehigh At Villanova Tailgate 9/7/2019: Chicken Sandwiches, Terrible Parking, And More

Welcome back to the Lehigh Tailgate Report, a free public service from your pals over at Lehigh Football Nation.

The idea of the Lehigh Tailgate Report is to provide a fun report on what to expect at the game, or not at the game, for this week’s upcoming game.

If you’re planning to go to the game, great! It’s at Villanova Stadium this Saturday evening at 6:00PM. If you’ve got questions on how to get there, scroll below.

If you can’t make it to the game, it is available to watch or listen in a variety of ways.

The local radio broadcast, which starts an hour before kickoff and sets the table for the game, can be caught on your AM dial on Fox Sports Radio AM 1230 or 1320. Matt Kerr, Matt Markus, and Steve Lomangino are on the call this Saturday.

Through internet radio, the pregame, game, and postgame can be streamed through TuneIn or just simply going to the LVFoxSports.com webpage.

This Saturday, the Lehigh/Villanova live video game stream is available through FLO Sports. If you’re already a Lehigh wrestling fan, you’re in luck, most likely – FLO Sports is the service that streams many Lehigh wrestling away matches.

If you’re not, a “monthly subscription” fee of $19.99 is required to watch it.

This weekend’s Lehigh game is the only game all season that will require any sort of fee to watch. All Lehigh home games and Patriot League games are on Patriot League Network (free), and the only other game on the schedule, UC Davis, will be available on Pluto.TV, another free streaming service.
Read more »

Read more »

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