Archive For The “Fearless Predictions” Category

Lehigh at Wagner Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction:

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Lehigh at Wagner Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction:

We break down the Wagmer game – and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip.

Like the Mountain Hawks, the Seahawks are aiming to reverse a multi-game losing streak, but Wagner’s current problems are pretty much the opposite of Lehigh’s.

Since the season-ending shoulder injury to QB Alex Thomson, the Seahawks have had pretty good defensive play at times, but it’s the offense that has let them down.  Against Columbia, for example, the offense went 1 for 9 on 3rd down conversions and only was able to put up 14 points.

Worrying for Lehigh, though, is that the offense that they have been able to generate has come mostly from a bruising running game.  Of their 307 yards of offense against Columbia, 187 of it came on the ground.
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Lehigh at Wagner Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: Who Breaks Their Losing Streak?

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Lehigh at Wagner Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: Who Breaks Their Losing Streak?

We break down the Wagmer game – and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip.

Like the Mountain Hawks, the Seahawks are aiming to reverse a multi-game losing streak, but Wagner’s current problems are pretty much the opposite of Lehigh’s.

Since the season-ending shoulder injury to QB Alex Thomson, the Seahawks have had pretty good defensive play at times, but it’s the offense that has let them down.  Against Columbia, for example, the offense went 1 for 9 on 3rd down conversions and only was able to put up 14 points.

Worrying for Lehigh, though, is that the offense that they have been able to generate has come mostly from a bruising running game.  Of their 307 yards of offense against Columbia, 187 of it came on the ground.
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Penn At Lehigh Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: How Much Do We Really Know About The Quakers?

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Penn At Lehigh Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: How Much Do We Really Know About The Quakers?

(Photo Credit: The Daily Pennsylvanian)

We break down the Penn game – and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip.

Last week, head coach Andy Coen made a big deal about the many changes Yale made to their approach on both offense and defense.  Penn will not have the same element of surprise this week – to some degree.

Certainly Penn head coach Ray Priore, who has his main staff intact from last year with offensive coordinator John Reagan and defensive coordinator Bob Benson, will likely have a similar approach to what they want to do on both sides of the ball from last season – after all, they were Ivy League co-champions.

But last week wasn’t a normal type of opener for the Quakers.

Playing a Division II school for the first time in program history, Division II Ohio Dominican allowed Penn to play a sort-of experimental setup.  Though Penn got a win that counts in the standings just like any other win, 42-24, using it as a hard and fast rule on how they will come out against Lehigh might be a big mistake.

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Yale at Lehigh Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: Ridiculous, Sublime, Awesome, Or Awful?

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Yale at Lehigh Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: Ridiculous, Sublime, Awesome, Or Awful?

We break down the Yale game – and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip.

This week, College Sports Journal picked their order of finish of the Ivy League and the Elis were picked to finish 5th, in contrast to the preseason Ivy League media poll, where they were picked fourth.

“Exhale, Elis, you did it,” it said.  “For only the second time in a decade, Yale finally beat their most bitter Rival in The Game, 21-14, giving head coach Tony Reno something pleasant to bring into the offseason for a change.  That win, however, somewhat masks a maddeningly inconsistent 2016, where Yale went 3-7, gave up more than 40 points on defense four times, and somehow managed to lose to Cornell 27-13 at Schoellkopf Field.  The win in The Game will provide hope in New Haven and a good feeling in the offseason, but will it translate into a winning season and an Ivy League title run?”

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Lehigh at Monmouth Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: Can Monmouth Beat Lehigh for the 1st Time at Home?

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Lehigh at Monmouth Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: Can Monmouth Beat Lehigh for the 1st Time at Home?

(Photo Credit: Asbury Park Press)

Thanks to Monmouth’s game notes and the Asbury Park Press, which is the source of all of this research.

One thing you might want to consider bringing with you to the game on Saturday is clothes to donate.

“At today’s football game against Lehigh and tonight’s men’s soccer game against UMBC members of the Monmouth athletics community will be collecting clothing to be sent to those affected by Hurricane Harvey,” Monmouth’s game preview says.

It can seem like one is powerless with hurricane destruction in Houston and potential hurricane destruction in Florida, but contributions like this can help make a difference.

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Villanova at Lehigh Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: Who Will Be Pennsylvania’s FCS Champion?

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Villanova at Lehigh Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction: Who Will Be Pennsylvania’s FCS Champion?

One of my favorite stories of the early Lehigh football era was the idea that Lehigh, Lafayette and Penn in the late 1800s battled for the “Championship of Pennsylvania”.

In 2017, it wouldn’t be prudent to call a game versus Lehigh and Villanova the “Championship of Pennsylvania”, thanks to the presence of Penn State, Pitt and Temple in the state.

In FCS though, Lehigh vs. Villanova, the only two STATS and Coach’s Poll Top 25 teams that are based in Pennsylvania, it could certainly be spun in that way.

Villanova, at No. 9/10, travels to Lehigh, No. 17/17, to determine who is the FCS Champion of Pennsylvania.

I like it.
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Lehigh at UNH Game Breakdown And Fearless Prediction: FCS Game of the Week

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Lehigh at UNH Game Breakdown And Fearless Prediction: FCS Game of the Week

We break down the FCS Playoffs Game of the Week below the flip.

You heard right.

One of my FCS Playoff pet peeves (especially in the first round) is that, for some reason, ESPN (who owns the TV contract for all rounds of the FCS playoffs) and the NCAA do not space out all the games in fixed time slots.

If ESPN and the NCAA wanted to generate excitement about the playoffs, it would be fairly easy to space out every game with a kickoff every hour (Noon, 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM, etc.) all the way up to 8:00 PM.  That way, hardcore FCS football fans can watch part of every single game, with at least one game getting to crunch time every hour from about 2:30 PM on.  It would be compelling theater.

But ESPN and the NCAA, for some reason, choose not to do this, and indeed this year, ESPN has five FCS playoff games kicking off at 2:00 PM, one kicking off at 3:00 PM, and a couple of stragglers kicking off at 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM, respectively.

Why?  There is literally no good reason for this.  ESPN is causing hardcore FCS football fans to watch less FCS football.  I’d love to be able to catch Weber State/Chattanooga, but it’s on at the exact same time as Lehigh/UNH, so my chance of catching that game live is below zero.

Had Lehigh/UNH kicked off at Noon, and had Weber State/Chattanooga kicked off at 3:00 PM, suddenly I would have watched more ESPN3.  Foolishly, I thought that was also in ESPN’s (and the NCAA’s) best interest that I am writing about and talking about more FCS playoff games all day.
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#Rivalry152 Game Breakdown And Fearless Prediction: Don’t Sell Lafayette Short

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#Rivalry152 Game Breakdown And Fearless Prediction: Don’t Sell Lafayette Short

We break down #Rivalry152 – and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip.

When you take away The Rivalry, when you take away the emotions, when you take away the craziness, the energy – what do we have?  When you look at the Xs and Os, what do you have?

Certainly, this game, like every Rivalry game, will be dictated and informed by emotion.  You can count on the fact, as a Lehigh fan, that Lafayette will play out of their minds.  For their seniors, it is guaranteed to be their last game played together as a team.  For them, there is no practicing on Thanksgiving.

Countless football teams have taken this “300” mentality and turned it into wins.  Quarterbacks that used to struggle to not get intercepted suddenly become the second coming of QB Tom Brady.  Linebackers that didn’t wrap up their tackles before suddenly become LB Mike Singletary.  It can happen to Lehigh.  Don’t think that it can’t.

That shouldn’t stop us, though, from looking over the Leopards and seeing what they’re all about.  They will put together a gameplan to come away with victory.  It’s up to the Mountain Hawks to keep that from happening.

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Bucknell At Lehigh Game Breakdown And Fearless Prediction: One Win Makes Lehigh The First Guaranteed Postseason Contender

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Bucknell At Lehigh Game Breakdown And Fearless Prediction: One Win Makes Lehigh The First Guaranteed Postseason Contender

We break down the Bucknell game – and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip.

In case you have been living under a rock – or maybe just new at this – there’s a game going on this Saturday that’s, um, pretty important to Lehigh’s Patriot League title hopes.

To just go over the scenarios one more time, just so we’re all on the same page, Lehigh is in the driver’s seat this weekend.

If they beat Bucknell tomorrow, they are Patriot League champions – no worst than co-champions – and they will clinch the FCS autobid, being the first Division I football program in the nation to clinch a postseason berth.

If Bucknell wins, it opens the door for other possible not-so-good Mountain Hawk outcomes where Lehigh are co-champions without playoffs, or (if they lose to Bucknell and then to Lafayette), neither champions or playoff contenders.

Certainly a Lehigh win would allow all Mountain Hawk fans to know that, even after the 152nd meeting of The Rivalry, even after a sold-out crowd at Fisher Field in Easton, the Mountain Hawks football season would not end there.

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Fordham at Lehigh Game Breakdown And Fearless Prediction: Remember getting Chase-d Out of the Bronx?

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Fordham at Lehigh Game Breakdown And Fearless Prediction: Remember getting Chase-d Out of the Bronx?

We break down the Fordham game – and we give our fearless prediction below the flip.

Remember when Fordham RB Chase Edmonds set a Patriot League rushing record against the Mountain Hawks?  I do – it happened just last year, just the sort of Halloween “treat” I’d rather live without.

“Edmonds came out of the locker room like a man on fire, and played like it,” I wrote.  “Two 14 yard runs set up Fordham’s go-ahead score, and he would rush for 100 yards in the 3rd quarter, ripping off a 60 yard touchdown run to give Fordham a 38-21 lead and capping off three straight touchdowns for the Rams.”

Another less-publicized reason for Lehigh losing in the Bronx last season?  Unforced errors.

“Unfortunately, we’re still our own worst enemy,” head coach Andy Coen said afterwards.  “Whether its penalties or turnovers, you can’t beat a good team with those. They’re trying to learn that lesson. If you’re going to keep turning the ball over more than everybody else, it’s hard to win games.”

I’m guessing that the Lehigh football players are aware of these two events from last season.

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