Welcome to www.Collegefootballfan.com

"Get off the couch and go to a game!"

The Goal - See 'em all!

Lehigh End Zone INT with :05 left stops Colgate, 21-14

Bethlehem, PA. – With :05 remaining in the game, Colgate QB Chris Brown’s 13-yard pass into the end zone found DB Julian Austin who took it out to the five where he downed the ball to end the ‘gate threat and seal the Mountain Hawks’ victory.  The win vaulted Lehigh (7-1,3-0) ahead of the Red Raiders (5-3, 2-1) in a Patriot League contest played between the League’s two most recent champions.  The game was hyped to be an offensive battle between the two top Patriot League offensive players in the 1AA conference with Lehigh QB Mark Borda, averaging 267 passing yards per game, and CU RB Jamaal Branch, #7 in 1AA averaging 124.3 rushing yards per game.  Instead, both teams showed versatile offensive capabilities as Lehigh relied more on the running of RBs Eric Rath and Marques Thompson who rushed for 94 and 86 yards respectively. Borda passed well below his average for only 134 yards, but he rushed for 91 while throwing for 2 TDs and no INTs. As Lehigh’s D held Branch to only 29 yards on 16 carries on a slightly slippery field, Brown accounted for 259 passing yards on 25 of 36 passes, but threw three interceptions.  CFF enjoyed its first of at least three non-1A games in a row, seeing some good small school matches on a local level.  Four junior Guest Game Analysts joined us for Lehigh’s Annual Family Day.  Goodman Stadium provided several “diversions” to keep young fans pre-occupied despite a well-played football game.  Both teams combined for only four penalties totaling 25 yards.

     Colgate moved the ball to the Lehigh 15 on its very first series with little production from Branch.  However, PK Lance Schwarzberg’s placement for a 32-yard FG went for naught.  Lehigh responded with an 80-yard scoring drive ending with a 5-yard TD pass from Borda to Thompson on a middle screen pass.  PK Matt McNelis of Altoona, PA drilled the PAT for a 7-0 Lehigh lead.

      On the Red Raider’s next offensive series, Brown completed a pass to FL Luke Graham on a 4^th and 12 to keep the ‘gate drive alive.  Six ticks into Q2, Brown found WR DeWayne Long in the end zone for a 19-yard TD pass. Long finished with 126 yards on 12 catches this day.   Schwarzberg’s extra point knotted the score at 7-7.  Both teams made statements on their subsequent possessions to indicate that this could be a high –scoring affair.  Borda connected with TE Adam Bergen on a third and five for 25 yards to the Colgate 10.  Next, he found Thompson once again for a 14 yard TD pass and a 14-7 Mountain Hawk lead.  Brown was not to be outdone.   His 28-yard pass completion to Long on his next series took the Raiders to the Lehigh one.  From there, Branch took it in for his 13^th TD of the season to tie the score at 14-all with 5:01 remaining.  Lehigh ate up the clock as Borda converted his team to first downs on several third and long situations to get to the CU 12.  However, McNelis missed the 25-yard FG with :53 left and the score remained tied at the half.

      CFF was entertained at halftime by GGA’s Eric Koreivo and Greg Walker as they took advantage of the slippery, grassy slopes in the south end zone of Goodman Stadium where they practiced base stealing slides and log rolls down the steep incline.  They had done so earlier in the first quarter and would continue again in the fourth as they found the forces of gravity much more interesting than a D1AA football game between two good teams.  The exercise resulted in a quiet ride home though with two tired nine-year olds passing out in the back of the van on the way home.  Lehigh’s Marching 97 (less about 48 in number) performed at halftime in its usual entertaining fashion. 

      Lehigh ran three plays and punted to begin the second half.  Colgate moved to the Lehigh 42 prior to their punt, but not before CFF saw one of the most flagrant non-calls of the season.  On a long pass play, a Lehigh DB faceguarded the ‘gate’s WR so blatantly, the ball hit him in back of the helmet.  If the Colgate WR had attempted to come back even a little to make the catch, it clearly would have been interference. The DB has to play the ball, not the man. The drive stalled.  Colgate would start its next series from its own 8.  On a third and 17 from his own one, Brown went long over the middle only to be picked off by Lehigh strong safety Karrie Ford.  LU started at the Colgate 40.  On a critical fourth and one at the Raider 21. RB Eric Rath ran it to the 15 for a first down. At this point, it was evident that Lehigh had no confidence in its FG kicker.  Justin Musiek was listed as the starter, but McNelis, a freshman, had handled the previous attempts.  From the three-yard line, Borda pitched to Rath on an option play to the right where Rath took it in for a 21-14 Lehigh lead with 3:39 left in Q3.  CU’s next series was halted on an INT by OLB Anthony Graziani, whose name was called throughout the game while making 9 unassisted and 9 assisted tackles. 

      Both teams exchanged several punts into Q4 as both defenses toughened up.  Lehigh started a drive from its own 9 after recovering its own fumble on a punt return.  Marques Thompson got the Mountain Hawks out of their hole with a 38-yard jaunt to the 48-yard line.  The Hawk’s turned the ball over on downs when they couldn’t convert at the Colgate 23 on fourth and seven with 4:11 remaining in the game. A 40-yard FG was evidently never considered to “ice” the game.  Brown subsequently led his team to the Lehigh 22 with :38 left using the clock and converting on key situations.  On third and one at the 13 though, Brown’s pass went straight into the belly of the awaiting Austin in the end zone with no Raider in the immediate vicinity and five seconds left.  The game was over.  Lehigh preserved its spot atop the Patriot League tied at 3-0 with archrival Lafayette who was idle on this Saturday.  Colgate, the 2003 national 1AA runner-up, dropped to 2-1 in League play.  Lehigh will visit lightweight Georgetown next week before hosting Fordham and visiting Lafayette in the longest ongoing rivalry in college football.  ‘Gate could help Lehigh next week when it hosts Lafayette before visits to Bucknell and to Fordham.

 Extra Points: Colgate’s Brown was constantly seen running along the sideline trying to loosen up a leg muscle while his defense was on the field.

  Lower Division ball is great! One guy saw us walking in with four kids on Family Day and hands us a complimentary General Admission ticket.  Though kids tix cost only five bucks, it’s a great gesture.  They must hold several tickets for groups like ours especially on Family Day. The ticket was pre-marked “Complimentary”. It shows that the program is not just about making money, and it’s a fun day of family entertainment.  Family Day featured a bounce-away and other games. Slippery slopes were enough for our young GGAs though.  Maybe they should just hose the hill down for every game. The muddy clothes didn’t hurt anything, and the boys improved their sliding styles after a season of fall baseball.  We hear that Navy kept some slopes intact at Navy-MC after renovations just so kids could continue to slide down the hill in empty boxes, which has always been a feature at that stadium as well. 

      The Family Day crowd was announced as 13,929.  The largest crowd at Goodman was 19,110 for the Lafayette game in 1991. We were there for the fourth largest, 16,000, when we saw the same rivalry played in 1999.

      The kids convinced us to sit low in the general admission section on the Colgate side only because there were far fewer people when we first arrived.  Though CFF was rooting for Lehigh in hopes that we’ll have a chance to see some “local” action during 1AA playoffs, we were even more disappointed to sit where we did when we realized that the LU cheerleaders looked much more attractive than their Colgate counterparts!  We’ll know better next time.  The November 20 game at Lafayette now seems to be more enticing if that game is played as the Patriot League championship.  It may be four non-1A games in a row!

     Starting Colgate CB Andre Bogle was last seen by CFF several years ago when we saw our local HS, Lenape Valley (NJ), play at Hopatcong HS.  Bogle was a key cog in the Lenape rushing attack that night and throughout his senior season. He made two tackles against the Mountain Hawks.

      This is only the fourth Colgate game in CFF annals (1-3), but the first college game I had ever seen was when the Red Raiders visited Princeton at old Palmer Stadium in 1966.  It was on some kind of school-sponsored trip back in fifth grade, and Colgate prevailed, 7-0.  A lively crowd is remembered on a sunny fall afternoon back then, and I remember buying two pennants – Princeton and Notre Dame.  The outing evidently made quite an impression.  I realize things are quite different for kids today.  My own kids have been to many more “major” sporting events before the age of 10 than I had ever been to.  That was my first, I think. Major League baseball, basketball and football came years later. CFF had also seen Colgate in subsequent years against the likes of Penn State, of all teams, and Rutgers.

    Lehigh does a great job with concessions.  The have outsourced trailers set up in the south end zone overlooking the playing field.  They provide a wide variety of choices, decent value, and ample portions.  GGA’s Alex Koreivo and Katie McGeehin couldn’t finish the bowls of ice cream that they bought.  Like I said, “things are quite different for kids today.”