BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh head football coach Andy Coen announced the Mountain Hawks 2008 schedule on Monday, which includes five home dates, a pair of new opponents and matchups versus seven teams that posted winning records in 2007. “We’ve secured another top-notch schedule for the upcoming season that is full of strong teams we’ll be competing against this fall,” Coen explained. “We’ll be facing the defending Ivy League champions for the second straight season as well as a scholarship school out of the Colonial Athletic Association and a very strong group of Patriot League teams.”
Lehigh kicks off its 2008 campaign at Goodman Stadium on September 6 versus schedule newcomer Drake University, which is located in Des Moines, Iowa. The Bulldogs, who play in the Pioneer Football League, finished the 2007 season with a record of 6-5, and landed seven players on its all-conference team.
“We don’t know a whole lot about Drake at this point,” Coen said, “but we do know they had an impressive victory over a Gateway Conference school (nationally ranked Illinois State) to open up last season, and they have a new head coach (Chris Creighton) who has been very successful wherever he’s been.”
CAA member Villanova serves as Lehigh’s first road game on September 13 when the Mountain Hawks travel to the Main Line. The Wildcats went 7-4 a season ago, and closed their season out with a 16-10 victory over eventual national finalist Delaware. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity to compete against Villanova once again this season,” said Coen. “We’ve had a pair of great games with them during the last two seasons that were both not decided until the fourth quarter will be expecting another hard fought, physical game.”
For the second straight season Lehigh will travel to New Jersey to take on the Princeton Tigers. This year’s clash is slated for September 27 at Princeton Stadium. Lehigh has won eight of the last nine meetings with the Tigers, including five straight in the Garden State.
The following week the Brown and White returns home to take on yet another member of the Ancient Eight when Lehigh takes on Cornell for the first time in eight years. The Mountain Hawks and Big Red last met on the gridiron in 2001 when Lehigh came away with a 38-35 victory in Ithaca.
“We’re excited to play against this pair of Ivy League schools in back-to-back weeks,” Coen explained. “It will be nice to return to Princeton, which is a great setting for a college football game and was the site of our first victory in 2007.” Coen continued, “Cornell is always a tough, physical football team and we expect nothing less when we meet them this season.”
On October 11 the Mountain Hawks open up Patriot League play versus the defending league champion Fordham Rams at Goodman Stadium. Fordham was the surprise of the Patriot League in 2007, finishing with a 5-1 league record and an overall mark of 8-4. The Rams represented the league in the NCAA FCS Playoffs where they hung tough with No. 7 UMass, before falling 49-35.
Lehigh steps back out of conference on October 18 when it heads out for the first of three straight road contests to take on the Harvard Crimson in Massachusetts. Harvard finished 8-2 a season ago, including a perfect 7-0 in the Ivy League on its way to its 12th league crown. Lehigh handed the Crimson one of their two defeats in a hard-fought down-to-the-wire 20-13 victory on September 29 at Goodman Stadium.
“Traveling up to Massachusetts to play Harvard, the defending Ivy League Champions, will be tough, no question about it,” said Coen. “We have a large alumni contingent up there though and we’ll be looking forward to giving them a good show.”
The Mountain Hawks road trip continues with games at Holy Cross on October 25 and at Georgetown on November 1. Lehigh has won seven straight games in Worcester versus the Crusaders and will be looking to avenge last season’s loss at home against the New England school. One week later the Brown and White heads to the nation’s capital where it will take on a Georgetown team it has beaten seven straight times by an average score of 46-10. The Mountain Hawks defeated the Hoyas 45-0 in 2007; it was their first shutout win since 2002.
On November 8 Lehigh returns home to face the Colgate Raiders, while on November 15 Bucknell visits Goodman Stadium. The Mountain Hawks have defeated Colgate in each of the past two matchups in Bethlehem, and they have beaten Bucknell ten consecutive times.
The regular season finale is scheduled for November 22 when Lehigh meets archrival Lafayette in the 144th meeting of college football’s most played rivalry. This year’s clash will be played in Easton at Fisher Stadium.
Season tickets for the 2008 Lehigh football season go on sale Tuesday, June 17.
The Mountain Hawks begin their preparations for the 2008 season this Thursday, March 20 when they open spring practice. Lehigh will hit the field at 4:30 for the first of 15 spring practices. The annual Brown and White spring game is scheduled for Saturday, April 19 inside of Goodman Stadium.
