No. 19 Lehigh to visit No. 16 Northern Iowa in FCS Playoffs
11/21/2010 5:54:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After downing rival Lafayette 20-13 on Saturday for its seventh straight victory, the Lehigh football team learned its NCAA Playoff fate on Sunday Morning. The Patriot League Champion and 19th-ranked Mountain Hawks will meet Missouri Valley Conference champion Northern Iowa on Saturday, November 27 at UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
“It's surprising,” said Lehigh head coach Andy Coen. “When the first round games started to come out I knew it was going to be interesting. We've been on a plane to Iowa once before this year but so it's not going to be totally foreign to our guys.”
Tickets will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting the Lehigh ticket office located in Grace Hall. Tickets are $24 for adults and $12 for youth ages 3-16 and can also be purchased through Northern Iowa.
Lehigh finished the regular season with a 9-2 record including a perfect 5-0 mark in Patriot League play. The Mountain Hawks captured their Patriot League-
leading ninth championship and will make their first NCAA Playoff appearance since 2004. Northern Iowa is ranked 16th in the latest Sports Network poll. The Panthers finished the regular season at 7-4 overall and 6-2 in the MVC. Like Lehigh, UNI clinched its playoff berth prior to its regular season finale, which the Panthers lost to Western Illinois 30-14 on Saturday. The Panthers were last in the FCS Playoffs in 2008, where they beat Maine and New Hampshire before falling to Richmond in the semifinals.
Saturday's game will mark the first meeting between Lehigh and Northern Iowa in football. The Mountain Hawks have faced a team from the MVC one before, in 2000 when Lehigh defeated Western Illinois 37-7 in a first round NCAA Playoff game. The winner of the Lehigh-Northern Iowa game will face No. 3 seed Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens on December 4.
“Hopefully we can go and represent Lehigh and the Patriot League well,” Coen said. “That's our first goal. We're going to roll up our sleeves. I don't think there's a ton of pressure on us right now. The kids are going to go out and play hard and we'll see what happens.”
Saturday's game will kickoff at 12 p.m. (CST) from UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Brown & Flight 2025 - Episode Two
Friday, October 10
2025 Brown & Flight - Episode 1
Thursday, September 18
Lehigh Sports Central: Football
Wednesday, August 27
2025 Lehigh Football Season Preview: Special Teams
Thursday, August 21
