On Saturday, Lehigh is hosting an NCAA FCS football playoff game for the first time since 2004, and the Mountain Hawks’ fan base is happy about the opportunity.
Reportedly, 6,000 tickets have been sold by Lehigh, and the student tickets are approaching the number normally associated with a Lafayette game presale.
The hope is to create an electrifying atmosphere to demonstrate an appreciation for a team that is 12-0, Patriot League champs, and ranked No. 4 in the nation in one poll and No. 3 in the other.
It’s the type of response Mountain Hawks coach Kevin Cahill has talked about since he arrived three years ago in December 2022, and mentioned last year after a playoff loss at Idaho. He said that he would set a goal for the team to have a season so good that the team would be rewarded with a first-round bye and home game.
So, here come the Wildcats, who are coming off a 52-7 thrashing of Harvard in the first round of the playoffs. Villanova is 10-2 and ranked as high as No. 6 in one national poll. The Wildcats are on a nine-game winning streak after back-to-back losses early in the season to Penn State and Monmouth.
Villanova has won 11 straight in the series with Lehigh and spoiled Cahill’s debut at Lehigh in Week 1 of the 2023 season with a 38-10 win.
The Wildcats are entering the Patriot League along and William & Mary next season and would like to announce their arrival in a bold, strong way.
Lehigh hasn’t played since closing the regular season with a 42-32 win at Lafayette on Nov. 22. The next day the Mountain Hawks found out they had the first-round bye and home game and then learned the opponent would be Villanova on Saturday.
“The week off was good; we needed it,” Cahill said. “That’s a goal of ours going back to Idaho last year. We want to see what a difference it is to not have to play in Week 1. So, we attained it and now we have to do something with it. We had a good week off. The kids had a little bit of a break, a refresher. Now, we’ve got to tune it back up again.”
Lehigh will miss its leading tackler, Brycen Edwards, who suffered an injury in the game at Lafayette. The rest of the starting lineup will be intact.
“At this point, you’ve played 12 games, and everybody is banged up,” Cahill said. “I’m sure Villanova also has some injuries. You just have to piece together what you have and make sure you have enough depth to make sure the next man up is ready to go.”
Cahill said Villanova “is really good.”
“They’re really talented, and that was a message sent by Villanova in that win over Harvard,” he said. “They’re really tough to play anywhere, but especially at home. I really have a ton of respect for Coach [Mark] Ferrante and his organization and the way he does things. It is exciting to play them. They’re in the playoffs year in and year out, and they’re doing what we want to do. We want to be in the playoffs every year and make some noise, and that’s exactly what Villanova is doing. For us to take the next step, we’re going to have to go through a tremendous football team. It’s going t o take everything we have.”
Cahill said Villanova’s running game will pose one of the biggest challenges.
“They have a tremendous scheme,” he said. “They have a couple of running backs who can hit a home run at any moment. And the minute you bring in an extra tackler to defend the run, they will throw the ball over your head. And they have a really good player at quarterback and athletes all over the place on defense. On both sides of the ball, their scheme fits their strengths.”
But the bottom line is, Lehigh is going to have to play Villanova every year going forward, so why not get a jumpstart on what that’s going to be like?
Lehigh is not going to rest on its accomplishments, which kept rolling in Thursday when Cahill was announced as the winner of the Eddie Robinson Award, saluting him as the top coach n FCS football.
“People tell me all the time that they appreciate what we’re doing,” Cahill said. “But I haven’t enjoyed it. I will at some point whenever it’s over. You have to appreciate because it doesn’t happen often. I’ve never gone through an unbeaten regular season before. But right now, you can’t think about it. If you do, you’re going to get smoked because we have a really big challenge ahead of us on Saturday.”
NCAA FCS Second-Round Playoff Game
Who: No. 12 seed Villanova (10-2) at No. 5 Lehigh (12-0)
When/where: 12 noon Saturday at Goodman Stadium, Bethlehem
At stake: A berth in the FCS quarterfinals against either Tarleton State (11-1) or North Dakota (8-5) on Dec. 13.
TV/radio: ESPN+ and Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM in Easton.
The storylines: Lehigh is hosting a FCS playoff game for the first time since 2004. The Mountain Hawks are in the FCS playoffs for the second straight year after beating Richmond and losing to Idaho last year. Lehigh is 10-14 all-time in the NCAA playoffs, 7-12 at the I-AA or FCS level. This is just the third playoff game at Goodman Stadium following an overtime win over Hofstra in 2001 and a loss to James Madison in 2004. Villanova is 16-15 all-time in the FCS playoffs. The Wildcats have won nine games in a row after losses to Penn State and Monmouth. They are coming off a 52-7 rout of Harvard. They got touchdowns from seven different players, outgained Harvard 512-213, and led 31-0 at halftime. Villanova had a decisive advantage in time of possession (38:14 to 21:46. Pat McQuaide completed 14 of 22 passes for 193 yards and three TDs. Isaiah Ragland led the ground game with 152 yards on 17 carries and scored a touchdown.
Players to watch: Lehigh’s leading tackler, Brycen Edwards, is out with an injury, and the defense will need sophomores such as Cole Hughes and Bryce Izundu to step up in his place. William Parton, another linebacker, is second on the team in stops with 61. Geoffrey Jamiel is the top to receiver with 69 receptions for 1,026 yards and eight TDs. Luke Yoder, the MVP in the Lafayette game, has 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns, and quarterback Hayden Johnson has thrown for 2,349 yards and 18 TDs. For Villanova, McQuaide has thrown for 2,549 yards and 22 TDs, and his top receiver is Luke Colella, who has 60 catches for 884 yards and eight TDs. Three different Wildcats have run for 652 yards or more, led by Ja’bril Mace, who ran for 688 yards and nine TDs. Shane Hartzell leads the defense with 82 tackles, including 13 for losses and seven sacks.
Keith Groller’s pick: Villanova 28-24
