We’ll admit it: we lied.
Every year, The Brown & White Editorial Board writes an article justifying Lehigh football’s chances of winning the annual rivalry game against Lafayette. Last year, we predicted that Lehigh would pull out a narrow win.
Did we really think that? Absolutely not.
The 2023 Lehigh Mountain Hawks were a team that closely resembled the three years before. The team struggled to score, placing themselves dead last in the Patriot League. Games that felt in Lehigh’s grasp either slipped away or simply got out of hand.
The rivalry proved to be no different.
Lehigh gave up an unfortunate 35 unanswered points in the second half to let the Leopards win the game and hoist a conference title at Goodman Stadium.
But, if Lehigh wins this Saturday, they’ll be able to do the same.
It says a lot that we truly think Lehigh will win this game. After all, college football rosters don’t usually change much over a given year.
But this year, Lehigh’s team has changed drastically. We don’t think this game will even be remotely close.
This season, Lehigh has scored more points and given up fewer points. They’ve operated with a better rushing and passing defense, a higher third-down completion percentage, a superior field goal percentage, and a greater punting distance than the Leopards.
The Mountain Hawks have also allowed fewer sacks, caused more sacks, intercepted more passes, committed fewer penalties and defended better in the red zone.
What I just explained covers every aspect of what happens on a football field. This season, Lehigh’s football team is simply better than Lafayette’s.
A winning Lehigh team also historically performs well in the rivalry game. While Lehigh has won the rivalry 45.2% of the time, their win percentage jumps to 67.1% in years where the team has held a winning record prior to the rivalry.
This year, the Mountain Hawks will be entering the game with a Patriot League-best 7-3 record, and on a league-leading four-game winning streak.
A win against Lafayette will mark a six-game improvement over their previous season, something the Mountain Hawks have only done three times since 1903.
A win would also cap off a near-miraculous turnaround for coach Kevin Cahill in his second year, taking a team from the bottom of the Patriot League to the top virtually overnight.
While Cahill will righteously get most of the praise for his role, defensive coordinator Richard Nagy deserves equally as much for his efforts at keeping Lehigh’s opponents to only 10 points per game across the last three matchups.
Are the players Nagy and Cahill are working with new? No.
Most of the defensive line is made up of upperclassmen. What’s happening is that they’re getting a level of productivity out of them that would’ve been unheard of under former coach Tom Gilmore.
Junior defensive lineman Matt Spatny had an unremarkable 2022 freshman season, but, under the new coaching staff, he’s exploded into a sack machine. He’s currently sitting at 10 on the year, placing him fifth in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Fifth-year linebacker Mike DeNucci is on pace to have another productive season as well. He has eclipsed the 70-tackle mark for a third year in a row and is in the top five in the Patriot League in both sacks and tackles for a loss.
Lehigh’s defense has also improved through good field positioning, which they’ve achieved through special teams.
In the past five games, first-year punter Connor Poole has put 53% of his punts within the opponent’s 20-yard line and has only kicked one touchback. It seems a bit strange to talk about punting, but when your punter is this consistent, it can create problems for opposing offenses who have to start so far away from the scoring position.
Poole was a highly-touted prospect, and the guy who was second in Pennsylvania in yards per punt last year in the state’s largest classification for high school football. The only person ahead of him was another first-year, who will play another key role in Lehigh’s path to victory, quarterback Hayden Johnson.
While Johnson’s punting days may be behind him, his steady arm has played a key role in Lehigh’s success. Johnson hasn’t thrown a single interception in the past month, and we hope to see this streak continue on Saturday.
He also has two running backs, Jaden Green and sophomore Luke Yoder, who have been integral parts of Lehigh’s offense this year, combining for 18 touchdowns.
Lehigh’s offense rarely makes mistakes and is hard to stop. Their defense also is among the best they’ve had in years.
What Lehigh’s coaching staff has been able to do is nothing short of wizardry.
Against any Patriot League team, including Lafayette, fans should expect a big win on any Saturday. We believe the Mountain Hawks will showcase everything they’ve been perfecting this season. When the Leopards head home, they’ll be leaving the Patriot League crown in the deserving hands of their rivals.
Final score prediction: Lehigh 37-17 Lafayette
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