Lehigh to play No. 1 team on Sept. 11

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Unless things change in the polls after Villanova plays Temple on Sept. 3, Lehigh will be playing the No. 1 FCS (I-AA) team in the country, the defending national champion Wildcats, at Goodman Stadium on Sept. 11 in its home opener.

Villanova came out on top in the first The Sports Network/Fathead.com poll released earlier this week. 'Nova received 104 of 126 first-place votes.

But Lehigh's schedule just doesn't include the No. 1 Wildcats, it includes No. 10 New Hampshire and two Patriot League teams that made the top-25 --- No. 22 Colgate and No. 25 Holy Cross. Three other teams on Lehigh's schedule were in the "others receiving votes" category with Lafayette, Princeton and Harvard getting plenty of interest.

And remember, while Drake is not ranked, that season-opening trip to Iowa doesn't figure to be a picnic.

It is the toughest schedule I can remember Lehigh playing in my 10 years on the beat and the Mountain Hawks, as we know, have a quarterback decision to make. They better get that figured out soon. Lehigh has a lot of promise at a lot of positions, but it won't matter unless the M-Hawks get better, consistent QB play.

I will get to see how that battle is shaping up on Friday when Lehigh holds its media day at Goodman Stadium.

In case you've missed it elsewhere, here's Lehigh 2010 schedule:

Sept 4: At Drake.

Sept. 11: vs. Villanova at home.

Sept. 18: vs. Princeton at home.

Sept. 25: at New Hampshire

Oct. 9: vs. Fordham at home.

Oct. 16: at Harvard.

Oct. 23: vs. Bucknell at home.

Oct. 30: vs. Colgate at home.

Nov. 6: at Holy Cross

Nov. 13: at Georgetown

Nov. 20: at Lafayette.

All home games are 12:37 starts.

Note, no November home games. Even though G-town has been down for a decade in the Patriot League, that's a tough three-game stretch to close it out. If Lehigh goes 7-4 with this sched, Andy Coen not only deserves to keep his job, but should be coach of the year.