Second-half magic spells a "W" for Lehigh

FROM THE MORNING CALL

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa —It seems to be some kind of second-half magic.

But Lehigh coach Andy Coen says it's more about just staying calm and adjusting.

"You go in at halftime and you look at some things, change some things," Coen said. "But it comes down to the kids having confidence. We're a second-half team. They know it. And they respond. They have great character and they believe in each other."

And Lehigh added a bunch of believers Saturday as they shook off another halftime deficit and posted a gritty, hard-fought 14-7 FCS playoff win over Northern Iowa in the UNI Dome.


A much smaller than expected crowd of 5,990 never could turn up the volume in what was expected to be a noisy building.

In the end, Lehigh came to love the dome. Several players were seen taking pictures of the place — especially the scoreboard — before heading to the locker room.

"This was just a great experience and one of the funnest games I've ever played in," said senior safety John Veniero who had one of Lehigh's three interceptions. "To play such a good football team in a tough environment was something I'll never forget. I'll never forget the look on the faces of our fans when it was over."

It was the third consecutive week that the Mountain Hawks trailed at halftime, but found a way to put something together after intermission.

Junior quarterback Chris Lum shook off a first-half interception to throw two third-quarter touchdown passes and let it up to the defense to finish it off.

It is Lehigh's first playoff win since 2001, the Patriot League's first since 2003 and secured a spot in next Saturday's FCS Round-of-16.

The 18th ranked Mountain Hawks, who at 10-2 have won 10 games for the first time since 2001, will get a much shorter trip this time. They will be heading to No. 5 ranked Delaware for a meeting with the third-seeded Blue Hens at Tubby Raymond Field. It will be a noon start.

Delaware, 9-2, is coached by Emmaus native K.C. Keeler and led by former Penn State quarterback Pat Devlin, had a first-round bye in the 20-team, FCS tournament.

The Blue Hens will be the third Colonial Athletic Association member Lehigh has played this season and the first two haven't gone that well – losses to Villanova and New Hampshire.

But this is a much more resilient, resourceful team than the one that lost two September games. The defense, in particular, continues to shine and gives the offense time to get its act together.

"I can't say enough about how well our defense played in bottling up an explosive offense all day," Coen said. "We got relentless pressure on their quarterback [Tirrell Rennie] and we got three interceptions including a couple late in the first half that kept us in the game.

"Our special teams were also very important. Alex Smith had some great punts that pinned that back deep and we blocked a field-goal attempt by them."

The offense, well, it did just enough, overcoming inconsistency and three turnovers to put 14 points on the board. It was the lowest point total in a Lehigh win since a 14-7 victory over Yale in 2002.

"We made just enough plays," Coen said.

The two big ones were the two Lum touchdown passes.

The first was a 62-yard strike from Lum to Jake Drwal. Drwal caught the ball in tight coverage near the sideline and the UNI defender appeared to think Drwal went out of bounds.

He stayed in bounds and kept going for a tying touchdown.

"Jake made a great play, and Chris made a great back-shoulder throw," Coen said.

The second TD pass came one play after a John Kennedy interception.

Lum, who finished 18-for-37 for 267 yards, found his favorite target, sophomore Ryan Spadola, on a deep crossing route for a 28-yard touchdown with 2:07 left in the third quarter. Spadola had nine catches for 127 yards.


There was a lot more drama in the fourth quarter, including two missed UNI field-goal attempts – one that was blocked by Jarard Cribbs.

In the end, it was the Lehigh defense – as it has most of this memorable season – standing tall and refusing to let a close game slip away.

The Mountain Hawks limited UNI to 188 yards rushing, 30 below the Panthers' seasonal average. They also recorded four sacks and held the No. 16 ranked Panthers to just four third-down conversions on 16 attempts.

Rennie, a threat every time he got the ball, never found open spaces; at least not after his 17-yard TD run in the first quarter. The touchdown capped a 50-yard drive set up by Lum's interception.

Rennie ran 27 times and had a net-86 yards, but averaged just 3.2 yards per carry. He completed just six passes.

"It's an explosive offense predicated on their quarterback," Coen said. "[Defensive coordinator] Dave Kotulski and the rest of our defensive coaches just do a good job of putting our kids where they need to be. Today, except maybe for one time, they were right where they needed to be."

And, now Lehigh is where it wants to be – headed to Delaware for some December football.

But on the plane ride home, Coen and his team planned to savor the moment.

"We've had some very good wins this season and this is without a doubt the best because it's the best football team that we've beaten," he said. "I'm very proud of our team and everybody associated with our program."

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