#Lehigh gameday blog: Lehigh wins league opener in impressive style, beats #Bucknell 30-6

FROM KEITH GROLLER

3:38 p.m.

The game is over here in Lewisburg and behind another impressive passing performance, Lehigh rolled past Bucknell 30-6 in its Patriot League opener.

The No. 10 ranked Mountain Hawks are now 5-1 overall entering a game at Fordham next week.

Quarterback Chris Lum was 30-for-37 for 368 yards and four touchdowns and the Lehigh defense recorded 10 sacks in dropping Bucknell to 4-2 and 1-1.

After a field goal on the opening drive made it 3-0, Lum hit Jimmy Jefferson for his first TD of the day to make it 10-0 on the first play of the second quarter.

And then he found his favorite targets Jake Drwal and Ryan Spadola to pad the lead to 23-0 before Bucknell got on the board with nine seconds left in the half.

Lehigh concluded its scoring with 6:56 to go in the third quarter on a 35-yard TD pass from Lum to Spadola.

Spadola finished the day with 10 catches for 181 yards, while Drwal had nine grabs for 63 yards.

Lum was also Lehigh's top rusher with a net-27 yards.

Ben Flizack and Colin Newton had two sacks apiece for Lehigh's defense, which allowed just 246 yards in total offense.

3:36 p.m

Bucknell got a late FG and is still trying to tack on some late points here, but it's going to be a most impressive league-opening victory for the Mountain Hawks, who lived up to their No. 10 ranking.

3:11 p.m.

Through three quarters, Lehigh's Lum was 30-for-37 for 368 yards and four TDs. He is also Lehigh's top rusher with a net-27 yards on four carries.

3:09 p.m.

Lehigh's running game is still non-existent. Keith Sherman was stopped on fourth-and-short. Bucknell ball at its own 10 with 14:55 remaining.

3:07 p;m.

Third quarter is over with Lehigh facing a fourth-and-short at the Bucknell 10. It's Lehigh 30-3 and looking more and more like the No. 10 ranked team in the country will improve to 5-1 and win its league opener.

2:54 p.m.

This just in. Lehigh is pretty darn good, especially quarterback Chris Lum. His fourth TD pass of the day went for 39 yards to Ryan Spadola and this is looking like yet another rout over Bucknell. Lum continues to put up staggering numbers thanks to his pass-catching friends. Lehigh has no running game today, but it doesn't mean a thing.

2:34 p.m.

Recap of the scoring here at Lehigh-Bucknell where the Mountain Hawks lead 23-3 at halftime.

Tim Divers kicked a 35-yard field goal to cap the first drive of the game.

Jimmy Jefferson caught a 9-yard TD pass to cap a 69-yard drive, that's Jefferson's first career TD pass. It came on the first play of the second quarter.

And then we had back-to-back TD passes from Lum to Drwal and Spadola to make it 23-0 before Bucknell got on the board late.

Lum is 20-for-26 for 247 yards and three touchdowns. Drwal has seven catches for 51 yards, Spadola has six grabs for 99. Typical aerial show.

The ground game, however, has gone nowhere. 11 carries have produced a minus-five yards. Lum was sacked twice for negative-13.

Defensively, Lehigh has allowed just 94 yards. Bucknell2 002

2:16 p.m.

Bucknell got on the board here with nine seconds left before halftime on a 43-yard field goal by Drew Orth. So, it's now 23-3 at halftime.

2 p.m.

I hit the worst traffic I hit anywhere on some Lehigh football road trips.

Last year getting to Georgetown was a nightmare and today's trip to Bucknell may have been even worse.

It should not take three hours to get to Bucknell, but it did today. It took more than an hour to get through about a 5-mile stretch on I-80. What was frustrating was that the five-mile backup led to a construction zone where no construction was going on. Just ridiculous.

It's one thing to hit traffic where expected, like the Schuylkill Expressway, for example. It's another to get hit with a major delay when you don't expect it. That's what happened today. I was in such a good mood coming off what happened last night in Philly, but no more.

This is all I saw for more than an hour (see right) Bucknell 002.

But I am settled in here now at Bucknell's Chisty Mathewson Memorial Stadium and was able to see the last two Lehigh touchdowns, scoring passes to -- who else -- Jake Drwal and Ryan Spadola -- and it's Lehigh 23-0 in the final minute of the first half.

We'll give a complete scoring rundown and stats at halftime.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/