Lehigh football: The good and the not-so-good entering Saturday's Fordham game

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER Lehigh is 4-0 and ranked No. 11 and No. 15 in the country among FCS teams, and yet, there's a lot of uneasiness about this team and this home game on Saturday against Fordham. Lehigh's depth has been in question since Day 1 and an injury to linebacker Sam Loughery that will keep him out against the Rams is a major blow. Gerard Gordon will take his place. Coming out of that amazing comeback against Liberty and looking ahead to 12:30 Saturday, here are three good things and three not-so-good things with Lehigh football: THE GOOD: 1. Lehigh is finding ways to win the tight ones. They have been outplayed for large chunks of games, especially the Princeton and Liberty contests, and yet they are resilient enough to find ways to win. This team is confident and never wavers, even when things never seem to go smoothly for a full quarter or half. 2. In a loud, hostile environment last Saturday, Lehigh did not turn the ball over and had just four penalties compared to a dozen by the home team. The special teams have been solid as well. Lehigh leads the Patriot League in net-punting and is second in offensive kickoff returns and second in kickoff coverage. Jake Peery is just 1-of-3 on field goal attempts, but at least he hasn't missed on 14 PAT kicks. 3. The defense has been tough when it needed to be. They have been on the field much longer than the offense. Lehigh is sixth in the league at 27:20 per game in time of possession. Though tired, and sometimes battered, the defense has made all the plays when they needed it. THE NOT-SO-GOOD: 1. Offensive inconsistency. Lehigh has led by at least 14-0 in every game, but the offense seems to take the foot off the pedal and the next thing you know, the game tightens. 2. Ryan Spadola leads the league with 21 catches for 355 yards, and yet has no touchdowns and seems to spend long periods of time without the ball. Defenses are obviously focused on stopping the All-American, but somehow, some way, Spadola needs the ball for this offense to take flight. 3. Lehigh needs to make homefield advantage a real advantage. In two games so far, the Mountain Hawks never let big leads fade and once the game tightens the environment at Goodman Stadium grows tense and almost works against the home team. Lehigh has two games at home coming up and will have both Bucknell and Colgate coming to Bethlehem later in the season. Teams should fear coming here, but so far, no visitor has been intimidated. Here's the weekly preview capsule: FORDHAM (3-1) at No. 11/15 LEHIGH (4-0) *When/Where: 12:30 p.m. today at Goodman Stadium, Bethlehem. *TV/Radio: Service Electric TV2; ESPN of the LV (1230, 1320 AM). *Series: Lehigh 22-2. Last meeting: Lehigh 34-12 in New York, Oct. 14, 2011. *Fordham stat leaders: Ryan Higgins 63-97, 790 yds, 4 TDs, 5 INTs; Carlton Koonce 94 car., 608 yds, 6.5 ypc, 3 TDs; Nick Talbert 16 rec., 205 yds, 5.3 ypc; Michael Martin 37 TT, 7 TFL, 4 sacks, 3 FF. *Lehigh stat leaders: Mike Colvin 71-121, 941 yds, 3 TDs, 4 INT; Colvin 35 car., 201 yds., 5.7 ypc, 4 TDs; Barket 49 car., 180 yds, 3.7 ypc, 2 TDs; Ryan Spadola 21 rec., 355 yds; Sam Loughery 39 TT, 5.0 TFL, 1 sack; Nigel Muhammad 32 TT, 2 sacks, 4.5 TFL, FF. *The skinny: The Rams are much improved, bolstered by three years of scholarship recipients and a new coach in Joe Moorhead, and feature the top offense in the Patriot League led by Koonce and Higgins. Lehigh’s defense will miss its leading tackler in Loughery, who is out with an injury. Lehigh coach Andy Coen talked about the Rams having about the same type of speed that Liberty featured last Saturday. Lehigh has dominated this series, but this one figures to be another close one for the Mountain Hawks, who have won three games by 10 points or less. *Keith Groller’s pick: Lehigh 27-21.