Patriot League Champion Mountain Hawks meet future League rival Villanova in FCS Playoffs
PatriotFB Playoff Notebook (.PDF)
 
•Fifth-seeded Lehigh will host No. 12 Villanova in the Second Round of the FCS Playoffs with live coverage on ESPN+ beginning at noon on Saturday, Dec. 6.
•With the Wildcats set to join the Patriot League in 2026, the Mountain Hawks will face a future League rival in the FCS Playoffs for the second straight season. Lehigh defeated ninth-seeded Richmond, 20-16, last season.
•Lehigh will host Villanova for the second time in the Kevin Cahill era. Cahill and the Mountain Hawks fell to head coach Mark Ferrante and the Wildcats, 38-10 on Sept. 2, 2023, in Cahill’s Lehigh debut. 
 
NO. 12 VILLANOVA WILDCATS (10-2, 7-1 CAA) AT NO. 5 LEHIGH MOUNTAIN HAWKS (12-0, 7-0 PL)
Goodman Stadium/Bethlehem, Pa.          Saturday, December 6 – Noon ET (ESPN+)
LIVE STATS
BROADCAST (ESPN+): PxP - Robert Lee; Analyst - Barrett Brooks
RADIO BROADCAST (Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM/1230 AM): PxP - Matt Kerr; Analyst - Mike Yadush; Sideline - Connor Brown
RADIO BROADCAST (Villanova Sports Radio Network): PxP - Ryan Fannon; Analyst - Steve Pinone
SERIES HISTORY:  Lehigh and Villanova will meet for the 20th time in a series that began in 1903. The Mountain Hawks trail their future Patriot League rivals, 14-5.
LAST MEETING: (Sept. 2, 2023) – Villanova 38, at Lehigh 10 – BOX SCORE
GAME NOTES: LEHIGH | VILLANOVA
 
LEHIGH CLAIMS RECORD 14TH PATRIOT LEAGUE TITLE AND NO. 5 SEED IN THE FCS PLAYOFFS
Lehigh was crowned the Patriot League Football Champions and earned the League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs for the second straight season with a 42-32 victory over No. 24 Lafayette in the 161st meeting of The Rivalry, college football’s most-played rivalry game. Mountain Hawks’ Jr. RB Luke Yoder rushed for 234 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries to earn Rivalry 161 MVP honors. Lehigh extended its FCS-long regular-season winning streak to 17 games and moved up to No. 3 in the final AFCA Coaches Poll of the regular season.
 
PATRIOT LEAGUE IN THE FCS PLAYOFFS
•Since 1997, Colgate and Lehigh are tied for the Patriot League lead with six FCS Playoff victories. Fordham (3) and Holy Cross (2) have also earned victories in the playoffs.
 
•Patriot League teams are 10-17 in FCS Playoff games since 2010, winning at least one postseason game in nine seasons during that span. A Patriot League team has reached the quarterfinal round four times since 2010, including Lehigh (2011), Colgate (2015 and 2018) and Holy Cross (2022).
 
•Prior to Lehigh’s first-round win in 2024, the last League team to earn a postseason victory was Holy Cross, which defeated New Hampshire, 35-19, in the second round of the 2022 FCS Playoffs before falling to eventual national champion No. 1 South Dakota State (42-21) in the quarterfinals. The Crusaders had also downed NEC Champion Sacred Heart in 2021, 13-10. In 2018, Colgate advanced to the quarterfinal round, falling to eventual FCS Champion North Dakota State, after defeating James Madison (23-20) in the second round.
 
LEHIGH IN THE FCS PLAYOFFS
The Mountain Hawks will play their 17th FCS playoff game in the Patriot League era when they host No. 12 Villanova in second round. Lehigh is 6-10 in FCS postseason appearances
1998 – At Lehigh 24, Richmond 23
1998 – At UMass 27, Lehigh 21
1999 – At Hofstra 27, Lehigh 15
2000 – Lehigh 37, at Western Illinois 7
2000 – At Delaware 47, Lehigh 22
2001 – At Lehigh 27, Hofstra 14
2001 – At Delaware 34, Lehigh 17
2004 – James Madison 14, at Lehigh 13
2010 – Lehigh 14, at Northern Iowa
2010 – At Delaware 42, Lehigh 20
2011 – Lehigh 40, at Towson 38
2011 – At North Dakota State 24, Lehigh 0
2016 – At New Hampshire 64, Lehigh 21
2017 – At Stony Brook 59, Lehigh 29
2024 –Lehigh 20, at No. 9 Richmond 16
2024 - No. 8 Idaho 34, Lehigh 13
 
SIX PATRIOT LEAGUERS SELECTED AS STATS PERFORM FCS MAJOR AWARDS FINALISTS
Six different Patriot League football student-athletes and one coach were named among the finalists for five NCAA DI Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) national awards, presented by Stats Perform. Finalists for the 2025 Walter Payton Award (National Offensive Player of the Year) include Lafayette RB Kente Edwards and Lehigh RB Luke Yoder. Buck Buchanan Award (National Defensive Player of the Year) nominees include Fordham LB James Conway and Lehigh LB Tyler Ochojski; Colgate WR Matt Fogler is the League’s candidate for the Jerry Rice Award (National Freshman of the Year). Lehigh’s Kevin Cahill is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award (National Coach of the Year). Fordham’s Conway is a finalist for the Doris Robinson Award (National Scholar-Athlete of the Year). Conway and Cahill were selected as the top three finalists for the Buchanan and Eddie Robinson Awards and invited to the FCS Awards Banquet in Nashville, Tenn.
 
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes who are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.