Fact A Day: Lafayette Leopards - Lehigh Mountain Hawks 150th Meeting

[Fact A Day]

Lafayette's Frank Baur is the only player from either team to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. This was in September 1989. The team DID win the Lehigh game that year on Nov. 18, 1989 in Goodman Stadium (Goodman opened in Oct of '88) but finished the season a disappointing 6-5 partly due to a bone spur issue with Baur's throwing arm that senior year.

http://www.myuploadedimages.com/images/24769341469087154085.jpg

[DatDude]

Both teams suck xcoffeex

[DFW HOYA]

How did Holy Cross get in the banner above?

[superman7515]

How did Holy Cross get in the banner above?

UAH was gonna put Lafayette & Lehigh in the banner at the top of all the pages, but I convinced him that was putting Lehigh too high.

[clenz]

UAH was gonna put Lafayette & Lehigh in the banner at the top of all the pages, but I convinced him that was putting Lehigh too high.
HA

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

UAH was gonna put Lafayette & Lehigh in the banner at the top of all the pages, but I convinced him that was putting Lehigh too high.

Once again, this says it all....

It's a state of mind, it's a state of being. Plus, the view is better....

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1011439/lehigh_1.jpg

[Bill]

[QUOTE=Fact A Day;2178156] The team DID win the Lehigh game that year in the brand new Goodman Stadium on Nov. 18, 1989

[QUOTE]

Hmm...this isn't the only place I read this "fact" about Goodman stadium...but fact is Goodman was not brand new - it opened the year before. It was the first Lafayette game there, though.

[Pard4Life]

Fact: Lehigh's color is brown.
Fact: The inside of my toilet is occasionally brown.

[Southsider]

Fact: Lehigh's color is brown.
Fact: The inside of my toilet is occasionally brown.

In your case, probably perpetually brown!

[Pards Rule]

[QUOTE=Fact A Day;2178156] The team DID win the Lehigh game that year in the brand new Goodman Stadium on Nov. 18, 1989

[QUOTE]

Hmm...this isn't the only place I read this "fact" about Goodman stadium...but fact is Goodman was not brand new - it opened the year before. It was the first Lafayette game there, though.

Are you sure? I swear I drove by that construction site after the Game in 1988 and it was still under construction??

[Southsider]

Goodman opened in Oct of '88. They did, however, put the upper deck corner sections on later. So, perhaps that is the work you witnessed.

[Bill]

[QUOTE=Bill;2178271][QUOTE=Fact A Day;2178156] The team DID win the Lehigh game that year in the brand new Goodman Stadium on Nov. 18, 1989



Are you sure? I swear I drove by that construction site after the Game in 1988 and it was still under construction??

Oh, I'm sure. Part of my recruiting visit in the fall was a Lehigh home game against Cornell in the new stadium...fall of 1988!

[Pards Rule]

Goodman opened in Oct of '88. They did, however, put the upper deck corner sections on later. So, perhaps that is the work you witnessed.

OK I stand corrected.. Southsider you are probably right then. I just drove to that circle area in front of (and a football field away from) the stadium but obviously did not get out and walk and inspect. Thanks for the clarification you two!!

[Pards Rule]

Southsider/Bill, riddle me this though. If the stadium opened in Oct. 1988 how did they know exactly when it was going to open (you know construction projects). How do you schedule for that possibility? Tell the opponents, um, we might have to make our home game an away game at your place?

[Bill]

That liberal arts education is serving you well :)

Great question...and I have no idea. I do know that Taylor stadium was still up and (probably) capable of holding a game during the 1988 season...so they must have had a contingency plan if they did run into any problems. My freshman year began in fall 1989, and Taylor remained for another year or so before they finally knocked it down.

[Southsider]

From what I can remember, it was a fairly easy build. All pre-fab sections. And, they didn't have to wait until Taylor closed to begin the project. Obviously, the "bowl" already existed. The first 3 or 4 games to open the '88 season were on the road, allowing for ample time to complete the project. However, given the fact that the upper deck was not completed until the following year, perhaps that was out of necessity to fulfill the opening game commitment? For the record, I was just an observer, and a follower of LU football.

[CHIP72]

I unfortunately can't provide too many Lehigh/Lafayette or Lafayette/Lehigh facts, but I can say my high school graduation was held at Stabler Arena (across the field from Goodman Stadium and near where most people park for LU home football games) in 1991. :)

I also can tell you the Jets and Redskins had scrimmages at Fisher Stadium (or what I knew then as Fisher Field) a couple years in the mid-1980s; I think it was 1984 and 1985. I went with my dad to one of those scrimmages.

[Pards Rule]

That liberal arts education is serving you well :)

Great question...and I have no idea. I do know that Taylor stadium was still up and (probably) capable of holding a game during the 1988 season...so they must have had a contingency plan if they did run into any problems. My freshman year began in fall 1989, and Taylor remained for another year or so before they finally knocked it down.

Ah yes I was a Govt & Law major. WAS going to become a lawyer but got into corporate real estate. Your probably right, that probably was the fall back position BUT it would have RUINED the "last game" honors and noteworthy cold and numerous retellings of how they were at the game and stayed through the whole thing of that last game at Taylor and a great sendoff by beating Lafayette, 17-10 on that frigid day.

[ngineer]

Southsider/Bill, riddle me this though. If the stadium opened in Oct. 1988 how did they know exactly when it was going to open (you know construction projects). How do you schedule for that possibility? Tell the opponents, um, we might have to make our home game an away game at your place?

The construction project was run by Lee Butz of Alvin H. Butz Construction Management and a Lehigh alum. No way THIS project was going to be late. (;-)

[Sader87]

This is fascinating stuff......xrotatehxxrotatehx

[ngineer]

The closest game in Lehigh-Lafayette history was 1958. Not only did the game end in a 14-14 tie, but look at these stats: First downs: 14-14; Yards Rushing: 229-216; Yards Passing: 25-39; Total Yards: 254-255; Punts: 5-4; Average punt: 35-36; Turnovers by: 2-3; and Yards Penalized: 30-30. The next, and last tie, occurred in the infamous 100th Renewal with a 6-6 score. It was a real 'futility bowl' as both teams entered with abysmal records. Moreover, late in the game Lafayette drove to the Lehigh 5 with a first and goal and failed to score. Lehigh then drove to the Lafayette 17 wherein the same RB fumbled for the third time in the game.

[ngineer]

That liberal arts education is serving you well :)

Great question...and I have no idea. I do know that Taylor stadium was still up and (probably) capable of holding a game during the 1988 season...so they must have had a contingency plan if they did run into any problems. My freshman year began in fall 1989, and Taylor remained for another year or so before they finally knocked it down.

Not really. While the concrete super structure was still up, Lehigh began demolition the Spring of 1988. I attended the truly "last" game in Taylor that April as the Brown & White game was played there. They were already demolishing various elements of the stadium before the big wrecking balls were brought in to take care of the poured concrete horseshoe. There was no way the stadium could have accommodated any fans attending games in 1988. Had there been a problem encountered at Goodman, I suspect arrangements would have been made to use BASD Stadium, which sat about 16,000 at that time.

[ngineer]

John Underwood, writer for Sports Illustrated, years ago wrote of The Rivalry, "It is a game of ancient rivalry that inspires genuine loathing, not for a weekend but for a lifetime. It is traditional games, whose meaning is deep...there is a spirit about it, a drawing together."

[Fact A Day]

Longest winning streaks:

Lafayette 10 (1919-1928)

Lehigh 7 (1995-2001)

Lafayette’s longest non-winning streak was 9 (1888-1891), including a tie in 1889.

[Lehigh'98]

Most of the positive Lafayette records will have occurred in or before the Red Grange era.

[ngineer]

The first Game, on October 25, 1884, was played at the Easton Athletic Grounds. Admission was $0.25. The field was 120 yards long with no end zones. Field was strewn with rocks, mud, broken glass, tree stumps and some grass. A 'standing room only" (there were no bleachers) crowd of 250 lined the sidelines. No forward passes were allowed at that time and the ball could only be lateraled backward. Two 45- minute halves were played. The ball was more a rugby ball and was 'snapped' by the center rolling the ball to the QB on the ground with his foot. The students were the coaches. (information from Legends of Lehigh-Lafayette​ by Davidson & Donchez).

[ngineer]

Both teams suck xcoffeex

Maybe that would make a great pre-game chant rather than the usual "Lafayette sucks" and "Lehigh sucks" chants that occur adnauseum throughout the game.

[Pards Rule]

The construction project was run by Lee Butz of Alvin H. Butz Construction Management and a Lehigh alum. No way THIS project was going to be late. (;-)

I DO remember that Ngineer. They always took out full back covers too as I recall on the LU programs (well I would see that program once every two years and still have all 34 of the games I was at). Are they still around or get bought out?

[Pards Rule]

Not really. While the concrete super structure was still up, Lehigh began demolition the Spring of 1988. I attended the truly "last" game in Taylor that April as the Brown & White game was played there. They were already demolishing various elements of the stadium before the big wrecking balls were brought in to take care of the poured concrete horseshoe. There was no way the stadium could have accommodated any fans attending games in 1988. Had there been a problem encountered at Goodman, I suspect arrangements would have been made to use BASD Stadium, which sat about 16,000 at that time.

And BASD (for those non LVers - Bethlehem Area School District) would have been forever immortalized as the third neutral site of the Rivalry.

- - - Updated - - -


The closest game in Lehigh-Lafayette history was 1958. Not only did the game end in a 14-14 tie, but look at these stats: First downs: 14-14; Yards Rushing: 229-216; Yards Passing: 25-39; Total Yards: 254-255; Punts: 5-4; Average punt: 35-36; Turnovers by: 2-3; and Yards Penalized: 30-30. The next, and last tie, occurred in the infamous 100th Renewal with a 6-6 score. It was a real 'futility bowl' as both teams entered with abysmal records. Moreover, late in the game Lafayette drove to the Lehigh 5 with a first and goal and failed to score. Lehigh then drove to the Lafayette 17 wherein the same RB fumbled for the third time in the game.

Why no FG for the Pards? They LOVED to kick those back in the day!!

[Fact A Day]

Largest margins of victory:

Lafayette 64, Lehigh 0 (1944)
Lehigh 78, Lafayette 0 (1917)

[van]

The construction project was run by Lee Butz of Alvin H. Butz Construction Management and a Lehigh alum. No way THIS project was going to be late. (;-)

And one of my frat bros to boot, definitely going to be on time

[Pard4Life]

The construction project was run by Lee Butz of Alvin H. Butz Construction Management and a Lehigh alum. No way THIS project was going to be late. (;-)

Was Lee and Alvin's cousin the famous Seymour?

[van]

Was Lee and Alvin's cousin the famous Seymour?

Think Seymour went to Lafayette, Gender Studies you see.

[Fact A Day]

Lehigh invented one of the first mass formation plays called the “Lehigh V”, the precursor to similar formations such as the “Flying Wedge” that were ultimately banned.

[superman7515]

Lehigh invented one of the first mass formation plays called the “Lehigh V”, the precursor to similar formations such as the “Flying Wedge” that were ultimately banned.

Lehigh University... Playing dirty since before there was dirt. xlolx

[Pard4Life]

Yeah, quite fitting... they almost got the sport outlawed.

[LehighU11]

Lehigh University... Playing dirty since before there was dirt. xlolx

And don't you forget it! Lehigh's Flying Wedge gave Penn State their worst loss in school history: Lehigh 106, PSU 0 waaay back in 1889.

[PAllen]

Lehigh University... Playing dirty since before there was dirt. xlolx

Yeah, we invented dirt while we were sitting around bored at halftime in a game in which we were killing Penn State.

[Pard4Life]

Penn State was a joke school before the Depression.

[LehighU11]

Penn State was a joke school before the Depression.

was...?

[Franks Tanks]

http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2010/6/28/651622/penn-state-history-the-lehigh

"It's quite possible that the Penn State players were pretty tired and banged up prior to the game. That's because they played a game against Lafayette just two days earlier. It was pretty common to play a few games as part of a road trip back then. There were no charter jets. Heck, the automobile was still about ten years away, and interstate highways wouldn't come around for almost another 60 years. In order to get out of State College, the players, and any fans that accompanied them, had to ride by stage coach out to the train station in Lemont (http://maps.google.com/maps?rlz=1T4GGHP_enUS368US368&q=Lemont+PA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Lemont,+PA&gl=us&ei=nwYoTJ25CcWBlAer5vypAw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ8gEwAA), which is roughly where modern day Route 322 meets East College Avenue. From there they had to ride by train 60 miles to Lewisburg, which took several hours. From there they could pick up a train to Philadelphia. Once in the Philadelphia, it was common to see them play a few teams in order to keep the travel time and costs down. And as you can imagine, getting teams to come to State College was like pulling teeth. Who wants to take a three or four day trip up into the mountains when you have several universities you can play right there in the Philadelphia area?
After the game against Lafayette and prior to the game against Lehigh, Penn State captain Charles Hildebrand and two other players went to Philadelphia to attend the funeral of Hildebrand's younger sister. The three men did not make it back to the game until the first half was nearly complete, and Penn State was forced to start the game with just nine players. Lehigh had rolled up a 56-0 lead by halftime. In retrospect, the Penn State players said they probably should have waited until their teammates arrived, but Lehigh had threatened to withhold Penn State's travel compensation of $25 if the game didn't start on time. Football was not a revenue generating sport back then, and $25 was a lot of money. Especially for some poor college kids that needed the money to buy their train tickets back to State College."


Lehigh was full of scumbags back then as well. The poor kid's sister died, and they went ahead and played a PSU team with 9 guys anyway.

[Pard4Life]

Wow, that's really low class.

[ngineer]

Was Lee and Alvin's cousin the famous Seymour?

No, but a brother in the same fraternity of the man who created the elastic bathing suit, Seymour Hare...

[PAllen]

was...?

My parents would take umbrage to that comment. I however, am LMAO. xthumbsupx

[Fact A Day]

Most points ever scored came in 1988 with the final tally of 97.


Lafayette 52, Lehigh 45


Total passing yardage in the game was 804 (Lehigh 495, Lafayette 309).
Total yardage was 1,257 (Lafayette 629, Lehigh 628)

[LehighU11]

Since the 100th meeting, which ended in a 6-6 tie, Lehigh has won 31 of the 49 meetings.

[Pards Rule]

Most points ever scored came in 1988 with the final tally of 97.


Lafayette 52, Lehigh 45


Total passing yardage in the game was 804 (Lehigh 495, Lafayette 309).
Total yardage was 1,257 (Lafayette 629, Lehigh 628)


I couldn't go to the bathroom that game for fear of misisng something..BTW P4L yet another mild one as I recall. Also have a mental snapshot of a fricking huge hoagie being carried into the upper concourse before the game - destined for the press box? IDK - was on top of Markle parking deck and lost sight of it!

[Fact A Day]

Lehigh is one of the founding members of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS), which ultimately became the NCAA.


Lafayette’s Erik Marsh (1991-1994) rushed for 878 yards in his 4 games against Lehigh. That’s an average of 219.5 yds. per game.

[Pards Rule]

Lehigh is one of the founding members of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS), which ultimately became the NCAA.


Lafayette’s Erik Marsh (1991-1994) rushed for 878 yards in his 4 games against Lehigh. That’s an average of 219.5 yds. per game.


Aye, wish we had him this year too!!

[Southsider]

I couldn't go to the bathroom that game for fear of misisng something..BTW P4L yet another mild one as I recall. Also have a mental snapshot of a fricking huge hoagie being carried into the upper concourse before the game - destined for the press box? IDK - was on top of Markle parking deck and lost sight of it!

And I believe LU had well over 300 passing yards in the 1st half!

[Pards Rule]

And I believe LU had well over 300 passing yards in the 1st half!


Without question...That was an offensive melee! How many did LC have?

[Southsider]

Without question...That was an offensive melee! How many did LC have?

I will need to defer to LU/TU Owl, as he is the Master Statistician.

[Pard4Life]

It's in the LL book. I think LC had 287 or thereabouts.

[Wallace]

I like the banner which uses the original AGS art as its basis rather than the scooby-doo art that is used now.

[Fact A Day]

Milestone games:


No. 1, 10/25/1884 - Lafayette 50, Lehigh 0
No. 25, 11/23/1895 - Lafayette 14, Lehigh 6
No 50, 11/25/1916 - Lehigh 16, Lafayette 0
No. 100, 11/21/1964 - Lafayette 6, Lehigh 6

[Pards Rule]

125th on Nov. 18, 1989 - Lafayette 36 Lehigh 21...100th consecutive game too!

[Bill]

Milestone games:


No. 1, 10/25/1884 - Lafayette 50, Lehigh 0
No. 25, 11/23/1895 - Lafayette 14, Lehigh 6
No 50, 11/25/1916 - Lehigh 16, Lafayette 0
No. 100, 11/21/1964 - Lafayette 6, Lehigh 6

Hey, what happened to #75?xeyebrowx

Anyhow, I see a trend with Lehigh & milestone games xeekx

[LehighU11]

Hey, what happened to #75?xeyebrowx

Anyhow, I see a trend with Lehigh & milestone games xeekx

Don't ask...Lafayette 47-7

Lehigh won the 10th, 20th, 50th, 70th, and 110th.
Lafayette won the 30th, 40th, 60th, 80th, 90th, 120th, 130th, and 140th.

The 10th and 20th are the only 10th or "decade" games held outside of Easton--both in Bethlehem. Lehigh won them both. I'll focus on that stat.xthumbsupx

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Hey, what happened to #75?xeyebrowx

Anyhow, I see a trend with Lehigh & milestone games xeekx

Just going with what the helpers gave me. Not sure why some were left out.

[Bill]

Just going with what the helpers gave me. Not sure why some were left out.

No biggie...and after seeing Lehigh's record in those games, I should have kept my mouth shut!

[ursus arctos horribilis]

No biggie...and after seeing Lehigh's record in those games, I should have kept my mouth shut!

xlolx

Well then, you're welcome.

[ngineer]

S.B. Newton is the only head coach to have led both Lehigh and Lafayette to wins in The Rivalry. Having led the Maroons to three straight wins over the Brown & White from 1899-1901, Lehigh found a way to get rid of Newton--by hiring him away from the Easton Junior College. Lehigh promptly turned around and beat the Leotards in 1902 and 1903. The three years in Easton resulted in six wins (playing twice a year then) and two with Lehigh. The single game a year began in 1902. He is the only coach to have coached both Lehigh and Lafayette to victory in The Rivalry.

[Pards Rule]

Excellent article about the 150th in front page of yesterday's NY Times sports section: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/sports/ncaafootball/for-150th-meeting-lehigh-and-lafayette-think-big-yankee-stadium.html?_r=1

[Sitting Bull]

Excellent article about the 150th in front page of yesterday's NY Times sports section: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/sports/ncaafootball/for-150th-meeting-lehigh-and-lafayette-think-big-yankee-stadium.html?_r=1

Great article.

[Fact A Day]

The 1993 game was the first time in the history of the series that the two teams played for anything more than bragging rights. Lehigh’s 39-14 victory decided the Patriot League championship