American college football season
The 1998 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team was an American football team that represented Lehigh University during the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA football season . Lehigh won its third Patriot League championship of the 1990s.
In their fifth year under head coach Kevin Higgins , the Mountain Hawks went undefeated (11–0) in the regular season, ending the year at 12–1 after losing in the second round of the national playoffs .[ 1] Deron Braswell, Nick Martucci, Jonathan Stiegler and Sam Brinley were the team captains.[ 2]
Including playoff games, the Mountain Hawks outscored opponents 396 to 189. Their 6–0 conference record topped the seven-team Patriot League standings.[ 3]
Unranked at the start of the year, Lehigh's winning streak finally earned a spot in the national Division I-AA top 25 in the last week of October. In the ensuing weeks, the Hawks rose from No. 25 to reach No. 7 in the final poll.
Despite their conference championship and undefeated record, Lehigh did not host any playoff games. The Mountain Hawks defeated No. 10 Richmond and then lost to No. 1 UMass on the road.
Lehigh played its home games at Goodman Stadium on the university's Goodman Campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania .
Schedule
Date Opponent Rank Site Result Attendance Source September 12 Fordham
W 31–6 7,538 [ 4]
September 19 at Saint Mary's (CA) *
W 22–16 1,725 [ 5]
September 26 Princeton *
Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA W 31–24 10,136 [ 6]
October 3 at Harvard *
W 21–17 5,270 [ 7]
October 10 at Columbia *
W 20–19 3,675 [ 8]
October 17 Towson
Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA W 55–7 8,059 [ 9]
October 24 at Holy Cross
W 24–14 6,458 [ 10]
October 31 Wofford * No. 25
Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA W 26–0 12,147 [ 11]
November 7 Colgate No. 23
Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA W 41–22 13,432 [ 12]
November 14 Bucknell No. 20
Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA W 49–7 9,178 [ 13]
November 21 at Lafayette No. 17
W 31–7 13,158 [ 14]
November 28 at No. 5 Richmond * No. 13
W 24–23 10,254 [ 15]
December 5 at No. 12 UMass * No. 13
L 21–27 12,108 [ 16]
References
^ "Year-by-Year Results". Lehigh Football Record Book (PDF) . Bethlehem, Pa.: Lehigh University . p. 22. Retrieved June 20, 2020 .
^ "Lehigh Football Captains". Lehigh Football Record Book (PDF) . Bethlehem, Pa.: Lehigh University . p. 12. Retrieved June 20, 2020 .
^ "Football All-Time Year-by-Year Results". Patriot League Football Record Book (PDF) . Center Valley, Pa.: Patriot League . 2020. p. 6. Retrieved August 10, 2020 .
^ Blockus, Gary R. (September 13, 1998). "Lehigh Fills Highlight Tape in a Season-Opening Win" . The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Lehigh Runs Past St. Mary's" . San Francisco Examiner . San Francisco, Calif. September 20, 1998. pp. D-9, D-10 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Lehigh Scrambles Past Princeton in Overtime" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia, Pa. Associated Press . September 27, 1998. p. C9 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Concannon, Joe (October 4, 1998). "Crimson Pounce, Then Fizzle; Two Late Miscues Hand It to Lehigh" . Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. D17 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Blockus, Gary R. (October 11, 1998). "Taafe's FG Completes Lehigh's Comeback" . The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com . Attendance figure in "Ivy League: Summaries". Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. October 11, 1998. p. C19.
^ Blockus, Gary R. (October 18, 1998). "Towson Has No Answers for Lehigh, 55-7" . The Baltimore Sun . Baltimore, Md. p. 9E – via Newspapers.com .
^ Harber, Paul (October 25, 1998). "HC Can't Keep Up Pace" . Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. D19 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Bostrom, Don (November 1, 1998). "Wofford No Match for 8-0 Lehigh" . The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Blockus, Gary R. (November 8, 1998). "9-0 Lehigh Is Now the Top Dog" . The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Blockus, Gary R. (November 15, 1998). "Lehigh Is a Perfect 10" . The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Meixell, Ted (November 22, 1998). "Perfection! Lehigh Wins Record 12th Straight, 31-7 Over Lafayette" . The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com . Attendance figure in "College Football: Others". Orlando Sentinel . Orlando, Fla. November 22, 1998. p. C-7.
^ Blockus, Gary R. (November 29, 1998). "Lehigh Kicks Out the Spiders" . The Morning Call . Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Burris, Joe (December 6, 1998). "UMass Is One of Four Still Moving Forward" . Boston Sunday Globe . Boston, Mass. p. C13 – via Newspapers.com .
Venues Bowls & rivalries People Seasons National championship seasons in bold