Preview: Lehigh Takes on Colgate in Annual Patriot League Rivalry Game

Tagged under: News, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn

john fox dan di edwardo | November 5, 2026

Since 1922, Lehigh has had a heated rivalry with the Colgate Raiders and the Mountain Hawks will look to carry momentum over from their nail-biting win over Bucknell. Lehigh enters this matchup at 7-2 and Colgate at 5-4, so the stakes couldn’t be higher, with Lehigh at 5-1 and Colgate at 4-2 in Patriot League play. Colgate leads the all time series 32-29-2, with Lehigh holding a 23-16 advantage since it became an annual Patriot League annual rivalry in 1986. Lehigh won at Colgate 27-7 last year and will have home field advantage in this year’s game.

Lehigh enters this game off a 31-30 home win over Bucknell, which snapped a rare 2 game losing streak for a team that had won 23 consecutive regular season games before back-to-back losses against Cornell and Villanova, both on the road. Lehigh’s Coach Nagy made the surprising decision to bench starting QB Derek Morgan, and Patrick Coan came on in relief in the 3rd quarter to lead Lehigh to the win after completing 3/3 passes for 46 yards and a TD. Coach Nagy hasn’t named the starter for the Colgate game, leaving practice to decide which QB gets the nod. Despite what QB will be under center, the threat of RB Luke Yoder remains, and his 183 rushing yards against Bucknell made him Lehigh’s all time leading rusher. Yoder will ease the chosen QB in and make it easier for play action to Lehigh’s WRs in Anthony Feaster, Nick Palumbo, or Bryce Werner, the latter of who is starting to break out as the season progresses. Lehigh has to avoid yet another slow start that has plagued them the last 3 games.

Colgate enters this game off a 37-0 home shutout victory over William and Mary with QB Jake Stearney going 16/25 with 234 yards and 3 TDs, with 2 of them to WR Peyton Way, who also had 10 catches for 141 yards. Cole Fulton led the rushing attack with 18 carries for 89 yards. It was by far Colgate’s most complete win of the season, with only their 35-10 win over Holy Cross in their home opener coming close in margin of victory. Despite the 5-4 record, Colgate’s offense remains inconsistent on the year, with a 13-6 loss to Richmond 2 weeks ago, a 13-10 loss to Central Michigan on Sep 12, and the 2 aforementioned wins with 35+ point outbursts. However, Lehigh shouldn’t take this team lightly, as the 1 win Bucknell Bison showed them a week ago. The Mountain Hawks should prepare for the best of Colgate’s offense, as the Mountain Hawks once strong defense has unraveled since the Cornell loss 3 weeks ago and needs to find its footing again in order to contend with the Patriot League’s best teams.

The keys to the game are the same for Lehigh and Colgate, as they both must start fast on offense and force the other team to play catch up. For Lehigh, playing catch up is something they have done too much these past 3 weeks, and can ill afford to do against a Patriot League Rival in Colgate that will tie them in Patriot League play with a victory over them this week. Colgate is much more likely to take advantage of mistakes than a 1 win Bucknell could, so playing clean turnover free football is also a must, especially with the uncertainty at QB at the moment. Tune in Saturday at 12 PM to see who takes home the win in this Patriot League rivalry game!