2000 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

The 2000 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team was an American football team that represented Lehigh University during the 2000 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Lehigh won its third consecutive Patriot League championship.

2000 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football
Patriot League champion
ConferencePatriot League
Record12–1 (6–0 Patriot)
Head coach
Captains
  • Matt Andrews
  • Bryant Appling
  • Dustin Grande
  • Brian McDonald
Home stadiumGoodman Stadium
2000 Patriot League football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 8 Lehigh $^  6 –0   12 –1  
Colgate  4 –2   7 –4  
Holy Cross  4 –2   7 –4  
Towson  3 –3   7 –4  
Bucknell  2 –4   6 –5  
Fordham  1 –5   3 –8  
Lafayette  1 –5   2 –9  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network poll

In their seventh 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] Matt Andrews, Bryant Appling, Dustin Grande and Brian McDonald were the team captains.[2]

Including playoff games, the Mountain Hawks outscored opponents 337 to 160. Their 6–0 conference record topped the seven-team Patriot League standings.[3]

Lehigh was ranked No. 24 in the preseason national Division I-AA poll, but dropped out of the top 25 before its first game. After that opening win, the Mountain Hawks re-entered the rankings at No. 21 and steadily climbed to No. 8, where they ended the year.

Despite their conference championship and undefeated record, Lehigh did not host any playoff games. The Mountain Hawks defeated No. 6 Western Illinois and then lost to a familiar foe, No. 3 Delaware, on the road.

Lehigh played its home games at Goodman Stadium on the university's Goodman Campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Schedule
DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 9 at Wofford*
W 34–14 [1]
September 16 Penn* No. 21
W 17–10 10,124 [4]
September 23 at Princeton* No. 21
W 20–18 14,306 [5]
September 30 Cornell* No. 20
  • Goodman Stadium
  • Bethlehem, PA
W 35–16 11,126 [6]
October 7 at Towson No. 17
W 42–21 [1]
October 14 at Harvard* No. 15
W 45–13 6,265 [7]
October 21 Bucknell No. 13
  • Goodman Stadium
  • Bethlehem, PA
W 21–14 16,906 [8]
October 28 at Holy Cross No. 12
W 21–6 9,228 [9]
November 4 Colgate No. 9
  • Goodman Stadium
  • Bethlehem, PA
W 20–14 13,316 [10]
November 11 Fordham No. 8
  • Goodman Stadium
  • Bethlehem, PA
W 51–17 8,675 [11]
November 18 at Lafayette No. 8
W 31–17 12,586 [12]
November 25 at No. 6 Western Illinois* No. 8
W 37–7 3,204 [13]
December 2 at No. 3 Delaware* No. 8
L 22–47 16,390 [14]

References
  1. "Year-by-Year Results". Lehigh Football Record Book (PDF). Bethlehem, Pa.: Lehigh University. p. 23. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  2. "Lehigh Football Captains". Lehigh Football Record Book (PDF). Bethlehem, Pa.: Lehigh University. p. 12. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  3. "Football All-Time Year-by-Year Results". Patriot League Football Record Book (PDF). Center Valley, Pa.: Patriot League. 2020. p. 7. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  4. Larimer, Terry (September 17, 2000). "Lehigh Tops Penn in Foul-Filled Game". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Lehigh Tricks Princeton and Nets a 20-18 Victory". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. September 24, 2000. p. C3 – via Newspapers.com. Attendance figure in "Ivy Summaries". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. September 24, 2000. p. D19.
  6. Larimer, Terry (October 1, 2000). "Lehigh Overcomes Frustration, Cornell". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C3 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Duffy, Bob (October 15, 2000). "Lehigh 'Vultures' Devour Harvard". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. p. D16 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Larimer, Terry (October 22, 2000). "L.U. Tames Bison in Grande Fashion". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Larimer, Terry (October 29, 2000). "Lehigh Defense Sparks 21-6 Win Over Holy Cross". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C2 – via Newspapers.com. Attendance figure in "New England Summaries". Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Mass. October 29, 2000. p. D17.
  10. Larimer, Terry (November 5, 2000). "Lehigh Roars Back to Rebuff Colgate". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Larimer, Terry (November 12, 2000). "Lehigh's Romp of Rams Clinches NCAA Playoff Spot". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Larimer, Terry (November 19, 2000). "Patient Lehigh Pounces on Leopards". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Larimer, Terry (November 26, 2000). "Lehigh Delivers Loud Message; Taunted Engineers Totally Dismantle Higher-Seeded Foe". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa. p. C1 – via Newspapers.com. Attendance figure in Paul Reinhard column on same page.
  14. Tresolini, Kevin (December 3, 2000). "Next: The Champs; Hens Beat Lehigh, Earn Semifinal Date with Ga. Southern". Sunday News Journal. Wilmington, Del. p. E1 – via Newspapers.com.
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