1977 Lehigh Engineers football team

The 1977 Lehigh Engineers football team represented Lehigh University during the 1977 NCAA Division II football season, and completed the 94th season of Engineers football. The Engineers played their home games at Taylor Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The 1977 team came off a 6–5 record from the previous season.^[1] The team was led by coach John Whitehead. The team finished the regular season with a 9–2 record and made the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Engineers defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 33–0 in the National Championship Game en route to the program's first NCAA Division II Football Championship.^[2]

1977 Lehigh Engineers football
NCAA Division II champion Lambert Cup
NCAA Division II Championship Game—Pioneer Bowl, W 33–0 vs. Jacksonville State
Conference	Independent
Record	12–2
Head coach	John Whitehead (2nd season)
Home stadium	Taylor Stadium
Seasons ← 1976 1978 →

1977 NCAA Division II independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 Lehigh ^			–					12	–	2	–	0
UNLV			–					9	–	2	–	0
Kentucky State			–					8	–	2	–	1
No. T–5 Nevada			–					8	–	3	–	0
Central Connecticut			–					7	–	3	–	0
Northern Michigan ^			–					7	–	3	–	0
Youngstown State			–					7	–	3	–	0
Portland State			–					7	–	4	–	0
Delaware			–					6	–	3	–	1
Akron			–					6	–	4	–	1
American International			–					5	–	4	–	1
West Chester			–					5	–	5	–	0
Central State (OH)			–					5	–	6	–	0
Arkansas–Pine Bluff			–					4	–	5	–	1
Bucknell			–					4	–	5	–	0
Southern Connecticut State			–					4	–	6	–	0
Northeastern			–					3	–	6	–	1
Northern Colorado			–					3	–	7	–	0
Santa Clara			–					2	–	7	–	1
Eastern Illinois			–					1	–	10	–	0
^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 10	Connecticut		Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA	W 49–0	9,500	[3]
September 17	at Baldwin–Wallace		George Finnie Stadium Berea, OH	L 21–14	5,184	[4]
September 24	Penn		Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA	W 19–7	6,000–10,000	[5]
October 1	at Davidson		Richardson Stadium Davidson, NC	W 43–7	4,600	[6]
October 8	at Rhode Island		Meade Stadium Kingston, RI	W 42–16	4,115	[7]
October 15	at Rutgers		Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	L 0–20	21,000	[8]
October 22	VMI		Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA	W 30–20	13,000	[9]
October 29	Bucknell		Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA	W 47–13	11,000–11,500	[10]
November 5	at Gettysburg		Musselman Stadium Gettysburg, PA	W 47–0	3,460	[11]
November 12	C.W. Post	No. T–10	Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA	W 36–10	9,500	[12]
November 19	Lafayette	No. 8	Taylor Stadium Bethlehem, PA (The Rivalry)	W 35–17	18,000	[13]
November 26	at No. 2 UMass	No. 8	Alumni Stadium Hadley, MA (NCAA Division II Quarterfinal)	W 30–23	5,700	[14]
December 3	at No. 3 UC Davis	No. 8	Toomey Field Davis, CA (NCAA Division II Semifinal—Knute Rockne Bowl)	W 39–30	10,500	[15]
December 10	vs. No. 9 Jacksonville State	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX (NCAA Division II Championship Game—Pioneer Bowl)	W 33–0	14,114	[16]
Rankings from Associated Press Poll released prior to the game

^[17][18]