FCS Week 2 Game of the Week – William & Mary Tribe @ Lehigh Mountain Hawks: How to Watch, Preview, Predictions
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Date: Saturday September 12, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM (ET)
TV: ESPN+
The Quick Hits
It may only be Week 2 but both William & Mary (2-0) and Lehigh (2-0) already have conference wins under their belt. The Tribe, perhaps to the surprise of some, are off to an undefeated start after a stunning come-from-behind win against Villanova in the opener and a hard-fought victory over Delaware State last week. They are new to the Patriot League scene and it couldn’t be going a whole lot better as they check in at #16 in the national polls. Now, though, they get the privilege of facing the team that won the league last year and is the odds on favorite to do it again.
#9 Lehigh has looked the part of a champion in their first two wins. The Mountain Hawks dominated both Holy Cross and Georgetown to kick off the 2026 campaign, setting themselves up for the chance to go 3-0 in Patriot League play before October even gets here. William & Mary should pose a steeper challenge, however, than both the Crusaders and Hoyas did. With much of the team that brought them to their unbeaten regular season last year back in the fray, there’s plenty of reasons for Lehigh fans to like their chances as they welcome in the upstart Tribe for the home opener in Lower Saucon.
The Coaches
Mike London has been around a long time and you’d be hard-pressed to find a guy with more overall experience in college football. He’s been everywhere from Richmond where he won the FCS championship in 2008 to Virginia to Howard and W&M. London is oddly enough just one of two active FCS head coaches with a national championship (the other being Montana State’s Brent Vigen). Since joining the Tribe in 2019, he’s won 45 games and took home a share of the CAA championship back in 2022. The Tribe have not a losing record under him since the Spring season in 2021. London has won 107 career games as a head coach.
Lehigh said goodbye to last year’s Eddie Robinson Award-winning coach Kevin Cahill and decided to promote Rich Nagy to the spot from his defensive coordinator gig. Nagy has never been a DI head coach before until this season but is off to a perfect start. The only other head coaching experience he has came at Division III’s Allegheny were he went 10-20 in three seasons. He is, of course, a defensive-minded guy and that has come through in the Mountain Hawks first two games of the season as they’ve outscored their opponents 80-24.
William & Mary Offense vs. Lehigh Defense
Led by signal caller Winston Watkins, William & Mary’s offense has centered itself largely around passing the ball in the early goings of 2026. Watkins has completed 25 passes for 349 yards and the majority of those have gone to freshman receiver Khylil Johnson. Watkins, though, is not shy about running either and has run for 140 yards (sack adjusted) already this season. His dual-threat ability is something that the Lehigh front will need to account for.
Junior running back Andrew King will be the main ball carrier for the Tribe and he has steadily seen his touches increase. Last week against the Hornets he got 15 carries and found the end zone twice. He and Watkins will try to establish some sort of ground game to really open up that passing attack. That will be a lot easier said than done, however, as the Mountain Hawks defense is allowing under 100 rush yards per game so far this season.
Sophomore linebacker Aidan Williams will play a big part in that. Williams has two tackles for loss this year and a sack. He has seven stops (six solo) and has forced a fumble. He and defensive lineman Andrew Sharga will look to bottle up King and keep Williams inside the pocket as much as possible. If they can do that and force the Tribe to take to the air that helps them greatly as they also have some dynamite defensive backs.
Both of Lehigh’s tackle leaders right now are in the secondary. Nick Peltekian and Ignatious Williams (10 tackles each) have been lockdown on the back end. Peltekian has an interception and fellow DB Luke Denny does as well. Last week against Georgetown, the secondary was a huge part in holding the Hoyas to just 124 passing yards. They’ll be looking for a repeat performance.
The biggest threat through the air will be the aforementioned Johnson. He’s been a key piece of what the Tribe wants to do. He’s currently the leading pass-catcher of all FCS freshman with 158 yards and, although has yet to notch a touchdown, Johnson averages 19.8 yards per catch and is as good as any receiver that will be on the field on Saturday. He along with Kai Austin and Carson Jenkins will be the primary targets for Watkins.
Lehigh Offense vs. William & Mary Defense
The biggest name that the William & Mary defense needs to know is Luke Yoder. Lehigh’s star running back has been a force for several years coming out of the backfield and this fall has been no different. Yoder was the 2025 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year after running for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns. This year he’s picking up right where he left off, having already ran for six scores and 250 yards. Yoder has been pretty much unstoppable through the first two games and the Tribe will need to find a way to slow him down somehow if they are going to get out of this one with a win.
The good news for them is that linebacker Harrison Johnson wears green and gold. Johnson has been wreaking havoc in his own right this year with 10 solo tackles and 19 stops under his belt. He was a menace to the Delaware State offensive line last week with 11 takedowns and a defended pass. He has been all over the middle of the defense for William & Mary and they’ll need him to be again here because it isn’t just Yoder that the Tribe has to worry about but also his seasoned quarterback.
Hayden Johnson is once again slinging passes for the Mountain Hawks, looking to build on a terrific 2025 season that saw him throw for over 2,500 yards and 18 scores. Johnson is averaging 194 passing yards per game this year and was particularly lethal against Georgetown last week, tossing two TDs and completing 16-of-19 passes. Johnson has yet to throw a pick this season and has not turned the ball over since the regular season finale last year.
William & Mary is hoping that one of its budding stars can change that. Freshman defensive back Cade Ellis has been stellar on the back end to begin his collegiate career. Ellis picked off two passes in his first game against Villanova a couple weeks ago and then got on in on four tackles last week. He flies to the ball and has played fearlessly in the secondary; not a common sight for a young DB. Ellis and David Roulley will be the guys that Johnson will have to be wary of when throwing.
Prediction
There is a lot of interesting matchups in this game, particularly the suffocating running game of Yoder and Lehigh versus the stoutness of William & Mary’s front seven. Something will have to give there and right now it’s hard to pick against arguably the Patriot League’s top player. Yoder is on a level all his own and, save for Montana’s Eli Gillman, might be the best back in the nation right now. The Tribe may have some answers for him but they won’t have all of them. On the other side Watkins has done what he has needed to to win games. He played well enough to keep W&M in it to set up the comeback against ‘Nova and last week he didn’t lose it against DSU. This week, however, is a totally different beast. Lehigh, top to bottom, just has too much in its arsenal. There’s a reason the Mountain Hawks haven’t lost a regular season game since 2024 and it won’t start this weekend.
Score Prediction: William & Mary: 21 – Lehigh 36
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