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(STATS) -- No FCS team has wrapped up a spot in the playoffs. Sure, many traditional powers like North Dakota State, Sam Houston State and Eastern Washington are almost certainly headed there.Yet, none of them can become the first to punch their ticket to the postseason.The team with a chance to do it doesnt have a rich playoff history. It didnt get one first-place vote in its conferences preseason poll. It wasnt even part of the STATS FCS Top 25 until this week.That team is none other than Lehigh.The 24th-ranked Mountain Hawks have mostly flown under the radar despite putting up huge offensive numbers and winning seven consecutive games, a run which puts them in the company of the FCS big boys. The streak is tied for third-longest nationally with No. 16 North Dakota, behind only top-ranked Sam Houston and No. 5 The Citadel.A victory Saturday afternoon over Bucknell would give Lehigh (7-2, 4-0) the Patriot League title and an automatic playoff berth for the first time since 2011.The coaching staff, all of our players have done a great job working to get our program back to the caliber of where we wanna be and were on the doorstep of getting another ring here, coach Andy Coen said. Thats what we talk to our players about. If youre gonna work hard and do the right things, youre gonna have an opportunity to win a championship. That will be in our hands here on Saturday.The only other team with a chance to earn a playoff spot this weekend is The Citadel if it beats Samford, but that game begins 90 minutes after the Mountain Hawks kick off the final home game for their seniors.Many of them were around for past heartbreak against Bucknell (3-5, 2-1), so the Mountain Hawks wont take this game lightly even though the Bison appear to be far inferior. Their only league wins came against Holy Cross and Lafayette, which have a combined 5-13 record.Lehigh was 6-1 in 2013 before being blown out 48-10 by a Bucknell team which entered with a 2-4 record.We already had that conversation with some of our veteran guys, Coen said. They remember what happened here three years ago. Were not gonna make that mistake again.The Bison do boast the Patriots No. 1 defense, surrendering 372.6 yards per game. However, when they did have to face a high-powered offense last week against eighth-ranked Charleston Southern, they were torched for 548 yards and 49 points.Lehighs offense is just as potent if not moreso. The Mountain Hawks are averaging more than 500 yards and 40 points per game, and the scary part is that theyre finding better balance.It was the passing attack which fueled the win streak until the past two games, when sophomore Dominick Bragalone rushed for a combined 374 yards and five touchdowns on just 32 carries. Plus, dual-threat quarterback Nick Shafnisky was back last week after missing 2 1/2 of the previous four games with an ankle problem, and he rushed for a season-high 108 yards and three TDs while throwing for 238 and a score in a 58-37 whipping of Fordham.For the future, its gonna cause more problems for opposing defenses, senior fullback Kenny Crawford said of the ground game stepping up. Doms really been picking it up. The O-line has been playing tremendous. Our offense has become very dangerous and explosive.It doesnt seem like the Bison can keep up. Theyve topped 28 points and 400 total yards only once all season.However, if they somehow pull off a shocker at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pa., the Patriot title will be back up for grabs because Lehigh, Bucknell and either Colgate or Fordham -- which play each other -- will all have one league loss.Coen isnt letting his team think much about whats at stake Saturday.We talked about it briefly at our team meeting on Sunday, but then it was right back to work, he said. You wouldnt have known if it was Week 3 or Week 5, and certainly you wouldnt have known it was for a championship this week. Well start revving up the energy level and those types of things as we get closer to the game. Mike Zunino Jersey . 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Matt Borland, who made a name for himself as one of the top crew chiefs in the sport in leading Ryan Newman to 13 career wins, will return to a NASCAR crew chief role starting next season.Borland will serve as the crew chief for Richard Childress?Racings Paul Menard, who is mired in 25th in the Sprint Cup standings.With more than 20 years of racing experience, Borland has spent the last nine years working with Gene Haas-owned teams, including Stewart-Haas Racing and most recently the Haas F1 team. He won 12 races as a crew chief for Newman at Penske from 2002 to 2006 and anotther with Newman at SHR in 2013.ddddddddddddMatts experience as an engineer in both NASCAR and Formula 1 will be critically important to the growth of RCRs Sprint Cup Series program, team owner Richard Childress said in a news release. He has an impressive background and will be a great resource to our racing operations.Borland will replace interim crew chief Danny Stockman, who took over in July and will return to the RCR Xfinity Series program. ' ' '