Oct. 3, 2000
Audio from Weekly Media Luncheon
Complete Release in PDF Format
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The Series
(Lafayette leads, 20-10-2) Lafayette and Columbia have met 32 times on the gridiron, dating back to the first encounter in the 1889 season. The two teams have met in New York 22 times, and the Leopards hold a slim 11-10-1 advantage. The largest margin of victory in the series was an 58-6 Lafayette win in New York on Oct. 9, 1993.
The Last Meeting
(Lafayette 31, Columbia 3 -- Oct. 4, 1997, in Easton, Pa.) Lafayette's Todd Stahlnecker scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to open up a 21-3 halftime lead for the Leopards. Brian Menecola connected on a season-long 44-yard field goal and Nino DiMatteo added a touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the Leopards' first victory of the 1997 season.
The Head Coaches
The newest era in the proud history of Lafayette football began when Frank Tavani was named the 27th head football coach in the history of the program. Tavani had been a top member of the College's coaching staff for the past 13 seasons, serving most recently as associate head coach since 1994. Tavani is 1-3 at Lafayette and 1-3 overall in his career.
Ray Tellier (Connecticut '73) is in his 12th season at Columbia and 17th as a collegiate head coach. His overall career record stands at 57-101-3 (.363), including a mark of 36-75-2 (.327) at Harvard.
Yarberough 5th in Division I-AA
Lafayette senior co-captain Phil Yarberough (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) is ranked fifth in the current NCAA statistical rankings in pass receptions per game with an average of 7.75. He is coming off a career game statistically vs. Harvard in which he caught 11 passes for 175 yards, the seventh-best single-game receiving yardage total in Lafayette history. He is now in third place all-time in Lafayette history with 114 career receptions, and sixth in receiving yards with 1,628.
Media Information
"weather.com" forecast: Partly cloudy with a high of 54? and a low of 43?.
Radio: WEST (1400 AM Stereo), 65th Season, Aired Live on www.lafayette.edu. - Dick Hammer, play-by-play (34th season) Television: none. Media Luncheons: Head Coach Frank Tavani and at least two members of the team will address the media at noon each Tuesday during the season. Members of the media are invited to join Coach Tavani at Larry Holmes' Ringside Restaurant in downtown Easton.
Quotes: Written excerpts and audio files from the weekly Lafayette football media luncheon will be available by 5:00 p.m. each Tuesday. They can be obtained by calling Lafayette's Office of Athletic Communications or by logging on to the Lafayette Athletics Web site at www.lafayette.edu.
Interviews: All interview requests for Head Coach Frank Tavani and members of the team should be submitted to Lafayette's Office of Athletic Communications. No player interviews will be granted on game day until after the game.
Practices: Members of the media wishing to attend a practice must be accompanied by a member of the Lafayette Athletic Communications staff.
Freshmen Impact
A total of 37 freshmen entered Lafayette's preseason camp this season. Two of those freshmen have started for the Leopards -- offensive tackle Kevin Moss (New York, N.Y./Simsbury) has started all four contests and quarterback Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) earned his first collegiate start at Penn. Three others have already made an impact for the Leopards. Receiver Jeremy Burkes (Memphis, Tenn./Memphis East) has caught nine passes for 59 yards, while defensive tackle Pat Brown (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) recovered a fumble at Penn and Joel Cesare (Whitehall Pa./Whitehall) has five punts and five kickoffs.
Lafayette vs. the Ivy League
The Leopards have played 201 games against the eight members of the Ivy League, and are 56-138-7 (.296) in those contests. Lafayette vs. the members of the Ivy League: Brown 3-8-0 Cornell 8-14-2 Harvard 2-4-0 Princeton 3-32-3 Columbia 20-10-2 Dartmouth 2-6-0 Pennsylvania 18-58-0 Yale 0-6-0
Lafayette -- A Member of the Ivy League?
For four consecutive weeks, Lafayette is facing Ivy League opponents. The Leopards defeated Princeton on Sept. 16, lost at Pennsylvania on Sept. 23, fell to Harvard on Sept. 30, and will play at Columbia on Oct. 7.
Lafayette vs. the Patriot League
The Leopards have played 292 games all-time against the six fellow members of the Patriot League, and are 146-130-16 (.527) in those contests. Since the Patriot League began play in 1986, the Leopards are 40-30-1 (.570) vs. member schools and have won league titles in 1988, 1992, and 1994. Lafayette vs. the Patriot League: Bucknell 41-30-6 Fordham 15-2-1 Lehigh 71-59-5 Colgate 9-30-4 Holy Cross 8-6-0 Towson 2-3-0
Leopards Blitz the TV Airwaves ... Again!
The 2000 Lafayette College football season will see a minimum of five contests, including the Lafayette-Lehigh game, hit the television air waves via the Lafayette Sports Network. The Lafayette Sports Network, the most expansive television package in the Patriot League three years running, can be seen by more than 5.2 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, central New Jersey, New York City, and Boston. Locally, the telecasts are aired on RCN TV-4 and WBPH-TV 60, and can be seen on RCN Cable channels 4 and 60, Service Electric Cable channel 51, Suburban Cable channel 17, Blue Ridge Cable channel 5, and broadcast channel 60.
Renowned local sports broadcaster Gary Laubach handles all of the Leopards' play-by-play duties for the fourth season. In his third full season of football broadcasts is John Leone, Lafayette's Acting Director of Alumni Affairs, who provides color analysis. In his fourth season on the crew, RCN's Scott Barr handles analysis on the Leopards from the sidelines.
Oh Canada!
Lafayette freshman quarterback Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) made his collegiate debut with 1:36 remaining in the second quarter vs. Princeton, and impressively completed 18-of-30 passes for 243 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. His first TD pass was a 66-yard bomb to Andrew May (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Ketcham), and his second was a game-winning two-yard fade to Phil Yarberough (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) with :02 remaining in the game. In less than 30 minutes vs. Harvard, he completed 16-of-29 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. His 133.26 passing efficiency rating leads the Patriot League and ranks him 29th among NCAA Division I-AA quarterbacks.
Mr. Sure Hands
Leopard senior co-captain Phil Yarberough (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) is quickly moving up Lafayette's all-time receiving charts, and he recorded two 11-reception games already this season. He caught 11 passes for 119 yards and the game-winning touchdown with :02 remaining vs. Princeton. Against Harvard, he caught 11 passes for a career-high 175 yards. Yarberough is the first Lafayette receiver to catch 10 or more passes in a game since Frank Corbo, the Leopards' second all-time leading receiver, caught 11 passes vs. Columbia on Sept. 24, 1983.
Top 10 in Graduation Rates for Football -- 1st in Basketball
The Lafayette football program is ranked 10th in all of NCAA Division I in graduation rates for student-athletes who entered from 1989 to 1992. The Leopards' 81 percent graduation rate ties them with Stanford and Vanderbilt.
In fact, Lafayette College is the only NCAA Division I institution in the nation with a perfect graduation rate for men's and women's basketball players who entered from 1989 to 1992. The College is ranked first in the nation as one of four Division I institutions to graduate all men's basketball players entering during that time within six years, which is how the NCAA measures graduation rates. Lafayette is also among 13 schools from which all women's basketball players earned degrees.
NCAA Division I-AA Leaders
Through games of Sept. 16, 2000, Lafayette senior split end Phil Yarberough (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) is ranked fifth among NCAA Division I-AA leaders in receptions per game with an average of 7.75 and 18th among leaders in receiving yards per game with an average of 95.50. The Leopards among the top-50 NCAA Division I-AA leaders:
INDIVIDUAL
Receptions per game -- Phil Yarberough (7.75 avg.) -- 5th
Receiving yards per game -- Phil Yarberough (95.50) -- 18th
Punt returns -- Joel Cesare (10.60) -- 35th
Passing efficiency -- Marko Glavic (133.26 rating) -- 29th
Field goals per game -- Martin Brecht (0.75 avg.) -- 49th
TEAM
Passing offense -- 21st (249.00 avg.)
Reigning Academic All-Americans
Earning a spot on the 1999 CoSIDA/GTE District II Academic All-America team were Lafayette defensive back Kenya Allen (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny), who carries a cumulative grade point average of 3.56 majoring in Business/Economics, and tight end Stewart Kupfer (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh), who carries a 3.41 GPA in Economics. Kupfer earned a spot on the first team while Allen was named to the second team.
No Respect
The Lafayette football program, Patriot League Champions in 1988, 1992, and 1994, received no respect in the head coaches' 2000 preseason poll. The Leopards were picked to finish last of the seven teams in the conference. The League sports information directors picked the Leopards to finish sixth, ahead of Fordham.
Weekly Radio Show
Lafayette Sports Weekly, a comprehensive half-hour radio show will air live each Thursday at 7:00 p.m. from September through March on the Lafayette Sports Network's flagship radio station, WEST AM Stereo 1400, and online at www.lafayette.edu. WEST-AM's Jack Logic will be joined each week by either Gary Laubach or John Leone, Lafayette Sports Network's television commentators, for an exciting half-hour devoted exclusively to Lafayette sports. Head football coach Frank Tavani will be a featured guest during the football season.
2000 Team Captains
The 2000 Lafayette College football team captains, as chosen by their teammates, are senior defensive tackle Mike Levy (Bel Air, Md./Fallston), and senior split end Phil Yarberough (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon).
Yarberough Moving Up the Charts
Lafayette senior split end Phil Yarberough (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) is currently third all-time in Lafayette history in career receptions with 114, and sixth in career receiving yards with 1,628. He needs 23 receptions to move into second place ahead of Frank Corbo (1981-84, 136 rec.), and seven receiving yards to move into fifth place ahead of Jamal Jordan (1990-92, 1,634 yds.).
Home Sweet Home
Erected in 1926, Lafayette College's Fisher Field is in its 74th season as the home of the Leopards, having played host to 357 Lafayette football games. Lafayette has recorded 12 undefeated home seasons at Fisher Field. The Leopards are 214-130-13 (.618) overall at Fisher Field.
All-Time Record
The Leopards are in their 119th football season, having played 1,121 games. Lafayette boasts an impressive all-time record of 589-493-39 (.543) and ranks 30th on the nation's all-time victories list. Lafayette leads the Patriot League in all-time wins, with Lehigh the closest at 557.
Hello . . . Nice to Meet You
There are a total of seven changes made to the Lafayette football coaching staff for the 2000 season, most notably the naming of Frank Tavani as the 27th head coach in the history of the program. Tavani's first order of business was naming Mike Faragalli as offensive coordinator and John Loose as defensive coordinator. Faragalli served as the offensive coordinator at Division I-A Bowling Green eight of the past nine seasons, while Loose was the linebackers coach at Division I-A Army the past eight seasons. Tavani also named Matt Hachmann as the running backs coach, Bryan Cook as a defensive assistant, and both Kevin Keating and Keita Malloy as offensive assistants.
Leopard Injury Update
The current listing of Lafayette football injuries:
- Darnell Azeez -- questionable (ankle).
- Michael Beatrice -- out for the season (knee).
- Casey McKeen -- out indefinitely (thigh contusion).
- Mike McTavish -- out indefinitely (minor knee surgery).
- Chris Partridge -- out for season (knee).
- Kevin Pickering -- out for the season (back).
- Paul Stack -- probable (shoulder).
- Trey Weaver -- out for the season (knee).
