Sept. 12, 2000

Audio:

• Coach Tavani
  
• B. Gregorek
  
• R. Mayo
  
• Princeton coach Roger Hughes
  

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The Series
(Princeton leads, 32-2-3) Lafayette and Towson have met 37 times on the gridiron, dating back to the first encounter in the 1883 season. The two teams have met in Easton six times, with the Tigers holding a 5-0-1 advantage. The largest margin of victory in the series was a 140-0 Princeton win in the second meeting of the series on Oct. 29, 1884.

The Last Meeting
(Princeton 22, Lafayette 10 -- Oct. 16, 1999, in Princeton, N.J.) After missing a 28-yard field goal on the game's first scoring opportunity, Lafayette allowed 13 straight Princeton points and never recovered. Princeton's Derek Theisen ran for 147 yards and one touchdown to lead the Tigers.

The Head Coaches
The newest era in the proud history of Lafayette football began on Dec. 11, 1999, 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 0-1 at Lafayette and 0-1 overall in his career.

Roger Hughes (Doane College '82) is in his first season at Princeton and as a collegiate head coach. This game marks the debut of Hughes' head coaching career, having served as the offensive coordinator at Dartmouth from 1992-99.

Top 10 in Graduation Rates
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.

Media Information
"The Weather Channel" forecast: Scattered showers with a high of 69? and a low of 47?.
Radio: WEST (1400 AM Stereo), 65th Season, Aired Live on www.lafayette.edu. - Dick Hammer, play-by-play (34th season)
Television: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-TV 4 and WBPH-TV 60 - over 5.1 million viewers) - Gary Laubach, play-by-play (4th season) - John Leone, color analyst (3rd season) - Scott Barr, sideline reporter (4th season)
Satellite Coordinates: KU-BAND - GE 5, Transponder 13
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.

Two Academic All-Americans Return to the Fold
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.

Lafayette vs. the Ivy League
The Leopards have played 198 games against the eight members of the Ivy League, and are 55-136-7 (.295) in those contests. Lafayette vs. the members of the Ivy League: Brown 3-8-0 Harvard 2-3-0 Columbia 20-10-2 Pennsylvania 18-57-0 Cornell 8-14-2 Princeton 2-32-3 Dartmouth 2-6-0 Yale 0-6-0

Contending for an Ivy League title?
For the next four weeks, Lafayette will face Ivy League opponents, hosting Princeton this week, traveling to Pennsylvania Sept. 23, hosting Harvard Sept. 30, and playing at Columbia Oct. 7.

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).

New Millennium . . . New Beginning - The Debut
The Lafayette - Towson game marked the debut of Lafayette first-year head coach Frank Tavani. Tavani, a Lafayette assistant coach for 13 seasons, was named the 27th head coach in Lafayette football history. He took over for Bill Russo, who stepped down after 19 seasons at the helm of one of college football's most storied programs.

Calling the Action vs. Princeton
WEST-AM Stereo 1400 is in its 65th year as the radio home of Lafayette Athletics. Dick Hammer is in his 34th season of handling play-by-play duties. This game is one of a five Lafayette football games scheduled to be televised during the 2000 season on the Lafayette Sports Network. Gary Laubach is in his fourth season of handling play-by-play duties, while John Leone will provide color analysis for the third straight season, and Scott Barr joins the crew for his fourth season of reporting on the Leopards from the sidelines.

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.

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.

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.

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 355 Lafayette football games. Lafayette has recorded 12 undefeated home seasons at Fisher Field. The Leopards are 213-129-13 (.618) overall at Fisher Field.

All-Time Record
The Leopards are in their 119th football season, having played 1,118 games. Lafayette boasts an impressive all-time record of 588-491-39 (.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 554.

Weekly Radio Show
Lafayette Sports Weekly, a comprehensive half-hour radio show will air live each Thursday at 7 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, while head men's basketball coach Fran O'Hanlon and head women's basketball coach Pat Fisher will be regulars during their teams' winter campaigns.

Yarberough Moving Up the Charts
Lafayette senior split end Phil Yarberough (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) is currently seventh all-time in Lafayette history in career receiving yards with 1,327, and ninth in career receptions with 91. He needs two receptions to move into eighth place ahead of Dave Baird (1988-90, 92 rec.), and 38 receiving yards to move into sixth place ahead of Bob Donofrio (1968-70, 1,364 yds.)

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 has 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.

Local Flavor - 10 Lehigh Valley Leopards
The 2000 Lafayette College football team boasts 12 members from the Lehigh Valley. Consistently a heavy recruiter in the Lehigh Valley, Lafayette brought in three local freshmen this past recruiting year. The Lehigh Valley Leopards:

78 Pat Brown (Fr./DL/Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic)
7 Joel Cesare (Fr./WR/Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall)
2 Andy Ficzko (Sr./TB/Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East)
36 Brian Gregorek (Sr./LB/Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic)
20 Mike Palos (Sr./TE/Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic)
34 Bill Stocker (So./TB/Easton, Pa./Wilson)
4 Scott Warden (Jr./FB/Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks West)
86 Jeff Werrell (Jr./SE/Allentown, Pa./Salisbury)
95 Jermaine Williams (Sr./DL/Easton, Pa./Easton)
62 Curt Wilson (Fr./OL/Northampton, Pa./Northampton)

Leopard Injury Update The current listing of Lafayette football injuries: - Michael Beatrice - out for the season (knee).
- Tim Case - day-to-day (back).
- Rachaud Evans - probable (ankle sprain).
- Bryant Ibekwe - day-to-day (knee).
- Casey McKeen - out 6-10 weeks (thigh contusion).
- Mike McTavish - out indefinitely (minor knee surgery).
- Kevin Pickering - out for the season (back).
- Chad Ritchie - probable (ankle sprain).
- Trey Weaver - out for the season (knee).
- Rob Wildasin - out indefinitely (hamstring).