Audio from Lafayette's weekly media luncheon:
- Lafayette Coach Frank Tavani
- Colgate Coach Dick Biddle
- Freshman TB Joe McCourt
- Sophomore WR John Weyrauch
For More Lafayette Football Coverage:
Oct. 23, 2001
LAFAYETTE vs. COLGATE
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2001 - 1:37 p.m. EDT
Fisher Field (13,750 / Natural Grass)
Easton, Pa.
TV: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN 4 & WBPH 60) Live to more than 5.2 million viewers.
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The Game
- Lafayette returns to Fisher Field for its final home stand to face another Patriot League foe this week after falling at Holy Cross last weekend in a 63-53 shootout. This week Lafayette hosts Colgate, one of four teams still undefeated in Patriot League action. Kickoff is set for 1:37 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on television (Lafayette Sports Network - RCN-4 and WBPH-60), on radio (WEST-AM 1400, pre-game show starting at 1 p.m.), and on the internet (www.lafayette.edu).
- It is Homecoming Weekend at Lafayette and many pregame festivities are planned on campus for alumni returning to College Hill.
- Colgate enters the Lafayette game riding a four-game winning streak and averaging 25.3 points per game on the season. The Raiders' only two losses are to scholarship Division I-AA programs in Villanova and Maine.
- Thanks to Circle Systems of Easton, Pa., the Leopards are wearing an American flag on the back of their helmets the rest of the 2001 season to honor those who are dead as a result of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Series
(45th Meeting) Lafayette and Colgate have met 44 times on the gridiron, dating back to the first encounter in the 1906 season. The Raiders lead the series 31-9-4. The two teams have met in Easton 21 times, with Colgate holding a 14-5-2 advantage in those meetings. Colgate has won the last five meetings, including last season's battle in Hamilton, 17-14. Russ Abrams kicked a 40-yard fourth quarter field goal and the Red Raiders intercepted a Glavic pass in the Colgate end zone with 33 seconds to play.
Media Information
"weather.com" forecast: Partly cloudy with a high of 53? and a low of 27?.
Radio: WEST (1400 AM ), 66th Season - Dick Hammer, play-by-play (35th season) - Carl Schumaker, color analyst
Television: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-TV 4 and WBPH TV-60 - over 5.2 million viewers) - Gary Laubach, play-by-play (5th season) - John Leone, color analyst (4th season) - Dan Mowdy, sideline reporter (1st season)
Internet: Live audio can be accessed by logging on to www.lafayette.edu
"Lafayette Sports Weekly": Half-hour radio show airs every Thursday at 7 p.m. EST from September through March and features head coach Frank Tavani as a regular guest during the season. Tune in to WEST (1400 AM) or listen to the audio webcast at www.lafayette.edu
Weekly 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. The luncheons are open to the public for a fee of $10 per person.
Quotes: Digital audio files from the weekly Lafayette football media luncheon will be available by 5 p.m. each Tuesday. They can be obtained by calling Lafayette's Office of Athletic Communications or by logging on to the Lafayette Web site at www.lafayette.edu.
Interviews: All interview requests for Head Coach Frank Tavani and members of the team must be submitted to Lafayette's Office of Athletic Communications. No player interviews will be granted on game day until after the game.
The Head Coaches
The latest era in the proud history of Lafayette football began on Dec. 11, 1999, when Frank Tavani (Lebanon Valley '75) was named the 27th head football coach in the history of the program. Now in his second season as head coach, Tavani had been a top member of Lafayette's coaching staff for the previous 13 seasons. Tavani has a career record of 3-14. This is his first contest at home vs. Colgate as head coach of the Leopards and he is 0-1 overall vs. the Raiders.
Dick Biddle (Duke '71) is in his sixth season at Colgate and as a collegiate head coach. His overall career record stands at 42-22. Biddle is 5-0 vs. Lafayette and 2-0 vs. the Leopards at Lafayette's Fisher Field.
Colgate Week Game Captain - John Weyrauch '04
The Lafayette coaching staff is naming a game captain each week of the 2001 season. This student-athlete serves as a team captain the entire week of practice and at the game along with team captains Jim Brown (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) and Barret Diefenderfer (Great Falls, Va./The Landon School). Sophomore WR John Weyrauch (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) has been named the Colgate week game captain.
Leopard Cubs
There are currently 18 freshmen and sophomores among the 44 spots on Lafayette's offensive and defensive two-deep. Of those 18 freshmen and sophomores, 10 are in the starting lineup, including eight on offense. In fact, the Leopards' starting offensive backfield consists of sophomore QB Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic), freshman TB Joe McCourt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) and freshman FB Brendon Green (Collingswood, N.J./Collingswood).
The Shootout In Worcester
By all accounts, 20 different Lafayette, Holy Cross or Patriot League records were either tied or broken in the Leopards' 63-53 loss to the Crusaders in Worcester. Most notably, it was the most combined points in Patriot League history and it was the most combined total offense (1,132 yards) by two teams at Holy Cross' Fitton Field. Lafayette's total of 53 points set the Leopards record for most points in a loss and is the highest point total since a 54-20 win over Lehigh in 1994.
Individually, sophomore DB Matt Van Doren's (Mount Carmel, Pa./Mount Carmel) 98-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the first half set a new Patriot League record and is one-yard shy of the Lafayette mark set by Steve Boyanoski vs. Lehigh in 1978.
Leopard Injury Update
The current listing of Lafayette football injuries:
- Jeremy Burkes - out indefinitely (fractured wrist).
- Jim Dietz - possible (chest muscle strain).
- Dan Errigo - out indefinitely (possible foot fracture).
- Anthony Jones - out indefinitely (ankle).
- Ryan Moloney - out for the season (neck strain).
- Justin Pettigrew - out indefinitely (mononucleosis).
- Paul Stack - out for the season (knee surgery).
- Rob Wildasin - out indefinitely (shoulder stinger).
On This Date
The Leopards have played 15 games in the history of the program on October 27, and are 6-8-1 in those contests. The ledger:
Year Result Opponent1883 L, 44-6 Pennsylvania1888 W, 18-0 at Haverford1900 W, 16-0 Newark A.A.1906 W, 17-6 Colgate1917 L, 6-0 Muhlenberg1923 T, 6-6 Rutgers1928 L, 17-0 West Virginia1934 W, 26-0 Albright1945 L, 26-2 Bucknell1951 L, 40-21 Bucknell1956 L, 12-6 Gettysburg1962 W, 20-14 Gettysburg1973 W, 23-13 Maine1979 L, 34-21 Maine1990 L, 34-3 at Holy Cross
Lafayette vs. the Patriot League
The Leopards have played 304 games all-time against the seven fellow members of the Patriot League, and are 149-139-16 (.516) in those contests. Since the Patriot League began play in 1986, the Leopards are 41-37-1 (.525) vs. member schools and have won league titles in 1988, 1992, and 1994. Lafayette vs. the Patriot League:
Bucknell 41-32-6 Fordham 15-3-1 Holy Cross 9-7-0 Towson 2-4-0Colgate 9-31-4 Georgetown 2-2-0 Lehigh 71-60-5
Local Ties
Lafayette has three players on its current roster who are from the upstate New York area. Senior WR Andrew May (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Ketcham), junior DB Herb Kennedy (Troy, N.Y./Troy) and freshman DL Paul Ziska (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott/Wyoming Seminary) are each from the northern part of New York.
Lafayette Boasts Five Academic All-Americans
Five Leopards, the most ever for a Lafayette football team, earned a spot on the 2000 Verizon District II Academic All-America squad. The quintet of Leopards, which led the Patriot League and consisted exclusively of underclassmen, included first-team honorees Kenya Allen (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) and Stewart Kupfer (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh). Earning a nod on the second team were Jamie Anzalone (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary), Herb Kennedy (Troy, N.Y./Troy), and Chad Ritchie (Winchester, Va./John Handley).
A Record Performance vs. Columbia
The Leopards' 31-14 victory over Columbia last week saw many new additions to the Lafayette football record book. A new team record for pass completions was set at 33, breaking the old record of 32 set in both 1987 (vs. Army) and 1992 (vs. Cornell). The team record for pass attempts (53 vs. Princeton in 2000) was tied. Individually, sophomore WR John Weyrauch (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) tied the single-game record for pass receptions with 11, and senior TE Stewart Kupfer (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) matched the single game record for TD receptions with three.
Air Canada
Lafayette sophomore QB Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) is quickly improving on an impressive freshman campaign that saw him earn Patriot League, ECAC, and USATODAY.com Rookie of the Year honors. The seventh Lafayette player to earn Patriot League Rookie of the Year honors, Glavic completed 159-of-297 passes for 1,964 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2000.
With three 200-yard and two 300-yard passing performances in the Leopards' 2001 season (244 yards at Towson, 255 yards at Harvard, 302 yards vs. Columbia, 268 yards vs. Bucknell, career-high 329 yards at Holy Cross), Glavic now has 11 career 200-yard games in just 14 career starts. His 302-yard passing effort vs. Columbia was the first for a Lafayette QB since Shawn McHale '96 threw for 370 yards at Fordham in the 1994 season.
Glavic Climbing The Charts
Lafayette sophomore QB Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) has moved into the top 10 all-time leaders in career passing yards. He is currently in fifth place with 3,485 career yards, including 1,521 through yards through six games of the 2001 season. In his 16 career games, Glavic has completed 54.9 percent of his passes (293-of-534) and thrown 17 touchdowns.
Leopards Dominate the TV Airwaves ... Again!
The 2001 Lafayette College football season will see a Patriot League-best nine contests 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 fifth season. In his fourth full season of football broadcasts is John Leone, Lafayette's Director of Alumni Affairs, who provides color analysis. In his first season of handling sideline reports on the Leopards is Dan Mowdy.
2001 Team Captains
The 2001 Lafayette football team captains, as chosen by their teammates and coaching staff, are senior defensive lineman Barret Diefenderfer (Great Falls, Va./The Landon School) and senior offensive lineman Jim Brown (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg).
Iron Leopards
As a team, Lafayette had its strongest off-season in recent history, literally. More than 30 Leopards remained around campus throughout the summer to strength train in preparation for the 2001 season.
The Touchdown May-ker -- The Sequel
Senior receiver Andrew May (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Ketcham), who established a new Lafayette record with his 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the Leopards' win over Holy Cross last season, scored a touchdown nearly 20 percent of the time he touched the football during the 2000 season. The art major officially touched the ball 39 times, making 25 pass receptions for 482 yards, one rush for 11 yards, and 13 kickoff returns for 334 yards. Of those 39 "touches," seven resulted in touchdowns.
May's touchdown efforts continued in the Leopards' 2001 season opener, as he returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. In addition, he caught six passes for 100 yards, his second career 100-yard receiving effort.
Local Flavor - Nine Lehigh Valley Leopards
The 2000 Lafayette College football team boasts nine members from the Lehigh Valley. Consistently a prominent recruiter of top talent in the Lehigh Valley, Lafayette brought in three local freshmen this past recruiting year. The Lehigh Valley Leopards:
5 Vince Boyer (Jr./SE/Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua Area)
98 Pat Brown (So./DL/Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic)
7 Joel Cesare (So./WR/Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall)
46 Greg Gibbs (Fr./LB/Allentown, Pa./Salisbury)
18 John-Frank Stubits (Fr./DB/Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth)
29 Dave Walters (Fr./TB/Easton, Pa./Freedom/Wyoming Seminary)
4 Scott Warden (Sr./FB/Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks West)
9 Jeff Werrell (Sr./SE/Allentown, Pa./Salisbury)
62 Curt Wilson (So./OL/Northampton, Pa./Northampton)
Home Sweet Home
Erected in 1926, Lafayette College's Fisher Field is in its 76th season as the home of the Leopards, having played host to 361 Lafayette football games. Lafayette has recorded 12 undefeated home seasons at Fisher Field. The Leopards are 216-132-13 (.616) overall at Fisher Field.
All-Time Record
The Leopards are in their 120th football season, having played 1,134 games. Lafayette boasts an impressive all-time record of 591-504-39 (.538) and ranks 32nd on the nation's all-time victories list. Lafayette leads the Patriot League in all-time wins, with Lehigh the closest at 570.
In Overtime Games ...
Lafayette has now played five overtime games and is 1-4 in those contests. After winning the first overtime affair in 1995 over Fordham (24-21 on 11/11/95), the Leopards have lost their last four OT games.
Crossing The Line
Several Leopards changed sides of the ball during the 2001 preseason, most notably co-captain Jim Brown (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg). A defensive lineman for his first three seasons, Brown quickly agreed to the move in order to help the team because of the rash of injuries that has affected the Leopards' offensive line. Also changing positions were Stephen Bono (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional), from DL to OL, Brian Carstens (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell), from DL to OL, Josh Keister (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater Raritan), from DL to OL, and Matt Kulp (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Central), from FB to LB.
A History of Championships
The Lafayette football program has claimed three national championships -- 1896, 1921 and 1926 -- and recorded five undefeated seasons -- 1896 (11-0-1), 1921 (9-0-0), 1926 (9-0-0), 1937(8-0-0) and 1940 (9-0-0). Of recent note, the Leopards have won Patriot League championships in 1988, 1992 and 1994.
Lafayette's Football Inventors
Two primary elements of the game of football -- the helmet and the huddle -- were invented by former members of the Lafayette football program. George "The Rose" Barclay from the class of 1898, one of Lafayette's all-time great running backs, invented the helmet when the "threat of cultivating cauliflower ears" led him to piece three thick leather straps around his head for the 1896 game against Penn. Former Lafayette coach Herb McCracken (1924-35, 59-40-6) devised the first huddle system during the 1924 season after learning the Pennsylvania football team had stolen Lafayette's signals. Lafayette became the first team to huddle before each play and this system was immediately adopted by other teams.
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 sports director Dick Hammer will be joined each week by either Gary Laubach or John Leone, Lafayette Sports Network's television commentators, for an exciting half-hour exclusively devoted 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 Tammy Smith will be regulars during their teams' winter campaigns.
