Oct. 8, 2002
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LAFAYETTE at COLUMBIA
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2002 * 1:30 p.m. EDT
LAWRENCE A. WIEN STADIUM (17,000 / AstroTurf)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
TV: none (one of just three Lafayette football contests in 2002 not televised)
The Game
- Lafayette concludes a three-game road swing by traveling to New York City, hoping to end a three-game losing streak. Kickoff at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium is set for 1:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on radio (WEST-AM 1400, pregame show starting at 1 p.m.), and on the internet (www.lafayette.edu).
- The Leopards started the season 2-0 for the first time since the 1993 season, but have since suffered a three-game losing skid.
- The longest winning streak in the Lafayette-Columbia series was a 12-game stretch by Lafayette from 1981 through 1993. The only season in which the two teams did not meet during that span was 1992. However, since 1993 the Lions hold a 3-2-1 advantage.
- The Leopards continue a stretch of their 2002 schedule that features six road contests in seven weeks. While on the road, Lafayette will log a total of 1,674 miles during the seven-week span.
- Lafayette has had some nail biters in the past two seasons, having six contests decided by 10 points or less since the start of the 2001 season. Unfortunately, the Leopards are 1-5 in those games, with the lone victory a 30-29 win over Monmouth.
The Series
(35th Meeting) Lafayette and Columbia have met 34 times on the gridiron, with the first encounter taking place in the 1889 season. The two teams have met 12 times in Easton and 22 in New York, with Lafayette holding a 21-11-2 advantage. The largest margin of victory in the series was a 58-6 Lafayette win in New York during the 1993 season. (See page 3 for a complete game recap and statistics of the most recent meeting in the series.)
The Head Coaches
The current 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 third 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 6-20. This is his second visit to Lawrence A. Wien Stadium as head coach of the Leopards and he is 1-1 vs. Columbia.
Ray Tellier (Connecticut '73) is in his 14th season at Columbia and his 19th as a collegiate head coach. Tellier is 42-89-2 at Columbia and his overall career record stands at 63-115-3. Tellier is 3-6-1 vs. Lafayette, including a mark of 3-2 vs. the Leopards at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium.
This Week's Game Captain - Casey McKeen '03
The Lafayette coaching staff is naming a game captain each week of the 2002 season. This student-athlete serves as a team captain the entire week of practice and at the game along with team captains Chris Partridge (Paramus, N.J./Paramus Catholic) and Chris Royle (Stockton, N.J./Hunterdon Central). Senior DL Casey McKeen (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest), who blocked a punt in the Duquesne game, has been named the Lafayette-Columbia game week captain.
Lafayette vs. the Ivy League
The Leopards have played 207 games against the eight members of the Ivy League, and are 57-143-7 (.292) in those contests. Lafayette vs. the members of the Ivy League:
Brown 3-8-0 Cornell 8-14-2 Harvard 2-5-0 Princeton 3-33-3 Columbia 21-11-2 Dartmouth 2-6-0 Pennsylvania 18-60-0 Yale 0-6-0
Weyrauch Closing In On Top 10
Lafayette junior FL John Weyrauch (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) passed the 1,000-yard mark for career receiving yards with his 142 yards on 11 receptions in the Leopards' season-opening win over Monmouth. Weyrauch is currently 13th all-time at Lafayette in career receptions with 79 catches. He needs six more receptions to crack the top 10.
Leopard Cubs
There are 17 freshmen and sophomores among the 44 spots on Lafayette's current offensive and defensive two-deep. Of those 17 freshmen and sophomores, seven are in the starting lineup.
100/200 Vision
In the combined careers of QB Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) and Joe McCourt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic), there have been three contests in which Glavic threw for more than 200 yards and McCourt rushed for more than 100 yards. The Leopards are 2-1 in those contests (10/27/2001 vs. Colgate - 20-16 L; 11/10/2001 at Georgetown - 37-17 W; 9/7/2002 vs. Monmouth - 30-29 W).
Happy Trails!
The Leopards' contest at Columbia marks the third in a series of seven weeks in which Lafayette plays six road games. Lafayette played at Princeton on Sept. 28 and at Duquesne last week and will travel to New York City twice, Hamilton, N.Y. and Lewisburg, Pa. Combined, the Leopards will log a total of 1,674 round-trip miles. The Duquesne trip tops the list at 598 miles round trip, while Colgate comes in a distant second at 374 miles. Fittingly, Lafayette's lone home date during the seven-week stretch is a "Homecoming" date with Georgetown on Oct. 19.
Leopard Injury Update
The current listing of Lafayette football injuries:
- Maurice Bennett (Fr., LB) - probable with a sprained ankle.
- Adam Bozick (Fr., DB) - out 4-6 weeks with a hip injury.
- Drew Buettner (So., OL) - out indefinitely with a knee injury.
- Shane Davenport (Fr., FB) - out for the season with a foot injury.
- Anthony Jones (So., TE) - out indefinitely with a knee injury.
- Josh Keister (Jr., TE) - out for the season with a knee injury.
- Michael McAfee (Jr., OL) - out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.
- Gus Ottoson (Fr., DL) - out for the season following shoulder surgery.
- Paul Ziska (So., DL) - out for the season following shoulder surgery.
Local TiesLafayette has two players on its current roster who are from the five boroughs of New York City. Kevin Moss (New York, N.Y./Simsbury) is a junior offensive lineman and Brian Carstens (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) is a sophomore defensive lineman.
Lafayette Returns Four Academic All-Americans
Seven Leopards, the most ever for a Lafayette football team, earned a spot on the 2001 Verizon District II Academic All-America squad. Of those seven, four return to the 2002 squad. The quartet includes senior DB Jamie Anzalone (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary), senior DL Matt Hinzpeter (Norwood, N.J./Northern Valley), senior DB Herb Kennedy (Troy, N.Y./Troy), and junior OL Curt Wilson (Northampton, Pa./Northampton).
Anzalone and Kennedy are two-time honorees, having also earned a spot on the 2000 Verizon District II Academic All-America squad.
Solid Protection
Lafayette's offensive line, coached by associate head coach Bob Heffner, led the Patriot League in sacks allowed with just 11 in the 2001 season. The Leopards also led the conference in passing yardage with an average of 265.1 yards per game.
The Leopards' offensive line has picked up right where it left off and has Lafayette ranked among the conference leaders in passing offense (4th) and sacks allowed (2nd).
Feeling Patriotic
Thanks to Circle Systems of Easton, the Leopards are wearing an American flag on the back of their helmets for the second straight season to honor those who died as a result of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
NCAA Division I-AA Leaders
Through games of Oct. 5, 2002, Lafayette senior PK Martin Brecht (Jeannette, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) ranks third among NCAA Division I-AA leaders in field goals per game with an average of 1.80. The Leopards among the top-50 NCAA Division I-AA leaders:
INDIVIDUAL
Field goals per game - Martin Brecht (1.80 avg.) - 3rd
Rushing - Joe McCourt (94.40 avg.) - 24th
Total offense - Marko Glavic (233.60 avg.) - 30th
Scoring - Martin Brecht (7.40 avg.) - 44th
TEAM
Punt Returns - 34th (11.58 avg.)
Passing offense - 41st (225.40 avg.)
Total offense - 48th (371.60 avg.)
Air Canada
Lafayette junior QB Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) entered his junior season with a reputation for big numbers through the air. Glavic posted six 200-yard and three 300-yard passing performances in the Leopards' 2001 season and has thrown for more than 200 yards three times this season. Glavic now has 19 career 200-yard games in just 23 career starts. He has recorded three 300-yard games and his career-high is 329 yards at Holy Cross in 2001.
Glavic Climbing The Charts
Leopard QB Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) is the fourth all-time leader in career passing yards at Lafayette with 5,542 career yards. In his 25 career games, Glavic has completed 54.3 percent of his passes (453-of-835) and thrown 27 touchdowns.
Glavic is just the fourth Lafayette QB to throw for more than 2,000 yards in a single season, joining former Leopard greats Frank Baur '90, Tom Kirchoff '93 and Frank Novak '84. In just 10 games last season, he recorded the third-best single season passing yardage total with 2,460 yards.
On This Date
The Leopards have played 17 games in the history of the program on October 12, and are 9-8 in those contests. The ledger:
Year Result Opponent 1887 W, 12-0 at Dickinson 1889 L, 10-0 at Cornell 1895 L, 14-0 at Princeton 1898 L, 34-0 at Princeton 1901 W, 5-0 at Syracuse 1904 L, 5-0 at Princeton 1907 W, 43-0 Hamilton 1912 L, 16-0 at Yale 1929 W, 23-0 Manhattan 1935 L, 38-0 at Albright 1940 W, 26-7 at Muhlenberg 1946 L, 27-14 Gettysburg 1963 L, 61-0 Delaware 1968 W, 27-7 at Washington & Lee 1974 W, 17-7 at Hofstra 1985 W, 20-13 James Madison 1991 W, 20-16 Bucknell
Hitting The Century Mark By Ground & Air
Lafayette junior FL John Weyrauch (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) and sophomore tailback Joe McCourt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) have both made a habit of breaking the 100-yard mark in receiving yards and rushing yards, respectively. Weyrauch has had at least 100 receiving yards seven times in his career, while McCourt has hit the century mark in rushing yardage four times.
Preseason All-America Honors For Royle
Senior center Chris Royle (Stockton, N.J./Hunterdon Central), an EXCEL Scholar at Lafayette, earned preseason All-America honors from two different sources. First, The Sports Network selected Royle to its All-America third team. A few days later, Lindy's chose Royle as a first-team All-American.
Geography For $100 Alex . . .
The Leopards' 2002 roster is one of the most geographically diverse in the history of Lafayette football. There are 14 different states represented and two student-athletes hail from Ontario, Canada. A total of 37 players are home-grown Pennsylvania products, while New Jersey is second on the list with 24. Maryland comes in third with eight, and the surprise is at number four as seven Leopards hail from sunny Florida.
Iron Leopards
As a team, Lafayette had its strongest off-season ever, literally. After having more than 30 Leopards remain around campus during the 2001 off-season, a record total of 45 stayed in the Easton area throughout the summer to strength train in preparation for the 2002 season.
Leopards Dominate the TV Airwaves ... Again!
The 2002 Lafayette College football season will see a record nine contests hit the television air waves via the Lafayette Sports Network to the entire Lehigh Valley and beyond. The Lafayette Sports Network, the most expansive television package in the Patriot League five years running, can be seen by more than 9.1 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 sixth season. In his fifth full season of football broadcasts is John Leone, Lafayette's Director of Alumni Affairs, who provides color analysis. In his second season of handling sideline reports on the Leopards is Dan Mowdy.
Defense Gets Stingy In Second Half
The Leopards' defense, under the direction of defensive coordinator John Loose, has allowed just 40 second-half points through five games of the 2002 season (average of 8.0 points per second half).
In addition, Lafayette's defense has already posted seven shut-out quarters of the 20 played in 2002. To put that in perspective, the Leopards recorded 10 total shut-out quarters in 2001 and 11 in 2000.
2002 Team Captains
The 2002 Lafayette football team captains, as chosen by their teammates and coaching staff, are senior linebacker Chris Partridge (Paramus, N.J./Paramus Catholic) and senior center Chris Royle (Stockton, N.J./Hunterdon Central).
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 366 Lafayette football games. Lafayette has recorded 12 undefeated home seasons at Fisher Field. The Leopards are 218-135-13 (.613) overall at Fisher Field.
Another Rookie Of The Year Award?
Lafayette TB Joe McCourt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) became the eighth Lafayette football player to earn Patriot League Rookie of the Year honors in 2001, joining Tom Costello (1988), Art Dennis (1990), Erik Marsh (1991), Shawn McHale (1994), Leonard Moore (1995), Kenya Allen (1998), and teammate Marko Glavic (2000).
McCourt finished fifth in the league in rushing with an average of 73.1 yards per game in 2001, earning three rookie of the week accolades from the conference for his 160-yard rushing performance vs. Colgate, his three-touchdown effort at Holy Cross and his career-high 184 rushing yards at Georgetown. McCourt started the last nine games for Lafayette and led the Leopards in rushing with an average of 5.0 yards per carry, totaling 731 yards and six touchdowns on 146 carries. Also a solid threat as a receiver and on special teams, he caught 22 passes for 167 yards and returned 19 kickoffs for 325 yards.
Lafayette vs. the Patriot League
The Leopards have played 308 games all-time against the seven fellow members of the Patriot League, and are 150-142-16 (.513) in those contests. Since the Patriot League began play in 1986, the Leopards are 42-40-1 (.512) vs. member schools and have won league titles in 1988, 1992, and 1994. Lafayette vs. the Patriot League:
Bucknell 41-32-6 Fordham 15-4-1 Holy Cross 9-7-0 Towson 2-4-0 Colgate 9-32-4 Georgetown 3-2-0 Lehigh 71-61-5
Weekly Radio Shows
Lafayette Sports Weekly, a comprehensive half-hour radio show, airs 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.
RCN-Lafayette Sports Night, a weekly one-hour radio show, airs each Tuesday from late August through May on The Sports Monster 1230 AM, the Lehigh Valley's ESPN Radio affiliate, and online at www.lafayette.edu. Sports Director Tom Fallon hosts a broad-based show from 5-6 p.m. and head football coach Frank Tavani is a regular guest during the season.
Local Flavor - 10 Lehigh Valley Leopards
The 2002 Lafayette College football team boasts 10 members from the Lehigh Valley. Consistently a prominent recruiter of top talent in the Lehigh Valley, Lafayette brought in two local freshmen this past recruiting year. The Lehigh Valley Leopards:
90 Tauren Barker (Fr./DL/Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall)
5 Vince Boyer (Sr./SE/Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua Area)
98 Pat Brown (Jr./DL/Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic)
7 Joel Cesare (Jr./WR/Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall)
46 Greg Gibbs (So./DL/Allentown, Pa./Salisbury)
34 Bill Stocker (Sr./DB/Easton, Pa./Wilson)
78 Robert Stroble (Fr./OL/Easton, Pa./Easton)
18 John-Frank Stubits (So./LB/Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth)
29 Dave Walters (So./TB/Easton, Pa./Freedom/Wyoming Seminary)
62 Curt Wilson (Jr./OL/Northampton, Pa./Northampton)
All-Time Record
The Leopards are in their 121st football season, having played 1,142 games. Lafayette boasts an impressive all-time record of 594-510-39 (.537) 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 580.
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.
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.
