Nov. 19, 2002
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LAFAYETTE vs. LEHIGH
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2002 * 12:37 p.m. EDT
FISHER FIELD (13,750 / Natural Grass)
EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA
TV: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN 4 & WBPH 60) Live to more than 9.1 million viewers.
The Game
- The 138th meeting of college football's most-played rivalry takes center stage at Lafayette's Fisher Field this week. The Leopards will be looking to knock off their archrivals and hope for both Colgate and Fordham to lose, so Lafayette would capture a share of the 2002 Patriot League championship. Kickoff is set for 12:37 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 12 p.m.), and on the internet (www.lafayette.edu).
- The Lafayette-Lehigh contest will showcase two of the top tailbacks in the Patriot League - Lafayette's Joe McCourt, last season's rookie of the year in the conference who currently ranks second in the league rushing race (117.3 avg.) and sixth nationally, and Lehigh's Jermaine Pugh, who ranks third (110.2 avg.) in the league and 13th nationally.
- Picked seventh in the preseason Patriot League coaches' and sports information directors' poll, Lafayette finds itself one game out of first place and tied for third.
- This contest also features the Patriot League's second-leading passer in Lafayette' Marko Glavic (235.9 yards per game) against a Lehigh pass defense that ranks second in the conference (166.2 yards allowed per game).
The Series
(138th Meeting) Lafayette and Lehigh own the most-played rivalry in college football, having played 137 times, with the first encounter taking place in the 1884 season. The two teams have met 64 times in Easton and 72 times in Bethlehem, with Lafayette holding a 71-61-5 advantage in the series. The largest margin of victory in the series was a 78-0 Lehigh win in 1917.
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 10-22. He is 0-2 against Lehigh and 0-1 vs. the Mountain Hawks at Lafayette's Fisher Field.
Pete Lembo (Georgetown '92) is in his second season as Lehigh's head coach and as a collegiate head coach. He is 19-4 during his time with the Mountain Hawks. Lembo is 1-0 against Lafayette and this is his first visit to Fisher Field as Lehigh's head coach.
Telecast Parties
The alumni offices of both Lafayette and Lehigh annually sponsor telecast parties throughout the world. This year, more than 50 telecast parties will be held in 24 different states. This season's telecast is available via a live webcast on www.lafayette.edu for the third straight season and via satellite on both the KU-band (AMC 2, Transponder K6) and the C-band (Telstar 6, Transponder C16).
The Numbers Game
* Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) needs 27 passing yards to break the Leopards' single-season record of 2,621 set by Frank Baur in 1988.
* John Weyrauch (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) needs 99 receiving yards to become the third Lafayette receiver all-time to reach 1,000 yards in a season.
* Joe McCourt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) needs 152 rushing yards to break the Leopards' single-season record of 1,441 set by Erik Marsh '95 in 1993.
This Week's Game Captains
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). There are two game week captains for the Lafayette-Lehigh game - sophomore tailback Joe McCourt (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) and sophomore linebacker John-Frank Stubits (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth).
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 10 times in his career, while McCourt has hit the century mark in rushing yardage nine times - including five of the last six games and seven times in 2002.
McCourt recorded his first career 200-yard game in the Leopards' 42-13 win over Holy Cross, rushing for 203 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries. It was Lafayette's first 200-yard rushing performance since Erik Marsh '95 ran for 214 yards against Lehigh on Nov. 19, 1994.
Leopard Cubs
There are 18 freshmen and sophomores among the 44 spots on Lafayette's current offensive and defensive two-deep. Of those 18, seven are in the starting lineup.
Leopard Injury Update
The current listing of Lafayette football injuries:
- Tauren Barker (Fr., DL) - out with a sprained ankle.
- Alfred Belton (Fr., TB) - doubtful with a sprained ankle.
- Adam Bozick (Fr., DB) - out for the season with a hip injury.
- Drew Buettner (So., OL) - out for the season with a knee injury.
- Brendon Green (So., FB) - out indefinitely with a deep thigh bruise.
- Matthew Jackson (Jr., FB) - possible with a knee contusion.
- Anthony Jones (So., TE) - out indefinitely with a knee injury.
- Josh Keister (Jr., TE) - out for the season with a knee injury.
- Eric Keto (Sr., OL) - possible with a sprained ankle.
- Michael McAfee (Jr., OL) - out for season with a shoulder injury.
- Gus Ottoson (Fr., DL) - out for the season following shoulder surgery.
- Joe Ungrady (So., OL) - possible with a sprained knee.
- Matt Van Doren (Jr., DB) - possible with a sprained ankle.
- Curt Wilson (Jr., OL) - doubtful with a sprained knee.
- Paul Ziska (So., DL) - out for the season following shoulder surgery.
Academic All-Americans
Once again, Lafayette sits atop the Verizon District II Academic All-America first and second teams with both Princeton and Duquesne as the leading institutions. All three football programs are represented with five student-athletes on the two teams. For Lafayette, sophomore OL Stephen Bono (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional) earned a spot on the first team, while senior DB Jamie Anzalone (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Seminary), senior DB Herb Kennedy (Troy, N.J./Troy), junior OL Curt Wilson (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) and junior QB/holder Michael O'Connor (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) were named to the second team. Anzalone and Kennedy are three-time honorees, having earned a spot on the 2000 and 2001 Verizon District II Academic All-America squads. The Leopards' football program has earned 31 Academic All-America honors in the past seven seasons, including 16 in the three seasons under head coach Frank Tavani.
NCAA Division I-AA Leaders
Through games of Nov. 16, 2002, Lafayette senior PK Martin Brecht (Jeannette, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) ranks fourth among NCAA Division I-AA leaders in field goals per game with an average of 1.45. The Leopards among the top-50 NCAA Division I-AA leaders:
INDIVIDUAL
Field goals per game - Martin Brecht (1.45 avg.) - 4th
Rushing - Joe McCourt (117.27 avg.) - 6th
All-purpose runners - Joe McCourt (144.91 avg.) - 17th
Total offense - Marko Glavic (246.18 avg.) - 18th
Receptions per game - John Weyrauch (5.64 avg.) - 23rd
Receiving yards per game - John Weyrauch (81.91 avg.) - 30th
Scoring - Joe McCourt (7.09 avg.) - 34th; Martin Brecht (7.00 avg.) - 39th
TEAM
Passing offense - 27th (236.73 avg.)
Total offense - 30th (389.18 avg.)
Scoring offense - 46th (26.27 avg.)
Rushing defense - 46th (136.00 avg.)
Glavic Climbing The Charts
Leopard QB Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) is the third all-time leader in career passing yards at Lafayette with 7,019 career yards. In his 30 career games, Glavic has completed 55.4 percent of his passes (581-of-1048) and thrown 40 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 fact, he is just the third Leopard QB to thow for more than 2,000 yards in consecutive seasons. With 2,595 yards so far this season, he needs just 27 yards to break Lafayette's single-season record.
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 seven times this season. Glavic now has 23 career 200-yard games in just 28 career starts. He has recorded three 300-yard games and his career-high is 329 yards at Holy Cross in 2001.
Ground Canada?
Lafayette junior QB Marko Glavic (Pickering, Ontario/St. Mary Catholic) has also shown an ability to elude pass rushers and scramble for first downs. Through 11 games of the 2002 season, Glavic has rushed for 27 first downs, including seven one-yard dives.
On This Date
The Leopards have played 18 games in the history of the program on November 23, and are 6-12 in those contests. The ledger:
Year Result Opponent Year Result Opponent 1887 W, 6-0 Lehigh 1935 L, 48-0 at Lehigh 1889 L, 14-0 at Pennsylvania 1940 W, 46-0 Lehigh 1892 L, 18-0 vs. Penn State (@ Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) 1946 W, 13-0 Lehigh 1895 W, 14-6 Lehigh 1957 L, 26-13 at Lehigh 1901 W, 41-0 at Lehigh 1968 L, 21-6 Lehigh 1907 W, 22-5 at Lehigh 1974 L, 57-7 Lehigh 1912 L, 10-0 Lehigh 1985 L, 24-19 at Lehigh 1918 L, 17-0 Lehigh 1991 L, 36-18 at Lehigh 1929 L, 13-12 at Lehigh 1996 L, 23-19 Lehigh
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.
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 seven contests in which Glavic has thrown for more than 200 yards and McCourt has rushed for more than 100 yards. The Leopards are 4-3 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; 10/12/02 at Columbia - 28-21 W; 10/19/02 vs. Georgetown - 35-17 W; 10/26/02 at Fordham - 33-26 L; 11/2/02 at Colgate - 31-24 L).
Don't Change The Channel!
Lafayette has had some nail biters in the past two seasons, having nine contests decided by 10 points or less since the start of the 2001 season. Unfortunately, the Leopards are 2-7 in those games, with the victories coming on a 30-29 win over Monmouth to open the season and a 28-21 win at Columbia earlier this season. Both of Lafayette's Patriot League losses this season have been by seven-point deficits.
Playing Catch-Up
Lafayette has trailed in the first half during seven of its 11 games this season and have been outscored 80-55 in the first quarter. The four games the Leopards did not fall behind early were victories over Towson, Georgetown, Bucknell and Holy Cross.
Leopards Dominate the TV Airwaves ... Again!
The 2002 Lafayette College football season will see a record 10 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.
In addition, the Colgate game aired live on Empire Sports Network (DIRECTV channel 626) and the Bucknell game was carried live on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh (DIRECTV channel 628).
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 90 second-half points through 11 games of the 2002 season (average of 8.2 points per second half). That includes three games - Towson, Columbia and Bucknell - in which the Lafayette defense posted a shutout in the second half. In addition, Lafayette's defense has already posted 17 shutout quarters of the 44 played in 2002. To put that in perspective, the Leopards recorded 10 total shutout quarters in the 2001 season and 11 in 2000.
Weyrauch Cracks The 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. He followed that with an eight-catch, 156-yard performance in the comeback win at Columbia, moving him into the top 10 all-time at Lafayette in career receptions and career receiving yards. Weyrauch is currently fourth all-time at Lafayette in career receptions with 120 catches and fourth in receiving yards with 1,790. He needs 17 more receptions to move into third place, ahead of Frank Corbo (1981-84, 136 rec.), and 181 yards to move into third place, also ahead of Frank Corbo (1981-84, 1,970 yds.).
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.
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.
Lafayette vs. the Patriot League
The Leopards have played 314 games all-time against the seven fellow members of the Patriot League, and are 154-144-16 (.516) in those contests. Since the Patriot League began play in 1986, the Leopards are 46-42-1 (.522) vs. member schools and have won league titles in 1988, 1992, and 1994. Lafayette vs. the Patriot League:
Bucknell 42-32-6 Fordham 15-5-1 Holy Cross 10-7-0 Towson 3-4-0 Colgate 9-33-4 Georgetown 4-2-0 Lehigh 71-61-5
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 368 Lafayette football games. Lafayette has recorded 12 undefeated home seasons at Fisher Field. The Leopards are 220-135-13 (.615) overall at Fisher Field.
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.
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 1,148 games. Lafayette boasts an impressive all-time record of 598-512-39 (.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 584.
In Overtime Games . . .
Lafayette has 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 (11/18/95 at Lehigh - 37-30, 10/18/97 at Cornell - 41-34, 10/3/98 at Dartmouth - 13-10, 9/8/01 at Towson - 16-13).
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.
