Sept. 14, 2004

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THE MATCH-UP: Lafayette makes the short trip to Princeton this weekend seeking its first 3-0 start since the 1988 Colonial League champion Leopards won their first three outings. The Leopards are currently 2-0 for the first time since 2002 and just the second time since back-to-back 2-0 starts in 1992 and 1993. A stifling defense has been Lafayette's calling card the first two weeks, as the Leopard D has held both of its opponents under 200 yards of offense. Lafayette held just two teams under 300 yards of offense all of last seson. Saturday's game is the season-opener for Princeton. The Tigers have dropped five straight season openers, but have won two of their last three home openers.

McCOURT NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior tailback Joe McCourt was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for his performance at Georgetown last Saturday. McCourt ran 24 times for 104 yards and caught two passes for 21 yards in the 17-6 win. He continued his assault on the Lafayette and Patriot League record books, moving into second on Lafayette's all-time rushing yards list and fifth on the Patriot League list. He is also sixth on the league's all-purpose yardage list with 4,878 yards. (See related McCourt notes on page 2, 3.)

DOMINATING DEFENSE: Lafayette enters the weekend with the second-ranked defense in Division I-AA. After holding Marist to 137 yards in the opener, the Leopards limited Georgetown to just 132 yards of offense last week. Lafayette, allowing only an average of 134.5 yards per game, sits second behind Portland State, which allowed 99 yards in its opener on Saturday. The Leopards are also second nationally in pass defense, surrendering just 59 yards per game through the air. (See related note, NCAA Division I-AA Leaders, on page 3.)

THE SERIES: Historically, Princeton has given the Leopards as much trouble as any other opponent, owning a 33-4-3 lead in the all-time series. Lafayette, however, has won two of the past three meetings, including a 28-13 win in Easton last season. The Leopards have won just twice in 32 trips to Princeton, the last victory being a 47-37 win in 1982. the head coaches: Frank Tavani (Lebanon Valley '75) is in his fifth season at the helm of the Lafayette football program. He is the 27th head coach in the program's 123-year history. Tavani enters this weekend's contest with a career record of 18-28. Roger Hughes (Doane '82) is entering his fifth season at Princeton. He is 14-25 in his career, including 1-2 against Lafayette. Hughes led the Tigers to a 6-4 record in 2002, their first winning season since 1997.

THE SECRET WEAPON: Field position was a critical factor in last week's win at Georgetown, and the Leopards can credit senior punter Mike Davis for forcing the Hoyas to drive a long field most of the afternoon. Davis punted five times, averaging 41 yards per kick, and pinned Georgetown inside the 10 three times, including twice inside the five. His 41-yarder in the fourth quarter that was downed by Larry Johnson inside the one set up Andrew Brown's intercepton return for the go-ahead touchdown. Four of Davis' seven punts this season have been downed inside the 10-yard line.

TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE: Junior defensive end Andrew Brown's two-yard interception return for a score last week was the Leopards' first interception return for a touchdown since Jeff Werrell and Adriel Linyear combined for a 100-yard interception return against Colgate in 2001. Werrell picked off the pass at the goal line, then lateraled to Linyear who carried it the final 56 yards. Lafayette has intercepted three passes in the first two weeks after nabbing just six last season.

ZISKA STAYS PERFECT: After converting on all six point-after attempts in the opener against Marist, sophomore Rick Ziska knocked through both of his PAT attempts against Georgetown and hammered a 48-yard field goal just before halftime. The field goal was Ziska's first career make and the second-longest in the modern era for Lafayette. George McCaa's 53-yard field goal against Brown in 1909 still stands as the school record.

McCOURT'S MILESTONES: It goes without saying that senior tailback Joe McCourt will be the focal point of the Leopards' offense this season. Coming off his second-straight 1,000-yard rushing season, McCourt enters this weekend with 3,471 rushing yards, second all-time at Lafayette and fifth all-time in the Patriot League. McCourt must average 151.4 yards per game over the final nine games to catch Erik Marsh '95, the all-time leading rusher in Lafayette and Patriot League history. With two touchdowns in the opener against Marist, McCourt passed Marsh as Lafayette's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns. He currently has 36. After hauling in a team-high 52 passes in 2003, McCourt sits sixth in career receptions at Lafayette with 117. Finally, McCourt has accounted for 236 career points (39 touchdowns, 1 two-point conversion), leaving him 19 points behind kicker Jason McLaughlin '95 for the school scoring record.

LAFAYETTE vs. the IVY LEAGUE: Lafayette has played at least three games against Ivy League opponents every year since 1985. The Leopards have played 215 games all-time against the Ancient Eight and are 60-144-11 (.305) in those contests. Lafayette vs. the Ivy League:

Brown: 3-8-0
Columbia: 23-11-2
Cornell: 8-14-2
Dartmouth: 2-6-0
Harvard: 2-6-0
Penn: 18-60-4
Princeton: 4-33-3
Yale: 0-6-0

NCAA DIVISION I-AA LEADERS: Lafayette's defensive efforts in the first two weeks have landed the unit amongst the nation's leaders. Leopards ranking in the Top-50 nationally:

Individual Field Goals - Rick Ziska - 9th (1.5 per game)
Rushing - Joe McCourt - 31st (95.0 ypg.)

Team Total Defense - 2nd (134.5 yards per game)
Passing Defense - 2nd (59.0 yards per game)
Scoring Defense - 4th (6.5 points per game)
Passing Efficiency Defense - T-10th (70.35 rating)
Fewest Penalties Per Game - T-11th (4.5 per game)
Rushing Defense - 12th (75.5 yards per game)
Fewest Yards Penalized - T-18th (38.0 yards per game)
Interceptions - T-24th (3 interceptions)
Rushing Offense - 25th (209.0 yards per game)
Scoring Offense - 29th (32.5 points per game)
Net Punting - T-31st (37.1 yards per punt)
Passing Efficiency - 32nd (132.13 rating)
Punt Returns - T-44th (8.5 yards per return)
Kickoff Returns - 42nd (21.4 yards per return)
Kickoff Return Defense - 46th (17.6 yards per return)
Fumbles Lost - T-47th (2 lost)
Turnovers Gained - T-48th (4 turnovers)

HANGIN' A HUNDRED ON 'EM: Senior tailback Joe McCourt has turned in 17, 100-yard rushing games in his career, including a pair of 200-yard performances. He eclipsed the century mark twice as a freshman, eight times as a sophomore, six times as a junior and once this season. Lafayette is 10-7 over the past three seasons when McCourt rushes for at least 100 yards.

McCOURT MOVES TO THE TOP: Senior tailback Joe McCourt ran for two touchdowns in the first half against Marist, making him Lafayette's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns with 36. He passed Erik Marsh '95, who scored 35 touchdowns on the ground in his record-setting career.

MORE McCOURT: Joe McCourt is the lone All-Patriot League honoree returning for the Leopards this season. The 2001 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, McCourt garnered All-Patriot League Second-Team honors in 2003.

THE CAPTAINS: Senior linebacker Wes Erbe and senior offensive guard Stephen Bono were elected co-captains by their teammates during spring practice. Both are in their fourth seasons as starters at their respective positions. Erbe, who also served as a co-captain in 2003, is just the fourth player in Lafayette history to be named a captain in two different seasons. The last was Ryan Priest in 1985-86.

THE IRON CURTAIN: Lafayette returns its entire linebacking corps from 2003 in senior Wes Erbe and juniors Maurice Bennett and Blake Costanzo. The trio started all 11 games together a year ago, accounting for 306 tackles between them. Bennett led the team and ranked second in the Patriot League with 108 total tackles, while Erbe was fourth in the league with 104 stops. Erbe also forced five fumbles, tied for second-most nationally. Costanzo was tied for seventh in the Patriot League in total tackles, collecting 94. The group accounted for 12 sacks and 24 tackles for loss...This Season...Bennett leads the Leopards and is tied for fourth in the Patriot League in total tackles with 16. Costanzo has tallied six stops, including a sack. Erbe has missed the first two games with an ankle injury, but junior Dion Witherspoon has picked up the slack with 11 tackles.

ON THIS DATE: Lafayette is just 2-4 all-time in games played on Sept. 18, including 1-3 on the road. The Leopards' Sept. 18 results:

Year Opponent Result
1965 at Colgate L, 40-0
1971 Rutgers W, 13-7
1976 Kings Point L, 10-7
1982 at Army L, 26-20
1993 at Buffalo W, 29-15
1999 at Holy Cross L, 20-12

HOMETOWN HEROES: The 2004 Lafayette roster features five players from the Lehigh Valley:
- 90 Tauren Barker (Jr. / DL / Whitehall, Pa. / Whitehall)
- 14 Michael Bernhard (Fr. / QB/Allentown, Pa. / William Allen)
- 5 Matt Potter (So. / DB / Bethlehem, Pa. / Nazareth)
- 78 Robert Stroble (Jr. / OL / Easton, Pa. / Easton Area)
- 18 John-Frank Stubits (Sr. / TE / Nazareth, Pa. / Nazareth)

LOCAL CONNECTION: Four Leopards will be playing close to home this weekend when Lafayette makes the trip to Princeton. The Leopards from the Princeton, N.J. area:
- 4 Archie Fisher (Jr. / WR / Hackettstown, N.J. / Warren Hills)
- 61 John Lucas (So. / OL / Whitehouse Station, N.J. / Hunterdon Central)
- 66 Pat O'Neill (So. / OL / Point Pleasant, N.J. / Point Pleasant Borough)
- 72 Mike Saint Germain (So. / OL / Morris Plains, N.J. / Morristown)

NOW UNDER CENTER...: At the end of preseason camp, head coach Frank Tavani named sophomore Brad Maurer as the starting quarterback for the season-opener against Marist. Maurer became first Leopard other than Marko Glavic to start a game under center since Chad Ritchie took the opening snap against Harvard on Sept. 30, 2000. Maurer, the Ohio High School Division II Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2002, had been battling junior Pat Davis since spring practice for the job. Both Maurer and Davis, a two-year letterman as the Leopards' long-snapper, are expected to see significant playing time early in the season.

ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT SELECTIONS: Lafayette has remained a mainstay on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, with the school being represented by 19 student-athletes during Frank Tavani's first four seasons as head coach. In 2003, offensive linemen Stephen Bono and Curt Wilson were selected to the Academic All-District II Team. Bono, a civil engineering major, was named to first team for the second straight season. Wilson, who received his degree in mechanical engineering last spring, was a three-time Academic All-District II selection, earning first-team accolades as a senior and second-team honors as a sophomore and junior in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

ROAD WARRIORS: Lafayette's seven-game road schedule, after having seven at home in 2003, has been the subject of much discussion during the offseason. Towson, which would have served as a home contest in 2004, departed the Patriot League at the conclusion of the 2003 season. The Leopards agreed to a home-and-home deal with Richmond, with the Spiders tentatively slated to visit Easton on Sept. 10, 2005.

RIGHTING THE SHIP: After back-to-back two-win seasons in 2000 and 2001, Lafayette won 12 games over the 2002-03 seasons, the most for the program since the 1992-93 campaigns, which saw the Leopards win 13 contests and a Patriot League championship in 1992. Lafayette's seven Patriot League wins over that same span are the most since 1994-95.

EARLY START: Lafayette's 2004 season-opener with Marist, played on Sept. 4, is the earliest calendar date on which a Lafayette football game has been played.

AND WE GO TO...OVERTIME: 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).

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF Fisher Field: Lafayette will make just four appearances at Fisher Field in 2004, only the second time since the Leopards adopted a 10-game schedule in 1968 that Fisher Field has hosted fewer than five contests. Since 1926, the Leopards have played their home games at Fisher Field. The venue is in its 79th season, having played host to 378 games. Lafayette has recorded 12 undefeated home seasons at Fisher Field and has a 226-139-13 (.615) overall record.

INJURY UPDATE: Four players (Tauren Barker, Gus Ottoson, Nick Snyder and Paul Ziska) will miss the 2004 season due to injuries that occurred either before or in the opening days of preseason camp. The current listing of Lafayette football injuries (9/14):
- Brian Carstens (Sr., DL) - Doubtful, ankle
- Shane Davenport (Jr., FB) - Possible, ankle
- Wes Erbe (Sr., LB) - Possible, ankle
- Kevin Ganascioli (So., FB) - Doubtful, shoulder
- Brendon Green (Sr., FB) - Out, hamstring
- Anthony Jones (Sr., TE) - Out, foot
- Quindel Ladson (Fr., LB) - Out, knee
- Josh Lupini (Fr., OL) - Out, knee
- Ryan Nase (So., OL) - Doubtful, knee
- Matt Potter (So., LB) - Out, knee
- James Sommers (Sr., WR) - Out, wrist
- Chris Williams (So., TB) - Out, hamstring

LAFAYETTE LEADS THE NATION IN TELEVISED GAMES IN DIVISION I-AA: The Lafayette football program leads the nation among Division I-AA teams in 2004 with the most nationally-televised games as the Lafayette Sports Network will broadcast the Leopards' entire schedule on Empire Sports Network, DIRECTV and DISH Network. Regionally, the Lafayette Sports Network can be seen by more than 9.1 million viewers on RCN-TV 4 and WBPH-TV 60 in Eastern Pennsylvania - including all of Philadelphia - and Western New Jersey. The Lafayette Sports Network, which begins its fifth season of national telecasts via DIRECTV and DISH Network, has reached an agreement with Empire Sports Network to air all 11 Lafayette football games in 2004 to its potential audience of more than 17.5 million viewers in Upstate and Western New York as well as more than 40 million potential viewers on DIRECTV (channel 626) and at least 19.5 million possible viewers on DISH Network (channel 432). Empire Sports Network will broadcast seven games live in 2004 - six of the seven road games and the 140th meeting of Lafayette-Lehigh. The one road contest that will not be live, Oct. 9 at Columbia, will be shown that same day in tape-delay. Empire will also broadcast the Leopards' first three home contests in tape-delay the Tuesday following the game at 7 p.m. Local television sports broadcaster Gary Laubach will handle all of the Leopards' play-by-play duties for the eighth straight season. John Leone, Lafayette's Director of Alumni Affairs, will provide color analysis for the seventh straight season. Reporting from the Leopards' sidelines will be Dan Mowdy for the fourth season.

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.

ALL-TIME RECORD: Lafayette is in its 123rd season of intercollegiate football, and enters this weekend with an all-time record of 606-518-39 (.538). The Leopards ranked 33rd all-time in wins with 604 entering the 2004 season.

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 "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.