Sept. 7, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
THE MATCH-UP: Lafayette opens Patriot League play on the road, visiting Georgetown. Both squads are fresh off impressive opening-week wins in which they out-scored their opponents by a collective 84-14. With a win, Lafayette would move to 2-0 for the first time since 2002 and just the second time since 1993. Georgetown, meanwhile, is eyeing its first 2-0 start since 1999. IMPRESSIVE DEBUT: Sophomore quarterback Brad Maurer used his arm and legs to move the football against Marist. He was only 4-of-6 passing for 59 yards, but fired a 32-yard scoring pass to Archie Fisher just before halftime. Maurer also ran eight times for 67 yards and a touchdown. He had four carries of at least 15 yards, including the first offensive snap of the season, when he ran for 17 yards. DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE: Lafayette held Marist to just 137 yards of total offense, including 47 through the air. After intercepting just six passes in 2003, the Leopards picked off three Marist's first three aerials last week, while one was wiped out due to a pass interference penalty. Bryan Kazimierowski and Larry Johnson collected interceptions in the first quarter against the Red Foxes. 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. THE SERIES: Lafayette leads the all-time series 4-3 and is 2-1 against Georgetown since the Hoyas joined the Patriot League in 2001. The Leopards have won three of the past four meetings overall, including the last match-up in Washington, D.C., 37-17 in 2001. Last year, Georgetown drove 95 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in a 17-10 win at Lafayette. 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 17-28. Bob Benson is in his 12th season at Georgetown. He is 66-49 in his career, including 1-2 against Lafayette. Benson was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1997. THE CAPTAINS: Senior linebacker Wes Erbe and senior offensive guard Stephen Bono were elected co-captains by their teammates during spring practice. Both are entering 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. LAFAYETTE vs. the PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Leopards have played 314 games all-time against the six 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 49-47-1 (.516) vs. member schools and have won league titles in 1988, 1992, and 1994. Lafayette vs. the Patriot League: Bucknell: 43-32-6 Fordham: 15-6-1 Holy Cross: 11-7-0 Colgate: 9-34-4 Georgetown: 4-3-0 Lehigh: 72-62-5 ON THIS DATE: Lafayette has played four games on Sept. 11 and is 1-3 in those contests. The Leopards lone win on this date was a 31-14 win against Bucknell in 1993. The Leopards' last game on Sept. 11 was a 35-7 loss at Towson in 1999. 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 3,367 rushing yards, third all-time at Lafayette and seventh all-time in the Patriot League. McCourt must average 147 yards per game over the final 10 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 with 115. 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. 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. 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. HANGIN' A HUNDRED ON 'EM: Senior tailback Joe McCourt has turned in 16, 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 and six times as a junior. Lafayette is 9-7 over the past three seasons when McCourt rushes for at least 100 yards. 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. 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. 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) 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. LOCAL CONNECTION: Five Leopards will be playing close to home this weekend when Lafayette makes the trip to our nation's capital. The Leopards from the Washington, D.C. area: - 20 Alfred Belton (Jr. / TB / Cleverly, Md. / Archbishop Caroll) - 8 Duaeno Dorsey (Fr. / WR / Gaithersburg, Md. / Quince Orchard) - 21 Larry Johnson (Jr. / DB / Waldorf, Md. / Westlake / Wyoming Seminary) - 46 Adrian Lawson (Fr. / DB / Hyattsville, Md. / Northwestern) - 69 Kwame Lovell (Jr. / DL / Takoma Park, Md. / DeMatha) 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. 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. NCAA DIVISION I-AA LEADERS: Senior tailback Joe McCourt and sophomore placekicker Rick Ziska are amongst the nation's leaders in scoring following the Leopards' opening-week win over Marist. As a team, the Leopards rank in the Top-50 nationally in Division I-AA in 10 different categories after one week. Lafayette's national statistical leaders entering week two: Individual Field Goals - Rick Ziska - T-4th (2.0 per game) Scoring - Joe McCourt, Rick Ziska - T-13th (12.0 ppg.) Points Responsible For - Joe McCourt, Rick Ziska - T-32nd (12.0 ppg.) Kickoff Returns - Larry Johnson - T-33rd (20.5 yds. per return) Rushing - Joe McCourt - 48th (86.0 ypg.) Team Passing Defense - 4th (47.0 ppg.) Total Defense - 5th (137.0 ypg.) Turnover Margin - T-6th (+3.0) Passing Efficiency Defense - 8th - (61.65 rating) Scoring Offense - 10th (48.0 ppg.) Scoring Defense - T-10th (7.0 ppg.) Rushing Offense - 14th (289 ypg.) Passing Efficiency - 18th (171.20 rating) Rushing Defense - 22nd (90.0 ypg.) Total Offense - T-32nd (409 ypg.) 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 (9/7): - Brian Carstens (Sr., DL) - Out, 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 - Mike Lewandos (Sr., OL) - Probable, quad contusion - Josh Lupini (Fr., OL) - Out, knee - Ryan Nase (So., OL) - Out, knee - Matt Potter (So., LB) - Out, knee - Mike Saint Germain (So., OL) - Probable, hamstring - James Sommers (Sr., WR) - Out, wrist - Bob Szuhany (Jr., OL) - Possible, 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. 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.
