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Nov. 1, 2005
THE MATCH-UP: Lafayette's defense of its 2004 Patriot League championship continues as Colgate comes to Easton to close the seven-game home schedule at Fisher Field. The Leopards are the lone remaining undefeated team in league play, as Lehigh dealt Colgate its first league loss, 50-34, last Saturday. History will be at stake this weekend as Lafayette looks for a victory over the Raiders for the first time since 1995. Lafayette has won eight of its last nine league contests, with the only setback a 22-19 verdict on Nov. 6 a year ago in Hamilton, N.Y.
THREE DOWN . . : Lafayette's 33-20 win over Bucknell last week gave the Leopards their fifth 3-0 start since the Colonial League (the forerunner of the Patriot League) was founded in 1986. The previous four perfect starts came in Lafayette's championship seasons - 1988 (5-0), 1992 (5-0), 1994 (5-0) and 2004 (5-1). . . AND THREE TO GO: Lafayette will play a "championship game" in each of the next three weeks. After this weekend's game with Colgate, the Leopards will travel to Holy Cross, which owns a 14-13 win over Lehigh, before closing with the 141st meeting of the nation's most-played rivalry against the Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem on Nov. 19.
THE SERIES: Lafayette and Colgate will meet for the 49th time in a series that dates to 1906. The Leopards won the first two meetings before enduring a stretch of 29 games (over 62 years) with just one victory. Lafayette's last win in the series, a 35-9 victory in 1995, coincided with the Leopards' last Patriot League title defense.
THE HEAD COACHES: Frank Tavani (Lebanon Valley '75) is in his sixth season at the helm of the Lafayette football program. He is the 27th head coach in the program's 124-year history. Tavani enters this weekend's contest with a career record of 30-34, and is 26-17 since 2002.
Dick Biddle (Duke '70) is 81-34 in his 10th season at Colgate. He guided the Raiders to a top two finish in the Patriot League in each of his first eight seasons, including a 15-1 record and a trip to the national championship game in 2003, before finishing 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the league last season.
ALL HE DOES IS WIN: Junior quarterback Brad Maurer has started each of Lafayette's 20 games since the start of his sophomore season and has led the Leopards to a 14-6 record over the last two years. Maurer is 10-2 when playing the entire game under center, with the only two losses coming last season at Colgate and Delaware, the combatants in the 2003 national championship game. Head coach Frank Tavani settled on Maurer as the full-time quarterback at halftime of Lafayette's 35-14 win at Columbia a year ago after playing Maurer and Pat Davis equally through the first five games of the 2004 season, starting with the former and closing with the latter. Maurer went on to lead his team to the Patriot League championship and was the MVP of Lafayette's 24-10 win over Lehigh, completing 11-of-21 passes for 108 yards and running 20 times for 124 yards and a touchdown.
PROTECTING THE FOOTBALL: Junior Brad Maurer has thrown just five interceptions in his last 284 attempts dating to Lafayette's fifth game of the season, vs. Harvard, in 2004. Maurer has two stretches of 93 passes without an interception in his career. The latest streak ended on Saturday vs. Bucknell after he had completed his first seven passes of the game for 93 yards. Earlier this season, Maurer had thrown two picks in his last 178 attempts before having his final two passes intercepted against Princeton.
EXPLAINING THE QUARTERBACK SITUATION: Head coach Frank Tavani has utilized a two-quarterback rotation in three of Lafayette's eight games this season:
* Junior starter Brad Maurer left at halftime on Sept. 17 against Princeton as he was feeling the effects of a hip pointer that he suffered the previous week against Richmond. The Leopards trailed 20-0 at the half when senior Pat Davis entered the game, and he was 6-for-10 for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns while running for 40 yards, although the Leopards ultimately lost, 23-21.
* On Oct. 15 against Harvard, Maurer was 4-for-14 as Lafayette fell behind 14-0 before Davis took the controls on the final series of the first half when Maurer was forced to leave with a contact issue. Davis responded with a 16-for-34 effort for 263 yards, including two third-quarter touchdown passes, but Harvard did just enough to earn a 24-17 win.
* Maurer completed 11 of 14 passes for 127 yards in the first quarter last week against Bucknell, but threw an interception at the goal line and was relieved by Davis. The senior had a pair of touchdown passes, but also threw two costly interceptions that allowed the Bison to rally from a 20-3 deficit to tie the game with 4:14 remaining. Maurer returned and led the Leopards' game-winning touchdown drive which included a 23-yard completion to Brandon Stanford on third-and-12 from the 28-yard line and culminated with a 40-yard scoring pass to Joe Ort with 1:47 left in the game.
BENNETT ON "BUCHANAN BATTLE", DRADDY TROPHY LISTS: Senior linebacker Maurice Bennett has earned a number of accolades, including placement on the watch list for the prestigious Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the top defensive player in I-AA football. The first revision to the Buchanan Award watch list was made on Oct. 12, and the list will also be updated on Nov. 2 and Nov. 21. An Economics and Business major, Bennett was also a semi-finalist for the 2005 Draddy Trophy, known as the "Academic Heisman", which goes to a student-athlete for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership.
BUCHANAN BATTLE UPDATE: Senior linebacker Maurice Bennett had eight tackles and a sack last week vs. Bucknell as he continued his campaign for the Buchanan Award. He was recognized by the Patriot League, I-AA.org and the ECAC after recording a career-high 19 tackles (eight solo, 11 assists) and three sacks in Lafayette's 24-17 loss to Harvard on Oct. 15. Bennett has made at least 13 tackles in four games this season -- 13 against both Princeton and Fordham, 14 vs. Georgetown, and 19 vs. Harvard. Bennett has 92 tackles (28 solo, 64 assists) to go with 5.5 sacks and a forced fumble so far in 2005. He has 362 tackles, 29.0 TFL, 13.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in his career, and has started 32 of the 42 games in which he has played at Lafayette. Bennett has 22 career games with at least 10 stops, and the fourth-most total tackles in 2005 among the 16 players currently on the Buchanan watch list.
STANFORD SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brandon Stanford's 83-yard punt return for a touchdown against Bucknell earned him the Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week. The punt return touchdown was Lafayette's first since Jarrett Shine went 72 yards at Princeton in 1992, breaking a stretch of 147 games without a punt return for a score. Lafayette scored twice on blocked punts in the interim -- Mike Palos had a 27-yard return vs. Columbia in 2000, and Archie Fisher had a 26-yard return at Duquesne in 2002.
RACK 'EM: Seniors Larry Johnson and Brandon Stanford rank second and third, respectively, on the NCAA Division I-AA active career leaderboards in kick return (Johnson) and punt return (Stanford) yardage. Johnson has 88 returns for 2,119 yards, and is ranked 10th in the nation with 26.6 yards per return this season. He holds four of the top 10 spots on Lafayette's single-season kick return yardage list. Stanford has returned 98 punts for 902 yards, and ranks seventh in the nation with an average of 14.9 yards per punt return in 2005. Stanford holds Lafayette's single-season punt return yardage record with 29 returns for 431 yards.
ORT COMES UP BIG: Senior Joe Ort caught the game-winning touchdown pass, a 40-yard toss from Brad Maurer, and finished with seven catches for 128 yards and two scores in Lafayette's 33-20 win over Bucknell last week. Ort had the Leopards' first 100-yard receiving day in two years with three catches for 117 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown, the previous time out against Harvard. The back-to-back 100-yard outings are the first for a Lafayette receiver since John Weyrauch strung together three games with at least 100 yards in 2002 (29 catches for 424 yards and four TDs). Archie Fisher was the last Leopard to catch a pair of touchdown passes in a game, hauling in scoring throws of 29 and 13 yards against Colgate in 2003. Ort is second on the team in both receptions and yards this season, with 21 catches for 370 yards, while appearing in six games. He missed the Marist and Princeton games with a hamstring injury.
LOOK TO THE SKY: The emergence of Joe Ort in the passing game coincides with Lafayette's first back-to-back 300-yard passing games since 2003, when Marko Glavic, the Patriot League's all-time passing yardage leader, threw for a school-record 453 yards vs. Columbia and had exactly 300 yards passing a week later at Harvard. This time around, the Leopards have done their damage with two quarterbacks. Pat Davis threw for 263 yards in relief of starter Brad Maurer, who had 63 yards passing, as Lafayette totaled 326 yards through the air vs. Harvard on Oct. 15. Both quarterbacks went over 150 yards in last week's 33-20 win over Bucknell -- Maurer was 14-of-18 for 197 yards, and Davis threw for 161 more on 10-of-19 passing. Lafayette had thrown for an average of 157 yards through the first six games, but has seen that total increase by nearly 50 yards per game in the last two weeks.
ALL STANFORD, ALL THE TIME: Brandon Stanford is Lafayette's leading receiver this season, with 36 catches for 389 yards and three touchdowns. He set a career-high with 98 yards on seven catches last week vs. Bucknell, and caught nine passes for 89 yards at Georgetown. Stanford has 87 career receptions for 933 yards and four scores, 70 yards and two touchdowns on eight rushing attempts, and 902 yards and a touchdown on 98 punt returns for a total of 1,905 all-purpose yards and seven scores in 43 games.
NCAA DIVISION I-AA LEADERS: The Leopards among the top-50 NCAA Division I-AA leaders in 2005:
Individual
Punt Returns - Brandon Stanford, 7th (14.86 ypr)
Kickoff Returns - Larry Johnson, 10th (26.59 ypr)
Team
Scoring Defense - 4th (14.00 ppg)
Punt Returns - 9th (14.86 ypr)
Total Defense - 10th (273.13 ypg)
Pass Efficiency Defense - 10th (99.18 rating)
Pass Defense - 13th (150.25 ypg)
Kickoff Returns - 26th (21.50 ypr)
Rushing Defense - 27th (122.88 ypg)
Passing Offense - 50th (203.25 ypg)
GO FIGURE: Lafayette was fifth in the nation in pass defense entering last weekend's game with Bucknell, surrendering 132.4 yards per game, and faced a Bison offense, with a converted defensive back playing his fifth career game at quarterback, that was averaging just 62.7 yards per game through the air. So naturally, Dante Ross threw for a career-high 275 yards as Lafayette allowed a season-high 424 yards of total offense. Last week's performance dropped the Leopards to 13th in pass defense (150.2 ypg) and 10th in total defense (273.1 ypg). Lafayette had given up an average of 251.6 yards in the first seven games.
GET WELL, GET WELL SOON, WE WANT YOU TO GET WELL (BUT NOT YET): Of Lafayette's first nine opponents, two opened their season with the Leopards, and six more were coming off losses in their previous game. Only Georgetown, with a 10-7 win over Stony Brook, has entered its match-up with Lafayette coming off a victory. That trend continues this week as Colgate lost 50-34 vs. Lehigh last Saturday, and will continue next week as well as Holy Cross enters its bye week following a 24-20 loss at Fordham.
THE LEOPARDS' LINEBACKERS: Seniors Maurice Bennett, Blake Costanzo and Dion Witherspoon, Lafayette's top three tacklers, complement each other well with their skill sets on the field. Bennett, the middle linebacker, leads Lafayette with 92 tackles and 5.5 sacks this season and is both an All-American and Buchanan Award candidate. Witherspoon is second with 72 stops and has 11.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including three sacks. Costanzo has filled the stat sheet, with 55 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Bennett was a first-team All-Patriot League selection and Costanzo was named to the second team a year ago. The trio recorded 265 total tackles a year ago despite Witherspoon making just five starts, as he was playing behind two-year co-captain Wes Erbe.
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE: The 2005 Lafayette football schedule features the same 11 regular-season opponents that the Leopards played on the way to last year's Patriot League championship. This weekend, Lafayette will look to reverse what has been a positive trend to date, as the Leopards have repeated their six victories and two losses on the 2004 schedule through the first eight games of 2005.
TWENTY-FOUR: The Leopards went 13 games and more than a calendar year without giving up 24 points defensively in a game before Harvard hit that mark on Oct. 15, as each of the Crimson's three touchdown drives started in Lafayette territory. Harvard was also the last team to score at least 24 offensive points against the Leopards, winning last year's meeting 38-23 on Oct. 2, 2004. Delaware had a fumble return for a touchdown in Lafayette's 28-14 loss in the I-AA playoffs a year ago. Lafayette has held seven of its last 15 opponents under 14 points, and has allowed an average of 15.9 points in that stretch.
GET THAT MAN A FIG NEWTON: Head coach Frank Tavani received some good advice on halftime nutrition last season, and began a regimen that included bananas, pears and fig newtons as the Leopards earned a reputation as a second half team, outscoring opponents 180-102. Before allowing 17 second-half points against Bucknell last week, Lafayette had surrendered 13 points in the second half in the last six games. The Leopards own a 95-44 advantage on the scoreboard in the final 30 minutes this season.
PLAYING THE CLOSE ONES: Lafayette has played five games decided by seven points or less this season, and is 3-2 in that stretch, with wins over Richmond (7-0), Georgetown (12-7) and Columbia (14-7) and losses to Princeton (23-21) and Harvard (24-17). If the final margin of one of the last three games is within a touchdown, the 2005 Leopards will become the fourth team in school history to play six games that came down to one score. Lafayette was 3-3 in close games in 2002, 3-3 in 1978, and 3-3-1 in a nine-game schedule in 1942.
SCORING QUICKLY: While the Lafayette offense isn't scoring as often as it did last season, when Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Joe McCourt was lined up in the backfield, the Leopards are scoring more quickly. After scoring just one of its 42 touchdowns on the first play of a drive a year ago, five of Lafayette's 21 touchdowns have come on the first play this season. Four of those five scoring plays have covered at least 23 yards, including an 83-yard pass from Pat Davis to Joe Ort and a 25-yard toss to Shaun Adair against Harvard, a 65-yard strike from Brad Maurer to Adair vs. Fordham, and a 23-yard catch by Chad Walker on a pass from Davis vs. Princeton.
HURT NAMED OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior tailback Jonathan Hurt ran for a career-high 149 yards and scored both of Lafayette's touchdowns in the Leopards' 14-7 win over Columbia to earn Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors. It was Hurt's third multi-touchdown game of the season, as he found the end zone three times against both Marist and Fordham. His previous career-high was a 13-carry, 97-yard performance at Marist in the season opener.
IN THE KICKING GAME: Junior Rick Ziska returns this week from a one-game suspension for violation of team rules. Ziska is 5-for-12 on field goals this season, with seven of his attempts coming from beyond 40 yards. He has also assumed some of the punting duties for the Leopards and has dropped seven of his 25 punts inside the 20-yard line. Sophomore David Yankovich has punted 21 times for an average of 37.3 yards per kick, and ranks second in the Patriot League in that category in his first year of action.
SEASON DEDICATION: The Lafayette football program has dedicated the 2005 season in memory of Tom Norton '59, a member of the faculty in the sociology department for 37 years and a long-time supporter of Leopard football. Norton passed away on June 24, 2005 at the age of 68. Head coach Frank Tavani is dedicating the season in Norton's memory to thank him for his love and unwavering support of Lafayette football, and to promote the scholarship fund that has been established in his honor.
RIGHTING THE SHIP: After back-to-back two-win seasons in 2000 and 2001, Lafayette has won 20 games over the past three years, the most for the program over a three-year span since 1981-83. Lafayette is 12-8 in Patriot League play in that time, putting together its best league run since a 10-5 record from 1994-96.
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF FISHER FIELD: Lafayette will make seven appearances at Fisher Field in 2005, the second time in three years and just the third time since 1915 that the Leopards have played seven home games. Lafayette has played its home games at Fisher Field since 1926 and has played host to 386 games. Lafayette has recorded 12 undefeated home seasons at Fisher Field and has a 232-142-13 (.616) overall record.
THE 2004 LEOPARDS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS: Lafayette's Patriot League championship season in 2004 vaulted the Leopards into the top 25 in the final two polls of the year after spending nearly two months in the Others Receiving Votes section. The Leopards were annointed with the No. 24 ranking by ESPN/USA Today and No. 25 by The Sports Network following their 24-10 victory over Lehigh on Nov. 20 that sent Lafayette to the postseason for the first time in school history. Despite the 28-14 loss to Delaware in the first round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, both publications ranked Lafayette 19th in their final poll.
THAT'S ONE FAST FRESHMAN: Wide receiver Shaun Adair didn't crack the two-deep until week four against Fordham, but is Lafayette's third-leading receiver in terms of yardage. He has nine catches for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His signature play was a 65-yard touchdown catch against Fordham, and he also had an 18-yard reception against the Rams to earn Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors. Adair also had a 25-yard touchdown catch against Harvard. Adair was a high school teammate of freshman linebacker Brian Reddy and junior offensive lineman Mike Saint Germain at Morristown (NJ) and won Morris County championships in the long jump, triple jump and 110m hurdles while anchoring the winning 4x400m relay team. Adair also won the long jump at the New Jersey Meet of Champions with a leap of 23-9 which ranked 38th in the country and would have won the Patriot League outdoor championship a year ago, while the distance of 45-1 1/4 in the triple jump would have placed third behind gold medal winner Jeff Sejour (48-4), who is a defensive back for the Leopards.
PLAYING CENTER FIELD: Junior defensive back Torian Johnson has two interceptions this season, and all four of his career interceptions have been returned for at least 16 yards. In the opener at Marist, Johnson picked off a pass late in the third quarter returned the ball 36 yards, and he had a 16-yard return after an interception at a similar point in the game against Princeton. Last season at Richmond, Johnson had a 46-yard interception return on the first play of the fourth quarter that led to a 22-yard go-ahead touchdown run by Jonathan Hurt. He also had a 20-yard return against Columbia.
THE CAPTAINS: Senior linebacker Maurice Bennett and senior fullback David Nelson were elected co-captains by their teammates during spring practice. Bennett (Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington) has made 227 tackles in the last two years, and is in his third season as the starting middle linebacker. Nelson (Dover, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) played in 11 games, starting twice, as a junior and totaled 170 all-purpose yards and a touchdown.
BUSHELS OF POINTS: Lafayette scored on consecutive plays in back-to-back weeks, against Princeton and Fordham. The Leopards put the ball in the end zone on the final two plays against Princeton, on a three-yard run by Alfred Belton and a 23-yard pass from Pat Davis to Chad Walker. The second score was set up by a 72-yard kick return by Larry Johnson. Against Fordham, Lafayette scored on three straight offensive plays within a span of 3:15 early in the second quarter. Jonathan Hurt had a 22-yard touchdown run, Brad Maurer hit Shaun Adair for a 65-yard score, and Blake Costanzo's interception gave the offense the ball at the Fordham seven-yard line. Hurt scored on the next play to give the Leopards a 20-10 advantage.
PATRIOT PRESEASON POLL: the Patriot League's head coaches and sports information directors slotted Lafayette second, just behind Lehigh, in the preseason poll released at the league's media day on Aug. 2. The Leopards received three first place votes and 61 total points, while the Mountain Hawks garnered top billing on eight ballots and had 68 points. Colgate, Fordham and Bucknell were grouped closely in the third through fifth spots, with Holy Cross outpointing Georgetown for sixth.
ALL-PL PLAYERS: Lafayette placed seven players on the 2004 All-Patriot League team, and three return for the 2005 season. Linebackers Maurice Bennett (first team) and Blake Costanzo (second team) represented the Leopards on the defensive side of the ball, while offensive lineman Drew Buettner was a second-team selection. Buettner is back for a fifth year after receiving a medical redshirt for his sophomore season, which he missed with a knee injury.
PRESEASON HONORS FROM I-AA.org: A league-leading nine Leopards earned preseason recognition on I-AA.org's All-Patriot League team, including six of the 11 returning defensive players with starting experience. Senior linebackers Maurice Bennett and Blake Costanzo, along with junior defensive lineman Marvin Snipes, were named to the first team. Linemen Andrew Brown and Daniel Liseno are joined by defensive back Torian Johnson on the second team. Offensive lineman Drew Buettner is the only representative on the first-team offense, while quarterback Brad Maurer and wide receiver Archie Fisher are on the second team.
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT SELECTIONS: Lafayette has remained a mainstay on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, with the school being represented by 20 student-athletes during Frank Tavani's first five seasons as head coach. In 2004, quarterback Brad Maurer and offensive lineman Stephen Bono earned spots on the Academic All-District II squad. Maurer, who started all 12 games under center as a sophomore, is a neuroscience major. Bono was named to the first team for the third straight season. The 2004 Patriot League Football Scholar Athlete of the Year, Bono was a recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Structural Engineering at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. On the gridiron, he was an All-Patriot Legue First Team selection.
REPLACING McCOURT: Joe McCourt, the 2004 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, left the Leopards as the school's second all-time leading rusher and with a legacy as one of the most dependable backs in Lafayette and Patriot League history. McCourt, who was a three-time 1,000-yard rusher, finished his career wtih 4,474 yard and 50 touchdowns on the ground. He is the all-time leading scorer in both Lafayette and Patriot League history with 326 points, and is also the fourth-leading receiver with 139 catches for 1,135 yards.
COACH 'EM UP: Head coach Frank Tavani, the former running backs coach at Lafayette, has seen nine 1,000-yard seasons in his 18 years on the coaching staff. An All-American tailback himself at Lebanon Valley College, Tavani has mentored Erik Marsh, Joe McCourt, Leonard Moore and Tom Costello to 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The quartet has an exclusive hold on the top four spots in the school record book for career rushing yards.
DEFENSIVE NOTES VS. COLUMBIA: The Lafayette defense limited Columbia to five first downs and 82 yards of total offense, including six rushing yards on 23 attempts, on Oct. 8 on a muddy track at Fisher Field. The Lions had 21 yards on 21 rushing plays that didn't result in a sack.
Lafayette's top rushing and total defense performances in the past 25 years:
9-6-2003 vs. Marist (W 49-0): 91 yards (50 rush, 41 pass), seven 1st downs
11-10-2001 at Georgetown (W 37-17): 25 rushes, -24 yards (seven sacks for -55 yards)
10-30-1999 vs. Marist (W 38-13): 92 yards (46 rush, 46 pass), nine 1st downs
9-14-1996 vs. Millersville (W 29-17): 32 rushes, 7 yards
10-23-1993 vs. Fordham (W 27-12): 24 rushes, 3 yards
9-10-1983 vs. East Stroudsburg (W 20-14): 18 rushes, -22 yards
11-14-1981 at U.S.M.M.A. (W 49-13): 29 rushes, -23 yards
In 1996, Columbia hosted Lafayette in a driving rain storm with winds of up to 40 mph. That game, which Columbia won 3-0 on a fourth-quarter field goal, featured 194 yards of total offense and 11 first downs (Lions 61-96 rushing, 2-of-7 for 22 yards passing and six first downs -- Leopards 46-60 rushing, 3-of-12 for 16 yards passing and five first downs).
STAYING HOME FOR THE WEEKEND: The Leopards' trip to Georgetown on Oct. 1 was Lafayette's only road trip between the season opener at Marist on Sept. 3 and the week 10 match-up at Holy Cross on Nov. 12. In the interim, Fisher Field will host seven games over nine weeks (one away game and a bye week), something that has happened just twice in the college's 124-year history of football -- Lafayette was home for seven of the first eight games in 1904, and eight of its nine contests in 1910.
Lafayette's 7-0 win over Richmond on Sept. 10 was the Leopards' first win by that margin since 1968, when they won two games by a 7-0 score. Lafayette defeated Hofstra on Oct. 5, and then shut out Kings Point on Nov. 9. The 1967 season finale at Lehigh was a 6-0 victory for Lafayette.
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).
LAFAYETTE LEADS NATION IN TELEVISED GAMES IN I-AA: The 2005 Lafayette College football season will see a Patriot League-best 11 contests hit the television air waves via the Lafayette Sports Network. This is the third straight year that the entire season will be televised and the ninth year that LSN has been in existence. The Lafayette Sports Network, recently named one of the best university-run sports networks in the country by Broadcast & Cable Magazine, has annually produced the most expansive and highest quality television package in the Patriot League. LSN telecasts can be seen by more than 9.8 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, all of Philadelphia, and the Pocono region. LSN telecasts can also be viewed in central New Jersey, New York City and Boston via the RCN cable systems. In the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia and Pocono areas, the telecasts air on RCN-4 and WBPH-TV 60. Nationally, the telecasts will be picked up for the sixth straight year by various DIRECTV outlets, available to more than 60 million viewers. CSTV (DIRECTV Channel 610, DISH Network Channel 152) will continue as a major LSN partner, airing select telecasts to a national audience of more than 65 million households. CSTV carried the Lafayette-Princeton game live on Sept. 17, while the 141st meeting between Lafayette and Lehigh will be broadcast to a national audience on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 9 a.m. The Lafayette Sports Network has announced a partnership with Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh (DIRECTV Channel 628, DISH Network Channel 128), which will replay the LSN telecast of each weekend's game on Mondays at noon. The Nov. 12 match-up at Holy Cross will be aired live at 12:30 p.m. from Worcester, Mass.
Emmy-nominated local sports broadcaster Gary Laubach will handle all of the Leopards' play-by-play duties for the ninth straight season. John Leone, Lafayette's Associate Director of Major Gifts, has provided color analysis for all but the first year on the air. In his fifth year as a member of the announcing crew is RCN's Dan Mowdy, who will handle analysis on the Leopards from the sidelines.
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 four Patriot League championships - 1988, 1992, 1994 and 2004 - and made their first postseason appearance last season in the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs.
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.
