Oct. 16, 2007

EASTON, Pa. - Lafayette football will face its first Patriot League opponent, Fordham, since beating Georgetown on Sept. 8. Head coach Frank Tavani and two of his players talked about switching the focus to league games and what it means for the Leopards at the weekly media luncheon. Here are some quotes from the event:

Fordham head coach Tom Masella:
On what it will take to remain undefeated:" We have to make sure they don't control the ball, which they certainly can do, and then on the flip side we have to manage their defense. Their defense has been terrific. They cause a lot of big plays and put people in a lot of bad situations, so we have to manage their defense and sometimes take our medicine. We can't force the ball when we're behind in the down-and-distance situations, and not be afraid to punt the ball. They just do a great job on special teams - they had a big blocked punt against Harvard. We have to come out and play well and stay in the game because the other big thing is that they've outscored their opponents by a three-to-one margin. We have a pretty big task in front of us."

On sophomore quarterback John Skelton: "John is really getting better each week. The great thing about him is he's been very consistent in the way he's approached it and he's been able to not only make big plays when he's throwing, but he's doing it with his feet. Over the last three weeks he's managed the game extremely well and we're very fortunate to have John. He's a great competitor that will hopefully get better and better as we continue to go."

On freshman running back Xavier Martin: "Xavier is our big-play back. He's got great feet and he's pretty fast, and he's done a nice job. He's had two big games against Columbia in his first game, and then this past week against Georgetown. But he runs through there with our other three backs. Jonte Coven and Xavier are the two guys that have carried the load for us, but Xavier's fun to watch and again, he's a young kid that sometimes it is up and down, but he's getting better as we go and he has the potential to make big plays for us."

On the difference between last year and this year: "I think the first difference is that our upperclassmen have been around us for another year and they know what to expect and what we're looking for from them. Some of our younger kids got a year under their belts. They took a beating last year and came back and understand what it means to play college football. Then we've added some freshmen that can run. I think if you have a quarterback and you have some kids that can catch the ball and run the ball, you're going to score some points on offense. And the flip side of it is we've played really hard on defense and I think one of the big keys for us has been our kicking game. We have an outstanding punter and he creates field position."

Lafayette head coach Frank Tavani:
On how the 2007 Fordham team compares to the 2006 Fordham team: "It is a completely different team, and a team that is playing with an extreme amount of confidence, and well they should be after having come back in some close-call games. They're playing very solid on offense with a strong run game and an outstanding passing quarterback. And then they have a defense that is playing very strong, as well. So it's a completely different Fordham team than in '06."

On turning attention to the league games after having lost to Harvard last week: "Coming off of Saturday, regardless of league or non-league, it was a very frustrating day. The bad news was that we lost and we basically gave it away, so that's even more frustrating. But all the positives that came out of the game were, first off, what I thought was outstanding efforts on both sides of the ball and special teams against an outstanding football team. I was pleased with the effort and extremely happy with guys like Tim Watson, Kyle Roeder, Brandon Mitchell, and DeAndre' Morrow - guys stepping up into the limelight now who have been called upon and are doing a great job. Tim Watson had his repetitions shortened and now that he has an opportunity, he comes in and does great things. I think that speaks to the type of football team we have."

"We know there's a sense of urgency, this is the league and we've had the "no-co" thing. We know that we basically have five championship games lined up right now, and until you lose two, they're all championship games. If you lose two, then you are probably statistically out of it, but one loss in this league does not mean that you are out of it, more so this year than any year because all these teams are capable of knocking each other off on any given week and they're not upsets. I think the teams are that close. We're well aware of what's at hand. It's a huge week for us, coming off a tough loss, but we're up off the mat and we know that we have three games to go on our home field."

Junior wide receiver Tim Watson:
On the bond among the wide receivers: "Personally switching to receiver was a big step for me and guys like Kyle Roeder, Shaun Adair, Duaeno Dorsey and Kevin Logan really helped me out. We're always with each other, we're always hanging out and bonding and I'm always asking questions because this is my first year playing receiver. By doing that, they also help out the freshmen, so we've all bonded and become really close and it helps off the field as well as on the field."

On comparing Harvard and Fordham's secondaries: "I think Harvard's secondary was really strong and from what I've seen of Fordham, it's almost the same. I think Coach Faragalli coaches us pretty well with the secondary stuff. Going into the league, we just have to know what their main coverage is. Compared to Harvard, I don't know if they're as good, but they should be up there defensively."

Junior linebacker Andy Romans:
On switching the focus to league games: "We play for every game obviously, but the league games - each game, like coach said, is a playoff game. That's obviously a lot of fun and just knowing how important each game is makes it that much more fun. That's what we play for and we're obviously looking forward to it."

On comparing last year's team to this year's team: "It's a whole new team, it's a whole new year. I try not to think about the past at all and just look at each game and each play and just try to play it the best we can."