Nov. 6, 2007

EASTON, Pa. - The Leopards rallied for their final home game against Bucknell and sent their seniors out in style with a 34-7 victory. Head coach Frank Tavani and two of his players talked to the media on Tuesday about the win and their upcoming road game versus Holy Cross at the team's weekly media luncheon. Here is what they had to say:

Holy Cross head coach Tom Gilmore:
On the loss to Fordham: "Obviously it was a tough loss. It was a very closely contested game. When you lose a game like that, that has so many implications, it's an agonizing loss. It's something that hit us really hard for the rest of the day Saturday and into Sunday but we just have to put it on the shelf and start working towards Lafayette at this point. I think our players understand they have to do it and that's something they're committed to doing at this point. It was a close a game - a game that we had opportunities to win but we just weren't able to get the job done."

On a possible at-large bid to the playoffs: "That is something that is completely out of our control. The only thing that we have that is in our control is what we do in the next two games, and more precisely what we do this week. At the end of the year, if we're chosen as an at-large bid, believe me it's something I'd like to see happen. We have a tough game this week and another tough game the following week so we have to take care of business and let the chips fall where they may."

On quarterback Dominic Randolph: "Obviously he's an impact player. He can take complete control over a game. When he's on he is tough to beat. He's done a great job throughout the season. There have been only a couple of games where he hasn't performed to the high standards he set for himself, but even in those games I think a lot of quarterbacks would like to have the statistics he was able to pull off even in subpar games. Dominic's a very talented athlete, but very much a student of the game and one of those rare players that really brings everything to the table. And most of all, he's a competitor. We're coming off this game with a loss and Dominic's taking it as hard as anyone. He's always looking to get better, but obviously a little bit more so after last week's performance."

On Lafayette's defense "Lafayette has performed very well defensively all season. They were ranked No. 1 in the country for a long time and they're still ranked up there in a lot of categories. They are a very good defensive team and they like to bring a bunch of different defensive pressures. They really mix it up very well and they have a very good group of players. Their talent level is very high and they run around to the football and cause a lot of problems in a lot of different ways. They can get pressure on the quarterback, disrupt the running schemes, they're big and physical up front and they run very well at the second and third level. So they really create a lot of different problems for a team and we're taking this as a huge challenge based on what we've seen on film."

Lafayette head coach Frank Tavani:
On the win against Bucknell and how that will help the team prepare for Holy Cross: "It's no question that Bucknell is not Holy Cross. Our focus last week was sending our seniors off with a win on their final game at Fisher Field and just trying to basically execute better than we had most of the season. The first half still had some sloppy play out there that didn't make me very happy, but after a little chat at halftime I think we came out and played some very physical football which we need to do this week. It's great coming off a win and gaining a little momentum and we're certainly aware of the kind of football team Holy Cross has up in Worcester."

On adjustments the offense will make for Holy Cross: "Well first off you have to make some plays. You can't afford to have two big plays go for touchdowns in the second half as we had against Fordham. We played hard but offensively we needed to be more consistent and take advantage of the opportunities that were there when we didn't execute. It's been frustrating all season to that point, but you certainly have to do that this week against a Holy Cross football team that offensively somewhat resembles the New England Patriots. It looks like Tom Brady and his supporting cast out there - some of the guys are wearing the same jersey numbers. They are very talented; the more opportunities you give them and put them on the football field they are going to score points. We've got to hopefully take some of those opportunities away by controlling the football ourselves and putting points up. If you get in a shootout with them, they've been winning those shootouts. We've got to keep in to a low-scoring game and field position and time of possession will be critcal."

On the injuries to tailbacks: "The tailback spot is one that is an on-going mystery every week. Matt Ferber is certainly available, DeAndre' Morrow is available, Tyrell Coon is available and that's pretty much the group right now. We'll have to see where D'Urso's ankle is - I think he re-tweaked it in the little bit of time he got Saturday. Maurice White will be doubtful again."

On motivational factors for the final two games: "For your senior group, just trying to finish up on a positive note. Also just playing for the love of the game - people forget these young men are playing football for the love of the game of football and there are two more opportunities. That along with trying to send our seniors off with a better record then last year and of course the last game is always exciting and a playoff atmosphere regardless of if you have any wins or not. There's an awful lot to play for and personal and team pride is right up there."

Senior defensive lineman Luke Schade:
On motivational factors for him for the final games: "For one thing, I definitely don't like losing, so any more losing than we've done already would not be a good thing. I'm just looking forward to playing these last two games and getting wins and playing well. Especially going into this week against Holy Cross, who is very good, and then playing Lehigh the following week, which is always a big game for us."

On defensive pressure against Holy Cross: "I think it's going to be very important that the defense puts a lot of pressure on [Dominic Randolph] this week because he's a very good quarterback and he has a lot of good wide receivers. Most of their game plan is going to be pass the ball and if we can take that away - I don't think their running game is as strong as their passing game - so if we can take away their passing game it will increase our chances of doing well against them."

Sophomore center Michael Wojcik:
On motivational factors for him for the final games: "It's just like Coach Tavani said, it's football and to just have fun playing it. We've got two games left so we've just got to play them as hard as we did the first nine. We've got to finish off with a strong season and a good record, which we still have a chance to do. We still have Lehigh, which is a huge rivalry, and it's going to be a lot of fun to play in that game."

On how all the changes on the O-Line has affected him: "With any team you would like to create some kind of chemistry and it's somewhat hard when you have guys rotating in but they are all capable of doing the job on each and every play. D.J. Brown is a great player. Ryan Hart-Predmore is a sophomore who has really played great this season, so it's made it very easy as a sophomore playing next to those guys and playing next to Greg Lippert and Jesse Padilla who are our two senior leaders. With the guys rotating in and out, you never really have to worry about a person on each play. You just go up to the line, think about your job and then you execute it and that's how it has to be. You can't think about anybody else's job but your own."