Sept. 20, 2011

Lafayette Game Notes | Stony Brook Game Notes

Lafayette at Stony Brook
Date	Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 @ 6:06 p.m. (ET)
Location	Stony Brook, N.Y. | LaValle Stadium
Tickets	Lafayette Athletics Ticket Office
TV	Lafayette Sports Network: RCN-4, WBPH-60 (Lehigh Valley), RCN-8 (Philly, Boston, NYC, DC, Chicago) (Gary Laubach, Mike Joseph '88, John Leone)
Video Streaming	GoLeopards.com & ESPN3.com (LSN Telecast: Gary Laubach, Mike Joseph '88, John Leone)
Radio	WJRH-FM 104.9 (Dick Hammer)
More Coverage	Gameday Central | Lafayette News Stand

MATCH-UP: Coming off its first win of the season, Lafayette closes out a four-game road swing at Stony Brook on Saturday evening, its first such span to open the season since 1889 (Columbia, Cornell, Rutgers, Lehigh). Saturday's game is the second meeting with a scholarship program in 2011. Lafayette beat Stony Brook 28-21 in 2010. The Seawolves are 0-3, but that record doesn't tell the whole story, as Stony Brook opened with games against FBS schools Texas-El Paso and Buffalo before dropping a one-point game vs. Brown last weekend.

PLAYER OF WEEK...TIMES THREE: In the aftermath of the Leopards' first victory of the season, three players have garnered Patriot League Player of the Week honors. Senior free safety Kyle Simmons collected Defensive Player of the Week, while freshmen Ross Scheuerman and Austin O'Brien were named Rookie and Special Teams Player of the Week, respectively. With 15 tackles and two interceptions, Simmons had a career game at Penn. He returned his first pick 31 yards for a touchdown to break open the game late in the third quarter and give Lafayette a 30-12 lead. He returned the other interception 21 yards in the fourth quarter to set up Lafayette's final score. For his effort, he was also named FCS National Defensive Player of the Week by The Sports Network, the first Lafayette player to earn national accolades since Rob Curley was tabbed the Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 9, 2009 after throwing for seven TD's. Scheuerman had a breakout performance as the freshmen helped kickstart the running game. He carried 13 times for 89 yards and caught a 44-yard touchdown pass to help lift the Leopards to the victory. Scheuerman led Lafayette with 147 all-purpose yards in the game. O'Brien booted a career-long 48-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give Lafayette a 16-12 lead at the break, re-taking the momentum from Penn after the Quakers had blocked a PAT and returned it 92 yards for two points. He also made 4-of-5 extra point attempts and handled kick-off duties for the Leopards.

THE EARLY RETURNS: Junior Andrew Shoop put together solid numbers in his first career start under center. It took a little while for Shoop to get his feet under him, as all five of his pass attempts in the first quarter and the first try of the second quarter were incomplete. He followed that by completing 14 of his final 17 pass attempts for 230 yards and four touchdowns. LONG SHOTS: Andrew Shoop's first four touchdowns were not short passes, completing TD's for 44, 37, 73 and 28 yards.

ROSS BREAKS AWAY: With Kyle Hayes on the sideline with a shoulder injury, sophomore wideout Mark Ross made the first start of his career at Penn. He managed to find his way down field, making four catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns. His 73-yard hookup in the third quarter is the Leopards' longest play from scrimmage in 2011. He also added a 37-yard TD just before the half to give Lafayette its first lead of the game, one it would not relinquish.

SPECIAL TEAMS SWING: After scoring a touchdown with 44 seconds left in the first half at Penn, Lafayette had its PAT blocked and returned 92 yards resulting in two points for Penn and a potential momentum swing. The Lafayette defense gave the special teams an opportunity to redeem themselves. After a three-and-out, Lafayette's Mike Boles blocked Penn's punt. Freshman Austin O'Brien then booted a career-long 48-yard field goal, giving the Leopards a four-point lead. REMEMBER WHEN?: The last time a Lafayette opponent returned a blocked PAT, as it did at Penn, came 12 years and a day after Holy Cross did it on Sept. 18, 1999. Before the Penn game, the Leopards' last pick-six (Mike Phillips '11) and blocked punt (Ben Eaton) came Sept. 18, 2010, also at Penn -- 364 days prior to the most recent outing at Franklin Field.

TURNOVER TALES: The Leopards have committed just one turnover in three games. Lafayette did not hand it over in the season opener at No. 11 North Dakota State. The Leopards' first turnover of the season came in the fourth quarter on the potential game-winning drive when freshman TB Ross Scheuerman turned it over at the Georgetown 23 with 1:10 left. Scheuerman had just picked up a first down to keep the drive going. Lafayette did not commit a turnover in the win at Penn, but Kyle Simmons helped himself to a pair of Penn passes.

THE HEAD COACH: Frank Tavani (Lebanon Valley '75) is in his 12th season as head coach and 25th on the Lafayette coaching staff, bringing with him the same fire that he started with in Dec. 1999. In his time as the head man, he has transformed Lafayette into a con-sistent championship contender. From 2004 through 2009, Lafayette spent time in the Top 25 each season and was the only Patriot League program to boast a winning record in every regular season during that span. During that run, Lafayette posted a 26-10 league record. It won three straight Patriot League championships from 2004-06 and finished a game out of the title hunt in 2009. In that 2009 season, Lafayette was 8-3 with two losses to Top 25 opponents while holding a 4-0 record vs. Ivy League foes for the first time in program history. In the midst of the '04-'06 title run, the Leopards made the first three postseason appearances in school history, laying claim to the Patriot League's automatic NCAA bid in 2004 and 2006, while earning the program's first at-large berth in 2005. In addition to Patriot League championships and NCAA Playoff appearances, Lafayette has taken care of business close to home, beating its cross-valley rival Lehigh four of the last seven times in College Football's Most Played Rivalry. The win in 2007 at Lehigh allowed the Class of 2008 to leave College Hill without ever having lost to its archrival, a feat not achieved since the Class of 1950. Tavani has been a part of six Patriot League titles, helping guide the Leopards to crowns as an assistant coach in 1988, 1992 and 1994, to go with the last three championships as head coach. His teams are achieving in the classroom. Lafayette has boasted 25 academic all-district selections under Tavani and a total of 40 players have earned the distinction since 1995. Tavani has also coached four Patriot League Football Scholar-Athletes of the Year. In 2010, 35 players were named to the League Academic Honor Roll. Tavani became Lafayette's 27th head coach on Dec. 11, 1999 after having served as the Leopards' running backs coach for 13 seasons. As an undergraduate at Lebanon Valley, Tavani was an outstanding running back, beoming the school's first player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a single season. An Associated Press All-American as a senior, he was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 1988. Tavani was inducted into the Lebanon Catholic High School Hall of Fame in its inaugural class in March 2004 and joined the Central Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in November 2006. Tavani earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and has completed postgraduate work in Counselor Education. Tavani and his wife, Agnes, reside on College Hill, and are the parents of four children. Liam '03 and Meghan '06 are graduates of Lafayette, while Bridget is a junior on College Hill. Daniel graduated from Wofford College in 2007 where he was a four-year letterwinner for the football team.

COACHING EXPERIENCE•  Entering 35th year in coaching•  Begins 25th year coaching at Lafayette•  Holds a 62-62 mark through eleven seasons at Lafayette•  Lafayette College, Head Coach, December 1999-present•  Lafayette College, Associate Head Coach, April 1987-99•  Lebanon Valley College, Assistant Coach, 1986-87•  Franklin & Marshall College, Assistant Coach, 1976-86
PERSONAL• Born July 31, 1953• Native of Lebanon, Pa.• Married with four children

STONY BROOK: • Stony Brook enters the weekend with a 0-3 mark, but two of those losses came against FBS schools in UTEP and Buffalo. A one-point loss at Brown followed last week.

• The Seawolves were 6-5 overall and 5-1 in the Big South in 2010, finishing in a tie for first place. Seventeen starters returned at the beginning of training camp, eight on offense and nine on defense.

• Senior Michael Coulter returns at quarterback. He has completed 32-of-54 passes (59 percent) for 312 yards. He has not thrown a TD in 2011 and has two interceptions.

• Stony Brook finds its strength in the running game, averaging 219 yards per outing. At the top of the depth chart is senior Brock Jackolski who has averaged 82 yards per game and 5.6 yards per carry. Behind him is junior Miguel Maysonet, averaging 116 ypg and 5.5 ypc.

• Defensively, the Seawolves line up in a 4-3. Sophomore LB Jawara Dudley leads the team with 19 tackles and a sack. Senior corner Donald Porter has three picks through three games. As a group, Stony Brook is allowing just 76 yards per game on the ground, but 278 through the air.

• Stony Brook is coached by Chuck Priore (Albany '82) who is in his sixth season with a 28-30 record at the school.

THE RUN GAME: Lafayette has yet to get its running game going, rushing for 54 yards against North Dakota State, 119 vs. Georgetown and 105 at Penn. Freshman TB Ross Scheuerman is the team's leading rusher, carrying 30 times for 157 yards. Junior Alan Elder has the most carries (34 for 101 yards). Junior Vaughn Hebron made a successful return from a 2010 ACL injury, carrying seven times for 44 yards before a separate injury forced him from the Georgetown game.

MORE ABOUT THE ROOKIE: Freshman Ross Scheuerman has shown some versatility, returning six kickoffs for 115 yards (19.2 ypk) with a long of 26 yards.

THE PUNTING GAME: In his first game as the full-time punter, Ethan Swerdlow punted nine times for 361 yards in the Fargodome for an average of 40.1 yards. His longest punt was 54 yards. He followed that with seven punts for 286 yards (40.9 yards per punt) and a long of 49 yards at Georgetown. At Penn, Swerdlow punted nine times for 373 yards, an average 41.4 yards per punt, while also landing in three punts inside the 20. Swerdlow is 32nd in the nation in punting average (40.8). O'NEIL MOVES UP: Despite playing fewer than three quarters at Georgetown, Ryan O'Neil moved up one spot into ninth in the all-time top 10 for completions, passing Mark Jones '77 who had 233 in his career. O'Neil has 235.

AT IT A WHILE: Since fielding its first college football team in the fall of 1882 (the same year that coward Robert Ford shot Jesse James in the back and that Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture debuted), Lafayette has had a proud, colorful gridiron tradition on the way to a total of 651 victories (651-554-39). Lafayette ranks 36th among all college football teams in all-time wins entering the 2011 season, posting its first win in 1883 (25-0 vs. Rutgers). Lafayette accumulated 100 victories by 1900, 200 by 1915 and 300 by 1934.

YOUNG LEOPARDS: A look at the roster reveals that 61 of the 96 players are freshmen or sophomores.

THE TRI-CAPTAINS: Seniors Mitchell Bennett, Ben Eaton and Ryan O'Neil have been named as the Lafayette football team captains. The trio was selected in a vote of its peers. Bennett is the first Lafayette player since Wes Erbe '05 in 2003-04 to serve as captain in two straight seasons and the second during Tavani's tenure as head coach. Bennett, who is playing in his fifth year of eligibility after a medical redshirt, made 33 catches for 394 yards and four touchdowns in 2010, despite battling through a foot injury that required offseason surgery. He is in his third season as a starting wide receiver. Eaton represents the defensive side of the ball. The starting middle linebacker made 70 tackles with a forced fumble and a blocked kick in 2010. He has played in 22 games in two seasons with 11 starts and will be eligible to return to the squad in 2012 due to a medical redshirt. The starting QB position is one that is looked to for leadership and O'Neil was an overwhelming choice by his fellow teammates and the coaching staff. In 2010, he completed 67 percent of his passes during his first season as a starter, throwing for 2,183 yards, 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

ROAD TRIP = FAR: Lafayette's trip to Fargo, N.D. in the season opener (where the airport code is FAR) was the farthest west the Lafayette program has travelled, surpassing an 1896 trip to Parkersburg, West Va. It was also the first time Lafayette had played indoors since 1930 when Lafayette and Washington and Jefferson played the first indoor, night college football game before a standing room only crowd of 17,000 at the Atlantic City (N.J.) Auditorium.

PATRIOT LEAGUE FOOTBALL: The Patriot League is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a football conference and is currently comprised of Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross and Lehigh. Fordham and Georgetown are associate members in the eight-team all-sport conference which includes Army, Navy and American. • The league is known for its academic priorities, recently finishing in the top spot in the NCAAs Graduate Rate Report. • Redshirts are granted only for medical reasons. Thus, there are only a handful of fifth-year seniors on any given squad. • Most notably, football financial aid is given out on a need basis only at every school except Fordham which recently adopted football scholarships. Fordham is ineligible for the conference crown, the NCAA automatic playoff berth and team and individual awards.

BOOT CAMP: The first five days of Lafayette's training camp took them to Fort Indiantown Gap, a National Guard Training Center in Annville, Pa. While the base has state-of-the-art training facilities for the military and law enforcement, the Leopards chose more austere conditions. They were greeted by 5 a.m. wakeup calls in their World War II era barracks, lengthy walks to meals in the mess hall and were further challenged with using whatever was at their disposal for nightly strength training workouts.

BIG GAMES: Lafayette has traditionally played a schedule comprised of Patriot League games and several (three or four) Ivy League foes to go along with a smattering of other conference opponents. Since Frank Tavani took over, the Leopards have looked to upgrade their schedule and test themselves against some top quality, nationally ranked scholarship opponents, and the Leopards have acquitted themselves well. Lafayette split a home-and-home series with Liberty in 2008 and 2009 and took two from Richmond in a similar series in 2004 and 2005. Lafayette played 11th-ranked North Dakota State in the 2011 season opener and Saturday's contest closes out a home-and-home series with Stony Brook, another scholarship opponent. The Leopards will square off with William and Mary in a home-and-home series in 2012 and 2013. UNDER CENTER: From spring ball on through training camp, senior Ryan O'Neil cemented himself as the starting quarterback. The White Plains, N.Y. native is coming off a 2010 campaign during which he completed 67 percent (209-313) of his passes, the third-best single-season mark at Lafayette. O'Neil was 11th in the nation in completions per game (20.9), 23rd in passing efficiency (136.7) and 26th in passing yards per game (218.3). He also added 10-plus pounds of muscle in summer workouts. O'Neil is currently sitting out after sustaining a concussion at Georgetown. Not until midway through preseason camp did junior Andrew Shoop step to the forefront as the team's backup. Shoop played in three games as a sophomore and had his first career start at Penn. Freshman Zach Zweizig sits behind Shoop.

AT TAILBACK: Tailback went from one of the deepest positions on the squad to one of the thinnest in the span of 48 hours. Sophomore Pat Mputu, the team's second-leading rusher, was suspended indefinitely on Aug. 30, and not more than 24 hours later senior Jerome Rudolph, with whom Mputu was competing for the starting spot, became unavailable to play due to recurring symptoms from a concussion he sustained early last season. Rudolph, who missed the final eight games of last season, has since ended his football career. Junior Alan Elder, who carried 119 times for 450 yards in 2010, took the start at North Dakota State and Georgetown. While freshman Ross Scheuerman earned the starting nod at Penn. Junior Vaughn Hebron is coming off an ACL injury, but made a successful return to the lineup at Georgetown before suffering a separate injury to his ankle. Sophomore Marcellus Irving sustained a knee injury in camp that has sidelined him thus far in 2011.

WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK: Lafayette has been picked fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll of conference head coaches and sports information directors. The Leopards (36 points) were picked behind Lehigh (58 points and eight first-place votes), Colgate (56 points and six first-place votes) and Holy Cross (38 points) and ahead of Georgetown (19) and Bucknell (16). Fordham is ineligible for the league title. In 2010, LC was picked second and finished fifth.

WELL-ROUNDED: Senior CB Brandon Ellis earned a place on the ESPN Academic All-District II Football Team and was selected to the All-Patriot League First Team in 2010. In that season, he made a career-high 16 tackles in a win over Stony Brook (10/16). Ellis enters his third season as a starter at cornerback. An Economics major, Ellis maintains a 3.34 overall grade-point average and serves as a peer mentor in the College's Academic Tutoring and Training Information Center and as a Gateway Ambassador for Career Services. In 2010, his learning experiences took him outside the classroom in a summer internship with Johnson and Johnson.

A PROUD TRADITION...OF KICKING?: Since the formation of the Patriot League, Lafayette has enjoyed a proud tradition of placekicking. The most recent addition to the Lafayette recordbook was Davis Rodriguez '10 who graduated in December and took with him 251 career points. He finished third in the Patriot League annals for career kick scoring leaders, trailing only Jason McLaughlin - (255) and Jim Hodson (254), both Lafayette graduates. He also ranked fifth in career points per game for kickers with 5.7 per game.

WHO'S NEXT?: With the departure of placekicker Davis Rodriguez and punter Tom Kondash, both multiple-year starters, both jobs were up for grabs. Junior Ethan Swerdlow handled the field goal, PAT and punting duties at North Dakota State and the punting duties at Georgetown and Penn. Freshman Austin O'Brien has handled kickoffs in all three games and was the team's placekicker at Georgetown and Penn. He is 3-for-3 in field goals with kicks of 36, 31, and 48 yards.

NICE CATCH, HAYES: Senior WR Kyle Hayes was the Leopards' most consistent pass catcher in 2010. Hayes was second on the team with 39 receptions for 547 yards and five touchdowns. Hayes had a breakout game at Princeton, catching five balls for 136 yards, including a career-long, 78-yard reception. In the season opener, Hayes made two catches for 27 yards before sustaining a shoulder injury that kept him out of the Georgetown and Penn games. He is expected to be ready for this weekend.

SPECIAL JET: Sophomore kick returner Jethro "Jet" Kollie handles kick and punt returns. Kollie returned 22 kicks for an average of 18.8 yards, splitting time with Greg Stripe in 2010. He also returned three punts. Kollie was selected as the Patriot League Football Special Teams Player of the Week in 2010, after returning five kickoffs for 114 yards at Columbia. Against North Dakota State, Kollie returned three kicks for 47 yards with a long of 17. The Leopards did not return any punts, electing for fair catches. He returned three punts for 12 yards at Georgetown and had two kick returns for 25 yards at Penn.

A PLAY HERE...A PLAY THERE: In 2010, five of Lafayette's losses came by seven points or fewer, for a total of 23 points: 28-24 to Georgetown, 19-14 at Penn, 36-33 in double overtime at Princeton, 14-10 at Fordham and 20-13 vs. Lehigh.

HALF WAY THERE: Lafayette held a halftime lead in six of its 11 games in 2010: 24-14 vs. Georgetown, 14-6 at Penn, 14-10 at Princeton, 10-7 vs. Stony Brook, 16-7 at Bucknell, 10-7 vs. Lehigh. This season, Lafayette has led just once at halftime (Penn).

COSTANZO INKS NEW DEAL: Blake Costanzo '06 recently inked a new deal with the San Francisco 49ers, putting his name on a contract that could be worth as much as $800,000. Costanzo spent the past two seasons with the Cleveland Browns playing under current 49ers assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Brad Seely, who coached the Browns special teams at the time. During his career, Costanzo (6-1, 235) has played in 45 games, notching 54 tackles, four forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries on special teams. In 2009, Costanzo played in all 16 games, notching 14 tackles with three fumble recoveries and a forced fumble on special teams. He was selected to SI.com's All-Pro team on special teams that season. In 2010, he played in 10 games and recorded seven tackles and a fumble recovery on special teams before a groin injury that required surgery forced him to miss the final six games. After graduating from Lafayette in 2006, Costanzo signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent and later spent time with the Buffalo Bills from 2007-08, playing in 19 games and registering 33 special teams tackles, including a team-high 26 stops in 2008. He was claimed off waivers by Cleveland in June 2009. Costanzo, a 27-year old native of Franklin Lakes, N.J. and a 2002 Ramapo High School graduate, finished his Lafayette career with 307 tackles, 18 sacks, three interceptions, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and 12 passes defended. He was part of three Patriot League championships teams. WINNING NUMBERS: Since 2002, a breakthrough year for head coach Frank Tavani is his third season, Lafayette is 58-47 overall and 34-22 in Patriot League play. Since 2000, Lafayette has been at least two games above .500 in six of nine seasons.

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE: A constant in John Loose's defenses is stellar linebacker play. Maurice Bennett '06, current NFL player Blake Constanzo '06, Andy Romans '09, Mark Leggiero '10 and Mike Schmidlein '11 (all of whom were All-Patriot League performers) have passed the mantle (or shoulder pads in this case) to senior Ben Eaton. The senior tri-captain made 70 tackles in 2010 and is the team's top returning linebacker. Eaton made nine tackles at North Dakota State, added 10 at Georgetown and made seven stops with a sack at Penn.

THROW ME THE BALL: All but one player who caught a pass last season returns to the fold this season. Senior wideouts Kyle Hayes and Mitchell Bennett hold down the top two spots on the depth chart. Fellow senior Greg Stripe, who missed much of preseason with turf toe, figures in the mix along with sophomore Mark Ross. The Leopards employ a tight end in certain offensive formations, and senior Kevin Doty returns after reeling in 19 catches for 208 yards and a TD in 2010. He is joined by sophomores Brandon Hall and Morgan Donohue. Offensive coordinator Mickey Fein frequently uses his backs as receivers, as tailbacks Alan Elder and Pat Mputu each had 19 catches in 2010.

PATRIOT LEAGUE TITLES: Lafayette won three titles in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The Leopards begrudgingly shared the title with Lehigh in 2004 and 2006, and with Colgate in 2005. The championships also led to three straight NCAA Playoff appearances, making Lafayette one of six teams in the country to appear in the 16-team field in three straight years. The Leopards have won six PL championships in the 25-year history of the league (1988, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2006).

STANDING OUT IN THE CLASSROOM: Under head coach Frank Tavani, Lafayette football players have excelled as student-athletes. Twenty-five have earned CoSIDA Academic All-District selections and 41 have earned the distinction since 1995, including Brandon Ellis in 2010. Lafayette had 35 student-athletes qualify for the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll in 2010 for which they must achieve a minimum of a 3.2 GPA. Lafayette also has laid claim to four Patriot League Scholar Athletes of the Year.

THREE TABBED FOR 25th ANNIVERSARY TEAM: Three former members of the Lafayette football program have been named to the Patriot League Football 25th Anniversary Team. Defensive back B.J. Gallis '97, placekicker Jason McLaughlin '95 and linebacker Andy Romans '09 were voted to the silver anniversary squad by the seven current football member schools of the Patriot League. The 1996 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, Gallis also earned Associated Press and The Sports Network All-America status in his final campaign with the Leopards. He was a two-time All-Patriot League honoree and claimed team Most Valuable Player laurels in the 1996 season. Gallis, a member of Lafayette's 1994 Patriot League Championships team who was also named to the Patriot League Football 15th Anniversary Team in 2000, went on to play three seasons in the Canadian Football League with the BC Lions and Edmonton Eskimos. McLaughlin was the only Leopard to earn All-Patriot League honoree in all four of his seasons on College Hill, a run that included a pair of first-team distinctions. He currently holds the all-time Lafayette and Patriot League records with 255 career points as a kicker. McLaughlin, who was a member of two Patriot League Championship teams (1992 and 1994), was previously recognized on the Patriot League Football 15th Anniversary Team. A cornerstone of back-to-back Patriot League Championship squads in 2005 and 2006, Romans was a two-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year for the Leopards. Romans, who led the Leopards in tackles in three consecutive All-Patriot League-caliber seasons, was invited to New York Giants' minicamp after graduation and later joined the coaching staff at Muhlenberg College.

100+ IN 2010: Lafayette had four games in which a running back ran for more than 100 yards in 2010.

DATE      RUSHER      OPPONENT  CARRIES-YARDS   W/L9/11/10   Jerome Rudolph  Georgetown  24-131          L9/25/10   Alan Elder    Princeton 28-103          L OT10/16/10  Pat Mputu      Stony Brook   23-102          W10/30/10  Alan Elder    Bucknell  27-104          W

200+ RUSHING GAMES: Since 1990, there have been nine 200-yard rushing performances for the Leopards, six of which were the work of Maroon Club Hall of Fame honoree Erik Marsh '95.

DATE            RUSHER          OPPONENT    CARRIES-YARDS   W/L09/09/08    Maurice White  at Marist   29-212  W11/16/02    Joe McCourt  Holy Cross  38-203  W11/19/94    Erik Marsh  Lehigh          34-214  W11/20/93    Erik Marsh  at Lehigh   25-249  L11/06/93    Erik Marsh  at Holy Cross   36-221  W11/21/92    Erik Marsh  Lehigh          46-251  W10/31/92    Erik Marsh  at Colgate  41-225  W11/16/91    Erik Marsh  Colgate         20-200  W10/19/91    John Kahn   Columbia    41-224  W

ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE RETURNERS: Lafayette placed nine players on the All-Patriot League first and second teams in 2010, and five of them return in 2011: first-teamer senior CB Brandon Ellis and second teamers senior TE Kevin Doty, OL Scott Biel, OL Anthony Buffolino and fullback Pat Creahan.

AND WE GO TO...OVERTIME: Lafayette has played eight overtime games all-time and is 2-6 in those contests. The Leopards were 0-1 in 2010 overtime games.

DATE            OPPONENT    RESULT11/11/95    Fordham         24-21 W11/18/95    at Lehigh   37-30 L10/18/97    at Cornell  41-34 L10/03/98    at Dartmouth    13-10 L09/08/01    at Towson   16-13 L09/26/09    Penn            20-17 W11/21/09    at Lehigh   27-21 L09/25/10    at Princeton    36-33 L 2OT

HISTORIC FISHER STADIUM: Fisher Stadium has hosted the College's home football games since 1926. The facility underwent a $35 million transformation that gave Lafayette one of the premier FCS football venues in the nation. New spectator seating was built and additional visitors' seating was added for a maximum capacity of 13,132 fans. A state-of-the-art in-fill synthetic surface, lights, a press box and a 19-by-35 foot video board were installed, and improved restroom and vending areas were also included. The Bourger Varsity Football House includes a locker room, offices and team meeting rooms, as well as sports medicine and strength and conditioning areas. Now in its 85th season, Fisher Stadium has been host to 416 Lafayette football games with the Leopards enjoying an overall record of 246-157-13 for a winning percentage of .607. Of the previous 84 seasons, Lafayette has produced 12 undefeated home seasons with the most recent being the 1992 Patriot League champion Leopards that went a perfect 5-0 - the first undefeated home season for Lafayette at Fisher Stadium since 1970. During the 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons, Lafayette won 10 straight home games--tying the Fisher Stadium school record for consecutive wins first set in 1926 and 1927 in the first 10 games ever played in the stadium.

LAFAYETTE ON THE RADIO: The Lafayette Sports Network radio broadcasts will be available on WJRH 104.9. The games can be streamed live through www.wjrh.org. Veteran broadcaster Dick Hammer is in his 45th season as the Leopards' play-by-play man.

SARTORIAL SCHEMES: The Leopards' perfect mark in black jerseys came to an end in 2008 with a one-point loss to Holy Cross on Nov. 15 and a setback vs. Lehigh (black pants and jerseys). Lafayette is now 4-3 in the black jerseys. They wore black to beat Lehigh in 2004 and again in 2006 to win Patriot League titles. Fordham was also victim to the black jerseys in 2005. The only other time they've paired black jerseys with black pants was in a driving rain storm with standing water on the old Fisher Field grass surface against Columbia in 2005, a 14-7 victory. The Leopards pulled out the black pants against Holy Cross in week 10 in 2007, beating the Crusaders 31-21. Lafayette did not wear its black jerseys or pants in 2009. In 2010, black jerseys made their debut against Harvard in a 35-10 loss. In other combinations, Lafayette donned the black pants with white jerseys at Columbia, maroon pants at Princeton, stayed with traditional white on white at Penn, Fordham, Bucknell and Colgate, and wore maroon jerseys and white pants vs. Georgetown and Holy Cross. Lafayette wore maroon jerseys and pants vs. Lehigh. This season, Lafayette has worn three different unfirom combinations, only breaking out black pants at Penn.

A HISTORY OF NATIONAL 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 six Patriot League championships -- 1988, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2005 and 2006 -- and made their first three appearances in the NCAA FCS 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 University of 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.

LAFAYETTE SPORTS NETWORK: For the ninth straight year, the Lafayette Sports Network (LSN-TV) will provide live coverage of all 11 regular season games on the 2011 schedule. For the third straight season, LSN is partnering with ESPN on as many as eight broadcasts for possible distribution on ESPN3.com and ESPN GamePlan. LSN's traditional live distribution to more than 10 million viewers on RCN-4, RCN-8 and WBPH-60 covering all of Eastern Pennsylvania will be enhanced again this season by live coverage on all of RCN's cable systems in major markets along the East Coast. RCN subscribers in Boston (226,000), New York City (250,000), Philadelphia (382,000) and Washington, D.C. (131,000) will be able to watch Lafayette games live on the RCN-TV networks. Nationally, LSN telecasts will be picked up for the 11th straight year by DIRECTV and DISH Network outlets, through WBPH-60 and the Mid Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). All televised games will be available live on WBPH-60, located on channel 60 on DIRECTV and 8169 on DISH Network. MASN, which is available regionally and nationally on DIRECTV channel 640 and DISH Network channel 432, is the official television home of the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals and Baltimore Ravens and reaches nearly six million homes in a seven-state region from Harrisburg, Pa. to Charlotte, N.C. Each LSN football telecast will air tape-delay on MASN. All 11 contests will be streamed live on GoLeopards.com and select games will air live on ESPN3.com, ESPN GamePlan or both as a part of LSN's partnership with ESPN. LSN's distribution on ESPN3.com and ESPN GamePlan will be announced on a weekly basis throughout the season. The season-opener vs. North Dakota State and the Georgetown game were available exclusively through GoLeopards.com. The remainder of the schedule will be televised on LSN-TV, as well as streamed through GoLeopards.com and its subscription-based service fee. Gary Laubach will handle all of the Leopards' play-by-play duties for the 15th straight season and will be joined by analyst Mike Joseph '88 for his second year in the television booth. In his 14th year as a member of the broadcast team is John Leone, who will report on the Leopards from the sidelines. In all, more than 100 Lafayette athletic contests are scheduled to be broadcast through GoLeopards.com during the 2011-12 seasons at a rate of $9.95 per month or $79.95 for an annual subscription. The CBS College Sports XXL package, which includes content from all CBS College Sports Online member schools, is available for $119.95 annually or $14.95 per month.