Nov. 17, 2014
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THE OPENING KICK
MATCH-UP: Lafayette and Lehigh meet for the 150th time in college football's most-played and longest continuous rivalry. For just the second time in the history of the series, the game is being played at a neutral site - Yankee Stadium. More than 49,000 tickets have been sold for the 2014 installment of a series that began in 1884.
LAST TIME OUT: The Leopards are coming off a bye week. Their last outing was Nov. 8 at Colgate when Lafayette rallied from 16 points down in the third quarter to beat the Raiders, 19-16. Sophomore QB Blake Searfoss came on in a relief appearance for the Leopards, completing 29-of-46 passes for 261 yards, two touchdowns and two two-point conversions. He entered in the second quarter and set career highs across the board while helping to set up Thomas Martin's game-winning 31-yard field goal as time expired. It was the Leopards' first win in Hamilton, N.Y. since 2006 and it garnered Searfoss the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors.
THE SERIES: College Football's Most-Played Rivalry dates to 1884 (one year after standardized football rules were instituted in the U.S.) when Lafayette shut out Lehigh 56-0 in Easton. The two teams met twice a year from 1884-1901 (three times in 1891) and once a year (for the most part) since then, with the exception of 1896 when a player eligibility dispute between the schools canceled the game. The Leopards lead the series 77-67-5. The rivalry has been played every year since 1897 without interruption, reaching 118 consecutive years in 2014, the longest streak of consecutive years in the nation.
A LITTLE MOMENTUM: For the second straight season, Lafayette is coming off a win entering the Lafayette-Lehigh game. In the Frank Tavani era (since 2000), Lafayette is 6-2 when winning the week before the Lafayette-Lehigh game, but 0-6 against Lehigh when losing the week prior.
DUAL THREAT: Senior TB Ross Scheuerman continues to be the Leopards' top receiving threat. He has 54 catches for 468 yards and three touchdowns and is the first back since Joe McCourt '05 to lead the team in rushing and receiving in the same season. McCourt, then a junior, had 52 catches for 444 receiving yards and 245 carries for 1,157 yards on the ground in that 2003 season.
CLASS OF THE CLASSROOM: In 2013, the Lafayette football program had the highest academic progress rate (APR) in the NCAA FCS Playoffs and boasted the fourth-best graduation success rate (GSR) in the NCAA. Overall, for the 18 sports measured at Lafayette, a total of 14 Lafayette programs registered a graduation rate of 100 percent.
In 2014, Lafayette's football program received a ranking of 95, the fifth-best mark in the NCAA. On the whole, Lafayette's athletic programs had the fourth highest total in the nation with a 97 percent GSR overall for its 18 sports measured and a total of 12 Lafayette programs registered a graduation rate of 100 percent.
TD TIME: Senior TB Ross Scheuerman ran for three touchdowns at Bucknell to boost his career rushing TD total to 28. He moved into a fifth-place tie with Tom Costello '91. It was the second time this season that Scheuerman ran for three scores (vs. Georgetown) and third time in his career (Princeton, 10/12/13).
QB SITUATION: Sophomore QB Drew Reed had been playing through a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the Fordham, Georgetown and most of the Wagner and Harvard games. Reed played the entire game vs. Holy Cross, completing 19-of-33 for 192 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Against Bucknell, Reed was 27-of-40 for 222 yards with an interception. He had to leave the Colgate game with a foot injury after completing 4-of-6.
Sophomore Blake Searfoss, who completed 23-of-42 for 274 yards and a touchdown in relief at Harvard, started vs. Fordham and Georgetown. He came off the bench at Colgate, completing 29-of-46 for two touchdowns with no interceptions. The QBs' season numbers:
Searfoss: 102-170-4 (60%), 7 TD • Reed: 103-186-9 (61%), 7 TD.
THE SITE: Home field advantage plays a big role in this rivalry. Lafayette leads 41-29-5 when playing in Easton and Lehigh has a 37-36 edge over the Leopards in Bethlehem. Lehigh is 1-0 at neutral sites, winning 16-2 on Nov. 25, 1891, when the teams played at West Side Park in Wilkes Barre, Pa. Lafayette and Lehigh have split the last 10 meetings.
THE SERIES MVP: Media members vote on the Lafayette-Lehigh game's MVP, an award established in 1960. In 2013, Lafayette freshman QB Drew Reed won the honor after a 378-yard passing day during which he completed 20-of-27 for three touchdowns.
There have been eight two-time winners: Brad Maurer (2004, 2006), Tom Costello (1988, 1989) and Erik Marsh (1992, 94) from Lafayette and Kim McQuilken (1972, 73), Marty Horn (1983, 85), Ron Jean (1998, 99) and J.B. Clark (2008, 09) from Lehigh. In the series, there have been co-MVP's only twice (1976 and 2006).
SERIES FRESHMEN: Reed is the first freshman MVP since Lehigh's Phil Stambaugh in 1996 and one of just three Lafayette freshmen to win the honor. The last Lafayette freshman winner was TB Tom Costello in 1988, joining Jim Johnson in 1984 as first-year winners.
BACK TO YANKEE STADIUM: Playing at historic sites is not new for Lafayette. The Leopards played New York University at the original Yankee Stadium from 1933 to 1937 and faced Washington and Jefferson College there in 1924. The Leopards also played at the Polo Grounds and Franklin Field in addition to participating in the first indoor night college football game in 1930 at the Atlantic City Auditorium in front of 17,000 fans.
Yankee Stadium, both the current and the original venues, has played host to numerous college football games through the years. The original structure welcomed a number of contests from its opening in 1923, including New York University and Fordham University home games. From 1925-46, and again in 1969, the annual Notre Dame-Army football game took place at Yankee Stadium, including the memorable "win one for the Gipper" matchup in 1928, and the 1946 contest which ended in a scoreless tie and featured four Heisman Trophy winners.
The latest version of Yankee Stadium annually hosts the New Era Pinstripe Bowl which brings together teams from the Big East and Big 12.
PATRIOT LEAGUE TITLES: Lafayette has won seven Patriot League champion-ships in the 27-year history of the league (1988, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2013). The Leopards' title in 2013 was the first since 2006 when Lafayette closed out a string of three straight. Those three titles 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.
GREENER PASTURES: The 150th Meeting will be the only game this season that Lafayette will play on grass. Lafayette was 2-0 on the real stuff in 2013, beating Lehigh and Holy Cross.
SACKS SITUATION: Lafayette has given up an average of 3.6 sacks per game while managing two sacks per game.
THREE GRAND FOR 29: With 78 rushing yards at Harvard, Ross Scheuerman moved into fourth place for career rushing yards at Lafayette. He currently has 3,200 yards, recently surpassing Tom Costello '91 (2,936). Scheuerman led the team in rushing the past three seasons and carried for 1,113 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2013 as the first player since 2006 to rush for 1,000 yards.
This season, Scheuerman has 191 carries for 887 yards with nine touchdowns.
ABOUT LEHIGH: Lehigh enters the 150th at 3-7 overall and 2-3 in PL play, coming off a 30-27 win at home versus Colgate. Lehigh started the season on a five-game losing streak, but has won three of its last five with wins over Cornell, Colgate and Georgetown and losses to Fordham and Holy Cross.
• Lehigh returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense after finishing last season with a an 8-3 overall mark and a 3-2 league record.
• Dual threat QB Nick Shafnisky has started 10 games, connecting on 179-of-294 for 2,292 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He leads the team in rushing attempts (155) for 665 yards and six scores on the ground.
• Senior TB Rich Sodeke leads the team in rushing yards, carrying 150 times for 738 yards and 6 TDs. He averages 4.9 yards per carry.
• The receiving corps is a mixture of youth and experience in senior Josh Parris and freshman Troy Pelletier. Parris has 54 catches for 605 yards and three TD's, while Pelletier has 46 catches for 790 yards and seven touchdowns.
• On defense, soph. LB Pierce Repanti (62) and junior DB LaQuan Lambert (56) lead the team in tackles. Lambert has two INT's behind soph. DB Brandon Leaks with three.
• Andy Coen (Gettysburg '86) is in his ninth season as the head coach at Lehigh.
