Sept. 16, 2014
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THE OPENING KICK
MATCH-UP: Lafayette (1-1) faces its toughest test of the young season Saturday, traveling to Williamsburg, Va. to square off against No. 13/17 William and Mary. Lafayette is coming off a 47-point win over Robert Morris, but was seldom tested in the home opener. William and Mary comes into the game with a 2-1 mark, having recently ascended to No. 13 in the Sports Network Top 25 poll and No. 17 in the FCS Coaches Poll. The Tribe's only loss came to Virginia Tech in week one of the season, prior to wins at Hampton and vs. Norfolk State.
LAST GAME: Three interceptions, including two for touchdowns in the first half, sparked Lafayette to a 50-3 drubbing of Robert Morris. The defense held Robert Morris to 108 yards and stopped the Colonials on all 16 third-down conversion attempts. In the ground game, Lafayette held The Sports Network National Freshman of the Week Rameses Owens to 17 yards after he ran for 199 yards a week prior. Offensively, sophomore quarterback Drew Reed threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Leopards accumulated 491 yards of total offense.
PAIR OF PICKS (SIXES): Senior SS Jared Roberts and junior LB Mark Dodd gave Lafayette the early advantage in the Leopards' win over Robert Morris. Roberts picked off a pass and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown eight minutes into the game and Dodd returned an INT of his own 29 yards for a TD 17 seconds into the second quarter.
GROUND GAME: The Leopards pounded out 324 yards on the ground in the win over Robert Morris. Senior TB Ross Scheuerman accounted for 173 of the yards in the second-highest single-game rushing total of his career. Freshman DeSean Brown chipped in with 60 yards while junior Deuce Gruden (38) and sophomore Adin Greenfield (25) also got in on the action. It was the first time since Oct. 25, 2008 that Lafayette rushed for 300 or more yards. Lafayette had 322 vs. Fordham in that game.
MOVIN' ON UP: With his 173-yard night, Ross Scheuerman moved into sixth place for career rushing at Lafayette with 2,549 yards. He surpassed Tony Giglio (2,519) and Jonathan Hurt (2,531). Scheuerman needs 48 yards to move into fifth place.
NOT MUCH O FOR BOBBY MO: The Leopard defense shut down the Robert Morris offense, holding the Colonials to 66 yards passing and 42 yards on the ground. It was the best performance (stats wise) since Oct. 23, 2013 when Lafayette gave up 64 passing yards and 16 rushing yards against conference foe Bucknell. It was the first time since Sept. 12, 2009 that Lafayette did not allow a touchdown.
NATIONALLY-RANKED: William and Mary is the first ranked team that Lafayette faces this season. Lafayette was 2-2 against ranked opponents in 2013, beating conference foes Fordham (5/5) and Lehigh (15/17) while losing to Harvard (25) and New Hampshire (15/15) in the first round of the FCS playoffs.
ABOUT WILLIAM AND MARY: The Tribe enters the game at 2-1, losing only to FBS intrastate foe Virginia Tech, 34-9, in week one. William & Mary 13/17 is carrying a two-game winning streak, coming off wins over Hampton (42-14) and Norfolk State (29-14).
• W and M returns eight starters on each side of the ball from a 2013 team that was 7-5 and finished fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association.
• Sophomore QB Steve Cluley is 29-of-64 for 409 yards with one touchdown and one interception. His favorite target is senior WR Tre McBride who has 10 catches for 163 yards, including a 55-yard TD reception last week.
• William and Mary has done the bulk of its scoring on the ground. Junior RB Mikal Abdul-Saboor has carried 47 times for 258 yards, averaging 5.5 yards per carry with three touchdowns. His backup is senior Keith McBride who has 13 carries in three games.
• Defensively, junior LB Luke Rhodes leads the team with 28 tackles, including 11 tackles and a sack against Norfolk State.
• Jimmye Laycock (William and Mary '70), is in his fourth decade as the Tribe head coach (35th season). Under his leadership, the Tribe boasts a 224-166-2 overall record.
