The Match-Up: Lafayette opens Patriot League play on Saturday at Georgetown in a 12:06 p.m. kickoff. The Leopards are searching for the first win of 2019 after a 28-3 loss to No. 19 Princeton on Friday. The Hoyas (4-2, 0-1) are coming off a three-point home loss to Fordham in week six.
Tough Ticket: On-going construction has limited capacity at Georgetown's Cooper Field and led to a sell-out for Saturday's match-up.
Best For Last: Lafayette is the last team to play a Patriot League game this season, with the other six conference opponents having played at least one game and Colgate and Bucknell each with two in the fold.
Patriot League Openers: Lafayette is 18-15 in Patriot League openers, with play beginning in 1988 as the Colonial League, and 16-13 since 1990 when the league took its current name. The Leopards have won 10 of their last 15 league openers (Georgetown in '04, '07, '08, '09, Fordham in '05, Bucknell in '06, '12 and '13 and Holy Cross in 2017) with the losses coming to Georgetown in 2010 and 2011, Fordham in 2014 and 2015, Holy Cross in 2016 and Colgate in 2018.
Lucky 13: Senior
Yasir Thomas and junior LB
Ryan Dickens each turned in solid defensive efforts against No. 19 Princeton. Thomas had a career-high 13 tackles from his safety position. Dickens also registered a career-high 13 stops, adding in two tackles for a loss of 11 yards, including a nine-yard sack.
TFLX2: Dickens and junior LB
Major Jordan each had two tackles for loss at Princeton, the most by any Lafayette player this season.
A Repeat of 1994?: The last time a Lafayette team started the season 0-6 was 1994. That Leopard squad won its final five games, all Patriot League contents, to claim the conference title under head coach Bill Russo. In that season, All-American TB Erik Marsh ran for 1,249 yards to lead the offense.
Red-Zone Opportunities: Lafayette has made the most of its red-zone chances, turning 13-of-14 chances into points(10 touchdowns and 3 field goals).
Last Time Out: The Lafayette offense could never really get things moving on Oct. 11 against No. 19 Princeton in a nationally televised game on ESPNU. Collin Eaddy scored three touchdowns and ran for 89 yards as the reigning Ivy League champions beat Lafayette 28-3.
A Passing Fancy: At the midway point of the season, freshman QB
Keegan Shoemaker has completed 61 percent of his passes in 2019, a mark that ranks him first in the Patriot League and 37th in the nation. His single-season mark thus far also ranks him 11th all-time at Lafayette. Shoemaker is first in the conference (30th in NCAA) in completions per game (19.8), passing yards per game (235.8), yards per pass (7.3), passing efficiency (129.0) and total offense (252.2).
Big Play Possibilities: It's no secret that
Nick Pearson is the Leopards' go-to player for what
John Garrett class "explosive" plays. The senior wide receiver accounts for five of the Leopards' longest 10 plays this season with receptions of 80, 45, 44, 41 and 33 yards. His 80-yard touchdown catch vs. Monmouth is the Leopards' longest play from scrimmage this season.
Just a Football Player: When defensive coordinator
Manny Rojas describes soph. LB
Billy Shaeffer he says "he's just a football player" — the ultimate compliment from Rojas who, himself, was a college linebacker. Shaeffer has started five games, averaging 5.5 tackles per game in just his second season College Hill.
Offense On the Upswing: The numbers show that the Lafayette offense is significantly improved in 2019. The Leopards are averaging 18.7 points, 257 passing yards and 89.2 rushing yards per game in 2019. Through six games in 2018 (against Sacred Heart, Delaware, Monmouth, Colgate and CCSU), Lafayette was averaging 10.5 points, 210.5 passing yards and 50.7 rushing yards per game.
Fresh Faces On the Two-Deep: Entering week seven, there are 11 freshmen on the two-deep.
Alex Barshaba started the first three games at left guard while
Keegan Shoemaker has started the last five.
Nathan Slater (LT/LG) has started the last four games and
Marco Olivas (LB) was among the starting 11 vs. Sacred Heart when Lafayette started five freshmen. Lafayette played 15 freshmen at William & Mary, 16 vs. Monmouth and Sacred Heart, 14 at Albany, 12 vs. Penn and 15 vs. Princeton.
The Patriot League does not allow redshirt seasons for reasons other than injury, so all freshmen are first-year collegiate players. In 2018, 12 freshmen made the depth chart in the three phases, and four of them (
Ian Grayson, DE
Malik Hamm, OL
Joe Grundhoffer and FS
Romeo Wykle) started at least one game.
Year Three In The Garrett Era: John Garrett is in his third season at Lafayette. Garrett took over the coaching reins on Dec. 21, 2016 and has guided Lafayette to a pair of 3-8 campaigns. Lafayette registered a third-place conference finish in 2017 (3-3) and a fourth-place finish in 2018 (2-4). Garrett has more than 25 years of coaching experience at the NFL, NCAA FBS and NCAA FCS levels. Offensive coordinator stints at Richmond and Oregon State preceded his hiring.
Opponent: The Hoyas come in with a 4-2 record, 0-1 in Patriot League play. After a season-opening loss to Davidson, Georgetown ran off four straight wins, beating Marist, Catholic, Columbia and Cornell. In the Patriot League opener vs. Fordham on Oct. 12, the Hoyas lost a back-and-forth affair, 30-27, with Fordham scoring with 16 seconds left.
Senior Gunther Johnson has started 21 games in his career and six in 2019. He is 47-of-74 for 736 yards with 5 TDs and no INTs. Johnson completed 13-of-17 while also running for 81 yards and two touchdowns against Fordham. He is also the team's second-leading rusher (36-241, 5 TD) behind soph. RB Herman Moultrie who has 100 carries for 346 yards and seven scores.
The Hoyas' defense is led by senior DE Khristian Tate, a three-time All-Patriot League selection who led the Patriot League in sacks in 2018. Tate has 32 tackles this season trailing only soph. LB Justin Fonteneaux (43 tackles, 2 INT) and junior LB Xavier Reddick ( 38 tackles, 5.0 TFL).
Georgetown is coached by Rob Sgarlata (Georgetown '94) who is in his sixth season.
