The Match-Up: After waiting 476 days in between games, the Leopards will have waited two weeks in between their first two contests of the spring 2021 season. Lafayette takes the two-hour trip west on I-80 to Lewisburg, Pa. where a Saturday matchup with Bucknell awaits. The Leopards and Bison were scheduled to play on March 20, but the game was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. 


Lately: The last three games with Bucknell have been decided by an average of four points with the Leopards victorious in the last two (29-27 in 2018 and 21-17 in 2019). Bucknell also represents the last overtime game that Lafayette played, a 13-7 Bucknell win in 2017. 

Streaks: Lafayette has won five of its last six games, dating back to the 2019 season when Lafayette finished second in the Patriot League standings

Open This Thing Up: The season-opening win over Colgate was the first victory in a season opener since 2016 (Central Conn. State), the first in a home opener since 2014 (Robert Morris) and the first in a Patriot League opener since 2017 (Holy Cross).

Strong Starts: Senior QB Cole Northrup made the second start of his career vs. Colgate in week one and in the process collected Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors. Northrup completed 9-of-14 for 141 yards with a touchdown. He also added 12 rushing yards.
    Freshman DL Marcus Joseph took home Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors. Joseph made three tackles and was responsible for the Leopards' lone sack of the game. The Leopards held Colgate to 55 rushing yards and 10 points.  

2021 Slate: With the rescheduling of the 2020 fall season to this spring, six football teams will be competing for the Patriot League title. The teams have been split into two three-team divisions for the 2021 spring season: Lafayette, Bucknell and Lehigh in the South and Colgate, Fordham and Holy Cross in the North. Each of the teams (with the exception of Georgetown which chose not to compete this season) will play divisional opponents once along with two non-divisional games for a total of four games. The league schedule will conclude on Saturday, April 17, with a championship game between the two division winners. There is a make-up weekend scheduled for the weekend of April 10. 

When It Counts: Lafayette converted 8-of-15 first downs against Colgate, while limiting the Raiders to 3-of-11. The Leopards where 3-of-3 in the red zone to Colgate's 1-of-4.

Stilly Scores: Junior TE Steven Stilianos had one touchdown in his first two seasons on College Hill. He took his game to the next level in week one of 2021, reeling in a team-best three catches for 55 yards. Two of his three receptions went for TDs, a 28-yarder in the second quarter and a 12-yard catch and leap over a defender to seal the game in the fourth quarter. 

Colgate Scoring: Lafayette held Colgate to 10 points in the season opener, the fewest points the Raiders have scored against the Leopards since 2006. Offensively, Lafayette had not scored in the previous three meetings, but broke out for 24 points, the most in the series since 2013.   

6 If By Air (from 8): Senior WR Quinn Revere had three catches for a game-high 67 yards, and all three of his catches resulted in first downs. His biggest play of the game came five minutes into the second quarter when Revere took a lateral from QB Cole Northrup before slinging it to Steven Stilianos for a 28-yard TD. 

On the Ground: Versus Colgate, Lafayette ran the ball more times (50) than it did in any game in 2019 (the 2019 single-game high was 42 rushes against Lehigh). Lafayette finished week one with 171 yards — 90 by sophomore Jaden Sutton and 66 from senior Selwyn Simpson. 

Offense On the Upswing: The numbers show that Lafayette's offense has steadily improved each of the first three seasons of the John Garrett era in Lafayette football. From 2018 to 2019, the per game averages for passing yards and rushing yards jumped by 57 and 26 yards per game, respectively (gains of 25 and 23 percent, respectively).

99 Awards: Junior DL Malik Hamm has been named the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Hamm won the honor in 2019 and was the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2018. In early February, Athlon Sports selected him to its Spring 2021 Preseason FCS All-America Team.
    The 6-3, 260-pound Hamm earned All-Patriot League First-Team honors in 2019 and achieved sophomore All-America status from Hero Sports along with Patriot League First-Team honors from Phil Steele. In 2019, Hamm led the team with 11.5 tackles for loss of 55 yards and 8.0 sacks for a minus-47 yards. He recorded 43 tackles, the most of any defensive lineman in the Patriot League, and paced the team with eight quarterback hurries in his 12 starts. Hamm managed at least one sack in each of his final seven games of the season, finishing with 7.5 TFLs and 7.0 sacks in league play, and has secured at least one sack in 10 of the 12 league games played during his two-year career. He is 10th among all active FCS players, averaging 0.72 sacks per game during his career.

Preseason Poll: The Leopards were picked fourth in the preseason poll with 28 points, trailing Holy Cross with five first-place votes and 45 points, Colgate with two first-place votes and 36 points, Fordham with three first-place votes and 35 points and ahead of Lehigh (19) and Bucknell (16). Georgetown opted out of the spring 2021 season.

Year Four In The Garrett Era: John Garrett is in his fourth season at Lafayette. Garrett took over the coaching reins on Dec. 21, 2016. He  guided Lafayette to a pair of 3-8 campaigns in 2017 and 2018 before a 4-8 mark in 2019. Lafayette registered a third-place conference finish in 2017 (3-3), a fourth-place finish in 2018 (2-4) before a break through with a second-place finish in 2019 when Lafayette won four of its last five games. 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.

The Opponent: Bucknell was 3-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play in 2019, finishing  in a two-way tie with Colgate for third place in the Patriot League standings. 
     Bucknell is in year two of the Dave Cecchini era. Cecchini is a 1995 graduate of Lehigh where he was an All-American wide receiver. Previously, he was the head coach at Valparaiso after spending time as an assistant at Lehigh, The Citadel and Harvard. 
    Cecchini's Bucknell offense set school records for passing attempts (426) and completions (229) in 2019. Senior QB Logan Bitikofer was the team's starter for eight games and his top target was junior Brandon Sanders (58 catches, 530 yards, 3 TDs) on his way to All-Patriot League honors.  
    Bucknell defense is a senior-laden group that led the Patriot League in yards per play allowed (4.4), takeaways (14), sacks (32) and defensive touchdowns (4) in conference play only, also ranking second in total defense (319.7) and rushing defense (96.3). Seniors Rick Mottram, Simeon Page and Gerrit Van Itallie combined for 237 tackles and 33 sacks and all return to their starting linebacker spots.