The Match-Up: Lafayette (1-1, 0-1) and Lehigh (0-2, 0-1) will meet for the 156th time on Saturday, but it will mark the first time ever that they have squared off in April. The two teams were originally slated to play April 3, but the game was postponed to due to COVID considerations.
    Saturday's game is Senior Day for the Class of 2021. Fourteen players and their families will be recognized prior to kick-off.

Throughout History: Lafayette and Lehigh have played year since 1884 with the exception of 1896 (when a player eligibility dispute canceled the game) and 2020 (when COVID-19 canceled the game). In 1918, amid the height of the Spanish Flu pandemic in the Lehigh Valley, the schools considered canceling the game (due to the war effort), but did play on Nov. 23, 1918 as scheduled (according to LehighValleyLive.com). The series took place during both world wars and was delayed by one week in 1963 following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

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 beat Lehigh 56-0 in Easton. The two teams met twice a year from 1884-1901 (three times in 1891) and once a year since then, with the exception of 1896 and 2020. The Leopards lead the series 79-71-5. The rivalry had been played every year since 1897 without interruption, reaching 123 consecutive years in 2019.

Series MVP: Media members vote on the Lafayette-Lehigh game's MVP, an award established in 1960. Jeffrey Kordenbrock '21 is the last Leopard to win the award, capturing the honor in 2019. He was the first Leopard kicker since 1970 to win the award. Prior to that, Ross Scheuerman '15 was the last Leopard winner (2014), running for a school-record 304 yards to lead the Maroon and White to a 27-7 win at Yankee Stadium in Rivalry 150. There have been nine two-time winners: Jon Hurt (2005, 06) Brad Maurer (2004, 06), Tom Costello (1988, 89) and Erik Marsh (1992, 94) from Lafayette and Kim McQuilken (1972, 73), Marty Horn (1983, 85), Ron Jean (1998, 99), J.B. Clark (2008, 09) and Nick Shafnisky (2015, 16) from Lehigh. In the series, there have been co-MVP's only twice (1976 and 2006).

Attendance Policy: Lafayette Athletics is permitting two guests per Leopard student-athlete, families of coaches and a limited number of Lafayette students and alumni to attend events at Lafayette outdoor venues this spring when the College is at operational level 1. Faculty and staff enrolled in the College's weekly testing protocol also have been granted access. In the spirit of the historic Lafayette-Lehigh football rivalry, Lafayette is also permitting two guests for each member of Lehigh's football team as well as families of coaches and staff. All other unregistered guests are not permitted on campus.

Firsts Versus Bucknell: Junior WR Logan Whelan recorded his first career touchdown catch in the fourth quarter vs. Bucknell. The nine-yard touchdown toss was the first for Sean O'Malley since  Nov. 10, 2018 at Army. 

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.
    Against Bucknell in week two, Lafayette converted 4-of-12 while allowing 8-of-15 conversions for Bucknell. In the red zone, Lafayette was 1-of-2 and Bucknell 2-of-2.

2021 Slate: With the rescheduling of the 2020 fall season to this spring, six football teams are 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) is slated play divisional opponents once along with two non-divisional games for a total of four games. The league schedule is set to conclude on Saturday, April 17, with a championship game between the two division winners. A make-up date has been tabbed for April 10. The Patriot League has yet to announce the games scheduled for that date. 

Long Gone: Cole Northrup's 61-yard TD pass to Julius Young on the first possession of the Bucknell game is the Leopards' longest play from scrimmage in 2021. In 2019, Lafayette had just three plays (91 yard TD to Zadok Scott, 86-yard run by Jaden Sutton and an 80-yard pass to Nick Pearson) that were longer gainers.

More On O'Malley: With a 6-of-9 passing afternoon at Bucknell, Senior QB Sean O'Malley upped his career completions mark to 432, moving past Rob Curley '10 (429 completions) for seventh place all-time. O'Malley needs three more completions to go by Brad Maurer '07. He also ranks ninth in career passing yards (3,773). 

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.

Opponent: Lehigh enters Rivalry 156 with a 0-2 mark, losing the season opener to Holy Cross, 24-3, on March 13 before dropping a 6-0 final vs. Bucknell on April 3. Lehigh posted a 4-7 overall record in 2019, finishing with a 3-3 Patriot League mark in a three-way tie for third place behind Holy Cross and Lafayette.
    Lehigh is in year two of the Tom Gilmore era. Gilmore was the head coach at Holy Cross for 14 seasons after a four-year defensive coordinator and linebacker coaching stint at Lehigh from 2000-2003.
    Toledo transfer Cross Wilkinson started Lehigh's first two games QB, completing 8-of-13 with an interception in the opener and 17-of-28 vs. Bucknell. Senior Jorge Portorreal is a preseason All-Patriot League selection at wide receiver along with junior TE Alex Snyder.  Portorreal has not played in either game. Junior Rashawn Allen and soph. Zaythan Hill have split time running the ball.
    Defensively, senior LB Pete Haffner is the team's top returning tackler, making 97 stops in 2019. He had eight tackles vs. Holy Cross and 11 vs. Bucknell.