The Match-Up: Lafayette football will take to the road for the first time since Oct. 1, traveling to Hamilton, N.Y. on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kick-off against a Colgate squad which has won its last two games.

Fresh TDs: Freshmen WR Elijah Steward and TE Dallas Holmes each reeled in touchdown passes against Georgetown, one apiece from Ah-Shaun Davis and Rent Montie, respectively. In 2022, four freshmen have scored touchdowns, as rookies QB Ryan Schuster and WR Chris Carasia also added scores.

D In the League: Lafayette's defense leads the Patriot League in total defense, (326 ypg), rushing defense (116 ypg), opponents' first downs (17.6 pg) and opponent third-down conversions (39.5%) and is second in the Patriot League in scoring defense (20.9 ppg) and red-zone defense (70.6%).

Cross' Contributions: Junior Semaj Cross contributed a career-high seven tackles against Georgetown and added his first career sack.

99 + 1: Senior DL Malik Hamm continues to re-write the Lafayette sacks record, adding another vs. Georgetown on Oct. 29. He now has 31 for his career, ranking him as Lafayette's all-time leader while also fourth in the NCAA's active career sacks leaders. Hamm is ninth in the nation and second in the Patriot League with 0.94 sacks per game. Hamm has sole possession of fourth place in Patriot League history after passing Georgetown's Andrew Schaetzke '12 with 30.5 sacks. He needs two more sacks to move into third place held by Colgate's Nick Wheeler '19 and three more to ascend to second place occupied by Holy Cross' Tom Smith '89 with 34.

Quality Opponents: Four of the Leopards' losses have come against FCS opponents enjoying quality 2022 campaigns. Holy Cross (8-0), William & Mary (7-1), Penn (6-1) and Princeton (7-0) have a combined record of 28-2 with all four either ranked in or receiving votes in the top 25 polls.

Year One In The Troxell Era: John Troxell is in his first season as head coach of the Lafayette Leopards. The '94 Lafayette alum returns to College Hill after a 16-year head coaching stint at Franklin & Marshall College. When Troxell first arrived at F&M, the Diplomats hadn't managed a winning season in 13 years. Four years later, after a full recruiting cycle, the Diplomats finished with a 9-2 record and continued to climb, subsequently reaching the postseason on nine occasions. Leopards fans are hoping for similar results on College Hill as the Maroon and White search for their first Patriot League title since 2013. Troxell has been a key ingredient in program rebuilds at each of his stops, and his time on College Hill as an assistant coach on Frank Tavani's staff was no exception. He served various roles as the running backs coach, recruiting coordinator and special teams coach from 2001-05. His selection as the recruiting coordinator in 2003 helped kick off a stretch of three straight titles for the Leopards in 2004, 2005 and 2006 that coincided with the program's first three NCAA FCS Playoff appearances. Prior to Lafayette, Troxell was part of a dramatic reversal at Muhlenberg College from 1997-2000 under head coach Mike Donnelly. He served multiple roles, working as the special teams coordinator (1997-99), quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach (1997-2000) and offensive coordinator (2000). Muhlenberg progressed from a 1-9 season in 1997 to the Eastern College Athletic Conference title with a record of 9-2 in 2000. In 2000, under Troxell's tutelage, the offense ranked 22nd in the nation and led the Centennial Conference in total offense (427.8 ypg) while averaging 31.0 points per game. Troxell joined the Muhlenberg staff after serving as an assistant coach for three seasons (1994-96) at Columbia University under head coach Ray Tellier, beginning his career path of coaching at elite academic institutions. In 1996, Troxell oversaw a secondary that recorded the third-best passing defense in the country. The turnaround tendency first showed itself at Columbia in 1994 when the Ivy League school recorded its first winning season in 23 seasons. An 8-2 mark and the program's best finish in 15 years followed in 1996. His first extended stint on College Hill came as a student-athlete from 1990-94, when he earned his bachelor's degree in government and law. Troxell was the starting free safety on the Leopards' 1992 Patriot League Championship team and received the Unsung Hero Award as a senior. He completed his master's degree in sociology and education in 1997 while on staff at Columbia.

Hide the Hankies: The Leopards rank first in the Patriot League in fewest penalty yards (320), fewest penalty yards per game (40), fewest penalties (43) and fewest penalties per game (5.4). Lafayette is 13th in the nation for fewest penalty yards and penalty yards per game.

Inspired Defensive Effort: The play of Lafayette's defense has been steady throughout the season and the Holy Cross game was no exception. Lafayette held No. 6/9 Holy Cross to 15 points below its season scoring average. The defense also limited Holy Cross to 99 rushing yards and 82 passing yards -- both season lows for the Crusaders. Senior LB Marco Olivas made a game-high 13 tackles, including 10 solo stops, and also contributed a half tackle for loss and a pair of quarterback hurries.

Offense vs. Holy Cross: Lafayette managed its largest offensive output of the season against Holy Cross on Oct. 22, churning out 70 more total yards (329) than their previous best of 259 at Bucknell. The Leopards pushed out 162 rushing yards (topping the Bucknell effort of 137) and threw for 166. Senior RB Jaden Sutton carried 19 times for 133 yards with a long run of 41 yards. It was Sutton's third 100-yard rushing game of his career and the Leopards' first since Oct. 2, 2021. Soph. QB Ah-Shaun Davis made his first start of the season and threw for a career-high three touchdowns (to three different receivers) while completing 19-of-39 for 166 yards.

PAT Return: Freshman Byron Johnson returned a blocked PAT for two points against Princeton, the Leopards' first PAT return since Nov. 13, 2004, when Blake Costanzo accomplished the feat against Holy Cross. That season kicked off a run of three straight Patriot League championships for Lafayette.

Ringing The Bell: Among many changes for the John Troxell era is addition of a bell on the sideline. In lieu of a turnover chain, title belt, etc., Troxell has brought in the bell which a player will ring after securing a turnover or scoring a touchdown or a field goal. Troxell said that it symbolizes the "hard-fought battle" that is football. Senior WR Joe Gillette, who underwent cancer treatment in the summer of 2022 at the Cleveland Clinic and continues to battle the disease, was chosen to be the first to ring the bell. "There wasn't one time he ever thought of quitting. No matter how bad it got, he never thought of it. He was here every single day," Troxell told the team. "So when you ring that bell, no matter if it's week 11, 10, 9, it's because you're not going to quit on each other. We'll keep fighting to the end."

Now Under Center: With Ryan Schuster sidelined with injury, sophomore Ah-Shaun Davis and junior Rent Montie have stepped in under center. Davis started eight games for the Leopards in 2021, completing 59 percent of his passes. Injury knocked him from the lineup in the season finale at Lehigh. Davis got the start vs. No. 6/9 Holy Cross, his first of the season and he completed 19-of-39 for 166 yards with three touchdowns. Davis had the start again vs. Georgetown, completing 7-of-15 for 74 yards with one TD and one INT. Montie come on in relief of Davis in the fourth quarter, connecting on 6-of-11 for 145 with a TD. When Schuster was injured in the Penn game, Montie played the final three series (all in the fourth quarter) and completed 8-of-18 for 74 yards. At Bucknell, John Troxell and offensive coordinator T.J. DiMuzio went to Montie, and the junior from Florida completed 16-of-21 for 122 yards and also ran for 34 yards and two touchdowns. Against Princeton, Montie was 15-of-28 for 111 yards with an INT. In 2021, Montie played in the first two games of the season while splitting time with Aaron Angelos.  

Opponent: Colgate enters the contest 3-5 overall and 2-1 in league play. The Raiders are coming off of back-to-back Patriot League wins over Bucknell (13-7) and Georgetown (34-24). Colgate also managed a 21-18 win over Maine in week two while its other games include losses to Stanford (41-10), Penn (25-14), Cornell (34-31) and Army (42-17). Offensively, Colgate has relied on its running game to move the ball, averaging nearly 200 yards on the ground per game. The Raiders' read-option offense is led by sophomore dual-threat quarterback Michael Brescia who has thrown for 952 yards and a touchdown, as well as rushing for 11 touchdowns on 577 yards. The Colgate rushing attack also includes junior running backs Max Hurleman and Jaedon Henry, each of whom have run for more than 300 yards. Defensively, senior Tyler Flick has tallied 70 total tackles, 36 of them solo stops to go along with 6.5 tackles for loss. Senior DL Coleman Coco leads things up front with six tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks on the year. Colgate is coached by Stan Dakosty, who is in his second season as head coach.