How to Watch Today's Game: The Lafayette Sports Network's broadcast of #Rivalry158 can be seen on NBC Sports Philadelphia+, NBC Sports Bay Area, MASN2, ATVN 4 & 1004, and WBPH-60. It is also available ESPN+.

The Match-Up: The only contest left on the 2022 ledger is #Rivalry158, the game that has been circled on the calendar the entire season. The 2022 installment will be the first played in Fisher Stadium with a full crowd since 2018.

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 (when a player eligibility dispute canceled the game) and 2020 (COVID pandemic). The Leopards lead the series 80-72-5. The rivalry had been played every year since 1897 without interruption, reaching 123 consecutive years in 2019. 
    In 2021, the teams played twice in the same calendar year for the first time since 1944, when Lafayette played a limited schedule  during World War II. Lafayette topped Lehigh 20-13 on April 10, 2021 in a game postponed from the 2020 fall season. They met again on Nov. 20, a 17-10 Lehigh win in Bethlehem.

Rivalry Appearances: Rivalry 158 marks the first appearance in the annual match-up for John Troxell as Lafayette's head coach. As an assistant coach from 2001-05, Troxell had a 3-2 record. As a player (1990-93), the 1994 alum was 1-3.
    Leopard defensive coordinator Mike Saint Germain '07 and corner backs coach Jeff Sejour '07 were each 3-1 against Lehigh during their playing careers. Saint Germain can also claim a win at Yankee Stadium in 2014 as an assistant coach under Frank Tavani. 

Series MVP: Media members have voted on the game MVP since 1960. TE Steven Stilianos won the award in the April 2021, making a pair of TD grabs. Jeffrey Kordenbrock '21 captured the honor in 2019 -- the first Leopard kicker since 1970 to win. Prior to that, Ross Scheuerman '15 was the last Leopard winner (2014), running for a school-record 304 yards to lead Lafayette 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 twice (1976 and 2006). For a complete list, see page 56 of the media guide.

D In the League: Lafayette's defense leads the Patriot League in rushing defense (111.3 ypg) and opponents' first downs (18.2 pg) and is second in the Patriot League in total defense (342.3), scoring defense (22.8 ppg), red-zone defense (73.2%) and tackles for loss (6.0).
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.
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 third in the NCAA's active career sacks leaders. Hamm is 17th in the nation and second in the Patriot League with 0.75 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. 

The Run Game: The Leopards are 3-1 when the team rushes for 100 yards or more in a game. Lafayette counts Sacred Heart (30-105), Bucknell (43-137) and Colgate (51-176) in the win column with the lone exception being No. 6/9 Holy Cross (37-163). 

Quality Opponents: Five of the Leopards' losses have come against FCS opponents enjoying stellar 2022 campaigns. Holy Cross (10-0), William & Mary 
(9-1), Penn (7-2), Princeton (8-1) and Fordham (8-2) have a combined record of 42-6 with all five either ranked in or receiving votes in the top 25 polls. 

Hide the Hankies: The Leopards rank first in the Patriot League in fewest penalty yards (384), fewest penalty yards per game (38.4), fewest penalties (51) and fewest penalties per game (5.1). Lafayette is 13th in the nation for fewest penalty yards per game and 14th for fewest penalty yards.

Opponent: Lehigh comes into Rivalry 158 with a 2-8 overall record and a 2-3 mark in conference action. The Mountain Hawks are coming off a 36-33 last-minute win over Colgate at home in week 10. That followed seven straight losses, coming to Holy Cross (41-12), Bucknell (19-17), Cornell (19-15), Fordham (40-28), Monmouth (35-7), Princeton (29-17) and Richmond (30-6). Lehigh opened 2022 with a 45-17 loss to Villanova before a week-two win over Georgetown (21-19). 
    Offensively, junior Dante Perri has handled things under center, completing 59 percent of his attempts for 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Geoffrey Jamiel (46), Eric Johnson (43) and Jalen Burbage (39) have accounted for 66 percent of the receptions with Johnson and Burbage with four and three touchdowns, respectively. On the ground, Michigan transfer Gaige Garcia has scored four touchdowns while averaging 5.1 yards per carry.  
    Defensively, junior LB Mike DeNucci leads the team with 90 tackles and has a league-best 8.5 sacks.
    Lehigh is coached by Tom Gilmore, who is in his fourth season and holds a 9-26 record and is 1-2 vs. Lafayette.