The Match-Up: Lafayette is set to open its 141st season of college football on Saturday, hosting reigning NEC conference champion Sacred Heart at 12:30 p.m. It marks the first game in the John Troxell era on College Hill, as the 1994 Lafayette alum took over the head coaching reins in December 2021. Saturday is Community/Youth Day at Fisher Stadium.

Season Openers: The Leopards are 87-50-3 all-time in season openers for a program that was established in 1882. Lafayette doesn't have to look back far to find its last season-opening win, handing conference foe Colgate a 24-10 decision on March 13, 2021.

Home Openers: Lafayette is 89-50-3 all-time in home openers. The last home-opening win was March 13, 2021, a 24-10 victory over Colgate. 

Last Meeting: The last time the Leopards faced off against the Pioneers was a high-scoring affair Sept. 14, 2019 in Easton. The Leopards lost 56-40, despite taking a three point lead into halftime. Sacred Heart pulled away with 35 points in the second half.  

Preseason Poll: Lafayette was picked fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll which is voted on by conference coaches and football sports information directors. With 42 points, the Leopards were slotted behind Holy Cross (71), Fordham (61) and Colgate (50) and ahead of Lehigh (35), Georgetown (21) and Bucknell (14).

Preseason All-Patriot League: Senior DL Malik Hamm has been selected as Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Hamm finished last year's campaign with 64 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss and 14 QB hurries. Senior linebacker Marco Olivas also received recognition on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team at linebacker. Olivas led the Leopards in tackles last season, finishing seventh in the nation in total tackles with 117.  

Approaching a Milestone: Malik Hamm needs 1.5 more sacks to become the program's all-time leader. He currently has 23.5 sacks and is nearing the record held by Harrison Bailey '95 who managed 25 sacks from 1991-94. Hamm currently ranks 15th in career sacks in Patriot League history. Hamm already ranks ninth and 10th in single season sacks at Lafayette with 8.0 in 2018, and 8.5 in 2019, respectively.

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, he pushed F&M to a 9-2 record and a Centennial Conference playoff berth. 
    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.

Unfamiliar Faces: While the Leopards' starting defensive unit is mostly intact from 2021, the Lafayette offense will feature plenty of new faces the depth chart. Freshman Ryan Schuster is in a battle with sophomore returner Ah-Shaun Davis for the starting quarterback spot. 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 Lafayette.
    Freshman Brian Baucia is challenging for playing time on the offensive line along with fellow rookie Reed Collins. The Leopard coaching staff also moved Ryder Langsdale from the defensive side of the ball to the O-Line during the offseason. Meanwhile, sophomores Hudson Harper, Matthew Sherer, Sydney Weibel and Gus Salopek are also vying for time on the offensive line. 
 
Who Is Running The Ball?: The Leopards will have multiple options at tailback. Senior Jaden Sutton and sophomore Nahjee Adams return to the fold. Sutton finished second on the team in rushing last season with 398 yards on 90 carries with three touchdowns. He had one of the Leopards' two 100-yard rushing games in 2021, carrying 18 times for 113 yards and a touchdown vs. Colgate in week 10. Adams saw limited action at tailback and as a returner but showed flashes of breakaway speed and elusiveness.  
    Freshman Jamar Curtis and sophomore transfer Jermaine Conyers made their case for touches during preseason camp. Curtis was an all-state selection out of Waldorf, Md. where he played at St. John's College High School in the WCAC, a top high school conference. Conyers spent his freshman school year at Franklin and Marshall College under then head coach John Troxell. Conyers started six games and rushed for 704 yards on 177 carries with five scores.  

Olivas' Numbers: Senior LB Marco Olivas led the Leopards with 117 tackles (third in the Patriot League, 7th in the nation) in 2021 while garnering All-Patriot League First-Team honors. He also added a team-best 9.5 tackles for loss (fourth in the Patriot League). Versus Colgate, Olivas rang up two sacks for -14 yards. Against Bucknell, the Integrative Engineering major led Lafayette with 16 tackles and helped limit Bucknell to 89 rushing yards while earning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week laurels. At No. 19 Harvard, he followed with 15 stops and two tackles for loss. Olivas had a 13-tackle performance at Holy Cross.

A Second Leg: Junior kicker Jakob Trestik will handle the place-kicking duties for the Leopards to start the season. Last year, Trestik served as the team's punter and kick-off specialist, averaging 39.2 yards per punt on 39 attempts. He also averaged 55.1 yards per kick off on 37 attempts with five touchbacks. As a high school placekicker, Trestik made 101-113 PAT and converted 11-12 field goal attempts.

Turnover Tales: For the 2021 season, Lafayette was minus-one (-1) in turnovers with a record of 1-4 (Georgetown) when committing more turnovers than its opponent. The Leopards finished tied for 14th in the nation for fewest turnovers lost (11).

Big Plays For 14: On the Leopards' 30 plays of 20 yards or more from scrimmage in 2021, Ah-Shaun Davis was involved in 19 of them, including the season-long play from scrimmage, a 74-yard TD toss to K.J. Rodgers vs. Fordham. The week prior vs. Penn, Davis heaved a 70-yard bomb to Joe Gillette.

Non-League Play: Lafayette faced a formidable non-conference slate in 2021, opening at FBS foe Air Force (5-1), before traveling to William and Mary (4-1) and then hosting No. 23 New Hampshire (3-2). The Leopards dealt Penn (2-2) its first loss of the season and faced a 5-0 Harvard squad, ranked 19th in the nation. Those five teams were a combined 16-6 when Lafayette faced them.
    In 2022, Lafayette hosts two-time reigning NEC champ Sacred Heart to open the season and then travels to face FBS foe Temple in week two. Week three brings perennial CAA contender William & Mary to Easton before Lafayette travels to Philadelphia to face Penn at Franklin Field. On Oct. 8, Princeton, which is coming off a  9-1 season, will play at Fisher to close out the non-league slate. 

Red-Zone in '21: Lafayette converted 78 percent (18-of-23) of its red-zone opportunities in 2021. That included 11 touchdowns and seven field goals. 

Fending Off Flags: In recent seasons, Lafayette has been able to avoid penalties. In 2021, Lafayette ranked 13th in the nation in penalty yards per game (40.9), 15th in penalties per game (4.7), 14th in penalty yards (441) and 16th in total penalties (52).

The Opponent: Sacred Heart (8-4, 6-1) is coming off two straight Northeast Conference championships and is the preseason pick to win a third title.   
    The Pioneers feature an experienced team, with 19 graduate students and 27 seniors on the opening-week roster. They return five starters on each side of the ball. Offensively, junior All-American running back Malik Grant averaged 112 yards per game in 2021 while racking up 1,347 yards. He helped Sacred Heart finish 11th in the FCS in total rushing offense. Senior All-NEC quarterback Marquez McCray completed 59 percent of his attempts in 2021, throwing for 1,818 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.  
    On the defensive side, Sacred Heart will be led by preseason All-American defensive lineman Kevin Peprah and 2021 All-NEC selection linebacker DeAndre Byrd. Byrd led the team with 59 tackles while Peprah made 48 stops and contributed a team-best 12 tackles for loss, including 9.5 sacks. The Pioneers finished in the top five in the nation in total defense in 2021.
    Sacred Heart is coached by Mark Nofri who is in his 11th season as the head coach and 29th with the program.