The Match-Up: Lafayette stays on the road for the second straight week, this time taking a brief trip across I-80 to open Patriot League play at Bucknell on Saturday. It's a 3:30 p.m. kick at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in the 100th meeting between the two schools.

Patriot League Openers: Lafayette is 19-17 in Patriot League openers, with play beginning in 1986 as the Colonial League, and 17-15 since 1990 when the league took its current name. Since 2000, the Leopards are 10-11 in Patriot League openers with the last win a 24-10 decision over Colgate in the spring 2021 season. Fordham outlasted Lafayette in the fall 2021 conference opener, 42-41, in Fisher Stadium.

Reaching a Milestone: Senior DL Malik Hamm chiseled his name into the Lafayette records books in the first quarter on the Penn game on Sept. 24, registering the 26th sack of his career to become the program's all-time leader. The 13-yard TFL pushed him out of a first-place tie with Harrison Bailey '95, each with 25 sacks. Hamm added another half sack later in the game to nudge his career total to 26.5. Hamm tied the record in the season-opening victory over Sacred Heart. He now ranks tied for eighth for career sacks in the Patriot League history. Hamm already ranked ninth and 10th in single-season sacks at Lafayette with 8.0 in 2018, and 8.5 in 2019, respectively. 

The Week That Was: In a defensive battle from start to finish, Penn emerged with a 12-0 win over Lafayette on Sept. 24 at Franklin Field. Malik Hamm set Lafayette's career sacks record in the first quarter and the Leopard defense continued to perform well throughout. Soph. Gabe DuBois turned in a career high in tackles for the second straight game, this time with nine stops. Seniors Marco Olivas and DaRon Gilbert added eight stops apiece for the Leopards who limited Penn to 270 yards of total offense (74 rushing).
    The Leopards' offense contributed 242 offensive yards (241 passing, 1 rushing). Lafayette saw freshman QB Ryan Schuster (11-23-1, 167 yds.) knocked from the game just before the end of the third quarter. Junior Rent Montie (8-18-0, 74 yds.)replaced Schuster under center. 

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.
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 finished cancer treatment this past summer, was the first to ring the bell on the Friday walk through before the season opener. For those undergoing cancer treatment, ringing a bell at the hospital is symbolic of part of ending cancer treatment or portions of it, which Gillette had done and why he 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."

Upcoming: The Leopards' final non-league game is Oct. 8 when Lafayette hosts Princeton on First Responders Day and also raises awareness for Breast Cancer.  

3-for-3: Freshman QB Ryan Schuster was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week each of the first three weeks of the season. In week three against No. 15/17 William and Mary, he completed 14-of-23 for 151 yards and ran in a one-yard touchdown. In week two at Temple, Schuster connected on 10-of-15 passes and threw for two touchdowns. In the season opener vs. two-time NEC champ Sacred Heart, the mechanical engineering major scored the game-winning touchdown, finishing with 34 rushing yards, 18 of which came on a touchdown run in the third quarter for the only points of the game. Schuster has faced intense defensive pressure, being sacked 16 times in four games, including eight sacks at Temple. 

The Opponent: Bucknell comes into Saturday's game looking for its first win of the season after losses to Towson (14-13 in OT), VMI (24-14), and FBS foe Central Michigan (41-0).
    The Bison are looking to bounce back from a 1-10 campaign in 2021 that included a win over Cornell.
    The Bucknell defense will be led by preseason All-Patriot League senior defensive back Gavin Pringle. Pringle started the first five games of the 2021 season before missing time with injury. Pringle was voted to the All-Patriot League Team as both a freshman and sophomore and leads the team with seven pass breakups this season. Fellow senior Brent Jackson is the team's leading tackler with 32 stops.
    Offensively, the Bison feature sophomore Ethan Grady. Grady has  thrown for 308 yards and two touchdowns thus far in 2022, completing 44 percent of his attempts. Sophomore Rushawn Baker and junior Coleman Bennett pace the rushing attack in the backfield for Bucknell. 
    Bucknell is coached by Dave Cecchini (Lehigh '85) who is in entering his fourth season as the head coach and was the Patriot League Coach of the Year in the 2021 spring campaign.

Five Fresh Faces: Lafayette started five rookies at Penn. Freshman Ryan Schuster started his fourth straight game at QB. Fellow rookie Brian Baucia emerged as the starter at right guard after camp and also has started each game.
    Jamar Curtis has started the last three games at running back and has been integral in the return game. RT Robby Mandel and WR Elijah Steward were the fourth and fifth rookies to join the starting 11 at the Penn game.  

Also Under Center: Behind Schuster are sophomore Ah-Shaun Davis and junior Rent Montie. 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. When Schuster was knocked from the game at Penn, junior Rent Montie came on to play the final three series (all in the fourth quarter). Montie completed 8-of-18 for 74 yards at Penn. In 2021, he played in the first two games of the season, splitting time with Aaron Angelos.

Turnover Tales: In week two at Temple, the Lafayette defense handed the Leopards' a big win in the turnover battle. Lafayette forced three fumbles (all recovered by the defense) and did not turn over the ball. Lafayette is plus-one for the season. Lafayette started 2022 even vs. Sacred Heart, recovering two fumbles while giving up two interceptions and turned it over twice (1 fumble, 1 INT) vs. William and Mary while intercepting one Tribe pass. Lafayette and Penn exchanged interceptions.
    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).

Last Meeting with the Bison: Lafayette submitted a dominant defensive performance, shutting out Bucknell 27-0 in the 99th meeting between the two schools.
     Led by 16 tackles from LB Marco Olivas, Lafayette limited Bucknell to 89 rushing yards and 80 yards passing at Fisher Stadium. DL Damon Washington finished with seven tackles, and like Olivas, added a sack. DL Malik Hamm registered a sack of his own along with a forced fumble on the same play.
    The Leopards ran up 316 yards of total offense, churning out a season-high 194 rushing yards with senior Selwyn Simpson and freshman Michael Hayes each accounting for 74 yards and a TD. WR Joe Gillette contributed 50 yards and his own rushing TD to go along with three catches for 72 yards.