The Match-Up: Lafayette football closes out the non-conference portion of the 2023 slate when it makes the short trip to Princeton for an afternoon engagement with the Tigers on Saturday. The Leopards are looking to build on their momentum which has propelled them to three straight victories and a 4-1 start to the season for the first time since 2009.

Running the Ball: Lafayette is averaging 222.8 rushing yards per game through five games, a mark that ranks the Leopards 12th in the nation among 122 schools. Behind a solid offensive line, soph. Jamar Curtis accounts for most of the yards, racking up a Patriot League best 123.0 yards per outing (fifth in the nation). Curtis ranks first in the conference and 11th in the nation in yards per carry (7.1 ypc).

Bucknell Spoils: Coming off a 56-22 win, Lafayette raked in three Patriot League Weekly awards. Dean DeNoBile, Billy Shaeffer and Troy Bruce were named the Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week, respectively. DeNobile secured the award for a second straight week after throwing four TDs, all in the second quarter. He was also named the STATS Perform FCS National Freshman Player of the Week based on his freshman eligibility. Shaeffer rang up 3.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble to go along with nine tackles. Bruce affected all realms of special teams play, blocking a punt that set up a score, while also returning a kick off (25 yards) and a punt (5 yards) and adding six carries for 33 yards out of the backfield.  

Troxell Hits the Century Mark: Lafayette's win over Bucknell marked the 100th career coaching victory for Leopard head coach John Troxell. Troxell came to Lafayette with 92 head coaching wins while at Franklin and Marshall and has eight wins through parts of two seasons at Lafayette. 

With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would: 
• Start the season at 5-1 for the first time since 2009
• Eclipse its win total from 2022
• Snap a 12-game slide against the Tigers, dating back to 2004
• Allow the Leopards to finish 4-1 in non-conference play for the first time since 2009 

Offensive Output: Lafayette's 56 points against Bucknell were the most for a Leopard offense since 2009 (when Lafayette tallied 56 in a win over Colgate). That followed a previous 2023 season-high of 28 points vs. Monmouth in week four. 
DeNobile Under Center: Soph. Dean DeNobile has started the last four games at quarterback for the Leopards. The Upper Saddle River, N.J. native has completed 52-of-79 (66%) for 604 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He ranks first in the conference and 24th in the nation in completion percentage. 
    The Economics major secured Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors the last two weeks. He ran for two TDs and threw for two others in a 28-20 win over Monmouth. DeNobile completed 10-of-14 for 110 yards while carrying the ball 12 times for 50 yards. Against Bucknell, he threw four touchdowns (the first Leopard to do so since 2015) to four different receivers to push the Leopards to 42 first-half points in a 56-point effort. 

Two Sacks of Seven: The Lafayette defense has piled up seven sacks in each of the last two games. Against Bucknell, Billy Shaeffer had 3.5 sacks while Jaylon Joseph and Blamassi Meite each had one and Michael Vaughn, Tim O'Hearn and Darien Riley had half-sacks.
    Against, Monmouth, O'Hearn led the way with two sacks while Preston Forney, Joseph and Meite managed one and Riley and Marco Olivas split one.
    Lafayette is ranked fourth in the nation in sacks per game, averaging 4.0

Curtis Runs For 100+: Soph. Jamar Curtis ran for his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season (fifth of his career) vs. Bucknell. With 615 rushing yards, the Waldorf, Md. native has already surpassed his 2022 rushing total (465 yards).

200+ Plus = Wins: The Leopards churned out 223 rushing yards at Sacred Heart, a mark they had not reached since week three of 2019. They followed with 239 vs. Columbia, 206 vs. Monmouth and 316 vs. Bucknell, all leading to victories. The 316-yard performance is the high-water mark in the Troxell era.

Weekly Winners X 7: Lafayette has had seven Patriot League weekly award winners through five games, including three honorees on Oct. 2 when Dean DeNobile (Offensive), Billy Shaeffer (Defensive) and Troy Bruce (Special Teams) were recognized. It was the second straight award for DeNobile who also won on Sept. 25. The first three winners came from the freshman class. Following the Columbia game, freshman DL Jaylon Joseph made his second start of the season and recorded three tackles with a half sack to garner rookie honors. Joseph helped the Leopards limit Columbia to 137 yards of total offense. Classmate Jack Simonetta secured special teams laurels on Sept. 18, connecting on his first career field goal, a 34-yarder in the fourth quarter. Michael Vaughn (9/4) was the rookie of the week after a two-sack performance in the opener vs. Sacred Heart.  
Year Two in the Troxell Era: Lafayette football is under the leadership of 
John Troxell '94 who is in his second season at the helm of the College Hill program. Troxell guided the Leopards to a 3-3 conference finish and third place in the Patriot League standings in 2022. Lafayette capped the season with a rivalry victory over Lehigh and won two of its last three games. Troxell captured his 100th career coaching victory in week five of the 2023 season.

The Ledger: Lafayette is finishing off its non-league ledger and is coming off a three-game homestand when the Leopards beat Columbia, Monmouth and Bucknell in September. The Leopards will not play a home game in October. 

In the Red: The Lafayette defense is currently ranked 11th in the nation in red-zone defense, allowing opponents to score 68 percent of the time inside the 20.  

Getting Down: The Leopards converted 8-of-12 (67%) third-down situations and 1-of-1 fourth downs against Bucknell. Against Columbia, Lafayette was 9-of-16 (56%) on third down and 3-of-3 on fourth down. For the season, Lafayette ranks 11th in the nation in third-down conversion percentage (56%). 

Fresh Faces: Two Leopards have forced their way into the starting 11 on defense. Jaylon Joseph has started four games at defensive tackle while Ahmir Crawley started the season opener at nosetackle. They have been joined by Michael Vaughn, De'Marion McCoy and Darien Riley, all of whom have had significant reps on the D Line. 
    Offensively, Carson Persing has been the team's holder throughout and started the last two games at wide receiver. He is surrounded by a smattering of fellow rookies on special teams, including Jack Simonetta at kicker and Darren Wu handling kick-off duties.

Maroon and "White": Junior Saiku White has been a defensive standout from his safety position. He had a game- and career-high 12 stops against Sacred Heart. The Atlanta, Ga. native followed with a game-high 11 tackles at No. 21 Duke. Against Monmouth, White made a game-high nine stops. 

The Opponent: Princeton comes into its final non-league game at 2-1 overall. The Tigers opened with a 23-12 win at San Diego before dropping a 16-13 final in overtime vs. Bryant. In week three, Princeton claimed a 10-7 win over Columbia in the Ivy league opener. 
     The Tigers have averaged 180 passing yards per game with senior QB Blake Stenstrom completing 59 percent (65-of-111) of his passes for 541 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wide receivers Luke Colella, AJ Barber and Matthew Mahoney have combined for 31 receptions for 297 yards and a touchdown. Junior RB John Volker is the biggest part of the ground game, running 43 times for 264 yards and three touchdowns. 
     Defensively, senior linebackers Ozzie Nicholas, Liam Johnson and Will Perez each have a sack along with 31, 20, and 15 tackles, respectively. Soph. DL Bakari Edwards leads the team with four sacks. The Princeton defense has allowed 194 yards per game so far in 2023, just 59 of those on the ground.
     The Tigers are coached by Bob Surace (Princeton '90) who is in his 13th season.