The Match-Up: The No. 22/24 Leopards (8-2, 4-1) have their collective gaze on a Patriot League title, but an all too familiar opponent, Lehigh, stands in the way. The teams meet for the 159th installment of the college football's most-played rivalry on Saturday in Bethlehem. 

Coming In: The Leopards enter the Lafayette-Lehigh game with eight victories for the first time since 1981 and just the sixth time in Lafayette history (1886, 1899, 1921, 1926, 1940, 1981). Lafayette leads the series 81-72-5 (more series notes on page 4).

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 81-72-5. 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.

Series Shift: College football's most-played rivalry will see a slight adjustment to the schedule over the next four seasons. The teams, whose 2023 meeting is scheduled for Nov. 18 in Bethlehem, Pa., will also play the 2024 installment at Lehigh's Goodman Stadium in a game originally slated for Easton.
    The series will move back to Fisher Stadium for two straight contests in 2025 and 2026, when Lafayette undertakes its bicentennial celebration in the 2025-26 academic year in honor of the school's 1826 founding by the citizens of Easton. From 2027 on, the ledger will feature the matchup rotating between the two campuses located less than 20 miles apart. 

Series MVP: Media members have voted on the game MVP since 1960. OLB Billy Shaeffer claimed the honor in 2022 after recording a 50-yard pick-six to go along with eight tackles and a fumble recovery. 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).

Rivalry Appearances: Rivalry 159 marks the second appearance in the annual match-up for John Troxell '94 as Lafayette's head coach with a 1-0 record. 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 cornerbacks 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.

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 and has the Leopards out to their most wins since 2009.

Nice to Have You Back: Soph. RB Jamar Curtis missed the second half of the Georgetown win and all of the overtime loss vs. Colgate. He came back with something to prove against Fordham, carrying a career-high 31 times for 204 yards and a touchdown in the victory. It was the second 200-yard game of his career and 12th in Lafayette history. For is work, he was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career. 

Patriot League Math: Lafayette's road to a Patriot League championship got simpler (mathematically) after the win over Fordham. If Lafayette were to beat Lehigh (and Holy Cross beats Georgetown), Lafayette would hoist the Patriot League trophy for the first time since 2013 (and earn a playoff berth via the head-to-head tiebreaker with Holy Cross). If Lafayette beats Lehigh and Holy Cross loses to Georgetown, Lafayette would be the outright champion.  Lafayette can also clinch a share of the Patriot League title and the League's automatic bid with a loss at Lehigh and a Holy Cross loss IF Colgate loses vs. Fordham (eliminating a potential 4-team tie at 4-2).

In the Top 25: Lafayette's 38-35 Patriot League road win over No. 11/15 Holy Cross pushed the Leopards into the top-25 polls on Oct. 23. They were ranked 19th in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and 21st in the Stats Perform Poll, which selected Lafayette its FedEx Ground FCS National Team of the Week. After the road win at Georgetown, Lafayette moved to 16th in the Coaches Poll and 20th in the Stats Perform ranking on Oct. 30. The No. 16 ranking was the highest any Lafayette team has reached in the Patriot League era, surpassing the 2004 squad which finished at No. 19 in both polls. After the overtime loss to Colgate in week nine, Lafayette dropped to 23rd in the AFCA Poll and 25th in the Stats Perform Poll. The win over Fordham pushed Lafayette to 22nd in the AFCA rankings and 24th in the Stats poll on Nov. 13. 
    Prior to this season, the last time Lafayette was ranked in either poll was Dec. 21, 2009, then No. 24 in the Stats Perform Poll and No. 25 in the FCS Coaches Poll.

700 On the Horizon: The Lafayette football program is approaching 700 all-time wins since its inaugural season in 1882. Lafayette currently has 699 program victories and ranked 52nd among all levels of college football at the beginning of the 2023 campaign. Among Patriot League programs, Lafayette sits behind Lehigh (707) and ahead of Colgate (673). Entering the season, only 49 programs in the nation at all levels had won 700 or more games. 

So Far…So Good: 2023 has been a breakthrough/standout season for the Leopards in year two of the John Troxell '94 era. Lafayette...
    • eclipsed its win total (4) from 2022 and equalled or surpassed the win total from 
      the previous 13 seasons.
    • finished its non-league season with a 4-1 mark for the first time since 2009.
    • beat Princeton for the first time in 13 meetings and the first time on the road 
      since 1982.
    • recorded a win over No. 11/15 Holy Cross (the Leopards' first top-25 win since 
     2013) and snapped Holy Cross' 18-game conference win streak.
    • guaranteed the program its first winning season since 2013.
    • appeared in the Top 25  for the first time since 2009.
    • finished off the month of October undefeated for the first time since 2009.

Shaeffer's Senior Campaign: Senior Billy Shaeffer's last season on College Hill has been his best. The outside linebacker has a team-leading 10 sacks (third in the nation), the most for a Leopard since 2000 and the second most ever in a season at Lafayette. Shaeffer also has 20 tackles for loss (second in the nation). Shaeffer, who has twice been named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week in 2023 (10/2, 10/9), leads the team with 72 tackles.
    He has turned up the pressure in the last six games with 10 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss in a 5-1 stretch for the Leopards. Versus Colgate, he had three TFL with two sacks and a forced fumble. At Georgetown, Shaeffer had 12 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and two pass breakups. That followed a Holy Cross game when he had seven tackles with 2.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks in the win. At Princeton, he had 10 tackles with three TFL, including two sacks, in a 12-9 victory. In the Patriot League opener vs. Bucknell, Shaeffer rang up 3.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble to go along with nine tackles.

Running the Ball: Lafayette is averaging 193.9 rushing yards per game, a mark that ranks the Leopards 20th in the nation among 128 schools. Behind a solid offensive line, soph. Jamar Curtis accounts for most of the yards, racking up a Patriot League best 129.7 yards per outing (second in the nation) and 1,167 total rushing yards (fifth in the nation). Curtis also ranks third in the conference and 17th in the nation in yards per carry (6.5 ypc).

With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would: 
• record nine wins for the time since 1981 
• secure five Patriot League victories for the first time since 2006
• register program win No. 700
• hoist the Patriot League trophy for the first time since 2013
• give Lafayette two straight in the series and four of the last five

A Stack of Sacks: The Leopards are second the nation in sacks per game (3.4) and rank sixth in tackles for loss (7.5). Lafayette piled up seven sacks each against Princeton, Bucknell and Monmouth. For the season, 11 different players have been able to get home, with Billy Shaeffer (10) and Tim O'Hearn (4.5) leading the way.

The Opponent: Lehigh is 2-8 overall and 1-4 in league play going into #Rivalry159. The Mountain Hawks have lost two of their last three games, falling to Colgate (37-21) and Holy Cross (28-24), after reeling in a week-eight victory over Bucknell (27-18).
    On the ground, freshman Luke Yoder is averaging 77.5 yards per game for 620 yards with five touchdowns. The Mountain Hawks manage 187 yards per game through the air behind the arm of sophomore QB Brayten Silbor who has completed 50 percent of his passes for 1,697 yards and 10 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. Senior Connor Kennedy, freshman Mason Humphrey and sophomore Geoffrey Jamiel have 40, 18, and 38 receptions, respectively, with seven TDs among them.
    Defensively, senior LB Mike DeNucci and soph.  DB Nick Peltekian lead the team with 82 tackles each. Dean Colton and Matt Spatny have combined for eight sacks.
    Lehigh is coached by former Yale assistant Kevin Cahill (Springfield, '01) who is in his first season.