By Corky Blake
for GoLeopards.com
Success built through trust.
It's the foundation that's anchored Lafayette's turnaround 8-2 season heading into Saturday's 159th meeting at Lehigh in college football's most-played rivalry.
Let's make it a 9-2 record by pulling in last year's 14-11 conquest of Lehigh in Easton that served as an important springboard into
John Troxell's second season as the Leopards' head coach.
"The (culture) change is a lot of buy in, guys not afraid of the process," said fifth-year senior linebacker and two-year captain
Marco Olivas. "They may not understand something, but they are just going with it because they are behind the coaches 110 percent. They know the coaches are going to set us up, they know they are going to set up the scheme and do all that, but at the end of the day it's in our hands."
The game was in the players' hands for one defining play Saturday afternoon against Fordham on Senior Day at Fisher Stadium.
The Leopards were protecting a 24-16 lead when they faced fourth down and one yard to go from their 34-yard line with 3:11 left in the game. Sophomore quarterback
Dean DeNobile brought the offense to the line of scrimmage and began barking signals.
Fordham's defense, which had been jumpy all game and drawn offsides a few times, refused to bite. Troxell called timeout just before the play clock expired.
Now what?
"At first we wanted to see if we could get them to jump. Then, I knew at that point we needed to go for it and finish the game with the ball in our hands," Troxell said. "They scored on their last two possessions and they're explosive offensively, and that was our chance to win the game. We were at the 35, if we didn't get it, they still had to get the two-point conversion (to tie the score after a touchdown).
"Our kids worked way too hard not to give them the opportunity to win the game. They wanted to do it, and I wanted to see them do it."
One yard … a mere 36 inches.
Traverse that small piece of Fisher Stadium real estate to defeat Fordham and the Leopards would be moving on to earn at least a share of the Patriot League championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA FCS playoffs with a win over Lehigh. Come up short, lose to Fordham and the resulting seven or eight-win season would still be a turnaround from 2022's 4-7 mark but would ring hollow.
"I knew we were going for it; we had to do it," DeNobile said.
"Fourth-and-short, why even think about it?" Olivas said.
That's right. Why even think about it when all five offensive linemen have started every game this season and most of whom were starters in 2022? Continuity and experience on the offensive line are priceless. They've been the strength of the 2023 Leopards.
Operating behind senior center
Mike Barr, senior right guard
John Olmstead, sophomore right tackle
Reed Collins, sophomore left guard
Brian Baucia, junior left tackle
Ryder Langsdale and the blocking tandem of tight ends
Mason Gilbert and
Dallas Holmes was sophomore
Jamar Curtis, the most dynamic running back in the Patriot League whose only FCS offer coming out of high school was from Troxell's staff.
"It was exciting to see when we were going for it and the trust the coaches and our defense had in us," Barr said. "There were games earlier in the season when the defense stiffened when we needed them. There's a lot of trust on both sides of the ball."
"The difference in the team this year is when we are in crucial moments. That's when we thrive," added senior wide receiver
Carl Smith, who serves as a captain along with Barr, Olivas and junior safety
Saiku White. "We had full confidence we were going to make it."
Gilbert and Holmes shifted from the right to left side and sealed the edge. The rest of the line washed its defenders to the right. Curtis took one step forward and then dashed free off the left side, juking a linebacker for an extra five yards and the first down that added extra sizzle to meeting No. 159 with Lehigh.
"I'm just proud of that (O-line) group as any. You look back a year ago and the work we had to do," Troxell said. "
Kevin Baumann, our offensive line coach, the work he had to do, the way he had to develop those kids. Those kids play so hard with an edge. It gives you the confidence to say 'hey, we're going to get this yard.'"
Bauman, who came to Lafayette after a long stint with Troxell at Franklin & Marshall, is part of a highly regarded coaching staff that stayed intact for a second consecutive season. Consequently, the message coming from the coaching has been consistent since Troxell was introduced as Lafayette's head coach in December 2021.
At his introductory press conference, Troxell, a former Leopards starting safety from Philipsburg and 1994 Lafayette graduate, proclaimed the following:
"… we will run the football. When we had championship teams here, we ran the ball with success.
"On defense, we'll be relentless and multiple."
"We're not going to be a tempo team; we'll huddle up and protect the football. I can promise we'll play great defense, have great special teams and not turn the ball over."
Does this sound like Lafayette's tickets to 2023 success?
The Leopards have won seven Patriot League championships and only one of those squads didn't feature a 1,000-yard rusher. That was in 2005 when Jonathan Hurt rushed for 985 yards.
Curtis is fifth in the FCS ranks with 1,167 yards after shredding Fordham for 204 yards, including a 72-yard dash, on a career-high 31 carries. His backup, freshman
Troy Bruce, gained 138 yards on 26 attempts the week before in a 37-34 overtime loss to Colgate when Curtis was sidelined by an injury.
Lafayette is first in the league in red zone, rushing and scoring defense, sacks and tackles for loss. Fifth-year senior linebacker
Billy Shaeffer is second in the country in tackles for loss and third in sacks per game.
The Leopards went four straight games (Monmouth, Bucknell, Princeton and Holy Cross) without a turnover and did likewise against Fordham. They lead the league in fewest penalties and penalty yards a game.
Freshman kicker jack Simonetta has been steady by converting 35 of his 36 extra points and connecting on 6 of 9 field goal attempts.
That's been a recipe to reverse four losses from 2022 to Princeton, Holy Cross, Georgetown and Fordham. Many of the players point to the 12-9 victory at Princeton, which snapped a 12-game losing skid to the Tigers, as validation for all their hard work since Troxell's arrival. They also snapped Holy Cross' 18-game Patriot League win streak.
"What we got together last spring we realized we lost a lot of close games, and it came down to five or six plays," White said. "In (preseason) camp, we really took care of the details."
Still, there are reminders the Leopards aren't quite there yet. Two Saturdays ago, they returned to Fisher Stadium for the first time since Sept. 30 and squandered a 17-0 lead in the loss to Colgate. They committed three turnovers.
The Leopards' preparation coming out of that loss, however, spotlighted the team's maturity and will to win.
"They were dialed in all week," Troxell said. "When I tell you about film, tendencies, details ... I haven't seen our kids from the time I walked into the room on Sunday after our loss just the expression on their face of one, disappointment, but on the other of 'we got this, we're ready to roll. Let's go.'"
Olivas made sure his teammates wouldn't leave any stone unturned in preparing for Fordham. Lafayette was the first team this season to not allow the Rams any gains of more than 25 yards, and the Leopards limited the visitors to their second-fewest points.
This week, I believe was a test," said Olivas a few minutes after the win. "Last week, we didn't hold up and do what we needed to do. This really was a good test to see if Lafayette was for real. How would we handle adversity? How are we going to respond and not freak out? How are we going to come together, gather our senses and bond? I'm so proud of the guys because that's exactly what we did. We fought hard, prepared a lot this past week, and we'll do the same this week for Lehigh."
Lafayette, ranked 22nd in the AFCA and 24th in the Stats Perform Top 25 polls this week, travels to Bethlehem with eight wins for the first time since 1981, Bill Russo's first year as head coach.
A win would be the 700th for the Leopards since they began playing football in 1882; it would improve their advantage over Lehigh to 82-72-5.
Season No. 1, a very successful one indeed, is over. Season No. 2 is a one-game encounter. A victory at Goodman Stadium guarantees a third season -- the postseason -- and Patriot League title for the first time in a decade.
It won't be easy. It rarely is for the favorite when the arch-rivals get together. Lehigh is 2-8 under first-year coach Kevin Cahill and is coming off a 37-21 loss at Colgate in which the Mountain Hawks fell behind 30-0. They've also taken Holy Cross (28-24) and Fordham (38-35) down to the wire in losses.
"It's something you really don't understand until you're there," said Olivas who will be playing in his fifth game against Lehigh. "Playing in the moment, people talk about the longest college rivalry, the energy, the experience, but you really don't understand until you're out there on the field. You get a glimpse kind of leading up to it during the week, but then you realize this is different, the energy is different, but it's when you get on the field it's different, how much passion, how much emotion has gone into this game, and it's really driven from the tradition."
Troxell has opposed Lehigh as a player (1990-93), as an assistant coach (2001-05 under Frank Tavani) and now as a head coach.
"It's a special day and it will be exciting," Troxell said. "I told the kids, it's about the journey, not the destination. It's still about the game, it's not what's beyond the game. If we take care of our own business maybe we'll have that opportunity, but I know from being involved in many of these they are not easy to win. I know they will show up, I know we will show up and it will be a war."
Corky Blake, a longtime sports reporter with The Express-Times/LehighValleyLive.com, covered the Patriot League football scene for decades.
