The Match-Up: The Lafayette football team will open its 142nd season with a trip to Fairfield, Conn. on Saturday night to face Sacred Heart. The Leopards are coming off a 4-7 mark and a 3-3 conference finish in 2022. The Pioneers were 5-6 overall and 3-4 in Northeast Conference play last season. 

The Ledger: Saturday's opener is the first of four-straight non-league contests to open the season (and five overall). Week two takes Lafayette to Duke for a second straight night game (after not playing any night games in 2022). Lafayette will then play three straight at home, hosting Columbia, Monmouth and Bucknell to close out September.

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. Lafayette capped the season with a rivalry victory over Lehigh and won two of its last three games. 

Season Openers: The Leopards are 88-50-3 all-time in season openers for a program that was established in 1882. Lafayette has won its last two season openers, beating Colgate 24-10 on March 13, 2021 and Sacred Heart 6-0 on Sept. 3, 2022.

Last Meeting: Lafayette's last game vs. the Pioneers was the lowest-scoring game in the series and the Leopards' lowest scoring win since 1980 (3-0 win over Penn). in last year's meeting, Lafayette led 6-0 with two minutes left in the game and needed a final defensive stand to finish off the two-time defending NEC champion. Leopard safety Saiku White was among several Leopard defenders to meet Sacred Heart RB Malik Grant just before the goal line and preserve the win. White ended the game with 12 tackles, earning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors for his effort. Then-rookie QB Ryan Schuster's 18-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter was all of the required offense. 

Preseason All-Patriot League: The Leopards had three players selected to the 2023 Preseason All-Patriot League. Marco Olivas, an All-Patriot League First-Team selection in 2022, started all 11 games while leading the team with 92 tackles. An Academic All-Patriot League selection the past two seasons, Olivas added 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in 2022 while forcing a pair of fumbles and recovering two more. He helped guide a defense that ranked eighth in the nation and first in the Patriot League for rushing defense (106.7).
 Junior safety Saiku White started 11 games at free safety in 2022 and finished second on the team in tackles. The Economics major tallied 84 stops with 1.5 tackles for loss while adding four pass breakups. He was one of 46 Lafayette selections to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll in 2022.
     On the offensive side of the ball, senior TE Mason Gilbert secured preseason All-Patriot League recognition at tight end. The DeWitt, Mich. native garnered All-Patriot League First-Team honors the past two seasons. In 2022, Gilbert started 10 of 11 games and finished with 15 catches for 174 yards and a touchdown. In 2021, the Economics major played in 11 games with nine starts and made 17 catches for 134 yards. 

Preseason Poll: Lafayette was picked fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll which was voted on by conference coaches and football sports information directors. With 39 points, the Leopards were slotted behind Holy Cross (72), Fordham (62) and Colgate (51) and ahead of Lehigh (32), Georgetown (19) and Bucknell (19).

Hamm in Ravens Camp: Malik Hamm '23, a five-time All-Patriot League selection and two-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, is currently in camp with the Baltimore Ravens after signing an undrafted free agent contract with the Ravens in April. 
    Hamm, a Baltimore native, left Lafayette as the school's career sacks leader (32), and fittingly the final play of the final game of his collegiate career was a game-ending sack of Lehigh's quarterback in a 14-11 win in #Rivalry158 on Nov. 19. He also ranks fourth in the Patriot League annals for career sacks.

On The Sideline: John Troxell '94 is in his second season as the Fred M. Kirby II '42 Head Football Coach. The 1994 Lafayette alum guided the Leopards to a third-place conference finish and a rivalry win in his initial season in 2022. 
    Troxell returned 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.
    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 coaching career path 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.

The Opponent: Sacred Heart finished the 2022 season with a 5-6 overall record and a 3-4 mark in NEC action. The Pioneers won four of their first six games, but lost four of their final five contests, including an overtime setback vs. Duquesne and a three-point loss to LIU to end the season.
    Graduate student, Malik Grant was a huge part of Sacred Heart's offense in 2022, averaging 98 yards per game with 4.9 yards per carry and 14 offensive touchdowns. Grant was the NEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2021 and a second-team honoree in 2022. Fellow grad student Cade Pribula, a Delaware transfer, is expected to start at quarterback after playing in two games in 2022. 
    Defensively, graduate student DeAndre Byrd led the team with 59 tackles from his middle linebacker spot. Senior OLB Ernest Howard made 50 stops in his junior campaign when the Pioneers allowed 349 yards and 26 points per game.
    Sacred Heart is coached by Mark Nofri (Keene State '93), who is in his 12th season. He holds a 67-53 record overall and is 3-1 in games against the Leopards.

Under Center: Sophomore Ryan Schuster looks to be the starter coming out of camp. In his rookie season, the Macomb, Mich. native earned the starting spot. His play early on in 2022 did not disappoint, as he garnered Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors each of the first three weeks of the season. A broken femur knocked the Mechanical Engineering major from the Penn game in the third quarter and ended his season. Schuster completed 43-of-78 for 406 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also rushing for two more touchdowns in the four games. 
    Showing no ill effects of his injury after surgery and a thorough rehab, Schuster beat out junior Ah-Shaun Davis and classmate Dean DeNobile for the starting nod in week one. Davis, a Willngboro, N.J. native, has played in 16 games through two seasons, completing 194-of-333 for 2,058 yards and 10 touchdowns. DeNobile, also a New Jersey native, has not yet played in any games, but showed the ability to move the team during spring ball and in his second training camp. 

Six Fresh Faces: The Leopards have six freshmen in the two-deep entering week one. Carson Persing and Shaun Purvy are expected to see time at wide receiver while classmate Sean Wilson is a backup at offensive tackle.
    On defense, the rookie youth is up front. Jaylon Joseph (DE), Ahmir Crawley (NT) and De'Marion McCoy (DT) are all expected to get time in the D-Line rotation. 

The Front Five: Lafayette's offensive line was hit hard by injuries in 2022, forcing rookies into action early and one player to switch from defense. The Leopards look to be in a much better situation this season. Senior captain Mike Barr will lead the unit from the center spot, having started 14 of 18 games played the last two seasons. He will line up alongside right guard John Olmstead who was limited to three starts at the beginning of the 2022 season. Sophomore Brian Baucia returns at the other guard spot after starting every game as a rookie. He will play next to Ryder Langsdale who also started every game there last season after making the move from defensive tackle. Soph. Reed Collins is penciled in as a starter at right tackle after a preseason injury to Wake Forest transfer Thomas Grippo. 

Linebacking Corps: The strength of the Leopards' defense will be its linebacking corps led by fifth-year seniors Marco Olivas and Billy Shaeffer. Olivas has started 29 of 37 career games, earning all-league status the last two seasons. Shaeffer is also an all-conference caliber player when healthy and has started 23 of 36 games at OLB since 2018 while also logging reps as a key special teams performer on coverage units and as a long snapper. Senior Preston Forney is the Leopards' WILL linebacker, a spot he has excelled in, starting 14 games over the past two seasons while his tackle numbers have climbed steadily. Senior Semaj Cross, junior Reggie Thomas and soph. Ian Langan are poised to play larger roles while working into the linebacker rotation. 

Captains X Four: Seniors Mike Barr, Marco Olivas, Carl Smith and Saiku White have taken over the leadership reins of the Lafayette football team in 2023, selected as recipients of the Chris LaPietra '89 Captain Award for the 142nd season.
    For Olivas, it marks his second straight season as a team captain. The 2023 Preseason All-Patriot League linebacker was an All-Patriot League First-Team selection in 2022. He started all 11 games for the Leopards and led the team with 92 tackles.  An Academic All-Patriot League selection in 2021 and 2022, Olivas added 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in 2022 while forcing a pair of fumbles and recovering two more. An Integrative Engineering major, Olivas helped guide a defense that ranked eighth in the nation and first in the Patriot League for rushing defense (106.7).
    White, a defensive teammate who was also a 2023 Preseason All-Patriot League honoree, started 11 games at free safety in 2022 and finished second on the team in tackles. The Economics major rang up 84 stops with 1.5 tackles for loss while adding four pass breakups. He was one of 46 Lafayette selections to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll in 2022.
    Offensively, Barr will be an anchor on the line. He started 10 games in 2022, including the final eight at center after playing right tackle early in the season. The Economics major played in eight games with four starts in his junior campaign.
    Smith is coming off a 2022 campaign in which he played in eight games with two starts at wide receiver. The Art major finished the season with nine catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns, making at least one grab in five games.