The Match-Up: The Leopards continue their three-game homestand on Saturday, hosting Monmouth in a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. Lafayette is coming off a 24-3 win over Columbia in the home opener when the running game did the bulk of the work. Monmouth enters with a 1-2 record, fresh off a 45-31 conference loss to Campbell in the Hawks' home opener.
Curtis Breaks the Century Mark Again: Behind a much-improved offensive line, soph.
Jamar Curtis ran for his second 100-yard rushing game of the season (third of his career) vs. Columbia. Curtis carried the ball 19 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns as the Leopards won the possession battle. The Waldorf, Md. native is fifth in the nation in rushing yards (366) and rushing yards per game (122.0).
The Start: Lafayette is off to a 2-1 start, its best beginning since the three-game, COVID-shortened season in the 2021 spring. Pandemics excluded, the Leopards are off to the program's best three-game start since 2012 (3-0).
Limited Engagement: Lafayette and Monmouth have played each other just four times in the Leopards' 142 seasons. The first meeting was in 2002 and the most recent get-together took place in 2019.
Familiar Faces In New Places: Lafayette offensive coordinator
T.J. DiMuzio was on Monmouth's staff for eight seasons, joining the program as the wide receivers coach before working as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in his last two campaigns. Current Monmouth wide receivers coach Kevin Callahan Jr. worked on the Lafayette staff for the 2019 season, when he coached the running backs.
Family Weekend/Russo Years Reunion: Saturday's game highlights a busy Family Weekend slate on College Hill. Lafayette football is hosting a Russo Years Reunion, celebrating the teams who played under head coach Bill Russo from 1981-99, including three league title teams during that era.
Saturday Spoils: Coming off a 24-3 win over Columbia, Lafayette brought home a pair of
Patriot League weekly awards. Freshman DL
Jaylon Joseph made his second start of the season and recorded three tackles with a half sack to garner Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors. Joseph helped the Leopards limit Columbia to 137 yards of total offense. Classmate
Jack Simonetta secured Special Teams Player of the Week laurels, connecting on his first career field goal, a 34-yarder in the fourth quarter. Joseph and Simonetta join
Michael Vaughn in garnering weekly honors in 2023. Vaughn was the conference rookie of the week in week one after a two-sack performance.
DeNobile Starts: Sophomore
Dean DeNobile has made the last two starts under center for the Leopards. In his first collegiate start at Duke, he completed 9-of-17 for 87 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran six times for 28 yards, including a long run of 18 yards.
Against Columbia, DeNobile connected on 14-of-21 for 133 yards while running 12 times for 20 yards with a touchdown.
Conversion Rate: The Leopards converted 9-of-16 third-down situations and 3-of-3 fourth downs against Columbia.
In the Red: The Lafayette defense is currently ranked third in the nation in red-zone defense, allowing opponents to score just 58 percent of the time inside the 20.
TD or No TD: The Leopard defense held Columbia without a touchdown, the first instance since a 6-0 shutout of Sacred Heart in the 2022 season opener.
Long and Short of It: Lafayette's 17-play drive that ate up 8:06 of the second quarter vs. Columbia is the longest scoring march of the season (in terms of time of possession and plays). The six-play, 55-yard yard scoring drive later in the second quarter proved to be the shortest of the season (in terms of yards and plays). The Leopards' game-clinching fourth-quarter field goal took just 2:32 and is the shortest scoring drive.
The Ledger: Lafayette is in the midst of four-straight non-league contests to open the season (and five overall). Lafayette's current homestand encompasses three games: Columbia, Monmouth and Bucknell in September. The Leopards will not play a home game in October.
200 on the Ground in Fairfield and Easton: The Leopards churned out 223 rushing yards at Sacred Heart, a mark they had not reached since week three of 2019. Two weeks later, they followed with rushing yards 239 vs. Columbia.
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.
Fresh Faces: Two Leopards have forced their way into the starting 11 on defense.
Jaylon Joseph has started two 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 seen time at wide receiver and holder, and 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 S
Saiku White was a defensive standout through the first two games. 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.
Curtis Carried Away in the Opener: Soph.
Jamar Curtis enjoyed a breakout game for the Leopards in the season opener, carrying 19 times for 181 yards (both career highs) and a touchdown. The Waldorf, Md. native had 115 yards in the first half (topping his previous single-game best of 108 vs. Lehigh on Nov. 19, 2022 when he garnered Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors). Curtis' longest run at Sacred Heart was a 47-yard carry in the final minute that allowed the Leopards to run out the clock. He followed up with 10 carries for 40 yards at Duke.
Defensive Stand at SHU: Soph.
Taylor Smallwood picked off Sacred Heart QB Cade Pribula on 4th-and-goal from the five-yard with 1:40 left to help put away the win at Sacred Heart. His first career interception followed three straight stops on running plays: one for no gain when
Terell Cannon and
Jaylon Joseph teamed up, one for a yard loss thanks to
Billy Shaeffer and
Blamassi Meite and a final rushing stop by
Saiku White for no gain. Lafayette held Sacred Heart to 254 total yards (115 rushing, 139 passing).
Hamm Named to Ravens Roster: Malik Hamm '23, a five-time All-Patriot League selection and two-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, recently was named to the Baltimore Ravens' 53-man roster after signing an undrafted free agent contract 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. He is currently on injured reserve as of Aug. 31.
The Opponent: Monmouth is 1-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play in 2023. The Hawks dropped their home opener last weekend to Campbell, 45-31, following a win over Towson (42-23) and a loss at Florida Atlantic (42-20). Monmouth, which is a member of the CAA, is coming off a 5-6 campaign in 2022.
Offensively, graduate student QB Marquez McCray is averaging 232 passing yards per game with five touchdowns in the early going. Junior RB Jaden Shirden (88-376, 2 TD) and grad student Sone Ntoh (11-114, 6 TD) pace the running game. Senior WR Dymere Miller has reeled in 24 balls for 277 yards while Assanti Kearney has 10 catches for 143 yards with three scores.
On the defensive side of things, graduate student linebackers Ryan Moran (30) and Jake Brown (20) have combined for 50 tackles with Brown adding two sacks and an interception.
Monmouth is coached by Kevin Callahan, the only coach in the program's history. The University of Rochester graduate is on the sidelines for his 31st season.
