The Match-Up: Week six brings the Leopards back to College Hill for their second Patriot League matchup. Lafayette hosts Georgetown on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The game is Community Day and features the inaugural Food Truck Festival.
The Week That Was: Lafayette survived its week five trip to Fordham, opening Patriot League play with a 28-23 final. Jamar Curtis ran for 111 yards and Troy Bruce added 72 yards and a touchdown. The Leopard defense forced two turnovers, but needed a last-minute stand that included three straight pass breakups by Gabe DuBois and a final PBU by Xavier Johnson to seal the victory. The defense limited Julius Loughridge to 40 yards below his rushing average. Lafayette has won its last four Patriot League openers.
Welcome Back, Champions!: On Saturday, Lafayette College is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Lafayette's 1994 Patriot League championship football team. Under head coach Bill Russo, the squad went undefeated in conference play, led by captains Harrison Bailey and Erik Marsh.
DuBois = DPOW: Senior CB Gabe DuBois was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week (10/7). DuBois rang up nine tackles and five pass breakups, including three on the final drive, to secure the victory.
Common Opponents: Lafayette and Georgetown each have played Marist and Columbia. Both handled Marist with Lafayette beating the Red Foxes 56-14 in week three and Georgetown winning 31-10 in week two. Columbia dealt Lafayette a 31-20 loss on Sept. 21 a week before Georgetown beat Columbia 20-17.
Carasia's Career Campaign: Senior Chris Carasia has had a touchdown catch in every game this season. The Ocean Township, N.J. native secured four catches for 114 yards and a TD at Columbia (9/21). For the season, he has 21 receptions for 291 yards and five touchdowns (equaling his output from 2023). He is on pace to set single-season career highs in all three categories.
The Patriot Poll: Lafayette was a unanimous selection to repeat as Patriot League champions in 2024 when the preseason poll was announced on July 24. The poll, voted on by conference coaches and sports information directors, saw the Leopards receive all 12 of the first-place votes, good for 72 points. Behind Lafayette were Holy Cross (56), Fordham (53), Colgate (46), Georgetown (27), Lehigh (24) and Bucknell (24). In 2023, Lafayette was selected fourth in the preseason poll and finished first.
18 in 5: LB Preston Forney is making the most of his fifth year. The Texas native leads the team with 32 tackles and is coming off a 12-tackle performance at Fordham, where he registered two tackles for loss with a sack and a forced fumble.
Moving Up the Charts: Junior WR Elijah Steward needs five more catches to break into the Lafayette top 10 for career receptions. The economics major currently has 123 career catches, trailing Ross Scheuerman '15 with 128 receptions.
Lining Up: Lafayette offensive line coach Kevin Baumann has used five different starting lineups this season. By contrast, Lafayette employed one starting lineup for all of 2023.
In the Top 25: Lafayette was ranked in the top 25 in the first four weeks of the 2024 season before the loss at Columbia knocked the Leopards out of both polls. Lafayette debuted at 17th (Stats Perform) and 18th (AFCA), rising as high as No. 14 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll. Currently in the AFCA poll, Lafayette is the top vote getter of any team not ranked in the top 25.
In 2023, Lafayette peaked at No. 16 on Oct. 30, the highest any Leopard team reached in the Patriot League era until this season.
With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would:
• notch program win No. 704
• make it two straight wins over Georgetown
• improve to 2-0 at home this season
• up its conference record to 2-0 for a second straight season
Ahead of Schedule: John Troxell '94 is in his third season at the helm of his alma mater's football program, and by all accounts the revitalization of Lafayette football is ahead of schedule. In 2023, Lafayette won a Patriot League title and advanced to the NCAA playoffs after posting the most wins in a season in more than 40 years. The team went from 4-7 (3-3 PL) in year one (2022) to 9-3 (5-1 PL) in year two (2023). Both seasons were capped by wins over archrival Lehigh. Troxell was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2023 and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
Moving Up the Charts: Junior WR Elijah Steward needs five more catches to break into the Lafayette top 10 for career receptions. The economics major currently has 123 career catches, trailing Ross Scheuerman '15 with 128 receptions.
Lining Up: Lafayette offensive line coach Kevin Baumann has used five different starting lineups this season. By contrast, Lafayette employed one starting lineup for all of 2023.
In the Top 25: Lafayette was ranked in the top 25 in the first four weeks of the 2024 season before the loss at Columbia knocked the Leopards out of both polls. Lafayette debuted at 17th (Stats Perform) and 18th (AFCA), rising as high as No. 14 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll. Currently in the AFCA poll, Lafayette is the top vote getter of any team not ranked in the top 25.
In 2023, Lafayette peaked at No. 16 on Oct. 30, the highest any Leopard team reached in the Patriot League era until this season.
With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would:
• notch program win No. 704
• make it two straight wins over Georgetown
• improve to 2-0 at home this season
• up its conference record to 2-0 for a second straight season
Ahead of Schedule: John Troxell '94 is in his third season at the helm of his alma mater's football program, and by all accounts the revitalization of Lafayette football is ahead of schedule. In 2023, Lafayette won a Patriot League title and advanced to the NCAA playoffs after posting the most wins in a season in more than 40 years. The team went from 4-7 (3-3 PL) in year one (2022) to 9-3 (5-1 PL) in year two (2023). Both seasons were capped by wins over archrival Lehigh. Troxell was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2023 and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
The Opponent: Georgetown opens Patriot League play coming off a bye week. Sitting at 3-2 on the season, the Hoyas secured victories over Davidson, Marist and Columbia with losses to Sacred Heart and Brown.
Georgetown's offense is led by junior QB Danny Lauter who is in his first year as a starter. Lauter has been efficient (104-for-159, 1,146 yards), throwing for 292 yards and two touchdowns in his last game vs. Columbia. Against Lafayette in 2023, Lauter completed 35-of-58 for 428 yards with three TDs and two INTs in the only game in which he played in during the 2023 season. Junior WR Jimmy Kibble has made Lauter's transition to lead signal caller much easier, averaging six catches and 83 yards per game.
Georgetown relies on LB David Ealey and DB Preston Murray to anchor the defense. Ealey has logged 43 tackles and 3.5 sacks through the first five games. Murray patrols the secondary, chipping in 21 tackles and 1.5 TFL. Against Columbia, Murray recorded seven tackles picked off two passes.
Rob Sgarlata (Georgetown '94) is in his 10th year on the Georgetown sidelines.
