The Match-Up: Rivalry 160 takes Lafayette to enemy territory for a second straight season. The Leopards have won their last two games and are coming off a runaway victory over Stonehill in week 11. Team brown has won its last four games, beating up on Colgate as a primer to the final week of the regular season. 
    Rivalry historians note that the Leopards continue to hold the edge in the all-time series, 82-72-5. Lafayette has won four of the last five interactions.

Curtis 1K (and 3K?): Junior RB Jamar Curtis rang up his second straight 1,000-yard season when he jaunted for 51 yards in the first half of the Stonehill win. Curtis has 1,008 yards in 2024, needing 77 to reach 3,000 for his career.

Last Time Out: Lafayette dispensed with Stonehill, running away to a 42-10 victory. Jamar Curtis accounted for half of the Leopards points, running in two scores and adding one through the air in the first half. Troy Bruce contributed two scores of his own. Defensively, Lafayette forced a season-high five turnovers (3 INT's, 2 fumbles) and limited Stonehill to 10 points (the fewest by a Lafayette opponent this season). 

With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would: 
• notch program win No. 707
• give Lafayette three straight wins in the series and five of the last six
• hand Lafayette its second straight winning season (first time since 2008-09)

First Things First: In 2024, Lafayette is 5-0 when scoring first and 4-0 when leading after one quarter.

The Grass is Greener Where You Water It: Amid drought conditions in the Lehigh Valley, Saturday's matchup is the first time Lafayette will play on grass this season.

Year to Year: Rivalry 159 saw Lafayette claim the Patriot League title via a 49-21 final in Bethlehem. Jamar Curtis ran for 167 yards and three TDs. Game MVP Dean DeNobile threw for 245 yards and three scores and ran for another TD. In 2024, Lafayette plays the role of spoiler, as a Leopard win could knock Lehigh (which is tied with Holy Cross at 4-1 in conference play) out of the title hunt.

15 For 5: Jamar Curtis cranked out his 15th career 100-yard rushing game with 122 yards at Colgate. It was also the fourth straight game that Curtis eclipsed the 100-yard plateau.
    The Waldorf, Md. native now has 2,933 career rushing yards in sixth place on Lafayette's career list. He needs four yards to surpass Tom Costello '91 for fifth place. Curtis has 30 career rushing touchdowns, sitting in fifth place.

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 82-72-5. 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: The 2024 installment is the second straight game in Bethlehem (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 beginning 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. Dean DeNobile edged out classmate Jamar Curtis to secure the award in 2023. DeNobile had three passing TDs and added a rushing score. When Jeffrey Kordenbrock '21 captured the honor in 2019 he was the first kicker to win it since 1970. Ross Scheuerman '15 won the award on the biggest stage,  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 160 marks the third appearance in the annual match-up for John Troxell '94 as Lafayette's head coach with a 2-0 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 each were 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.

Senior Send-Off: Lafayette football honored its seniors class with a win over Stonehill. That senior class counts the 2023 Patriot League Championship, a 2023 NCAA FCS Playoff appearance and national rankings in 2023 and 2024 among its accomplishments.

Hall of Fame Weekend: The Lafayette Maroon Club will hold its annual Hall of Fame Induction Dinner on the eve of Rivalry 160. Joe McCourt '04 and John Gaydeski '69 were part of the Class of 2025. McCourt was an All-American running back who is second in career rushing. His 37-carry, 103-yard rushing game helped clinch a Patriot League title in 2003 and cemented his name in Lafayette-Lehigh lore. Gaydeski, who is the school record holder in the javelin, earned First Team All-Pennsylvania Colleges football honor in 1968 and was an All-Middle-Atlantic Conference First-Team selection.  

Spreading The Love: Junior QB Dean DeNobile completed passes to 11 different players at Bucknell. Seven of those went to freshman Mason Kuehner while sophomore Carson Persing pulled down five receptions. Senior WR Chris Carasia had a 38-yard TD and soph. TE Ethan Hosak added an eight-yard TD in the second quarter. 

4K For Dean DeNobile: With 275 yards against Stonehill, QB Dean DeNobile surpassed 4,000 career passing yards (ranking ninth). He is also 10th in career completions (376). 

White Standing Out: Senior captain Saiku White recorded a career-high 15 tackles at Bucknell (including 12 stops in the first half). He added an acrobatic one-handed interception in the endzone that garnered him the sixth spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays. White leads the team with 76 tackles and three interceptions.

Lining Up: Lafayette has used six different starting lineups on the offensive line this season (due to injuries). By contrast, Lafayette employed one starting front five for all of 2023. The Leopards have sent out nine linemen as starters. The Leopards have used Ryder Langsdale (LT), Brian Baucia (LG), Sean Kinney (C), Reed Collins (RG) and Sean Wilson (RT) as the front five in the last five games. 

LV TE's: In the lead-up to National Tight Ends Day (10/27), Dallas Holmes and Ethan Hosak both pulled down touchdowns against Holy Cross. Hosak had a two-yard TD in the second quarter, his second of the season while Holmes pulled in a 12-yard TD in the fourth quarter, which was his third TD of the year. Both are Lehigh Valley products. Holmes is from Bethlehem, Pa. and played at Liberty High School, while Hosak hails from Macungie, playing at Allentown Central Catholic. 

Dose of Penza: Beginning with the Sacred Heart game, Lafayette has utilized freshman QB Jason Penza as a running threat out of the backfield. He has 170 rushing yards over five games (49, 20, 52, 23, 26) and also managed to catch a pass and complete one at Bucknell. Through the air, he has completed 5-of-6 for 31 yards.

Give Me Those: Senior Gabe DuBois made seven tackles at Colgate, and the two turnovers he forced were crucial to the win. His first forced fumble came with five minutes left in the game and led to the go-ahead score. The second forced fumble stopped Colgate's potential game-winning drive near midfield with less than a minute left. It was the first time since 2021 that a Lafayette player forced two fumbles in a game.

An Empire Slate: The Leopards faced five opponents from New York state in 2024, finishing with a 3-2 record. Lafayette opened the season at Buffalo, played Marist in the home opener and traveled to Columbia and Fordham in weeks four and five. The Colgate win marked the Empire State finale. 

Persing Performances: Soph. Carson Persing's production has increased significantly in 2024. In the home opener vs. Marist, the Danville, Pa. native had nine receptions for 82 yards (both career highs). At Columbia, Persing pulled down 10 receptions for 58 yards. He managed a seven-catch, 74-yard game against Holy Cross and had three for 55 at Colgate.
    In 2024, he has 50 receptions for 430 yards following a 2023 campaign in which the economics major managed 31 catches for 306 yards. 

On the Run vs. Sacred Heart: Lafayette rushed for 297 yards and four touchdowns en route to a 31-17 victory over Sacred Heart (10/17). Jamar Curtis accounted for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. Troy Bruce added 83 yards and a score. Rookie QB Jason Penza contributed 49 rushing yards, while fellow QB Dean DeNobile got in on the action with a one-yard TD run. The Sacred Heart game was the team's highest output of the season and also marked season highs for Curtis, Bruce and Penza.