The Match-Up: Lafayette's 143rd football season gets underway on Thursday when the Leopards travel to Buffalo for a 7 p.m. kickoff. It is the earliest ever season opener for Lafayette (by two days -- Lafayette opened at Sacred Heart on Sept. 1, 2018). 
    The Leopards are coming off a 9-3 mark in 2023 when they nailed down an eighth Patriot League title while securing an NCAA FCS Playoff berth. Buffalo was 3-9 a season ago, but will have a new look under first-year head coach Pete Lembo. 

Preseason Rankings: Lafayette was picked 18th in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Coaches poll and 17th in the Stats Perform Preseason Poll. The Leopards finished the 2023 season ranked 18th and 20th, respectively, rising as high as No. 16 in the national polls. 

Preseason All-Patriot League: The Maroon and White had a league-best nine players selected for the Preseason All-Patriot League Team. Junior Jamar Curtis headlines the offense, named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, joining  QB Dean DeNobile, WR Elijah Steward, TE Dallas Holmes, OL Ryder Langsdale and OL Brian Baucia. On defense, the 2023 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Jaylon Joseph earned a spot along with S Saiku White and CB A.T. Ntantang. 

Season Openers: The Leopards are 89-50-3 all-time in season openers for a program that was established in 1882. Lafayette has won its last three season openers, beating Colgate 24-10 on March 13, 2021, Sacred Heart 6-0 on Sept. 3, 2022 and Sacred Heart 19-14 on Sept. 2, 2023.

FBS Foes: Thursday's season opener at Buffalo is the Leopards' lone FBS opponent in 2024. Last year, the Maroon and White traveled to No. 21 Duke in week two. Lafayette has sprinkled in FBS opponents intermittently over the last seven seasons, playing Army in 2016 and 2018, Air Force in 2021 and Temple in 2022. Lafayette's last win against a current FBS team was 1971, a 13-7 final at Rutgers.

An Empire State of Schedule: In a quirk of Lafayette's schedule, the Leopards will face five opponents from New York state. Following Buffalo, Lafayette will play Marist, Columbia and Fordham in weeks three through five, before traveling to Colgate on Nov. 9. 

A Championship Season: 2023 was a breakthrough/standout season for the Leopards. Lafayette...
    • eclipsed its win total (4) from 2022 and equalled or surpassed the win total from 
      the previous 40 seasons (last winning nine games in 1981)
    • finished its league season with a 5-1 mark for the first time since 2006
    • recorded a win over No. 11/15 Holy Cross (the Leopards' first top-25 win since 
     2013) and snapped Holy Cross' 18-game conference win streak
    • captured its first Patriot League championship in a decade, securing Patriot 
    League Coach and Rookie of the Year honors along with 12 all-league selections
    • saw four players earn All-America status while three were finalists for the major 
    national player of the year awards
    • locked down the program's first winning season since 2013
    • appeared in the Top 25  for the first time since 2009 (rising as high as No. 16)
    • finished off the month of October undefeated for the first time since 2009
    • beat Princeton for the first time in 13 meetings (first time on the road since '82)

700 Club: The Lafayette football program reached the 700-win plateau with the dominating victory over Lehigh in the 2023 regular-season finale. The Leopards, whose inaugural season was 1882, rank 52nd among all levels of college football with 700 wins. 

Running the Ball: Lafayette averaged 189.7 rushing yards per game in 2023, a mark that ranked the Leopards 17th in the nation among 128 schools. Behind a strong offensive line, Jamar Curtis accounted for most of the yards, racking up a Patriot League best 132.7 yards per outing (second in the nation) and a school-record 1,460 total rushing yards (third in the nation). Curtis also ranked 20th in the nation in yards per carry (6.2 ypc).

A Stack of Sacks: The Leopards finished 2023 fifth the nation in sacks per game (3.1) and ranked 16th in tackles for loss (7.0). Lafayette piled up seven sacks each against Princeton, Bucknell and Monmouth. For the season, 12 different players were able to get home, with Billy Shaeffer (10) and Tim O'Hearn (4.5) and Blamassi Meite (4.5) leading the way.

Ahead of Schedule: John Troxell '94 begins his third season at the helm of his alma mater, and by all accounts the revitalization of the Lafayette program is ahead of schedule. 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. 

Under Center: Junior Dean DeNobile started all but the 2023 season opener, earning All-Patriot League Second-Team honors. DeNobile completed 170-of-255 (67%) for 1,997 yards and 20 touchdowns with just five interceptions. DeNobile broke his ankle in the second half of the Leopards' FCS playoff game vs. Delaware but made his return for 2024 spring ball and has been healthy through training camp.
    Soph. Tray Mauney took over QB2 position after training camp and saw his first significant reps during the 2024 spring season. In high school, Mauney completed 304-of-536 for 4,718 yards with 41 touchdowns to 14 interceptions and carried the ball 131 times for 863 yards and 11 touchdowns. Rookie Jason Penza, an Academic All-State selection, threw for nearly 3,000 yards and ran for 565 more to finish his high school career with 37 touchdowns. He sits third on the depth chart.

Preseason All-Americans: Three Leopards earned Preseason All-America honors from Stats Perform, FCS Football Central and Phil Steele. Junior Jamar Curtis is the nation's leading returning rusher, averaging 132.7 yards per game in 2023. Senior Ryder Langsdale was a key component and tone setter for the offensive line in front of Curtis. Senior Saiku White finished 2023 with 77 tackles and a Patriot League-leading four interceptions from his safety spot. 

The Patriot Poll: Lafayette was a unanimous selection to repeat as Patriot League champions in 2024 when the preseason poll was announced 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) announced on July 24. In 2023, Lafayette was selected fourth in the preseason poll and finished first. 

The Opponent: In 2023, Buffalo posted a 3-9 mark with MAC wins over Akron, Central Michigan and Kent State. The Bulls are under new leadership. Pete Lembo has the head coaching headset after spending the last three seasons with South Carolina as its associate head coach and special teams coordinator. With more than 30 years of coaching experience, the Georgetown grad has amassed a 116-65 record, which includes a 79-36 record after 10 years at the FCS level. Lembo takes over a program that returns three offensive starters and seven defensive starters while welcoming 18 transfers.
    Plenty of fresh faces join the mix of the UB offense. Dual threat QB CJ Ogbonna will look to run the show in 2024, after managing 214 yards and three TDs on the ground. Soph. WR Victor Snow (1 rec, 12 yards) and WR Nik McMillan (13 rec, 180 yards, 1 TD) will be primary offensive targets.
    Defensively, LB Shaun Dolac, an All-MAC selection in 2022, looks to rebound after an injury derailed his 2023 campaign. DT George Wolo (23 tackles, 3.5 sacks) has been a standout player since his freshman year. 2022 AP All-America Third Team S Marcus Fuqua (57 tackles, 4 TFL) returns for a sixth season, where he looks to round out a physical defense.  
    Buffalo will travel to Missouri in week two before opening up conference play in week four vs. Northern Illinois.
    
Last Time They Met: The last time Lafayette and Buffalo squared off was Sept. 19, 1998 in Easton, Pa. UB's Scott Keller converted three field goals, the last with 1:11 left in the game, to notch a 16-14 final. The Leopards had a chance to win the game, driving down for a 31-yard field goal attempt with seven seconds left, but the Brian Menecola kick was no good. TB Leonard Moore had nine carries for 90 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Lafayette before leaving the game with an ankle injury. QB Mike Palos completed nine passes for 120 yards, including an 11-yard TD to Joe Luke. The Leopards turned it over three times on the day.