The Match-Up: Lafayette wraps up non-conference action at Oregon State on Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. The Leopards have never played any current or former members of the Pac-12. 

Last Time Out: Lafayette used a school-record 670 yards of total offense to dominate Bucknell 62-24 on Oct. 11. Dean DeNobile threw for a career-best five touchdowns on his way to 316 passing yards. The Leopards also featured two 100-yard rushers in Ethan Weber (136) and Jakyre Henley (107) to grind out 348 rushing yards. Six different players scored touchdowns with Weber, Henley and Elijah Steward adding two scores apiece. The Leopards had three one-play scoring drives, as Jason Penza (79), Weber (67) and Henley (70) all ran in scores to start and end drives.

Points on the Board: Lafayette's 62-point eruption was the highest single-game scoring output since 1944, when the Leopards shut out Lehigh 64-0 to close out the campaign amidst a world war. The Leopards' 34 points vs. Bucknell in the first half were the most in a half this season. 

TFL: The Lafayette defense has 22 tackles for loss in the last two games. Lafayette managed nine TFL against Bucknell led by two sacks from Jaylon Joseph. Seven others registered TFL alongside Joseph. Against Fordham, the Leopards recorded a season-high 13 TFL  with Joseph accounting for 2.5 sacks. Eleven other players had at least a half tackle for loss, racking up 55 yards for loss. The Leopards are ranked first in the conference and 15th in the nation in TFL.
 
Bicentennial Excursion: Lafayette's trip to the West Coast is part of the school's Bicentennial, taking several of Lafayette's athletic teams to non-traditional locales in 2025-26. The trip to Corvallis, Ore. is the farthest west that a Lafayette team has traveled in 144 seasons. The previous western boundary game was Sept. 4, 2021 in Colorado Springs, Colo. vs. Air Force.   

FBS Foes: For the first time since 1993 (Buffalo and Army), Lafayette is facing two FBS foes in a season (Bowling Green, Oregon State). Lafayette opened 2024 at Buffalo and faced No. 21 Duke in week two of 2023. The Leopards have sprinkled in FBS opponents intermittently over the last eight seasons, playing Army in 2016 and 2018, Air Force in 2021 and Temple in 2022. The Leopards are slated to play Connecticut, Air Force and Akron in the coming seasons.

Corvallis Connections: Leopard recruiting coordinator and inside linebackers coach Andrew Seumalo is in his eighth season at Lafayette. Seumalo is a 2012 graduate of Oregon State.  Originally a walk-on, Seumalo was a four-year letterwinner from 2009-12, earning a scholarship as a senior, when he also served as a team captain. Seumalo ended his career with 23 straight starts. His brothers Isaac (OL) and Noah (LB) both played at OSU where their father, Joe, was a defensive coach (2006-14). Seumalo's sister, Jessi, was a volleyball player at Oregon State. 

DeNobile Dialed In: Senior QB Dean DeNobile has put together consecutive 300-yard passing games. Versus Fordham, he completed 25-of-35 for 314 yards with two touchdowns to a season-high nine targets. Against Bucknell, he hit on 26-of-34 for 316 yards (spread around to eight receivers) and a career-best five TD strikes. His Bucknell performance pushed him over 6,000 career passing yards and earned him Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time this season. 

Patriot Push: Lafayette is taking a brief break from Patriot League play (six of the final seven games are conference clashes). The Leopards are playing seven conference matchups in 2025 (the first time since 2003), with the addition of Richmond as an associate member. The Maroon and White will play nine league games in 2026 when Villanova and William & Mary join as associate football members. 

Special Score: The Leopards' punt return/block unit made its presence known vs. Fordham. Tighe Cummiskey blocked a third-quarter punt which Dylan Aguilera collected and returned 18 yards for a touchdown (the first for the Leopards in 2025). 

200 During the Bicentennial: John Troxell coached his 200th game vs. Fordham (10/4), one week after Lafayette College's Bicentennial kickoff. Troxell owns a 116-85 career record. Since taking over the football program in 2022, Troxell has a .620 winning percentage in conference play and a .571 overall winning percentage, both of which rank second among active Patriot League head coaches.

Historically Accurate: Leopard QB Dean DeNobile ranks second at Lafayette in career completion percentage (66.49%) trailing only Ryan O'Neil '12 (66.50%). He lands fourth in Patriot League history behind O'Neil and ahead of Drew Reed '17 (65.2), as Lafayette has three of the top five most accurate passers in Patriot League history.
 
With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would: 
• notch program win No. 712
• register the first win in program history over a Pac-12 foe
• beat an FBS team for the first time since 1971 (Rutgers)
• be guaranteed at least a .500 record for the third-straight season

Nationally Ranked: Junior RB Kente Edwards is fourth in the nation in rushing touchdowns (10) and 16th in rushing yards (585). He would also be ranked in rushing yards per carry (8.2) and rushing yards per game (117.0), but has not played in 75 percent of the team's games.

Few Flags: Lafayette sits atop the Patriot League for fewest penalties per game (4.71) while ranking 17th in the nation.

Score Some More: Within the Patriot League, the Maroon and White boast the top scoring offense, averaging 34.7 points per contest. Lafayette's sits in 18th in the NCAA.

Solid Starts: Lafayette has begun its last three seasons with a 3-1 mark, a solid number considering that the losses in each campaign came at the hands of an FBS foe. 

Third-Down Offense: The Leopards have made the most of their third-down opportunities, ranking second in the league and 16th in the country in third-down conversion rate (.472). 

26 On the Run to Player of the Week: Junior RB Kente Edwards racked up three straight 100-yard rushing games (the third-straight season a Leopard running back has achieved that feat) and was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week each of those times. Edwards had a 150-yard, three-touchdown effort vs. Columbia in week four. At Georgetown (9/13), he had 255 yards with four touchdowns (both career highs). It was the 13th 200-yard game since 1990 and first since 2023, and his four-rushing-TD performance was the first since 2006. Edwards ran for 127 yards at Stonehill in his first career start. He has missed the last two and a half games. 

One-Two Punch: The ground game continues to be strong. RBs Kente Edwards and Ethan Weber are responsible for 102 of the Leopards' 243 points. The two tailbacks have contributed with 17 total touchdowns and 1,057 rushing yards.

Limiting the Run: Lafayette's youthful defense, which returned just one starter, has had  success limiting the run game. The Leopards have allowed 96.7 yards per game for the season (86.7 ypg against FCS opponents), ranking second and seventh in the conference and country, respectively.
 
Safe at Safety: Soph. Kevin Dodard has started every game at free safety. Dodard has broken up seven passes (second in the Patriot League) and picked off two (third in the PL).

Catching Up: Senior Eli Steward continues to ascend the career receiving ranks. With  six-catch, 116-yard day vs. Bucknell, he moved up to second for career completions (172) and fifth for career receiving yards (2,178). He needs 26 more catches to climb past Mark Ross '14 for career receptions and 12 receiving yards to surpass Shaun Adair '09 in fourth. 

On the Sideline: John Troxell '94 is in his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater's football program, a tenure that includes a Patriot League title and NCAA playoff berth in his second season. That 2023 campaign saw the Leopards post the most wins in a campaign 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.

Dee Making Impact: LB Beckham Dee's impact has been immediate. He has a team-leading 42 tackles in seven starts. Dee, who transferred from Penn State after one season, comes from a football family, as his father was a quarterback at Carnegie Mellon. After graduation, Dee's early career plans include working as an investment banker. 

Runaway Road Win: The Leopards rolled up 319 rushing yards at Stonehill led by a stellar day from junior RB Kente Edwards in his first career start. The Annandale, N.J. native carried the ball 12 times for 127 yards and three scores. He scored on runs of 4, 2 and 78 yards. It was the Leopards' first 70-yard running play since Nov. 11, 2023. For his work, Edwards was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week. 
    It was also the first time since Sept. 30, 2023 that Lafayette had 300-plus rushing yards (316 vs. Bucknell). Junior Ethan Weber had six carries for 77 and a TD, while Jason Penza (6-47) and Dean DeNobile (4-13) added rushing TD's of their own.

Positive Trends: The Leopards are 4-0 when scoring first, when leading at halftime, when rushing for 200+ yards, when committing fewer turnovers, and when they hit for 400+ yards of total offense.

The Opponent: Oregon State enters the week eight match-up at 0-7 in the midst of a four-game homestand. The Beavers dropped a 39-14 decision vs. Wake Forest in week seven. Oregon State also has faced Cal (34-15), Fresno State (36-27), Texas Tech (45-14), Oregon (41-7), Houston (27-24) and Appalachian State (27-23).
    Redshirt junior Maalik Murphy is the team's starting quarterback. Following stops at Duke and Texas, Murphy has appeared in every game for the Beavers, completing 145-of-251 for 1,653 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.  
    Senior WR Trent Walker averages 85 receiving yards per game, hauling in 45 passes for 598 yards. Senior RB Anthony Hankerson has taken the bulk of the carries, running for 467 yards and two TD's.
    Soph. Dexter Foster paces OSU with 52 total tackles (3 TFL) on a squad which has allowed 162 rushing ypg. DL Jacob Schuster leads the team with two sacks.
    Robb Akey (Weber State '88) serves as the interim head coach, replacing Trent Bray after week seven.

Racking Up The Sacks: The Leopards' revitalized pass rush has tallied 17 sacks. Jaylon Joseph set a new single-season high (5.5) while Robert Stevens, Darien Riley and Olivier Camerlain have two each. Ten Leopards have registered sacks. (In 2024, nine players contributed for a total of 12 sacks).

Strong Leg: Junior Christian Bush took over the punting duties in 2025 and recorded a 57-yard punt in each of the first two games. Those boots surpassed the Leopards' longest punt of 2024 (51 yards). He is currently averaging 42.7 yards per punt, recording seven punts of 50-plus yards while landing nine inside the 20-yard line (including three vs. Fordham). His season-long effort was a 67-yarder vs. Bucknell. 

TD Records: Lafayette's single-season touchdowns record is 16 shared by Joe McCourt (2004), Tom Costello (1989) and Jamar Curtis (2024). With one more rushing TD, Kente Edwards will move into a four-way tie (Erik Marsh, Bruce McIntyre, Craig Williams) for 13th with 11 TDs. 

Going The Extra Mile: Lafayette will travel 4,508 miles in the 2025 campaign to face off against its opponents. The trip to Oregon State is the longest in the program's history, with 2,922 miles separating the two schools. The shortest distance Lafayette traveled for a road game was 213 miles to Georgetown.