Complete Game Notes

The Match-Up: Lafayette returns to the friendly confines of Fisher Stadium to host Colgate in week 10. Both teams are coming off wins by narrow margins, the Leopards beating Holy Cross, 21-13, on the road and the Raiders topping Merrimack at home, 23-20. 

Last Time Out: The Lafayette defense limited the Holy Cross offense to just two field goals in a 21-13 win in Worcester on Nov. 1. Junior RB Kente Edwards ran a career-high 28 times for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns, his fourth career 100-yard rushing game, on his way to Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors. The Leopards forced four turnovers and held a six-minute advantage in time of possession.

Patriot Present: Lafayette is 4-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since 2009 and the sixth time in its Patriot League history (2006, 1994, 1992, 1988).

Patriot Future: The Leopards are playing seven conference games 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 members. 

With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would: 
• notch program win No. 713
• improve to 5-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since 1994
    (Lafayette was 5-0 in league play in 1994, 1992 and 1988, playing five league games for the season)
• be guaranteed .500 or better record for three of John Troxell's four seasons
• post consecutive victories for the fourth time in 2025 and just the sixth time in series history

Gadson Goin' Clubbin': Soph. CB Ryan Gadson has been one of the Leopards' top defensive contributors, despite suffering an injury in week two that required surgery and forced him to miss two games. He has returned to the lineup with his wrist/hand taped like a club and has played in the last four games. The Fort Myers, Fla. native is second on the team in tackles (44) and picked off his second pass of the season at Holy Cross. 

TD Records: Lafayette's single-season touchdowns record is 16 shared by Joe McCourt (2004), Tom Costello (1989) and Jamar Curtis (2024). With his 11th and 12th TDs of the season at Holy Cross, Kente Edwards moved into 12th place, needing one more score to move into a four-way tie for ninth (Jonathan Hurt in 2005, McCourt in 2002, Giglio in 1973). 

Turnover Tales: The Leopard defense has tallied at least one forced fumble and one interception in each of the last four games. Lafayette has knocked the ball loose eight times in that span, recovering six. At Holy Cross, Ryan Gadson and Beckham Dee each picked off passes with Jaylon Joseph and Jalen Edwards forcing a fumble apiece.
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.

Nationally Ranked: Junior RB Kente Edwards is seventh in the nation in rushing touchdowns (12), fourth in rushing yards per carry (6.9), 12th in rushing yards per game (110.3) and 16th in rushing yards (772), despite missing 2.5 games with injury.

Get a Hand On It: Senior LB Tighe Cummiskey collected his second punt block of the season at Oregon State, pacing the Patriot League and ranking fourth in the nation.

Historically Accurate: Leopard QB Dean DeNobile sits third at Lafayette in career completion percentage (65.0%) trailing only Ryan O'Neil '12 (66.50%) and Drew Reed '17 (65.2%). He lands fifth in Patriot League history behind O'Neil and Reed, as Lafayette has three of the top five most accurate passers in Patriot League history. 
    All three seasons that DeNobile has been a starter rank in the top 15 for single-season completion percentage: 66.7 for sixth in '23, 65.1 for eighth in '24 and 63.2 for 13th in '25. 

26 On the Run to Player of the Week: Junior RB Kente Edwards piled 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. At Holy Cross, Edwards carried the ball a career-high 28 times for 146 yards and two TD's to garner his fourth weekly award. 
 
500 Club: Lafayette's win at Holy Cross guaranteed the Leopards at least a .500 record for the third-straight season.

Three For 10: With his 15-yard score against Oregon State, freshman Matthew Scerbo made it three consecutive games with a touchdown reception. Scerbo is still second on the team in receiving touchdowns, behind Elijah Steward (4).

Catching Up: Senior Eli Steward has ascended the career receiving ranks. With a four-catch, 68-yard day vs. Oregon State, he moved into fourth place with 2,246 career receiving yards after advancing into second for career completions (172) against Bucknell. He also sits in 10th place for career receiving touchdowns (12). Steward needs 22 catches to climb past Mark Ross '14 to become the career receptions leader and 139 receiving yards to surpass Phil Yarberough '01 in third.

Record-Breaking Outing: Lafayette racked up 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. 
    The 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. The Leopards' 34 points vs. Bucknell in the first half were the most in a half this season. 

Bicentennial Excursion: Lafayette's trip to Oregon State was part of the school's Bicentennial, taking several Lafayette's athletic teams to non-traditional locales in 2025-26. Corvallis, Ore. is the farthest west that a Lafayette team traveled in 144 seasons. The previous western boundary game was Colorado Springs, Colo. vs. Air Force (9/4/21).   
DeNobile Dialed In: Senior QB Dean DeNobile 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. 

Positive Trends: The Leopards are 5-1 when scoring first, when leading at halftime and when committing fewer turnovers (with Oregon State the lone outlier). Lafayette is 5-0 when rushing for 200+ yards and 4-0 when hitting for 400+ yards of total offense.

Score Some More: Within the Patriot League, the Maroon and White boast the second-leading scoring offense, averaging 30.8 ppg. Lafayette's sits 28th in the NCAA.

Solid Starts: Lafayette has begun its last three seasons with a 3-1 mark, a solid number considering that the loss in each of those campaigns 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 20th in the country in third-down conversion rate (.456). 

One-Two Punch: RBs Kente Edwards and Ethan Weber are responsible for 120 of the Leopards' 277 points. The duo has contributed 20 total TD's and 1,351 rushing yards.

FBS Foes: For the first time since 1993 (Buffalo and Army), Lafayette faced two FBS foes (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.

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 117-86 career record. Since taking over the football program in 2022, Troxell has a .636 winning percentage in conference play and a .568 overall winning percentage, both of which rank second among active Patriot League head coaches.

The Opponent: Colgate (4-5, 2-2) is coming off a 23-20 OT win over Merrimack and is on a two-game win streak via a 29-28 victory over Holy Cross on Oct. 25. The Raiders have wins over Fordham (44-21) and Cornell (41-21) with losses to No. 22 Monmouth (42-39), No. 12 Villanova (24-17), FBS Syracuse (66-24), Richmond (24-19) and Georgetown (21-17). 
    Junior QB Jake Stearney commands the offense, completing 56.5 percent of his passes (134-of-237) for 1,732 yards with 14 TDs and four INTs.
    Junior Reed Swanson is the Raiders' top active receiver, with 39 catches for 682 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Treyvhon Saunders, an All-Patriot League honoree, had 50 catches and six TD's before suffering a season-ending injury in week six. On the ground, Colgate is averaging 129 yards per game, led by soph. Danny Shaban who has five TD's. 
    Senior LB Dane Picariello has racked up a team-high 66 tackles on a defense that has eight sacks and 12 interceptions while allowing 415 yards per game.
    Curt Fitzpatrick (St. John Fisher '04) is in his first season as head coach of the Raiders.

Career Charts: Senior QB Dean DeNobile rests 
• 3rd in career completion percentage (65.0%)
• 4th in career completions (561), needing 70 to move to third 
• 6th in career passing yards (6,310), needing 68 to move to fifth place 
• 6th in all-time passing touchdowns (46), requiring one to move to fifth place
• 8th in single-season passing yards (2,417 in 2024)

Racking Up The Sacks: The Leopards' revitalized pass rush has tallied 22 sacks. Jaylon Joseph has set a new single-season high (7.5) while Olivier Camerlain, Robert Stevens, Darien Riley and Darson Jeanty each have at least two. Twelve Leopards have registered sacks. (In 2024, nine players contributed for a total of 12 sacks).

Limiting the Run: Lafayette's youthful defense, which returned just one starter, has had success limiting the run game. The Leopards have allowed 130.7 yards per game for the season (second in the PL), but just 93.4 ypg against FCS opponents.
 
Safe at Safety: Soph. Kevin Dodard has started every game at free safety. Dodard has broken up eight passes (second in the Patriot League) and picked off two (eighth in the PL).

Dee Making Impact: LB Beckham Dee's impact has been immediate. He has a team-leading 55 tackles in nine 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.