The Match-Up: Winners of three straight, Lafayette hosts Princeton on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., on Homecoming/Family Weekend that is also serving as a kickoff to Lafayette College's Bicentennial celebration. Saturday marks the second of four-straight home match-ups for the Leopards who will jump back to Patriot League play in weeks six and seven.   

Last Time Out: On Sept. 19, Lafayette opened its four-game homestand with a 38-14 victory over Columbia in the first night game at Fisher Stadium since 2018. Junior RB Kente Edwards continued his hot streak, running for 150 yards and three scores. Classmate Ethan Weber added to the run game, chipping in 56 yards and two touchdowns. The Lafayette defense held Columbia to 14 points (none in the second half) while limiting them to 91 rushing yards. The Maroon and White were led by seven tackles apiece from Dhonte Jackson and Beckham Dee.

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. 

26 On the Run to Player of Week: Junior RB Kente Edwards has racked up three straight 100-yard rushing games (the third-straight season a Leopard running back has achieved that feat) and not so coincidentally has been named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week each of those times. Edwards is coming off 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-TD performance was the first since 2006. His ran for 127 yards at Stonehill in his first career start. 

Nationally Ranked: Junior RB Kente Edwards is ranked first in the nation in rushing yards (559) and rushing touchdowns (10), second in rushing yards per game (139.8) and third in rushing yards per carry (8.5). 

Limiting the Run: Lafayette's youthful defense, which returned just one starter, has had early  success limiting the run game. The Leopards have allowed 102 yards per game for the season and just 84 yards per game against FCS opponents. 

Career Numbers for DeNobile: With 166 passing yards in the Columbia win, senior QB Dean DeNobile surpassed the 5,000 career passing yards plateau. DeNobile was an efficient 14-of-17 in that game and is currently second for career completion percentage (65.4) and sixth for career completions (452).  

Catching Up: Senior Eli Steward continues to ascend the career receiving ranks. He's moved up to fifth for career completions (155) and seventh for career receiving yards (1,900). Steward needs five more catches to move up to fourth place alongside Phil Yarberough '01 and 70 receiving yards to join Frank Corbo '85 in sixth place. 

National Recognition: ESPN's College Football Final handed out a helmet sticker to Kente Edwards following the Georgetown game (9/13). Edwards' 255-yard rushing day  placed him fourth on the Lafayette single-game rushing chart (the first player since Ross Scheuerman in 2014 to join the list). It was the 13th 200-yard game since 1990 and first since 2023.

With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would: 
• notch program win No. 710
• begin the season 4-1 for the second time in the last three seasons (2023)
• beat Princeton twice in a row for the first time in series history

Dee Making Impact: LB Beckham Dee's impact has been immediate. He has a team-leading 25 tackles in four 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. In his spare time, he has taken up golf.

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.

Strong Leg: Junior Christian Bush took over the punting duties to start 2025 and recorded a 57-yard punt in each of the Leopards' first two games. Those boots surpassed the Leopards' longest punt of 2024 (51 yards). He is currently averaging 42.6 yards per punt, recording four punts of 50-plus yards while landing four inside the 20-yard line.  

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. 

The Opponent: Princeton comes into Saturday at 0-1, having dropped a 42-25 decision to San Diego to open the season. The Tigers were out-scored 21-0 in the second half. Princeton was 3-7 in 2024, including a 2-5 mark in Ivy League action (the first time since 2011 that the program was under .500).
    Princeton has named two senior quarterbacks as team captains. Kai Colon was 12-of-18 for 196 and a TD vs. San Diego while Blaine Hipa was 6-of-8 for 87 yards. Hipa started nine games in 2024, throwing for 1,665 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Colon played in just one game. 
    In the opener, WR Charley Rossi led the team with two catches for 79 yards after accounting for five catches and two touchdowns in 2024.
    Junior RB Ethan Clark was second on the team in rushing last season with 346 yards. He had seven rushes for 72 yards and a TD vs. San Diego to go along with 34 receiving yards and a touchdown. 
        The Tigers are coached by Bob Surace (Princeton '90) who is in his 15th season.

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.

Captains of the Ship: Seniors Dean DeNobile, Elijah Steward, Brian Baucia and Phillip Peiffer all were selected as recipients of the Chris LaPietra '89 Captain Award ahead of the 2025 slate.
    For DeNobile, its the second straight season that the QB has been named team captain. Steward earns captaincy after leading the Lafayette offense in receiving for the third straight season. Baucia returns to anchor the interior of the offensive line, a position that he's held for 33 games over three seasons. Peiffer returned to Easton for a fifth season after a season-ending injury in 2024.
 
FBS Foes: For the first time since 1993 (Buffalo and Army), Lafayette will face two FBS opponents in a season, playing Bowling Green and Oregon State in 2025. 
    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.