Complete Game Notes

Matchup: Lafayette remains on the road this week for the final time in 2026. Head coach John Troxell and his group travel to Hamilton, N.Y. on Saturday for a 1 p.m. conference meeting with Colgate. Fans can catch all of the action on ESPN+.

Blair in the Backfield: During the Leopards' 19-14 win at William & Mary (11/7), junior LB Callahan Blair turned in a career day to lead the defense to its fourth second-half shutout of the season. The Palm Harbor, Fla. native finished the outing with seven tackles—five solo and two assists—which was just one shy of his career high. However, he did record career highs in TFLs and sacks, registering three TFLs for 17 yards and two sacks for eight yards. Blair leads the Maroon and White this season with 10.5 TFLs for 49 yards and 4.5 sacks for 30 yards.

Penza Impact: Following a two-touchdown performance on the ground vs. Villanova (10/31), junior QB Jason Penza put together another quality outing in Lafayette's latest conference win over William & Mary (11/7). The Crystal Lake, Ill. native posted career highs of 21 carries for 140 yards and added on a 50-yard rushing TD, the second longest of his career (71-yard TD vs. Bucknell in 2025). Penza also threw the first passing TD of his career against the Tribe, a 12-yard dart to Mason Kuehner that pushed the Leopards in front, 19-14, with 4:41 to go in the game. 

No. 1 Kick Returner: Sophomore WR Zane Wooldridge posted a historic special teams performance during Lafayette's matchup vs. Villanova (10/31) with a seven-return 186-yard outing. The Austin, Texas native is the first Leopard to record a 100+ yard kick return game since Michael Hayes' four-return 144-yard day against New Hampshire during the 2021 season. Wooldridge's 44-yard return in the fourth quarter is the third longest in the PL this season and he's averaging a conference-best 23.9 yards per opportunity (23rd in the nation). 

CP Catching Up: Senior WR Carson Persing continues to ascend the career receiving lists, making two catches for 21 yards at William & Mary. He remains in third place for career receptions with 172 and needs 26 more grabs to become the program's all-time leader (Mark Ross '14). Persing also sits in ninth for career receiving yards (1,837) and requires 23 more yards to jump Matt Mrazek '18 in eighth place (1,860). 

7 TDs for 5: Junior RB Jakyre Henley has racked up seven touchdowns so far in 2026 and his 6.2 yards per carry average ranks third in the conference. The King William, Va. native began his touchdown tally with a 17-carry, 125-yard day at Columbia (9/19) before finding the end zone twice against Richmond (10/3), Bucknell (10/17) and Fordham (10/24). Henley has rushed for 100+ yards three times this campaign, with his season-high 152 yards on the ground coming against the Spiders. 

Second-Half Shutouts: All four of Lafayette's triumphs in 2026 have been backed by a steady defense that does its best work after halftime. Defensive coordinator Mike Saint Germain and his group blanked Marist (9/12), Bucknell (10/17), Fordham (10/24) and most recently William & Mary (11/7) in the second half of each of those matchups that naturally gave the offense a boost. Across those contests in the final 30 minutes, Lafayette has outscored its opponents 50-0.

Simonetta Getting His Kicks: The Gotha, Fla. native made a pair of field goals at Columbia, booting the Leopards' first (40-yarder in the first quarter) and last scores of the game (31-yarder) with 1:03 left to send the contest to overtime). He holds Lafayette's career PAT record (160) and the single-season mark (53 in 2025). Last season he was 6-for-6 in field goal tries and booted a 49-yard field goal against Colgate (the longest of his career and the fourth-longest in school history). Simonetta registered a season-long 44-yard field goal in the Leopards' most recent win at William & Mary.

With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette would: 

• notch program win No. 719

• extend a two-game winning streak over the Raiders

• collect its third-straight triumph at Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium

Big Boot: Christian Bush's career-long 70-yard punt against Richmond was the first 70-yard plus punt for the Leopards since 2008 (Tom Kondash, 2008).

Last Time Out: Lafayette football returned to the win column on Nov. 7 at Walter J. Zable Stadium at Cary Field following a 19-14 road win against William & Mary. The Leopards' defensive unit kept the Tribe off the scoreboard in the second half and outscored them 16-0 to snatch their fourth win of the season.  

All-Time Series: Heading into Saturday's conference clash, Colgate holds the all-time series lead between both programs with a 48-17-4 record. Lafayette won the first-ever meeting against the Raiders, 17-6, on College Hill back in 1906.

Last Time They Met | Nov. 8, 2025: An explosive offensive effort propelled Lafayette to a 59-42 triumph over Colgate on Nov. 8 at Fisher Stadium. Junior RB Kente Edwards ran for 260 yards and three touchdowns while senior QB Dean DeNobile threw for 206 yards and four touchdowns. Edwards reached 1,000 rushing yards for the season, Lafayette's third straight season with a 1,000-yard rusher. The Leopards improved to 5-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since 1994 with games remaining at Richmond (Nov. 15) and at home vs. Lehigh (11/22) in the 161st Meeting.

Scoop and Score: In the fourth quarter at Columbia, the defense snatched the momentum when Joey Shimko sacked the QB and Sean Curtis was on hand to scoop and score on a 23-yard fumble return that tied the game at 31-31. It was the Leopards' first fumble return for a touchdown since Nov. 23, 2013, when James Coscia ran back a 40-yard score. That score helped pushed the Leopards to a 50-28 victory over No. 15/17 Lehigh in Rivalry 149 and handed the Leopards a Patriot League title.  

Running The Ball?: With the departure of a 1,000-yard rusher, opportunities have emerged in the run game. Junior Jakyre Henley had 49 carries for 194 yards and two touchdowns in 2025, making two starts and playing in all 12 games. Henley has handled the bulk of the carries as the starter through five games, running for 379 yards on 57 carries with three touchdowns. 

Senior Ethan Weber is the most experienced of the running backs, having played in 29 games with two starts over three seasons. He finished 2025 with 107 carries for 570 yards and eight TDs before a knee injury ended his season in week 10. He made his 2026 season debut with two carries vs. Marist and added five each vs. Columbia and Holy Cross. Rookie Malachi Gamble is pushing for more carries after leading the team in rushing at Connecticut. He had four carries for 25 yards at Columbia and seven for 61 vs. Richmond. Soph. Koven Smith is also vying for carries after playing in four games (primarily on special teams) in 2025 without a carry. He had three carries for 17 yards against Marist and five for 15 at Columbia.

D Was the Key: Lafayette's defense came through when it was needed most in the win over Marist (9/12), shutting out the visitors in the second half. Despite allowing 359 total yards, Lafayette limited the Red Foxes to just nine points on five red-zone possessions and stopped them on 4-of-5 fourth downs.

On the Sideline: John Troxell '94 is in his fifth season at the helm, a tenure that includes a Patriot League title and an NCAA playoff berth in his second season and the best three-year run for the program since 1901-03. Lafayette finished 8-4 overall in 2025, and won a program-record six conference games. In 2023, Lafayette posted the most wins in a campaign in more than 40 years (9), winning the conference championship and advancing to the NCAA Playoffs. The team went from 4-7 (3-3) in 2022 to 9-3 (5-1) in year two (2023). Both seasons were capped by wins over archrival Lehigh. During his time on College Hill, Troxell's teams have finished .500 or better in four of five seasons. Troxell was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2023 and was a finalist for Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year honors. 

Mother Nature 1, Lafayette and Georgetown 0: Lafayette and Georgetown tried to kick off the 2026 season on Thursday, Aug. 27. The teams played 30 minutes before Mother Nature delivered continuous lightning strikes in and around the Washington, D.C. campus. After several hours waiting out the weather, the game was declared a no-contest by Patriot League officials who had consulted with game officials and institutional representatives. The game does not count toward the Patriot League standings nor do the statistics. 

The scheduled season opener was slated to be the earliest in program history. It was also the first season opener since 2010 (excluding the 2021 pandemic spring season) that was also the conference lid-lifter (when Lafayette and Georgetown met). 

Good Things in Threes: Over the last three seasons, Lafayette has won 23 games, going 9-3 in 2023, 6-6 in 2024 and 8-4 in 2025. It's the most wins in a three-year span since 1901-03 when Lafayette was 9-3, 8-3 and 7-3 for 24 victories. Lafayette began two of its last three seasons with a 3-1 mark, with the loss in each of those campaigns (2023, 2025) coming at the hands of an FBS foe.

More of Threes: Lafayette has been ranked in the Top 25 in the last three seasons. The Leopards were ranked as high as 16th in 2023, 14th in 2024 and 24th in 2025.

The Opponent: Colgate enters the week 5-5 overall and 4-3 in Patriot League action. The Raiders have earned wins over Fordham (24-14), Holy Cross (35-10), Cornell (20-7), Villanova (28-21), and William & Mary (37-0).

Senior Jake Stearney is calling the signals, completing 144-of-244 passes for 1,728 yards with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Senior wide receiver Matt Fogler leads the team with 52 catches, 843 yards and six TDs.

On the ground, Colgate has averaged 146.9 yards per game led by junior Danny Shaban who has 538 rushing yards to go along with four touchdowns.

Defensively, senior LB Trooper Price and junior LB Christian Magliacano have combined for a total of 182 tackles and 7.5 sacks through 10 games.

Curt Fitzpatrick (St. John Fisher '04) is in his second season as the Raiders' head coach. Named the 31st head coach in Colgate football history in December '24, Fitzpatrick led the Raiders to a 5-7 overall record and a 3-4 mark in Patriot League play in his inaugural season at the helm.