Complete Game Notes

The Matchup: Lafayette will make its second attempt to kick off the 145th season, traveling to Connecticut for a noon kickoff on Saturday. 
    Head coach John Troxell enters his 21st career season on the sidelines and fifth for the Maroon and White. 

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 let go with 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 will not count toward the Patriot League standings and statistics accumulated do not count toward season totals. 
    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). 

FWIW: Lafayette trailed 13-7 at halftime when the game was called. Lafayette had outgained the Hoyas 202-132, throwing for 135 yards and rushing for 67 while allowing 82 in the air and 92 on the ground. Lafayette's touchdown was a 28-yard strike from Daniel Lipovski to Zane Wooldridge with 6:31 left in the half that gave Lafayette a 7-6 lead. The Hoyas answered with a 95-yard kickoff return for TD and the 13-7 margin.
    Defesively, the Leopards were led by S Dhonte Jackson and LB Beckham Dee with seven and six tackles, respectively.  

Short Series: Lafayette and Connecticut have met just once, playing in Easton, Pa. on Oct. 13, 1984 (week six of the season). During that time Lafayette and UConn both competed at the I-AA level (now FCS), when the Huskies were a member of the Yankee Conference and Lafayette did not have a conference affiliation.

Season Openers: The Leopards are 89-52-3 all-time in season openers for a program that was established in 1882. Lafayette has won three of its last six 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. Losses came to FBS foes Air Force (35-14 on Sept. 4, 2021), Buffalo (30-13 on Aug. 29, 2024) and Bowling Green (26-7 on Aug. 28, 2025).

With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Could: 
• notch program win No. 715
• improve to 2-0 all-time vs. Connecticut
• collect its first win over an FBS opponent since 1971 (Rutgers)
• up its all-time record vs. Constitution/Nutmeg State teams to 17-14: CCSU (3-1), UConn. (2-0), New Haven (1-0), Sacred Heart (4-5), Trinity (2-0), Wesleyan (2-1) and Yale (3-7) 

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. 

Last Time They Met: The last (and only) time the Leopards and Huskies squared off was Oct. 13, 1984 in Easton, Pa. It was a dramatic victory, as Lafayette's Ryan Priest leapt over the top of the line of scrimmage for a two-yard touchdown as time expired in a 20-13 final. Priest finished the day with 125 rushing yards, joining Nick Kowgios (1-yard run) and Frank Corbo (7-yard pass from Dean Rivera) in the scoring column. Defensively, Jim Brown and Frank Gaziano each made nine stops on the afternoon.

More Good Things in Threes: Lafayette has been ranked in the Top 25 in each of the last three seasons. Lafayette was ranked as high as 16th in 2023, 14th in 2024 and 24th in 2025. 

FBS Foes: Saturday marks Lafayette's only FBS foe in 2026, continuing a trend of an FBS matchup each season since 2021. In 2025, for the first time since 1993 (Buffalo and Army), Lafayette faced two FBS foes (Bowling Green, Oregon State). The Leopards opened 2024 at Buffalo and faced No. 21 Duke in week two of 2023. Lafayette has sprinkled in FBS opponents intermittently over the last nine seasons, playing Army in 2016 and 2018, Air Force in 2021 and Temple in 2022. The Leopards will travel to Air Force (2027) and Akron (2028) in the coming seasons.

Patriot, Past, Present, Future: Lafayette finished 6-1 in Patriot League play in 2025, winning six games for the first time in program history. The Leopards finished league action 5-0 in 1994, 1992 and 1988, only playing five league games for the season. Lafayette is scheduled to play nine league contests in 2026 with Villanova and William & Mary joining 2025 addition Richmond to stretch the league ranks to 10 institutions. 

Solid Starts: Lafayette began its last three seasons with a 3-1 mark, with the loss in each of those campaigns coming at the hands of an FBS foe.

Captains of the Ship: Seniors Ahmir Crawley, Carson Persing, and Sean Wilson, as well as sophomore Beckham Dee all were selected as recipients of the Chris LaPietra '89 Captain Award ahead of the 2026 slate.
    Crawley started every game in 2025 with a career highs in tackles (29), tackles for loss (6) and sacks (1.5). Persing led the team in receiving touchdowns (4), receptions (60) and receiving yards (724) last season. Wilson, an All-Patriot League Second-Team selection, will hold down the starting spot at left tackle for the second-straight season. He and Persing both garnered Preseason All-Patriot League honors. Dee, the team's top returning tackler, collected FCS Freshman All-America honors with 62 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and an interception during the 2025 season.

700 Level: 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 51st among all levels of college football with 714 wins entering the season.

Grand Runs: Lafayette has featured a potent running game in recent times with the Leopards producing a 1000-yard rusher in each of the last three seasons via Jamar Curtis (1,460 in 2023; 1139 in 2024) and Kente Edwards (1,454 in 2025). 

Points on the Board: Lafayette boasted the highest scoring offense in the conference in 2025 while also placing 20th in the nation. The Leopards averaged 33.6 points per game, scoring 403 points over 12 games. 

Preseason Polling: Lafayette has been picked fifth in the 2026 preseason poll behind Villanova, Lehigh, Richmond and William & Mary and ahead of Holy Cross, Fordham, Georgetown and Bucknell. The Leopards, who were also slotted fifth in 2025, finished second with a 6-1 record.

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. 

Preseason All-Patriot League: Seniors WR Carson Persing and OL Sean Wilson garnered 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League honors. Persing started every game in 2025 and hauled in 60 receptions for 724 yards and four touchdowns. Wilson was a 2025 All-Patriot League Second-Team honoree in 2025. He started all 12 games at left tackle and aided in an offensive line that pushed forward a 1,000-yard rusher for a third-straight season. 

Local Flavor: Since John Troxell took over in 2022, he has placed an emphasis on retaining local talent from the greater Lehigh Valley region. Troxell, a Phillipsburg graduate, added his alma mater's Matthew Scerbo as part of the Class of '29 and Whitehall's Justin Hussett in the Class of '30. 
    Junior WR Mason Kuehner, who started in every game during the 2025 season and caught 52 passes for 572 yards, is a Nazareth native. Senior Sean Wilson is an Easton graduate who started all 12 games at left tackle in 2025, one of two players from Easton along with senior QB Peyton Cosover.
    Senior Ethan Hosak, who started 10 games in 2025 on his way to All-Patriot League Second-Team honors, played at Allentown Central Catholic, while sophomore LB Justin Peluso hails from Freedom High School in Bethlehem, where he played for Jason Roeder, brother of current Lafayette passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Ryan Roeder.

The Opponent: Coming off a 9-4 season in 2025, FBS independent Connecticut is scheduled to make its 2026 debut against Lafayette on Saturday. The Huskies finished last season 6-0 at home with notable wins against FIU (51-10), Duke (37-34) and Air Force (26-16). UConn closed the 2026 campaign in December at the Wasabi Fenway Bowl at Fenway Park, where they dropped a 41-16 decision to Army.  
    Starting all 12 games in '25, QB Joe Fagnano completed his senior season by throwing for 3,448 yards and 28 touchdowns with only one interception. He has since earned a roster spot with the Baltimore Ravens.
    UConn's top four running backs and the bulk of its leading tacklers departed the program via graduation or the transfer portal. In total, UConn has welcomed 87 new players to the 2026 roster.
    Head coach Jason Candle (Mount Union '03) is in his first season at UConn after replacing Jim Mora Jr. who left for Colorado State. Candle spent 10 seasons as head coach at Toledo, featuring a career record of 81-44 with nine bowl game appearances. 

500 Club: Lafayette's has managed a winning record for three-straight seasons. The only sub-.500 season in the John Troxell era was his first campaign when the team went 4-7 overall and 3-3 in PL play after he inherited a 3-8 team.

Getting His Kicks: Senior K Jack Simonetta started all 12 games in 2025 and converted a single-season record 53 PATs while going 6-for-6 in field goal attempts. He booted a 49-yard field goal against Colgate that was the longest of his career and the fourth-longest in school history. Simonetta also currently holds a career record with 137 PATs.

Who is Running The Ball?: With the departure of 1,000-yard rusher Kente Edwards, opportunities have emerged in the run game. Junior Jakyre Henley had 49 carries for 194 yards and two touchdowns in 2025. He made two starts and played in all 12 games. Henley handled the bulk of the running in the Georgetown opener, carrying 7 times for 36 yards. Soph. Koven Smith will also vie for carries after playing in four games (primarily on special teams) in 2025 without a carry.
    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. A rookie, Malachi Gamble, is making his push for early playing time.

Lining Up: Lafayette used just one starting lineup on the offensive line in 2025 [Sean Wilson (LT), Brian Baucia (LG), Sean Kinney (C), Spencer Adams (RG), and Reed Collins (RT)]. The group helped push a Leopard running back over 1,000 yards for a third-straight season. (For context, in 2024, the squad employed six different front fives).
 
At QB: The quarterback competition was a two-man race coming out of camp between senior Dan Lipovski and junior Jason Penza, bringing a contrast of styles. Lipovski appeared in three games in 2025, throwing one 26-yard touchdown pass vs. Colgate in the waning minutes. In the 2026 opener at Georgetown, Lipovski completed 10-of-16 for 13 yards and a touchdown in one half. The strong-armed Lipovski played in three games over two seasons before transferring to Lafayette from Delaware.  
    Penza served as Dean DeNobile's back up in 2025. Primarily used as a running option, Penza carried 33 times for 195 yards and two touchdowns last season. The Crystal Lake Ill. native attempted eight passes, completing seven of them for 40 yards.
    Rookie Eddie Jordan may also push for playing time as the season wears on. He was a three-year starter at Beachside High School in St. Augustine, Fla. where he threw for a school-record 8,147 career passing yards and 107 total touchdowns.

Front Five: The offensive line will be led by seniors Spencer Adams and Sean Wilson. Adams, who has started 24 games over the last three seasons, including every game in 2025, will return to his right guard spot. Wilson started every game at left tackle in 2025 and played 10 games in 2024 (six starts at right tackle). Seniors Michael Dincher (LG) and Addison Hoffman (LT) bring experience alongside Wilson on the left side of the line. Sophomore James Madison transfer Jake Hohenshelt is the likely starter at center and will be backed up by Nick Strelczyk who played in 10 games the last two seasons. Junior Olivier Camerlain moved to the offensive side of the line of scrimmage during the spring and is expected to bring his aggression to the right tackle spot. Junior Connor Gaines and soph. Parker Moss are the likely backups on the right side.