Leopard Football Travels to D.C. to Open Patriot League Play
Sept. 5, 2007
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
GAME 2 • Sept. 8, 2007 LAFAYETTE at GEORGETOWN Washington D.C. - Multi-Sport Field Weather.com Extended Forecast: Clear, high of 87 degrees -- 10 percent chance of rain Radio: WAEB (790 AM) - Dick Hammer, play-by-play (41st season) - Joe Craig, color analyst (1st season) Television: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4, WBPH-60), MASN (DIRECTV 626; Dish Network 432) - Gary Laubach, play-by-play (11th season) - John Leone, color analyst (10th season) - Dan Mowdy, sideline reporter (7th season) Satellite: AMC5/K8A 9MHz; 1200-1630 x30 u/l 14212.5 V; d/l 11912.5 H; Symbol Rate 6.1113 Data Rate 8.448; FEC ¾ Internet: Live audio and video webcast on www.GoLeopards.com Inside Lafayette Football: Half-hour TV show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. on RCN-4 and one half hour prior to the Saturday broadcast Weekly Media Luncheons: Head coach Frank Tavani and at least two members of the team will address the media at noon each Tuesday during the season. Members of the media are invited to join Coach Tavani at Pfenning Alumni Center on campus. THE MATCH-UP: Lafayette (1-0) begins its quest for a fourth-straight Patriot League title when the Leopards travel to Washington, D.C. to play Georgetown (0-1) in the Patriot League opener on Saturday. The Leopards will be opening conference play on the road for the fourth time in five seasons and are 3-1 in that stretch. Lafayette opened the season by "lighting up" Marist for 49 points in the first home night game in the program's history. Georgetown's season opener was a more balanced affair, with the Hoyas losing an eight-point decision (35-28) on the road at Stony Brook. THE SERIES: Lafayette holds a 7-3 overall series record versus Georgetown and is 5-1 in Patriot League play since the Hoyas joined the Patriot League in football in 2001. Lafayette is 3-0 at Georgetown during Patriot League play. The teams first met Oct. 25, 1902 in a 23-0 Leopards' victory in Washington, D.C. and played in 1922, 1927 and 1937 before meeting every year since 2001. LAST TIME OUT: Lafayette had its way with an outmanned Marist squad in the season opener on Sept. 1. The Leopards scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and pulled away to a 49-10 win while winning their sixth straight season opener. Junior tailback Maurice White ran in two scores while five other players collected touchdowns, as the Leopards matched their scoring output from their last regular-season game (49-27 over Lehigh on Nov. 18, 2006). ABOUT GEORGETOWN: • Georgetown is coming off a 2-9 mark in 2006 after going winless in conference play in the program's sixth season in the Patriot League for football. Georgetown was selected to finish seventh in the Patriot League preseason poll. • The Hoyas are coming off a 35-28 loss at Stony Brook to start the season in which the defense gave up 542 yards of total offense and 349 rushing yards. • Georgetown has made the switch to the spread option on the offensive side of the ball. The offense has the potential to put up big yardage numbers. The Hoyas recorded 359 yards of total offense vs. SUNY Stony Brook, 128 of which came on the ground. • Georgetown returns running back Charlie Houghton, the 2006 Patriot League Rookie of the Year. Houghton carried the ball just twice at Stony Brook for two yards, but made eight catches for 96 yards. • Senior Matt Basseuner is in his second year as the starting QB. He threw for 1359 yards and 15 TD's in 2006. Basseuner was 20-for-26 for 226 yards vs. Stony Brook and also ran for 41 yards and one touchdown. • Senior co-captain Kyle Van Fleet has been a popular target in recent seasons for Basseuner and the fullback reeled in five catches for 88 yards at Stony Brook. PATRIOT LEAGUE OPENERS: Lafayette is 10-7 in Patriot League openers with Patriot League play first beginning in 1990. The Leopards have won their last three Patriot League openers, last losing to Towson in 2003, the Tigers' final year in the conference. A SPECIAL KIND OF PLAYER: Junior wide receiver Shaun Adair has been named the Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week. Adair racked up 111 yards on three punt return opportunities. Late in the first quarter versus Marist, Adair scampered 78 yards for his first career punt return for touchdown (and the longest punt return of his career). He also added another return for 30 yards. On the offensive side of things, Adair made four catches for 73 yards while playing primarily in the first half. Adair was selected as the Special Teams Player of the Week following the Georgetown game in 2006 when he returned a kick-off 90 yards for a touchdown. FIRST IN THE END ZONE: Seniors Anthony D'Urso Brandon Mitchell and Kyle Roeder have paid their dues in their first three seasons at Lafayette playing behind a talented group of upperclassmen. This season, the trio made the most of its opportunity in the season opener, each reaching the end zone for the first time in their collegiate careers. D'Urso ambled in on a 15-yard run in the second quarter, while Mitchell scampered in from 23 yards out in the fourth. Roeder's first collegiate touchdown came in the first quarter on an eight-yard pass from Mike DiPaola. UNDER CENTER: Senior Michael DiPaola emerged as the frontrunner at the quarterback position coming out of preseason and served as the opening weekend starter. He cemented his position with an efficient performance vs. Marist, going 10-for-16 for 124 yards and two touchdowns, while not throwing any interceptions. OTHERS TAKING SNAPS: While Michael DiPaola is the starting signal caller, he will need to continue to perform to retain the starting QB role. Head coach Frank Tavani will continue to get Rob Curley and Josh Jones some quality game reps when opportunities arise, hoping to avoid the situation the coaching staff found itself in this year, with no returning quarterback possessing any significant game experience. DiPaola, Curley and Jones have been asked to take over for the graduated Brad Maurer, who was at the helm of three Patriot League titles and left the school as the Lafayette leader in career completion percentage (60.7%). RUNNING THE BALL: Lafayette had no problem running the ball in the season opener versus Marist. Four running backs carried the ball 243 yards on 42 carries, including a game-high 70 yards for Anthony D'Urso on 11 carries. D'Urso, Maurice White (9-55), Brandon Mitchell (7-57) and Joe Russo (4-39) combined to average 7.1 yards per carry. STOPPING THE RUN: The Lafayette defense stopped the run in a big way, "allowing" Marist to hand off 34 times for a -14 yards. Not surprisingly, Lafayette ranks first in the nation in rushing defense and total defense (86 yards per game allowed) through week one. STARTING FIRST...FINISHING ???: Lafayette has been picked first in the Patriot League Preseason Poll as selected by the conference's head coaches and Sports Information Directors. The Leopards edged the other team in the Lehigh Valley by one point (63-62), with Lafayette receiving six first-place votes and Lehigh five. The last time Lafayette was selected to win the league title was 1995, and the last time the preseason pick won the title outright was 2001 (Lehigh). LIGHT IT UP: Lafayette's season-opening win over Marist marked the first home night game in 126 seasons of Lafayette football. The historic game, which was the first of three home night games scheduled for 2007, was followed by fireworks. Making history at night is not a new feat for Leopard football as Lafayette and Washington and Jefferson played in the first indoor night college football game on Oct. 25, 1930. A crowd of 17,000 witnessed the historic game at the Atlantic City Auditorium. THE DRIVE FOR FOUR: Lafayette has won three straight Patriot League titles. Lafayette shared the title with Lehigh in 2004 and 2006, and with Colgate in 2005. The Leopards have won six PL championships in the 22-year history of the league (1988, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2005, 2006). FRIENDS, ANDY, COUNTRYMEN..: The Leopards' defense is led by junior linebacker Andy Romans. Romans ranked fourth in the Patriot League and 24th in the nation with 9.91 tackles per game in 2006. Romans rang up 18 tackles against Holy Cross on Oct. 21, 2006, one of seven games with at least 10 tackles. He finished the season with 109 tackles, nine for a loss, with and interception and a forced fumble. Against Marist, Romans made four tackles with a sack and a fumble recovery. LAFAYETTE vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: The Leopards have played 332 games all-time against the six fellow members of the Patriot League, and are 169-147-16 (.533) in those contests. Since the Patriot League began play in 1986, Lafayette is 65-49-1 (.570) vs. member schools and has won league titles in 1988, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Lafayette vs. the Patriot League: Bucknell: 46-32-6 Fordham: 18-6-1 Holy Cross: 13-8-0 Colgate: 10-36-4 Georgetown: 7-3-0 Lehigh: 75-62-5 IN GOOD COMPANY: Lafayette has made three straight appearances in the NCAA Playoffs. Lafayette is one of six programs to appear in the 16-team playoff field in each of the last three seasons, joining Furman, Montana, Hampton, New Hampshire and Southern Illinois. Last season, Lafayette faced No. 3 Massachusetts and trailed just 21-14 at halftime before Massachusetts pulled away for a 35-14 decision. In 2005, the Leopards earned the program's first at-large bid and battled eventual national champion Appalachian State in the first round in Boone, N.C. Lafayette entered the fourth quarter tied at 20-20 after leading 17-10 at halftime, before the Mountaineers pulled out a 34-23 victory. Appalachian State went on to win the I-AA championship, 21-16 over Northern Iowa. In 2004, Lafayette led defending national champion Delaware 14-13 in the final quarter before a Blue Hen touchdown, then drove inside the 20 looking for the tying score when a fumble return for a touchdown produced the final 28-14 margin. EARLY OPENER: The Sept. 1 season opener was the earliest start date in program history. The Leopards opened in early October until the turn of the 20th century, in late September until 1970, and traditionally began the season on the second Saturday in September until 2002. Since 2002, Lafayette has opened on Sept. 7, 6, 4, 2 and 13. MISSING THE HURT?: It remains to be seen what impact the loss of tailback Jon Hurt will have on the Lafayette running game. Hurt, the 2006 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, left the school sixth in career rushing yards (2,534) and third in career rushing touchdowns (33). During Patriot League play, Hurt ran for 124.5 yards per game, averaging 6.3 yards per carry, and scored 12 touchdowns in six PL contests. Junior Maurice White, who is a less powerful but speedier, more elusive back, is the heir apparent at tailback. He appeared in 12 games in 2006 and carried the ball 45 times for 282 yards and four touchdowns. He ripped off 55 yards on nine carries in the 2007 season opener vs. Marist. ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE RETURNERS: Lafayette placed 14 players on 2006 All-Patriot League teams and five of those players return in 2007. Seniors Greg Lippert and Jesse Padilla return to anchor the offensive line after second-team selections. Defensively, senior tackle Kyle Sprenkle, senior corner back Adrian Lawson and junior inside linebacker Andy Romans return to the starting lineup. Romans was the only sophomore to earn All-Patriot League honors on defense. ON THE RETURN: The return game looks to be a strong suit for the Leopards this season thanks mostly to the efforts of junior wideout Shaun Adair. Adair ranked ninth in the nation in punt return yardage in 2006, reeling off 14.4 yards per return. On kick-offs, Adair has shown his abilities when the ball is kicked his way. Adair returned a 90-yard kick for touchdown vs. Georgetown (11/11/06) last season. AN OFFENSIVE HISTORY: In 2006, Jon Hurt became the sixth Lafayette player to be named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in the 22-year history of the conference. Joe McCourt (2004), Phil Yarberough (2000), Erik Marsh (1992, 1993), Tom Costello (1989) and Frank Baur (1988) are the others. Marsh is Lafayette's and the Patriot League's all-time leading rusher with 4,834 yards while McCourt ranks second at Lafayette in career rushing (4,474) and Hurt ranks sixth (2,534). LAFAYETTE'S 2006 SEASON AT A GLANCE: The Leopards opened the 2006 season with wins at Sacred Heart (25-14) and Bucknell (31-0), entering The Sports Network poll at No. 25 after the season opener, and moved up to No. 22 the next week on the strength of their consecutive appearances in the I-AA Playoffs. Lafayette then fell on hard times, losing three straight games in which it held the lead or had possession with a chance to go ahead in the fourth quarter, before the bye week on Oct. 7. Then No. 15 Harvard dealt the Leopards a 24-7 defeat the next week, and Holy Cross made it five straight setbacks with a 38-28 win at Fisher Stadium after the Leopards held a 21-7 advantage. Things turned around at Colgate against a team that owned 10 straight victories against the Leopards. The Leopards trailed 7-0 entering the second quarter when Jonathan Hurt went 64 yards with a screen pass for a touchdown, and he later had an 80-yard run to extend the lead. Lafayette's final drive erased nearly nine minutes off the clock and sealed a 27-10 victory. The Leopards then rolled off wins at Fordham (31-24) and vs. Georgetown (45-14) to set up the 142nd meeting with Lehigh which secured the Patriot League championship. The season wrapped up with a 35-14 road loss to No. 3 Massachusetts in the opening round of the NCAA Playoffs on Nov. 25. JOE FULLBACK: Junior Joe Russo has excelled is expected to be an even bigger part of the Lafayette offense this season, after serving as one of the top fullbacks in the league last season. Russo averaged 5.0 yards per carry (27-134) with five touchdowns in 2006 and also caught 14 passes for 76 yards, including a four-yard touchdown catch against Lehigh (11/18). Russo's breakout game was a five-carry, 49-yard performance once Hurt left the field due to injury at Fordham (11/4/06), as he scored on runs of nine and 32 yards on his first two touches. He also scored on a pair of three-yard runs vs. Yale (9/30/06). This season, Russo had four carries for 39 yards vs. Marist. IN THE FRONT ROW: Lafayette placed three of its five starting offensive linemen on the All-Patriot League team in 2006. Two of those players, senior Greg Lippert (LG) and Jesse Padilla (LT) were named to the second-team in their first seasons as starters. Sophomores Michael Wojcik and Ryan Hart-Predmore are in their first years as starters at center and right guard, respectively. Junior Leo Plenski holds down the right tackle spot and also handles long snapping duties. He started six of the first seven weeks in 2006. Junior D.J. Brown started the final five games of the season in 2006 and will be the first center or guard off the bench. RUN THE BALL, STOP THE RUN (2006 EDITION): Lafayette led the Patriot League in rushing defense in league games by a significant margin, allowing only 109.2 yards per game on the ground, with Lehigh a distant second at 148.3. The Leopards trailed Bucknell's spread option offense by less than three yards per game in rushing offense (214.7 to 217.5). LAFAYETTE RUSHING OPPONENTS' RUNNING GAME Rush Yards Avg. TD Rush Yards Avg. TD Bucknell 44 223 5.1 4 41 149 3.6 0 Holy Cross 38 265 7.0 4 31 56 1.8 1 Colgate 34 212 6.2 2 39 142 3.6 1 Fordham 44 163 3.7 2 34 75 2.2 0 Georgetown 36 206 5.7 5 42 130 3.1 1 Lehigh 41 223 5.4 4 30 107 3.6 2 Totals (avg.) 39.5 214.7 5.4 21 36.2 109.2 3.0 4 MEMORABLE DRIVES: Lafayette's 15-play, 81-yard drive in the fourth quarter against Colgate on Oct. 28, 2006 chewed up nearly nine minutes (8:36) as the Leopards sat on a 24-10 lead, and Rick Ziska's 25-yard field goal put the game away. That drive joins "The Drive" among the most memorable in Frank Tavani's tenure as head coach. Here are some of the others: Opponent Plays-Yards Time Run/Pass 1st Downs 3rd 4th 2006 at Colgate 15-81 8:36 14/1 6 0 1 2006 at Sacred Heart 15-81 7:44 14/1 6 2 1 2005 at Lehigh 11-88 1:26 1/10 4 2 1 2005 vs. Bucknell 7-83 2:27 3/4 3 1 0 2004 vs. Lehigh 18-80 7:15 11/7 6 2 1 2002 vs. Lehigh 19-74 9:01 16/3 6 2 2 2000 vs. Princeton 6-80 0:45 THE LINEBACKERS: Senior Mark Plumby, junior Andy Romans and sophomore Mark Leggiero give Lafayette a formidable linebacking corps. Romans, an All-Patriot League selection in 2006, led the team and was fourth in the Patriot League in tackles. Plumby was third on the team in tackles after starting all 12 games. Leggiero saw action in 12 games, starting vs. Penn in place of an injured Romans. He collected Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors after making five tackles against Bucknell once Romans left with an injury DOWN ON THE CORNER: Second-Team All-Patriot League performer junior Adrian Lawson started every game but the season opener at corner in 2006. The Hyattsville, Md. native made 37 tackles, 5.0 TFL and recorded six pass break-ups. Junior Marvin Clecidor earned Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 30, 2006 following the Colgate game after recording the first interception, forced fumble and sack of his career. Clecidor started the last seven games on the other side of Lawson. GOING THE DISTANCE: Lafayette had at least one scoring drive of more than 80 yards in nine of its 12 games in 2006, and 13 drives of that length in all: Lehigh (80), Georgetown (80, 88 and 90), Fordham (80), Colgate (80 and 81), Holy Cross (82), Yale (82), Penn (82 and 99), Bucknell (88) and Sacred Heart (81). Lafayette had only five drives of 80 yards or more in 12 contests in 2005. THE CAPTAINS: The Leopards elected seniors free safety Marcel Quarterman and defensive tackle Kyle Sprenkle as their captains for the 2007 season. It's the first time during Frank Tavani's head coaching tenure that an offensive player was not a team captain. Sprenkle (Thomasville, Pa.) is in his third year as a starter on the defensive line and collected All-Patriot League honors in 2006. Quarterman, a Philadelphia native, is in his second season as a starter ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS: Lafayette has won three straight and four of the last six Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. Brad Maurer '07 won the award in 2006, following linebacker Maurice Bennett '05, Stephen Bono '04 and tight end Stewart Kupfer '02. Maurer was also a three-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II selection and was one of 23 Academic All-District selections in Frank Tavani's eight seasons as head coach. THE LAFAYETTE-LEHIGH RIVALRY: Lafayette and Lehigh met on the gridiron for the 142nd time on Nov. 18, 2006 at Fisher Stadium, continuing the most-played rivalry in all of college football. The Leopards won the first game 50-0 in 1884 and the schools met twice per season through 1901. They met three times in 1891 and did not play in 1896, the only disruption in the series. They also met twice in 1943 and 1944. Lafayette leads the all-time series 75-62-5 (.546) and is 40-22-5 (.634) when the game is played in Easton. The Leopards have won four of the last five meetings, and have won three straight for the first time since 1953-55. AND WE GO TO...OVERTIME: Lafayette has played five overtime games and is 1-4 in those contests. After winning the first overtime affair in 1995 over Fordham (24-21 on 11/11/95), the Leopards have lost their last four OT games (11/18/95 at Lehigh - 37-30; 10/18/97 at Cornell - 41-34; 10/3/98 at Dartmouth - 13-10; 9/8/01 at Towson - 16-13). HISTORIC FISHER FIELD: Fisher Field, now dubbed Fisher Field at Fisher Stadium, has hosted the College's home football games since 1926. The facility has undergone a $23 million transformation that gives Lafayette one of the premier FCS football venues in the nation. New spectator seating has been built throughout the venue, including chairback seating in select areas, and additional visitors seating has been added for a maximum capacity of 13,132 fans. A state-of-the-art in-fill synthetic surface, lights, a press box and a 19-by-35 foot video board were installed, and improved restroom and vending areas were also included. The Bourger Varsity Football House includes a locker room, offices and team meeting rooms, as well as sports medicine and strength and conditioning areas. Now in its 81st season, Fisher Stadium has been host to 393 Lafayette football games with the Leopards enjoying an overall record of 234 wins, 146 losses, and 13 ties for a winning percentage of 61.2%. Of the previous 80 seasons, Lafayette has produced 12 undefeated home seasons with the most recent being the 1992 Patriot League champion Leopards that went a perfect 5-0-- the first undefeated home season for Lafayette at Fisher Stadium since 1970. During the 1991, 1992, and 1993 seasons, Lafayette won 10 straight home games--tying the Fisher Stadium school record for consecutive wins first set 1926 and 1927 in the first 10 games ever played in the stadium. LAFAYETTE FOOTBALL, 126 YEARS OF TRADITION: Since fielding its first college football team in the fall of 1882, Lafayette has had a proud, colorful gridiron tradition on the way to a total of 623 victories. Lafayette ranks 34th among all college football teams in all-time wins entering the 2007 season, posting its first win in 1883 (25-0 vs. Rutgers). Lafayette accumulated 100 victories by 1900, 200 by 1915 and 300 by 1934. A HISTORY OF CHAMPIONS: The Lafayette football program has claimed three national championships -- 1896, 1921 and 1926 -- and recorded five undefeated seasons -- 1896 (11-0-1), 1921 (9-0-0), 1926 (9-0-0), 1937 (8-0-0) and 1940 (9-0-0). Of recent note, the Leopards have won five Patriot League championships -- 1988, 1992, 1994, 2004 and 2005 -- and made their first two postseason appearances in the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs. LAFAYETTE'S FOOTBALL INVENTORS: Two primary elements of the game of football -- the helmet and the huddle -- were invented by former members of the Lafayette football program. George "Rose" Barclay from the class of 1898, one of Lafayette's all-time great running backs, invented the helmet when the "threat of cultivating cauliflower ears" led him to piece three thick leather straps around his head for the 1896 game against Penn. Former Lafayette coach Herb McCracken (1924-35; 59-40-6) devised the first huddle system during the 1924 season after learning the Pennsylvania football team had stolen Lafayette's signals. Lafayette became the first team to huddle before each play and this system was immediately adopted by other teams.
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