Lafayette is out with their game notes:
goleopards.com/documents/2022/10/17/LafayetteNotes_Week7HolyCross.pdfAlways get a kick out of the nuggets opponents point out in their notes. For example, Joe Maddon played one season of freshman football at Lafayette before focusing on baseball. Also, Lafayette features the Marquis de Lafayette’s personal motto - “Cur Non” or “Why Not” - on their helmets.
Toplines:
The Match-Up: Lafayette football is emerging from a bye week that also coincided with a brief fall break on campus. The lineup will get a little bit healthier when the Leopards host No. 6/9 Holy Cross on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., part of Homecoming Weekend on College Hill.
D In the League: Through six games, Lafayette's defense is second in the Patriot League in scoring defense (18.8 ppg), red-zone defense (68%), yards allowed (355.2) and net kickoffs (40.3 ypk).
Quality Opponents: Three of the Leopards' losses have come against FCS opponents enjoying quality starts to their seasons. William & Mary (5-1), Penn (5-0) and Princeton (5-0) have a combined record of 15-1 with all three either ranked in or receiving votes in the top 25 polls.
99 X 2: Senior DL Malik Hamm continues to re-write the Lafayette sacks record, adding two more sacks against Princeton on Oct. 8. He now has 28.5 for his career, ranking him as Lafayette's all-time leader and placing him seventh in Patriot League history. He needs a half-sack to move into sixth place held by Georgetown's Alec May '15 (29), and 1.5 sacks to advance to fifth place held by Fordham's Aaron Dougherty '94 (30).
99 X 3: Malik Hamm has blocked kicks in three straight games. He stopped a PAT against Princeton on Oct. 8, an effort that led to Lafayette's only points of the game. At Bucknell, on Oct. 1 he blocked a 40-yard field-goal attempt. That followed a blocked PAT at Penn. Hamm leads the Patriot League and is second in the nation in blocked kicks.
PAT Return: Freshman Byron Johnson returned a blocked PAT for two points against Princeton, the Leopards' first PAT return since Nov. 13, 2004, when Blake Costanzo accomplished the feat against Holy Cross. That season kicked off a run of three straight Patriot League championships for Lafayette.
Year One In The Troxell Era: John Troxell is in his first season as head coach of the Lafayette Leopards. The '94 Lafayette alum returns to College Hill after a 16-year head coaching stint at Franklin & Marshall College. When Troxell first arrived at F&M, the Diplomats hadn't managed a winning season in 13 years. Four years later, after a full recruiting cycle, the Diplomats finished with a 9-2 record and continued to climb, subsequently reaching the postseason on nine occasions.
Leopards fans are hoping for similar results on College Hill as the Maroon and White search for their first Patriot League title since 2013.
Troxell has been a key ingredient in program rebuilds at each of his stops, and his time on College Hill as an assistant coach on Frank Tavani's staff was no exception. He served various roles as the running backs coach, recruiting coordinator and special teams coach from 2001-05. His selection as the recruiting coordinator in 2003 helped kick off a stretch of three straight titles for the Leopards in 2004, 2005 and 2006 that coincided with the program's first three NCAA FCS Playoff appearances.
Prior to Lafayette, Troxell was part of a dramatic reversal at Muhlenberg College from 1997-2000 under head coach Mike Donnelly. He served multiple roles, working as the special teams coordinator (1997-99), quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach (1997-2000) and offensive coordinator (2000). Muhlenberg progressed from a 1-9 season in 1997 to the Eastern College Athletic Conference title with a record of 9-2 in 2000. In 2000, under Troxell's tutelage, the offense ranked 22nd in the nation and led the Centennial Conference in total offense (427.8 ypg) while averaging 31.0 points per game.
Troxell joined the Muhlenberg staff after serving as an assistant coach for three seasons (1994-96) at Columbia University under head coach Ray Tellier, beginning his career path of coaching at elite academic institutions. In 1996, Troxell oversaw a secondary that recorded the third-best passing defense in the country. The turnaround tendency first showed itself at Columbia in 1994 when the Ivy League school recorded its first winning season in 23 seasons. An 8-2 mark and the program's best finish in 15 years followed in 1996.
His first extended stint on College Hill came as a student-athlete from 1990-94, when he earned his bachelor's degree in government and law. Troxell was the starting free safety on the Leopards' 1992 Patriot League Championship team and received the Unsung Hero Award as a senior. He completed his master's degree in sociology and education in 1997 while on staff at Columbia.
Ringing The Bell: Among many changes for the John Troxell era is addition of a bell on the sideline. In lieu of a turnover chain, title belt, etc., Troxell has brought in the bell which a player will ring after securing a turnover or scoring a touchdown or a field goal. Troxell said that it symbolizes the "hard-fought battle" that is football.
Senior WR Joe Gillette, who underwent cancer treatment in the summer of 2022 at the Cleveland Clinic and continues to battle the disease, was chosen to be the first to ring the bell.
"There wasn't one time he ever thought of quitting. No matter how bad it got, he never thought of it. He was here every single day," Troxell told the team. "So when you ring that bell, no matter if it's week 11, 10, 9, it's because you're not going to quit on each other. We'll keep fighting to the end."
Upcoming: Lafayette continues Patriot League play on Oct. 29, hosting Georgetown on Senior Day at 12:30 p.m. The game is also Military Appreciation Day at Fisher Stadium.
Hide the Hankies: The Leopards rank first in the Patriot League in fewest penalty yards (236) and fewest penalty yards per game (39.3). Those marks also place them 12th and 15th, respectively, in the nation.
Opponent: Holy Cross is 6-0 overall and 2-0 in league play. The Crusaders, who are ranked No. 6/9 in the Top 25 polls, are coming off a bye week that followed a dominating 57-0 win over Bucknell. Listing 38 seniors on the roster, Holy Cross also has wins over Colgate (35-10 in league play), Merrimack, Yale, Harvard and FBS foe Buffalo.
Offensively, Holy Cross is averaging nearly 40 points per game. Junior dual-threat quarterback Matthew Sluka leads the offense, throwing for 1,357 yards and 14 touchdowns with one interception. Junior WR Jalen Coker has been Sluka's primary receiver, reeling in 29 catches for 603 yards and seven touchdowns.
Sluka is also the team's leading rusher, carrying 87 times for 480 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Peter Oliver is averaging 5.9 yards per carry on 63 attempts while soph. Jordan Fuller has six touchdowns in 55 carries.
Defensively, Holy Cross leads the conference in points and yards allowed, guided by senior linebackers Jacob Dobbs and Liam Anderson who have combined for 75 tackles.
Holy Cross is coached by Bob Chesney who is in his fifth year with the Crusaders.