The Lafayette College football team won’t be back for a game in Easton until Nov. 8, but the Leopards gave their fans something great to remember them by last week.
In a 62-24 bashing of Bucknell, they scored 60 points in a game for the first time since a 64-0 rout of Lehigh in 1944. They also set a school record with 670 yards on offense.
Their reward is a cross-country trip for a nonleague game against winless Oregon State, which is still a member of the Pac-12 with Washington State after others such as USC, UCLA, Oregon, Cal, and Stanford bolted for either the Big Ten or ACC.
It’s a 10 p.m. start on the East Coast and a nationally televised game on the CW.
The trip to Corvallis, Oregon, is also the farthest west Lafayette has ever traveled for a game in 144 seasons. The previous farthest west game was against Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
While it’s a nice trip to see a different part of the country and face another FBS-level school after a 26-7 Week 1 loss to Bowling Green, the Leopards want to stay healthy and keep getting better with the final four games on the regular-season schedule — all league games — coming up after a bye week.
Lafayette is 5-2, 3-0 in the Patriot League and very much in contention for its second league crown and FCS playoff berth in three years.
“The bye week after this one is really important because it comes at a great time of year,” Leopards coach John Troxell said. “It’s hard to believe, but it’s already Week 8. I mean, the season is flying by. But with a long trip and then coming back home, the bye week will be critical.
“You want to try to get guys healthy for the stretch run over the last four weeks. We’re going to be playing some really good teams with Holy Cross, Colgate, and Richmond coming up before the big one. So we’re looking forward to giving the guys some downtime once we get through this week and want to get them ready for what lies ahead.”
The “big one” Troxell was referring to, was obviously the 161st edition of college football’s most-played rivalry against Lehigh coming up on Nov. 22, this time at Lafayette. Lehigh, ranked seventh in both FCS national polls, is 7-0. The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Oct. 25 at Fordham.
The game is always big, but add in the fact that the two could be playing for a league championship and an FCS playoff berth, and interest might be higher than ever.
But first things first, and for Lafayette that’s a long trip to face a first-time opponent that, like Penn State, has a new coach in interim leader Robb Akey, who replaced Trent Bray after last week’s 39-13 loss to Wake Forest.
It’s a vast challenge for the Leopards, but one they planned to enjoy.
“I think you just have to play with a lot of pride,” said junior defensive lineman Michael Vaughn. “They’re not going to want to lose to an FCS school, so you just have to play your butt off and understand that this is not just a throwaway game for us or a throwaway game for them. We’re trying to win this game as much as any other game on the schedule. So I think that’s the mentality we have to adopt this weekend and just keep pushing forward.”
Running back Ethan Weber, who has filled in nicely for Kente Edwards, agreed.
“This is going to be an extremely high-effort game for us,” Weber said. “One thing I always say in the locker room, whether we’re winning or losing, is to just keep punching, keep attacking, keep getting after them. Eventually, it will break, but it has to be a big effort game for us.”
Lafayette (5-2, 3-0) at Oregon State (0-7)
When/where: 10 p.m. Saturday at Reser Stadium, Corvallis, Oregon.
The storylines: It’s another unique experience for the Leopards, who continue to schedule at least one game per season against an FBS-level opponent. This is the first time since 1993, when they played both Buffalo and Army, that Lafayette is playing two FBS opponents in the same season. The Leopards have won two in a row after a nonleague loss to Princeton on Sept. 27. They have absorbed the loss of running back Kente Edwards to injury with solid performances by Ethan Weber in wins over Fordham and Bucknell. Of special note is that Lafayette recruiting coordinator and inside linebackers coach Andrew Seumalo is a 2012 Oregon State graduate. Seumalo ended his OSU career with 23 straight starts, and his brothers Isaac and Noah are both Oregon State alums, as is his sister, Jessi. With a win, the Leopards would have their first win over an FBS member since beating Rutgers in 1971 and would also clinch at least a .500 record for the third straight season.
Players to watch: Lafayette senior QB Dean DeNobile is coming off back-to-back 300-yard passing performances. Against Bucknell, he was 26 of 34 for 316 yards with completions to eight different receivers. He also had a career-best five TD passes. He moved past 6,000 yards passing in his career and was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. Senior receiver Eli Steward had six catches for 116 yards and is now second all-time at Lafayette in receptions (172) and is fifth in receiving yards (2,178 yards). For Oregon State, redshirt junior Maalik Murphy has completed 145 of 251 passes for 1,653 yards with nine touchdowns. Murphy had previous stops at Duke and Texas. Senior wide receiver Trent Walker has 45 catches for 598 yards, and senior running back Anthony Hankerson has 467 yards rushing and two TDs.
Keith Groller’s pick: Oregon State 38-20
