Easton, PA - On Halloween Day,  the Lafayette Leopards must have changed spots at halftime as the two halves played at Lafayette's Fisher Stadium Saturday seemed to feature two different Leopard teams.  The home team Leopards (7-1, 3-0)  scored on it its sixth play of the game on FB Jeff Cumming's one-yard run and then lethargically held off the Bucknell Bison until Marcelo Trigg connected with A. J. Kizekai on a 19-yard TD pass with fourteen seconds remaining in the first half to knot the score, 7-7.  We saw a totally different game in the second half as the Leopards exploded to score on their first four possessions led by QB Rob Curley ( 30 of 35 for 333 yards, 3 TDs, and no INTs).  Lafayette triumphed for a 35-10 Patriot League win to keep pace at 3-0 with fellow front-runner Holy Cross whom they will visit in two  weeks.  But, let's not get ahead of ourselves as the Leopards will host 7-1, 2-1 Colgate next weekend in an announced "Black-out" in Easton.  Our short trip to Easton allowed us to stop in at the College Hill Tavern nearby to catch up on all the scores after the game.  For CollegeFootballFan.com, it was the first Leopard win we witnessed dating all the way back to 1983 in a 20-10 win over D-2 East Stroudsburg.  The Leopards are 2-7 in our annals.  The Bison fell to 1-2.

      In the second period, the game dragged.  Not only could neither team move the ball on offense, but the overcast day was made more dreary by the Lafayette public address announcer Jim Finnen who talked too much, too slow, and who mumbles into the microphone.  He's been doing it for 45 years, but he can put a crowd to sleep.  We suggest the Leopards put somebody with a little more energy behind the mike to infuse some energy into Lafayette games.  The solitude of the game played in front of only 5,549 was suddenly broken by an offensive assistant coach on the LC sideline who screamed at the top of his lungs at his offensive charges sitting on the bench, "Somebody's got to get pissed off at some point!"  His tirade didn't make an immediate impression as his team missed a 44-yard FG on its next possession before Bucknell put together its last minute scoring drive before the half.  We noted though that Curley got in front of his teammates on the bench and exhorted his teammates much more quietly than did his coach.  It would be interesting to know what went on in the locker room during the half, but at some pint , HC Frank Tavani's Leopards changed their spots.

    The Lafayette band entertained the home stands dressed in Halloween costumes playing 60s and 70s tunes.  The drummers in the band , dressed in sombreros and serapes, won the halftime costume contest as the "Mexican Freedom Fighters."  I preferred the guy dressed in pink as a "whoopee cushion."

    The Leopards went on the prowl for 68 yards on six plays to start the second half culminating with a 13-yard TD pass to TE Michael Bolton (an 80s artist whose music the band didn't play at the half) for a 14-7 lead.  CB Brandon Ellis picked off a Trigg pass at his own 18, and Lafayette scored 13 plays and 82 yards later with a Cumming's two-yard run for his second TD of the day. 

     LC's next possession started in the third but ended in the fourth period with Curley's second TD pass for a four-yard score to his other TE Mitchell Bennett for a 28-7 lead.  Bucknell came back thanks to a 70-yard pass Kizekai caught beyond the Leopard secondary until he was caught from behind by Ellis at the four.  Trigg took it in from their to cut the score in half, 28-14.  The Leopards didn't slow down though as Curly led them on a 66-yard drive on 10 plays by finishing off the drive with a four-yard scoring pass to Mark Layton to end the game scoring at 35-14.  The 7-1 Leopards showed us their fire power in the second half.  If they can sustain it over the next two weeks, we hope the game we see on November 21 will have League championship and playoff implications for the Leopards. They have two key conference games remaining in the next two weeks before we travel to Lehigh's Goodman Stadium that day to see the two clash in their 145th meeting in the longest-played rivalry in college football.    We look forward to getting their early for a good game.

 

Extra points:  The main reason we picked this game this weekend was to "sneak up" on former Boonton HS teammate George Farrand whose son Brigham is in his senior season as a DB for the Bison.  We noted during the week that we couldn't come up with his name in recent new articles.  He had ready he returned an INT for a TD against Robert Morris earlier in the season.  On the way out of Fisher after the game,  I asked a BU equipment manager near the buses what became of Brigham.  It turns out that he blew a knee out the following week against Cornell.  He was described as an important part of the Bison secondary.  They could have used him today.  Sorry we missed getting to see him play during his career.

 

 We finally stopped by the College Hill Tavern on Cattell Street close to where we parked.  It's a small local joint with bar food, beer, and multi TVs.  A lot of talk was around the World Series and New York fans and Philadelphia fans.  I kept my mouth shut.  I'm a New York fan, but a Mets fan.  I find myself rooting for the National League again despite the Phillies carrying the senior league's banner.  I caught up on scores and watched the first quarter of Penn State vs. Northwestern.  It's back to State College next week for the Ohio State game for us.