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There were many moments during what has turned into a special 2023 football season that Lafayette showed things were different this time around.

One of the most telling moments actually came after the low point of the Leopards’ season.

As the players gathered on the turf at Fisher Stadium following a stunning 37-34 overtime loss to Colgate on Nov. 4, fifth-year player Marco Olivas addressed many of his teammates on the field before they dispersed.

He was demonstrative and emphatic. The loss, especially after leading 17-0, was not acceptable.

“The message was we have to be better,” Olivas, a two-time captain and all-Patriot League selection at linebacker, said. “When we go out there and we’re not ourselves and we don’t play like we usually play and we’re making dumb mistakes … that’s what happens. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. You can lose. So the message was ‘Alright, remember this and we have to go play Fordham and put in 10 times as much work, prepare 10 times harder and be 10 times more emotional.’ We can’t accept this. In the past, some guys would have been content just having two losses. But no loss is acceptable.”

The Leopards responded to Olivas’ passionate, fiery commentary. They went out and beat Fordham 24-16 to get to 8-2 overall, 4-1 league and put themselves in position to win a share of the Patriot League championship and earn the league’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

All they need to do is beat Lehigh on Saturday at Goodman Stadium in the 159th edition of college-football’s most-played rivalry.

It would be Lafayette’s first league title since 2013 and cap a remarkable turnaround for a program that was 3-8 in 2021 and 4-7 last season.

Perhaps in the past, a heartbreaking loss to Colgate might have deflated Lafayette and ripped apart championship dreams.

But this year has been different from Day 1. This is a team that finds a way to persevere through the tough stuff. The Leopards are 6-1 in games decided by 10 points or fewer. Only a 24-3 win over Columbia and a 56-22 triumph at Bucknell entered blowout territory along with a 42-7 loss at then No. 21-ranked FBS opponent Duke.

They have had to dig deep and find a way either with a clutch drive or a big defensive stop to prevail.

“We knew we would be better, and when you look back at the first press conference we had before the first game, I said this was a season of possibilities,” second-year coch John Troxell said. “We felt we had a chance to be a pretty good football team, but I also knew we had a tough schedule. So, to say I thought we’d be sitting here today at 8-2 I would probably say no. But could we be? I’d say yes. Look back and you see we are 5-1 in one-score games. So, it easily could be the other way, too.”

Troxell points to the intangibles and the stuff that starts in the summer with offseason workouts.

“When you look at all of the things that have happened, a big thing is that the kids have given us a chance,” Troxell said. “Until you get a group of kids to buy in to what we’re doing as a staff and not question what we’re doing, you’re not going to be successful. They believe in what we’re doing. That has been the biggest change. There’s no pushback from the kids. There’s no second-guessing about why this guy is playing. There are no egos. Guys know their roles and our staff has been transparent in explaining what those roles are and why we’ve made the decisions we’ve made.”

The biggest improvement for the team has been on offense. In 2022, Lafayette averaged just 12.6 points and 225.7 yards per game. And the Leopards rushed for just 89 yards per game.

This season, they have scored 27.7 points per game, averaged 357.5 yards on offense and rushed 193.9 yards per game.

A big reason for the improvement has been an experienced, healthier and more stable offensive line that has been intact for every game.

“We can’t take all of the credit,” senior captain and center Mike Barr said. “Obviously our running backs do a lot of work and our tight ends are in the box blocking as well and deserve a lot of credit. But really, having everybody back and being able to stay healthy has been really important. We’ve stayed together as a unit and this will be our 11th game playing together in a row and we’ve been able to sustain the unit and that helps you a lot.”

Sophomore running back Jamar Curtis has benefitted the most from the consistent O-line play. He became the program’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Ross Scheuerman in 2014.

It was Scheurman who ran all over Lehigh in a 27-7 win at Yankee Stadium in the 150th game in the Lehigh-Lafayette series in 2014. He ran for 304 yards on 45 carries that day in the Bronx and was a slam-dunk choice as MVP.

Not since 2014 has Lafayette looked forward to a Lehigh game as much as this one. The game is always considered as its own season in one day. It’s a game in which alumni from all over the country have watch-parties and subdued hostilities and school pride bubble to the surface.

The atmosphere leading to kickoff is electric and a big selling point by both staffs for why recruits should consider coming one of the Lehigh Valley Division I schools.

As an added bonus, a win would be No. 700 in Lafayette history. But the thought process inside the Leopards locker room at Goodman Stadium, will be to just go 1-0 on Saturday.

“This game is special,” Olivas said. “It’s different than any other game in the nation and you don’t really understand it until you’re there on the field and you look around you. You get glimpses of that energy and how people are feeling throughout the week with rivalry week activities. Everybody’s talking about it. But you can’t understand it until you’re on the field and there’s nothing I can compare it to.”

“It’s just great be part of this history,” Barr said. “It’s an awesome experience and the energy is just different than any other game you play all year. You just have to make sure you come to play.”

Lafayette 2023 schedule

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

Sept. 2: At Sacred Heart, W 19-14

Sept. 9: At Duke, L 42-7

Sept. 16: COLUMBIA, W 24-3

Sept. 23: MONMOUTH, W 28-20

Sept. 30: BUCKNELL, W 56-22

Oct. 7: At Princeton, W 12-9

Oct. 21: At Holy Cross, W 38-35

Oct. 28: At Georgetown, W 35-25

Nov. 4: COLGATE, L 37-34 (OT)

Nov. 11: FORDHAM, W 24-16

Nov. 18: At Lehigh, noon