No more Fordhams or Georgetowns on the schedule – the Spiders have two strong opponents to close the season, starting with playoff hopeful Lafayette.

Lafayette Leopards

Lafayette recently made the playoffs in 2023, nearly knocking off Delaware in a 36-34 defeat. They’ve bounced back from a 6-6 2024 campaign to be squarely in the playoff race with two weeks to play. No matter what, the winner of Lehigh-Lafayette next weekend gets the Patriot auto-bid, and with Lafayette not in at-large contention our game has zero impact on their playoff chances. It does however impact their potential seeding, so don’t expect anything less than their best.

The Leopards will give us a great idea on where we truly stand. Every Patriot League game has been close but most Patriot League teams aren’t very good. How we played against Fordham and Georgetown won’t cut it against Lafayette or William & Mary, so the Spiders have to find another gear in order to close the season strong. This is a big opportunity to knock off a high-powered team and take some momentum into 2026.

Odds

Spiders open as slight underdogs, with the line at Richmond +2.5. Total is 50.5 for a projected score of Lafayette 27 – Richmond 24.

Spiders on Offense

Fast start – Lafayette is great in the 1st half with a +56 scoring margin. We’ve struggled in the 1st half (mostly the 2nd quarter) with a -20 differential despite opening up games well on offense. The past five games we’ve scored four times on our opening drive (three TDs and one FG). A common theme has been a good opening drive or two and then a shrinking of the offense. I’m not sure how many drives/plays we have on our script but we have to find a way to sustain offense beyond our opening calls. We do not want to be playing catchup against an excellent rushing team, so stringing 1st half drives together and balancing out the time of possession is extra important. Starting fast is great, now it’s about building on that to continue offensive success into the 2nd quarter/2nd half.

Quarterback – No official announcement from Coach Huesman in Wednesday’s presser on who will start. If it’s Wickersham we need to see the yards/attempt dramatically improve and if it’s Snelsire we need to keep the yards/attempt high – basically we need to let our QBs loose. A couple Patriot League foes had great success against this Lafayette defense by throwing the ball and allowing that to setup their run game. Georgetown (37 points) and Colgate (42 points) had more passing attempts than rushing attempts, leading to nearly 300 yards through the air and just over 100 on the ground. I’m not saying the run game won’t be important but a concerted focus on the passing game is a proven way to beat the Leopards defense. They’re by no means a bad secondary, forcing multiple interceptions the past two weeks, but letting our QBs do more will raise the ceiling of our offense.

Offensive line – Coach Huesman did not give an update on Gabe Carbajal however he is listed on the two-deep. No matter who plays tackle we’ll have a tall task in blocking #1 Jaylon Joseph. Coming off the edge, his 7.5 sacks rank 2nd in the Patriot and his three forced fumbles are tied for 1st. As a unit the Leopards rank 22nd in the FCS (3rd in Patriot) in sacks forced, including 3+ sacks in each of their last four FCS games. The Spiders had a handful of holdings but didn’t allow a sack to Fordham or Georgetown, our best two-game stretch this year, however the level of competition is night & day. This game will be a true indicator for the level of progression across the O-line.

Redzone – Finally some good news. Three TDs in four trips last weekend and we should have ample opportunities again. Lafayette allows TDs on 60% of opponent redzone trips (T-50 in FCS) but more importantly they allow four redzone trips/game. That ranks outside the top 100, meaning the UR offense could have plenty of opportunities to build on last week’s performance.

Spiders on Defense

The Leopards have real firepower. Excellent rushing attack, efficient on 3rd down, positive turnover margin, and a tendency to score in waves. Averaging 39.5 PPG in FCS games, they scored 42+ points four times, including 62 against Bucknell and 59 against Colgate. The Spiders saw a good running back in Savion Hart last weekend but #26 Kente Edwards is at another level. You can’t shut down their ground game but how much we limit it will be the deciding factor for the UR defense.

Run defense – #2 Patriot League run defense against the #2 Patriot League rushing offense. Lafayette averages 206 YPG (15th in FCS), with that number rising to 240 YPG against FCS competition. The Spiders steadied the ship after an uncharacteristic two-week stretch, now allowing 118 YPG in nine FCS contests. As you would expect, how we’ve defended the run has been a good W/L indicator. In five of our six wins we held opponents under their respective YPG and YPC averages. In two of three losses we’ve done the opposite. The Spiders held Lehigh well below 200 yards and will need a similar effort against an equally strong Lafayette team.

Kente Edwards – The Leopards have two fantastic running backs. Ethan Weber averages roughly 60 YPG along with eight TDs but the feature back is Kente Edwards.

He’s the top rusher in the Patriot by a wide margin and top 10 in the nation in every major category, combining power & speed to carry the Lafayette offense. PFF has great data on his rushing lanes, showing that Edwards picks up a ton of yardage no matter where he’s running.

Plenty of yardage both inside and outside of the tackles along with over 600 yards after contact. There’s no one way to shut him down – this will have to be a group effort and it’s imperative we tackle well.

Coverage – Don’t think that a great running game means Lafayette can’t throw the ball. Even with Edwards’ dominance they maintain good balance, with QB Dean DeNobile throwing for 2,100 yards and 16 TDs. Unsurprisingly, play-action is a huge part of their passing attack. 51% of their 300 drop backs are play-action looks, capitalizing on their rushing threats to draw defenses in. Three receivers have 35+ receptions & 400+ yards, as DeNobile does a good job of using the entire field.

This is what makes Lafayette so difficult to defend. You can’t completely sell out for the run because they’ve got enough weapons to beat you through the air, but if you can’t slow down Kente Edwards you don’t have a chance. Each level of the UR defense must bring its A game.

Interesting to note, Amir Haskett is now listed at safety AND corner on the two-deep. He’s been at safety the entire season but injuries (Stocker) and redshirt limits (Bullock & Washington) have depleted our corner depth.

Special Teams

Some recent struggles for Lafayette special teams, allowing four blocked punts the last four weeks. Outside of Ja’Vion Griffin’s theatrics we haven’t done much in our punt return game, so I could see us being more aggressive towards forcing a block. They have blocked a couple punts themselves, so after a mishandled snap and a slightly deflected punt up at Georgetown we’ll need to be much more crisp tomorrow.

Lafayette’s kicker, Jack Simonetta, was the Patriot League special teamer of the week, hitting a 49-yard field goal and going 6/6 on PATs. Jayden Alsheskie hasn’t made a FG longer than 41 yards but that doesn’t minimize his contributions. He has the second-best FG % in the Patriot League and is tied for the third most makes. Add in being 23/23 on PATs and you’ve got two solid kickers in this matchup. I’m hoping Alsheskie plays well the final two weeks because #58 has a real chance at an All-Patriot League honor.

Next Post

Game 11 – 2025: Lafayette recap – Monday, November 17th