NEW YORK – Columbia begins the Jon Poppe era on Saturday, September 21, when it hosts No. 14/18 Lafayette at Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium. Kickoff is slated for noon ET and the game will be broadcast live on SNY and ESPN+ with Lance Medow handling play-by-play and Shawn FitzGerald '80 as analyst.

OPENING DRIVE
• The Lions open their 154th season on the gridiron when they welcome Lafayette to Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium Saturday.
• Jon Poppe is making his Columbia head coaching debut.
• Saturday begins the 40th Anniversary of Wien Stadium.
• The Lions have a wealth of experience returning, including nine defensive starters, eight on the offensive side and three specialists. Within that group, seven have earned All-Ivy League honors at least once in their careers and three (Joey Giorgi, William Hughes and Justin Townsend) have garnered multiple selections.
• Giorgi is just 30 yards shy of entering the top 10 of the Lions' all-time career rushing list.
• Columbia has won five of its last six season openers, dating back to 2017 and are 2-0 when debuting at home in that span.

A COLUMBIA WIN WOULD...
• Give Jon Poppe his first victory as head coach at Columbia.
• Improve to 17-4 against non-conference opponents since 2016.
• Be the sixth victory for the program over a ranked opponent and first against a top-15 school since 1995.
• Be the 45th win for the program against a Patriot League school.

LOOKING BACK AT 2023
• Columbia boasted a top-10 national defense, allowing just 18.2 points per game last season and limiting opponents to a 66.7 percent scoring rate, which led the Ivy League and ranked No. 4 in FCS.
• On special teams, the Lions led the nation in kickoff return defense, allowing just 12.9 yards per return and led the Ivy League in net punting (36.7).
• William Hughes became the Lions' all-time leader in yards per punt (43.8) after meeting the minimum of 60 attempts in the ninth game of the 2023 season.
• Seven players earned takeaways for the defense. Aaron Brebnor and Rocco Milia tied for the team lead with two each, and both return in 2024.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Lions and Lafayette will meet for the 44th time on Saturday.
• It will be the Leopards first visit to Wien Stadium since 2010, when the Lions picked up a 42-28 victory.
• Lafayette has won nine of the last 10 matchups between the teams.

LAST YEAR'S MATCHUP
The Leopards rushed for 243 yards on their way to a 24-3 victory at Fisher Stadium in Columbia's 2023 season opener.

Columbia took an early 3-0 lead, but Lafayette scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and never looked back.

Joey Giorgi led the offense with 73 rushing yards on 18 carries. Hayden McDonald registered a career-high 14 tackles, while Anthony Roussos added 12, including 2.5 for a loss.

Lafayette was 9-of-17 on third down and 3-for-3 on fourth down for the game. The Lions were held to just 157 yards of total offense and were 2-of-11 on third down.

LAFAYETTE'S STATUS
• Lafayette (2-1) enters this week ranked No. 14 FCS Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the StatsPerform Media Poll in the nation and is coming off a 56-14 victory over Marist (0-2). Lafayette has won two contests in a row after dropping their season opener to FBS program Buffalo. 
• John Troxell guided Lafayette to a 9-3 record last season and won the Patriot League Championship to earn a trip to the FCS playoffs. Troxell received 2023 Patriot League Coach of the Year honors and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award.
• Lafayette leads the Patriot League in touchdowns (13), points (109), points per game (36.3), passing yards (858), total yards (1277), and yards per game (425.7). Dean DeNobile ranks sixth in FCS in passing yardage. Jamar Curtis is leading the Patriot League in rushing touchdowns and is tied for the most rushing touchdowns in the nation. 
• After allowing 30 or more points in its first two games, Lafayette held Marist to 14 last week. The Leopards have been able to force turnovers and lead the Patriot League with four interceptions.
• Lafayette has already proven dangerous in the special teams game with two punt return touchdowns in the young season.

PASSALACQUA NOMINATED FOR WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY
Senior defensive lineman Pat Passalacqua was selected as Columbia's nominee for the prestigious "William V. Campbell Trophy, which is named after former Columbia football player and head coach William "Bill" Campbell '62CC and is awarded by the National Football Foundation to the American college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance. It is considered by many to be the "Academic Heisman" and nicknamed as such. Passalacqua, an Industrial Engineering & Operations Research major, is a two-time captain and has played in the Lions' last 20 games as a defensive tackle.

SUPER SENIORS
Columbia has 12 student-athletes who opted to take a semester off in order to return for a "fifth season" with the Lions, which is tied with Yale for the most in the Ivy League. The group includes a pair of two-time all-conference selections in Joey Giorgi and William Hughes, and 2023 first-teamer Anthony Roussos. Eleven of the 12 were either starters or listed on the two-deep last season. They have been a part of 16 victories in their three-plus seasons with Columbia. 

The Ivy League does not grant red shirts or permit graduate students to participate in varsity athletics, so to preserve eligibility, student-athletes must temporarily withdraw from school for a semester to retain their undergraduate status.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Linebacker CJ Brown and defensive lineman Patrick Passalacqua return as team captains for the 2024 season. Brown and Passalacqua are the first duo to ever serve on the leadership committee in back-to-back years. Brown has been a three-year starter at linebacker, while Passalacqua has played in the Lions' last 20 games as a defensive tackle. Last year, Passalacqua is the first junior to be named a team captain since Alex Gross '11CC in 2009.

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF WIEN STADIUM
The 2024 season marks the 40th anniversary of the Columbia football team playing at Wien Stadium. Saturday's contest will be one day shy of the actual anniversary of the first game at the venue, which was played on September 22, 1984 against Harvard. Columbia has won 67 games in 191 contests in that span. Named for Lawrence A. Wien, 1925CC, 1928LAW, a former Columbia trustee, prominent philanthropist, lawyer and entrepreneur, who donated $3 million to the project before his passing in 1988. In October 2007, Columbia dedicated the playing field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium would be named Robert K. Kraft Field in honor of Robert Kraft '63CC, owner of the New England Patriots and Chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group.

TICKETS
Tickets start at just $13. Click here to purchase game tickets or call 888-LIONS-11
 
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