Fordham University Football fell to 0-6 last Saturday, unable to complete a comeback in a 28-23 defeat at the hands of Lafayette College in front of a packed Family Weekend crowd at Rose Hill. But while the first win of the season continues to elude the Rams, the valiant effort indicates that plenty of fight still remains — and perhaps the idea of making some noise in-conference isn’t entirely unmerited.
Following a 63-21 defeat against Monmouth University, optimism was not at an all-time high. The Rams would have to turn their attention to a Lafayette team definitively ranked the best in the Patriot League at the start of the season, receiving 12 of 14 first-place votes in the preseason poll.
Boasting the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in All-American running back Jamar Curtis and an All-American safety Saiku White, the Leopards featured immense talent on both sides of the ball.
With junior quarterback Dean DeNobile, younger brother of former Fordham defensive back Jed DeNobile, and sophomore wide receiver Elijah Steward both making strong cases to be All-Americans at season’s close, stopping Lafayette’s offense would be no easy task.
At the helm was last season’s Patriot League Coach of the Year John Troxell, who had managed to lead a struggling program to the FCS postseason in just his second year by staking a partial claim in the Patriot League title.
Put it all together and it’s no surprise that Lafayette was the consensus pick to repeat as champions.
The sportsbooks that did carry the Week 6 FCS matchup listed Fordham as heavy underdogs, despite having a home advantage. And who could blame them? The margin between the two programs seemed as wide as ever.
Lafayette’s first drive did little to dispel that narrative.
Opening the game on offense, Curtis broke off a 22-yard rush, taking the Leopards firmly into Fordham territory. On the very next play, DeNobile found sophomore tight end Ethan Hosak for a 28-yard touchdown. Lafayette had taken a 7-0 lead in the first five minutes.
Despite an unremarkable first look at the Fordham defense, there was one major difference. Starting at middle linebacker was All-American senior James Conway.
Fordham had endured their fair share of injuries. Junior quarterback CJ Montes, the leading passer in the Patriot League last year, still has not returned from an injury he suffered in Week 3. Both senior running back Julius Loughridge and graduate student wideout Garrett Cody had missed time as well. But perhaps the most impactful absence had been that of Conway, who had recorded more than 125 tackles in each of his first three seasons in the Bronx.
Conway had not played a single snap entering Week 6, but his return had the potential to reinvigorate a struggling Fordham run defense.
He’d have to get right back out there after Lafayette’s game-opening touchdown drive, with the Rams offense quickly forced to punt after a three-and-out.
This time, they were up to the task, tackling Curtis behind the line of scrimmage for an 8-yard loss to force a three-and-out of their own.
Junior quarterback Jack Capaldi, starting in place of the injured Montes for a third straight game, found more of a rhythm, connecting twice with senior wideout Cole Thornton to take the Rams into Lafayette territory.
But any rhythm was stopped dead in its tracks when Leopards linebacker Preston Forney sacked Capaldi, forcing the ball out in the process. De’Marion McCoy recovered the ball, setting up a 21-yard receiving touchdown for Chris Carasia as Lafayette leaped out to a 140 lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Once again, the Rams found themselves trailing early. But unlike previous games, momentum would swing back in their favor.
On the subsequent drive, Lafayette’s sophomore defensive lineman Jaylon Joseph was assessed a flagrant personal foul after punching Fordham sophomore right tackle Owen Deutsch in the midsection. Joseph was ejected from the game, leaving the Leopards without the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
Lafayette, who finished fifth in the FCS last season in sacks per game, was already struggling to force pressure this season following the graduation of Patriot League sack leader Billy Shaeffer. Now they would be left without their top pass rusher for the remaining three-plus quarters.
Fordham capitalized on the penalty, as Loughridge punched in a 9-yard touchdown to bring the Rams back within a score.
Still trailing 14-7 towards the end of the first half, Capaldi connected with graduate student tight end Jeff Ciccio for an impressive 28-yard contested catch that took the Rams past midfield, electrifying the Fordham sideline.
Facing third-and-12, Capaldi scrambled and seemingly slid past the first down markers — but that’s not what the officials saw, ruling him a yard short. Head coach Joe Conlin elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 and his junior gunslinger delivered.
Relying on his legs once again, Capaldi kept it on the read option and sailed untouched into the endzone for a 38-yard touchdown. Fordham had surged back against the reigning champs and entered halftime deadlocked in a 14-14 tie.
The Rams started the second half with the ball and picked up right where they left off, driving into Lafayette territory. The drive eventually stalled out, but freshman kicker Bennett Henderson buried a career-long 38-yard field goal to give Fordham a 17-14 lead at the eight-minute mark of the third quarter.
But Lafayette would not go down quietly. Thanks to a 22-yard reception from Steward and a 27-yard run from Curtis, the Leopards marched into the red zone, retaking the lead on a 1-yard score from running back Troy Bruce.
Momentum compounded for Lafayette as White intercepted Capaldi on the very next drive, taking it back to the Fordham 9-yard line to set up a receiving touchdown for tight end Dallas Holmes. In the blink of an eye, the Leopards had taken a 28-17 lead at the close of the third.
Fordham failed to answer once more, as Loughridge was bottled up on a fourth-and-1 carry.
With time ticking, the Rams needed a spark. And they got one.
The Patriot League’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, senior defensive end Matt Jaworski, blocked a punt with seven minutes left, allowing Fordham to take over inside the red zone. The Rams made sure not to squander the opportunity as Loughridge found the endzone for a second time, cutting the deficit to five.
Lafayette surged back, entering the red zone on a 44-yard run from Bruce, and seemed poised to take an 8-point lead with a 33-yard field goal. But Fordham’s special teams shined again. Sophomore defensive back Nate Lindsey-Gill blocked Jack Simonetta’s kick, which rolled into the endzone for a touchback.
Fordham had the ball with 3:30 left in a 28-23 game, given one last chance to pull out a victory that not too long ago seemed improbable. They’d get all the way up to the Lafayette 30 with 30 seconds to go — but that’s as far as they’d get.
A fourth down incompletion on an endzone shot to Cody sealed the Rams’ fate, ensuring a 28-23 win for Lafayette to open conference play.
The Rams fall to 0-6, but a renewed fight perhaps bodes well for the games to come.
By all accounts, Lafayette is the best team in the Patriot League. There’s a very strong chance every opponent the rest of the way won’t be as formidable as a Leopards team that has their eyes on the FCS postseason and ranked in the FCS Top 25 poll just two weeks ago.
A loss to open conference play does hurt Fordham’s chances of an FCS postseason appearance quite a bit. However, despite the winless start, the Rams’ postseason dreams remain intact as long as a Patriot League title is still in play.
No team has ever won the Patriot League with more than one loss, meaning the Rams would have to win out the rest of the way to even have a chance. And even that doesn’t guarantee a postseason bid.
Last season, the College of the Holy Cross matched Lafayette’s 5-1 conference record, as both schools shared a claim to the Patriot League title. But the Leopards won the head-to-head matchup, giving them the tiebreaker and the automatic bid while Holy Cross’ season came to an end after the regular season finale.
Needless to say, the Rams will need some help. They’ll have to hope that one or two teams can get the better of Lafayette, all the while not having perfect seasons in the conference. And above all else, they’ll need to rally off five straight wins in-conference after being held winless into the month of October.
Loughridge maintained his Patriot League lead in rushing, surpassing the 500-yard mark on the season and scoring two touchdowns for a second straight game.
Meanwhile, Conway shined in his 2024 debut, recording a game-high 13 tackles. He ups his career total to 400 tackles, now just 33 shy of surpassing Holy Cross’s Jacob Dobbs for the all-time record in the Patriot League.
The Rams will turn their attention from one Patriot League champion to another, hitting the road to take on 2-4 Holy Cross, who also staked claim to the title last season. Fordham will look to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Crusaders with kickoff set for 1 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.
