Some thoughts following Georgetown's
23-14 loss to Dayton
this past Saturday:
1. Footnote or Bellwether? Many who have followed Division
I-AA football knew that Dayton's
Connor Kacsor was a productive running back who can cause damage in the stat
charts. Still, few would have predicted he would put up 300 yards on a Georgetown run defense
that generally keeps big yardage efforts in check. What happened?
Kacsor was held in check in the first quarter, just 14
yards. But Dayton made no secret that they would run Kacsor until Georgetown figured out a way to stop him,
which it never did. Not only did Kacsor rush for 34 of the Flyers' forty
carries, he rushed nine straight plays
to end the game and 17 of Dayton's
final 20 plays--and still gained yardage!
There is a visible trend in Georgetown's average yards allowed per rush. In the winless
season of 2009, opponents averaged 4.7 yards per carry. By the 2011 season,
that number had declined considerably, to just 2.9 yards. Since 2011, however,
it has been on the rise: 3.8 yards in 2012, 4.4 in 2013. The current average of
5.3 after two games is inflated by Kacsor's numbers, but it bears watching. If Georgetown
is allowing anything like it did in 2009 (and to some degree, 2013), it's in
trouble, if for no other reason that it's allowing teams a much easier path to
the end zone than via the pass.
Connor Kacsor is a fine runner but he's by no means the toughest
running back on the 2014 schedule. If Georgetown
can't regroup from what Kacsor did, watch out for Paul Stanton at Harvard.
2. Week 3 Turnaround?
Marist represents the most competitive game left on the 2014 schedule and the
Red Foxes have struggled on offense, with just seven points in two games.
Marist's pass defense is allowing 230 yards per game, nut more
importantly, a 60 percent rate of completion by opposing quarterbacks. With two
ineffective games from QB Kyle Nolan, the Red Foxes would seem a timely
opportunity for the Hoyas to get back into an offensive rhythm.
Saturday's game may well be decided by time of possession. The Red Foxes were held to just 9:21 in the second half, and you can't win with numbers like that.
Then again, Georgetown
managed just 10:31 versus Dayton
in that same period.
3. C'mon, Really? From the A-10 network, this was the scoreboard
appearance on the A-10 Network feed
through much of the first half:
Bulldogs?
Overall, the Dayton
announcers were fairly objective, save when the Flyers scored, where its color
analyst channeled an announcer at an SEC game. Upon the first Dayton touchdown, he exclaimed "Hot diggity
dog!"
I'm guessing those are three words you won't hear from Chuck
Timanus this season.
4. Schedule Talk: The Dayton
announcers did not that the Flyers will not return the home game to Georgetown
to Georgetown until the 2020 season, in that the Hoyas did not have an open date that worked
for each team until then.
That's good, I guess, but it raises the question--who's on
those future schedules?
A peak at Ivy schedules suggests Georgetown
is lining up a steady rotation of Harvard, Columbia,
and Princeton later this decade, with a home game against Dartmouth (2015) in the mix. Add in six PL
games and that still leaves two early September games each year. As to who they
might be, I'm not sure. Wagner goes off the schedule this year, Davidson might be
happier with an annual clobbering of College Of Faith, and while Marist is an
easy add, is there someone else out there with a Georgetown on its future schedules?
5. 50th Anniversary Dinner. If you haven't heard about it,
Georgetown is hosting a gala dinner
September 19 to honor 50 years of the modern era of the sport at Georgetown, and
to honor the 1964 team that brought the game back to the Hilltop. If you're in
the area next weekend, register now to attend.
