1. A Bad Loss. No sugarcoating necessary, this was a bad
loss to one of few winnable opponents on the 2017 schedule. Where Georgetown was able to compensate for a weak offensive
showing by Campbell
with a strong defensive showing and a pair of critical turnovers, the Hoyas
could do neither with Marist.
Giving credit where due: Marist is a good defensive team,
but this is the Pioneer League and Georgetown
should have better offensive weaponry than it does. But it does not. Despite a senior-heavy lineup, Georgetown is a slow,
reactive offense whose play calling in recent years is predictable and often under
performing. It's why teams like Harvard and Fordham seemed to key off the Hoyas
in early game series last year.
From 2001 to 2016, the Hoyas have placed just two selections
to the first team all-Patriot league team, but Luke McArdle was a MAAC era
recruit and Jeremy Moore was a return specialist. Put another way, not a single back, lineman,
or receiver recruited since 2000 has made a list that Colgate, Fordham, and
Lehigh have a combined 141 selections during that same period.
Either Georgetown has to recruit better or play better to
avoid the kind of slide it faced last season (dropping its last eight) or what
may befall them beginning Saturday against Columbia. The Lions collapsed in the
second half of a game last year at Cooper Field that they should have won, but
it was the last win for the Hoyas. This is a markedly better Lion team this
year and year three of the Al Bagnoli era at Morningside Heights
Even if we concede Georgetown is not going to win seven or eight games this
season, and we do, the offense has to put the team in position to contend. It
wasn't there against Campbell
and it sure wasn't there against Marist, even with last minute hopes. Georgetown
needs a much better game plan, and much better execution in the next three
weeks to keep the 2017 season from sliding off the page altogether. History
doesn't suggest this (GU is 6-30-1 all time vs. Ivy schools) but that's why
they play the game.
Bottom line: this is not the same Columbia team of the past two seasons. Is
this the same Georgetown
offense?
2. The Little Things. Coaches dread film sessions like this,
because one or two plays may have made the difference. OK, I'll discuss three:
--Brad Hurst's blocked PAT. Never underestimate the power of
special teams. The Georgetown
game plan changed from 14-7 to 14-6, and whereas the Hoyas might have been able
to tie the score and drive for the game winning points at the end of the game,
they were playing from behind all afternoon thereafter.
--Third and 1 at the Marist 49: With 2:53 to play, a stop here leaves the
Hoyas one time out and roughly two minutes to drive down the field. Failing on
this stop eats up the remaining timeout and nearly two minutes of the
clock. The net difference was a mere two
yards for the remainder of the series, but the loss of time proved fatal.
--The final drive: With 15 seconds to go, no timeouts, and the
clock stopped, Georgetown
needed a big play to make a difference. Instead, a three yard dump-off set up
the Hoyas to clock the next down and have one chance for the end zone.
3. The Only Game In Town. Unlikely as it may sound, ESPN College Gameday is broadcasting
this week from New York .
That's received a lot of grief from the chattering class,
given that such events seem best suited to places like Tuscaloosa
or State College or Chapel Hill . ESPN hasn't
exactly said why this is the case (it may be a cost cutting move even with the
costs of Times Square ) but in any event, they won't be in front of a
stadium this week. In fact, there is only one football game in the city that day.
So, no, ESPN is not going to bring out headgear for Lee
Corso to pick the winner of the game, although Jack the Bulldog would look
great on him as opposed to, say, Roar-ee the Lion. But it would offer an
opportunity, however brief, for the sports information folks at both schools to
get in a reference (or two) that these two schools are playing this week amidst
all the other talk of a three hour show.
In short, give them something to talk about. And about that headgear....
