25 Years In: The I-AA Era At Georgetown

No 25th anniversary patches on the uniforms. No "All-Time I-AA Team" in the Washington Post. No wistful recollections of the 1993 Bermuda Bowl ("What happened in Bermuda, stays in Bermuda.")

This season marks the 25th anniversary of Georgetown moving to Division I-AA, a move that was not popular in some quarters of the campus, and by recent results has not been saluted as such. In 24 years, Georgetown is 107-160 in the subdivision some call the Football Championship Subdivision.

One look at those 107 wins tells the story of the last quarter century as well as any. In the first eight years of I-AA, Georgetown won 53 games, or 6.6 per season. In the last 17 years, Georgetown has won 54, or 3.1 per season.

The words "Championship" and "Georgetown" seem miles apart today; even moreso in 1991, where our story begins.

For the better part of two decades, Georgetown football existed in a no-man's land of 27 Division I schools playing non-scholarship football in Divisions II or  III because, well, there was no other place to go. The remnants of the club football era, Eastern schools like Georgetown, Duquesne, St. Francis, Marist, Fordham, St. John's, Wagner, and the like cobbled annual schedules with a mix of these schools and regional Division III schools, many of which were as or more organized than their larger counterparts.

For Georgetown, that meant schools like Catholic, Gallaudet, Washington & Lee, Johns Hopkins, and Franklin & Marshall, playing as an independent with little or no hope of post season play. From 1970 to 1992, the Hoyas were within range of the playoffs just once, 1978, a 7-1 season which fell one game short in a 33-32 loss at St. John's before an announced crowd of 500 at Redmen Field.

In 1991, two disparate forces clashed over the status of these schools. Larger I-A schools saw these schools as bottom feeders and many wanted them to either invest in football or get out of Division I altogether. Across the aisle, Division III schools that tired of the University of Dayton dominating the playoffs of that era (UD won three Div. III titles and was a finalist in two others) and wanted these bigger schools out of their sandbox.

What followed were two proposals: the "Dayton Rule", requiring these 28 schools to either upgrade to Division I (I-A or I-AA) or drop football. The competing proposal would have created a new championship subdivision known as "I-AAA". Divisions I and III supported the former and opposed the latter, Division II opposed both, fearing its schools would see I-AAA as an exit path to share in the NCAA Division I basketball revenue stream.

By 1992, Georgetown had  two choices: up or out. It was not a sure thing which way it would go.

The Hoyas played on the roof of Yates Field House. The team had four coaches, all part-time. Recruiting was, by today's standards, all but nonexistent.  Worse yet, some felt that there as no way Georgetown could cobble together a schedule with regional schools like James Madison or Richmond, much less be competitive. Though Fordham had left the fold in 1988 to play with the Colonial (now Patriot) League, the Rams were hammered at every turn. If Fordham could not make it, how would Georgetown?

Some argued that Georgetown should return to a club format.  Instead, six of the soon to be displaced schools discussed starting a conference whereby they could meet the Division I-AA rule of a minimum five Division I opponents (i.e., themselves) without getting slaughtered on the open market, but still play Div. III schools with the remainder of the schedule, and avoid the spending needed at I-AA's 63-scholarship plateau. "Cost containment football", they called it.

Everyone else called it the MAAC Football League.

Of the 28 affected schools by the legislation, 27 moved up (Santa Clara, a successful and capable Div. II program, folded). One school, Alabama-Birmingham, actually moved to Division I-A. Most everyone east of the Rockies eventually settled in one of thee conferences: the MAAC, the Northeast, or the Pioneer.

In hindsight, the MAAC was good for Georgetown.  Cutting ties with the Scotty Glacken era, Georgetown brought in 29 year old Bob Benson, whose mix of youth and relentless exuberance seemed to send the team's fortunes skyward. He was the youngest coach in Division I football, and saw Georgetown as, in his words, a goldmine. 

"Our football staff inherited a program that was probably one meeting away from being discontinued and very few people who actually cared about the direction the program would take, which was probably why I was offered the job in the first place," he remarked in 2000.

For seven consecutive years, GU's record improved. Four wins, then 5, 6, 7, 8, and a pair of 9-2 seasons at decade's end. The Division III schools pared off the schedule as the MAAC expanded, and a tandem of teams - Georgetown and Duquesne - wreaked havoc on the remaining conference schools. A pair of Patriot League teams joined the schedules in Fordham and Holy Cross, each rumored to be looking at the MAAC if the PL went sour. Georgetown's win over Holy Cross in 1997 was the turning point Benson had sought for five years.

The 1990's were good to Georgetown Football. Recruiting was underway and adding kids that could play at the Division I level. With Kehoe Field bursting at the seams (figuratively and literally), conversations progressed about building a stadium that could accommodate more fans. Benson was everywhere talking up the program.

"I've said since the first day I arrived here, I am not going to apologize for my age," Benson said. "It has nothing to do with my ability. It has nothing to do with my ability to work with people. It's got nothing to do with my work ethic. I think it actually helps me relate to people that are 18 to 21. I have a pretty good grasp of what goes on in everyday life on and off the field and I think it only helps me relate to our kids."

In 2000, Georgetown did something it is often unaccustomed to do - it was proactive. The MAAC Football League had served Georgetown well, with two titles and a modicum of regional respect. But cracks were forming. Siena had dropped football, St. John's had left for a scholarship program in the Northeast Conference, and there were rumblings that the all-sports MAAC schools were discussing de-emphasizing football in order to be more competitive in basketball. Of course, that never works.

"While the winning was happening on the field, in the classroom, and on campus, our players were doing a tremendous job creating a positive image as serious student athletes and quality citizens. In addition, alumni were coming back, giving money, and the Georgetown football program was beginning to get more and more people believing in the cause. Momentum was growing and we began to explore the landscape and see if our football program could make a move," Benson wrote in 2000. "Timing is everything. In the fall of 1999, the Patriot League approached our athletic director with an invitation to join the Patriot League in the fall of 2001. The association with peer institutions, as well as the opportunity to play for an automatic bid to the I-AA playoffs, made the Patriot League a perfect fit for Georgetown."

The Georgetown Hoyas ended the Patriot League era with back to back wins over Canisius and LaSalle by a combined score of 101-13. A new and unfamiliar era awaited.

The Hoyas joined the Patriot League in 2001. Today it is the only original member of the MAAC Football League still playing football.

The intervening years have not been the stuff of legend.

Benson's teams lacked depth and teams picked them apart as a result. After a winless PL season and a 2-9 record in 2001, 2002 saw signs of an upturn. Georgetown won three of its final four to finish 5-6, and maybe Benson had the team in line for a move in the standings two or three years early.

The five win season has been matched just twice since.

A 42-20 win over Cornell in October 2003 gave Georgetown rightful pride of beating an Ivy league team, never mind that the Big Red lost nine straight to end the season and fired its coach. In the 2005 return game, they beat the Hoyas 57-7.

The Cornell game of 2003 was among the high watermark games of Georgetown's PL era.  Luke McArdle  collected 263 all-purpose yards, Marcus Slayton rushed for 113 yards, and the remarkable play of freshman quarterback Alondzo Turner opened up the game and sent a wave of optimism among fans.

"The win over Cornell is the first in a new era of Hoya football where we build a tradition of competing against the schools with which we are aligned academically," wrote one fan on the HoyaTalk board.

"One reason Hoya football failed to gain an audience was because a game versus Iona or Duquesne elicited a response somewhere between "Who are they?" and "Who cares?" amongst students. The move to the Patriot League solved this to an extent but we still needed to start playing the Ivies. We compete with them for admissions, many of our students have siblings and relatives who attended these schools, and we have many students attending graduate and professional schools at these institutions."

"With Yale, Brown, Cornell, and especially our admissions recruiting counterpart Penn on the schedule in coming years, Georgetown football has made a concerted effort to make football a more integral part of our tradition. With a new stadium coming and the new slate of opponents I am excited about this development for my alma mater, which honestly could use more on-campus activities around which to foster a sense of community."

It didn't last. Turner never made it to sophomore year, the stadium didn't arrive, and Bernard Muir gave Benson his walking papers after a sixth straight losing season. For Benson, who was reported to have turned down an offer from Princeton to be its head coach in 2000 to stay at Georgetown, this was his last head coaching position. He is now at Penn

Of the Kevin Kelly era, well, it was different.

Kelly was a lot of things Bob Benson was not. Kelly was a no-nonsense, straight down the line coach, but without the motivational strengths that struggling teams often needed. An experienced assistant with the likes of Tulane, Syracuse, Marshall, and Navy, Georgetown was Kelly's first head coaching job. His only other head coaching job since was a high school team; he has since settled at Bryant as an assistant.

If there were memorable games in Kelly's first four years, it was for all the wrong reasons.  Over a three week stretch in 2007, the Hoyas were outscored 142-20, falling behind to Pennsylvania 28-0 in the first quarter alone. Kelly's first four years saw Georgetown go 5-38, including the school's first ever 0-11 season. It opened with a loss to Lafayette and the bizarre scene of the starting QB's dad yelling in Kelly's face as he exited Multi-Sport Field. It ended 12 weeks later giving up 686 yards to Fordham on Senior Day.

At any other school...no, at every other school, Kelly would have been fired. But there was no one to fire him. Bernard Muir, who failed to do anything with football in his tenure as AD, quit Georgetown for a job at Delaware and the position was vacant for over a year.  In the interim, Kelly hired an offensive coordinator from Hofstra, and Dave Patenaude helped make Georgetown what Elliot Uzelac and Jim Miceli could not: a winning football team.

By 2010, Patenaude had begun to turn the tide. The Hoyas opened the season winning three of four for the first time in seven years, narrowly missing a fourth when Yale scored on the final play of the game in a 40-35 win at the Yale Bowl. Georgetown had scored 83 points in four games versus just 106 the entire 2009 season. The team slumped to a 4-7 finish via turnovers  (GU gave up 58 points off turnovers that season), but the pieces were in place for 2011.

And what a ride it was.  After a rough start with losses to Yale and Bucknell, the 2001 team took off. Wins over Lafayette and Bucknell were surprising, but a 40-17 win over Colgate was shocking. In the (to date) only win over the Red Raiders in the series between the schools.and the largest margin of victory Georgetown had earned against any PL opponent.

A week later, even more surprises. Forcing five turnovers in a snowy Fitton Field, Georgetown upset Holy Cross 19-6, its first win over the Crusaders since the MAAC era. A week later, the Hoyas throttled Fordham, 30-13, its first undefeated record at home in 13 years.

A week later, Georgetown played Lehigh for the PL title and an NCAA playoff bid.

Let me repeat that: A week later, Georgetown played Lehigh for the PL title and an NCAA playoff bid. From 0-11 in 2009, the 8-2 Hoyas were on the verge of a historic event. Lehigh was not impressed, putting up 517 yards for its 10th PL title, 34-12.

"Although we ended up losing the game...it was a step in the right direction," wrote Nick Fedyk. "In a school that loves to ridicule the woes of its football team, the recent success of our program is a sign that things are finally starting to turn around. When passing Multi Sport Facility, Blue and Gray tour guides can no longer make a joke about the ineptitude of Georgetown football."

Patenaude left Georgetown for Coastal Carolina after the 2011 season, and now coaches at Temple.  But four weeks into the 2012 season, there was still enough of the good times for Georgetown to put together its best performance of this era.

The site was Princeton Stadium, a Friday night game broadcast nationally on ESPNU. No, not the video only  ESPN+ or some such Internet only site, but ESPNU, reaching 75 million households. The 2-1 Hoyas had narrowly missed a third win  the week before when it fell in last second fashion to the Elis, 24-21, with the game winning pass was picked off in Yale's end zone.

The game started ominously as Princeton opened an early lead. The Hoyas closed to 14-12 at the half and its defense was as good as it had ever been holding the Tigers scoreless through the third quarter. With its top two quarterbacks injured, third string QB Stephen Skon opened his college career with a  a wild drive to lead 18-14 in the third. Princeton missed three field goals over three quarters, but retook the lead on a 53 yard run early in the fourth, 20-18. Special teams blocked the PAT, and special teams won the game when, following an exciting 15 play, 72 yard drive at game's end, Matt MacZura kicked the game winning field goal with 14 seconds left, 21-20. All of on national TV, no less.

And talk about two ships passing that night.

Georgetown left Princeton Stadium the winners of 12 of its prior 16 games. In the intervening six years, they have won just 15 games and are picked to finish last in the 2018 Patriot League.

Princeton returned to their dorms having dropped nine straight. In the next six years, they have won three Ivy league championships. Princeton is picked to finish first in the 2018 Ivy League.

If the 2013 Princeton game was the high watermark, last season's Harvard game was low tide. The announcement of the game at venerable but otherwise aged RFK Stadium was a promotional boost for the program, complete with one of the larger crowds GU had seen in years (never mind what the official scorer said). Weeks of goodwill were crushed by three Georgetown turnovers in the first quarter, and the place emptied out. Twenty five years of climbing the I-AA ladder were knocked to its feet by a Harvard team that was unchallenged for 60 minutes.

That's not how the story was drawn up back in 1993.

But maybe it was.

Georgetown's I-AA era was based on Benson's early 1990's plan of success--playing peers in the Patriot and Ivy, and staying out of the college football arms race. It hasn't evolved much since, but everyone else has. Outspent by as many as three to one by PL schools that offer 60 full football scholarships, Georgetown has been spending the past quarter century sharpening its knife for what has become a gun fight.  With the Ivies all but giving out full aid packages and PL schools prepping for the likes of for Boston College and UConn on its September schedules, Georgetown still plays Marist every year and can't seem to figure out why that's not enough anymore.

In a 2012 New York Times article titled "Obstacles Nothing New for Georgetown Football", author Tom Flynn spoke of " a mix of frustration and surprise, a microcosm of the history of the program, which has combined flashes of promise with long stretches of futility."

If it knew then what it knows now, was it worth it to Georgetown? Certainly, in the off the field product - hundreds of graduates who became leaders in their families and in their communities are the better for having attended Georgetown and competed for it. On the field, a day and night difference from the MAAC and the Patriot League.

But the road to the second quarter century isn't an easy one. There is still no strategic plan in dealing with "cost containment" in a full scholarship world. Annual giving has plateaued as alumni see diminishing returns. The jokes have returned among the Blue and Gray tour guides.

In Providence author Bill Reynolds' 1989 book on the Big East, he quoted a Georgetown alumnus of the era who remarked that in the 1960's, "It was like they always wanted to have a good [basketball] team...but they didn't know how to go about it." In football, 2018, much the same.

The good news is that the future is what we make of it. If the idea of playing Harvard in RFK Stadium in 1993 seemed utterly impossible, perhaps an annual game with Villanova before 20,000 at Audi Field is equally fanciful. But if you're not in the game, what then? Why does a program that have such potential seem to sit in Georgetown's dry dock?

"In the end, [the program] will be what the university makes it," said former player Rohan Williamson (C'14). [Paul] Tagliabue and President DeGioia actually care about football, so if they want to make it happen, they will.”

If Georgetown can learn from the good and the bad of its last 25 years, there's no telling how far it can travel in the next twenty five. But the road begins with a single step...forward.

Georgetown 2018 Preview: Special Teams

A number of new faces and new roles are in play as Georgetown searches for forward momentum in 2018. As far as special teams go, there is a clear favorite for its kicking duties.

Brad Hurst is the odds-on choice to handle the team's kicking and punting roles this season. His consistency is there, but as far as special teams go, it's a team effort.

Hurst returns for his junior season with a league high 82 punts for a 40.7 average, yet the Hoyas special teams were responsible for a net of 35.7 yards per punt, last among the seven teams. Hurst's 82 punts fell four short of the school record by his predecessor, Harry McCollum, in 2016. That Georgetown is tearing apart its record book by number of punts over the past two seasons speaks to its poor offense, but for his part, Hurst is doing his job.

Hurst needs improvement on PAT's, where the Hoyas were last among the PL teams with 13 for 17 on extra points. As far as field goals, Hurst was 5 for 9 in 2017, fifth among the seven teams.

On kickoffs, Georgetown performed well in 2017 holding opponents from big gains.  Georgetown led the league in average kickoff (63.1 yards) and second in net kickoff coverage (39.6).

One new addition to the kicking battery is freshman Brady Weas, the sucessor to 2018 graduate Warren Wynn and the team's long snapper. In some ways, long snappers are most successful when you haven't heard of them, and that will be Weas' charge in 2018.  high snap or a missed connection with Hurst as the punter or Gunther Johnson on the PAT spells trouble , and the Hoyas can hardly afford either scenario.

As far as special teams coverage, Georgetown has done well given the situations at hand.  The Hoyas ranked fourth in PL games on kickoff returns and third on punt returns. The low point of the punt return effort was on defense, where Harvard returner Justice Shelton-Mosley retuned a Hurst kick 91 yards for a touchdown at RFK Stadium, all but ending the Hoyas' hopes in what may be the last game against the Crimson for a number of years.

As experience and performance goes, the special teams outlook for Georgetown is a lot like last season - a capable unit that won't win many games but won't lose many, either.

Georgetown 2018 Preview: The Defense

For the 25 years of the Division I-AA era at Georgetown, defense has led the way. The coaching of Bob Benson, Kevin Kelly, and Rob Sgarlata were all built around Georgetown's defense, in no small part because the offense had comparatively less in comparison.

Injuries slid the usually stalwart Georgetown offense to fifth among seven Patriot League teams, where the Hoyas gave up 377 yards per game versus a mere 242 yards for its offense. Five of 11 starters from the 2017 team have graduated. leaving lots of questions marks in summer camp but one name at the top of the list.

Defensive Line

After two seasons at Georgetown, junior DL Khristian Tate has become the clear leader of the Georgetown defense, and 2018 will tell whether he can climb to one of the program's very best. At just 6-0, Tate is smaller in height by lineman standards but is quick, has a good sense for the play, and is a tough out when he gets in the backfield.  Tate led the Hoyas in sacks and tackles for loss in 2018, and is just one of two returnees who started all 11 games last season.

As a high school senior, Tate was given a look at Tennessee and Georgia as a fullback, where he rushed for over 2400 yards as a senior. Were Georgetown as well stocked on defense, it might be an option, but Tate is too valuable on the Hoyas' line than to be a two-way player. On either side of the ball, Tate may be the best player on the roster and must be in every game to lead the way.

The line has seen significant turnover from this time in 2017. The pre-season preview from that year looked to names such as Brennan Sawicki, Marquis Parris, Bryan Jefferson Kendall Catching, and Elijah English for the line. Of these, only Sawicki remains, and he moved down the depth chart following injuries. Senior Mike Taylor returns from injury and will compete for the line, and a quintet of sophomores will vie for the starting roles, led by Duval Paul (31 tackles in 2018), Owen Kessler (29), Xavier Reddick (18), Kingsley Umemba (16) and Zach Jewell (3).

Four freshmen join the line but 6-1, 290 lb. Isaiah Byrd could be an contender. Byrd's road to Georgetown was a difficult one, as the Vero Beach Press Journal noted that " life has been hard and all too real for Byrd, who has been technically homeless and bouncing between six different homes since seventh grade." Choosing Georgetown over Air Force and Jacksonville, Byrd has the potential to follow in the footsteps of Tate and a dozen or more impact line players Georgetown has developed over the years.

Linebackers

A pair of rising sophomores lead in retaining a starting position in 2018.

Wesley Bowers (57 tackles in 2017) and Ahmad Wilson (40) fought off injuries and finished the season strong in 2017, and figure to be key contributors in 2018. The Hoyas must replace graduating senior Daniel Yankovich's 72 tackles from 2017, which is likely to come from senior J'Von Butler, who saw action in only four games but is among th4e best athletes on the team. With senior A.J. Schimmelpfennig not returning to the roster, seven underclassmen form the reserves at LB. One to watch will be 6-1 Justin Fonteneaux, a three year starter at Houston (TX) Lamar with 75 tackles as a senior.

Secondary

Georgetown's secondary has been better than some give it credit for, and has saved its bacon in more than one game over the recent years. The Hoyas replace two veteran starters in David Akere and Jelani Williamson, but are in good position with able players ready to step up.

Starters Blaise Brown (66 tackles in 2017) and Ramon Lyons (63) enter their senior seasons as strong leaders in the secondary. Senior Jethro Francois and  junior Leon Agee are capable of moving into the lineup, with sophomore corner Cameron Deen not that far behind. If injuries do not prove an issue, these five may be the most likely rotation in defensive sets, with junior Jalen Goldwire and sophomore Romello Walton not far behind.

Georgetown added only two defensive backs from the freshman class, with Cleveland's Zaire Webb one to follow, having chosen Georgetown over offers from the service academies and walk-on opportunities from Ohio State and Penn State.

The operative word for the Hoyas on defense last season was "next man up". If the schedule takes its toll on this team, and the offense struggles as expected. it's a refrain that we'll hear often in 2018.

Georgetown 2018 Preview: The Offense

The fifth year of Rob Sgarlata's tenure begins as its head coach has the support of the team, the coaches, the athletic director, and the University. What he does not have is wins.

In four seasons, Sgarlata's teams are 11-33 and 3-21 against Patriot League teams, the fewest of any multi-year PL coach since Larry Glueck at Fordham from 1990 to 1993. In the last two and a half seasons, Georgetown has dropped 15 consecutive Patriot League games, a league record. Because of, if not in spite of, Georgetown's quixotic stand against scholarship aid in football, it's not expected to be much better in 2018.

That's not to say Georgetown isn't taking a gamble, however. After four declining seasons of offense under Michael Neuberger, Sgarlata hired Patrick Murphy from Tufts as the new offensive coordinator. Out of nowhere, Murphy quit a month later for the offensive coordinator job at Holy Cross. Next up: Rob Spence.

A former offensive coordinator at Clemson nicknamed  "the mad scientist" by Clemson fans, Spence has been an enigma of sorts.  Despite the accolades he earned under Terry Bowden, Spence has been on the move since 2008...literally. In the last ten seasons he has not stayed at any college program more than two seasons. He served as offensive coordinator at Syracuse in 2009, where the Orangemen finished 4-8 and head coach Doug Marrone named himself the OC the following season. Spence continued on at Temple in 2010, Bethune Cookman in 2011, and Rutgers in 2012, serving two seasons as quarterbacks coach under Kyle Flood, but was fired in 2013.

A two year detour to the high school ranks led Spence to Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2016, where the Mocs finished 9-4 under Russ Huesman. But when Huesman left for Richmond, Spence was on the road again, this time to Morgan State, where the Bears finished 1-10 in 2017. Out went head coach Fred Farrier, and, well, you guessed it, Spence was on the move.

Whether Spence will prove to be the next Dave Patenaude or the next Elliot Uzelac remains to be seen.  What is expected is a pass-dominant offense, something Georgetown could either work very well, or even worse than 2017.

Offensive Line

Georgetown lost three starters to graduation across the line, but with injuries and frequent substitutions in 2017, experience remains.

The tackle positions could be anchored by the Horne brothers, with sophomore Daniel Horne on the left and senior Jared Horne on the right. With open positions at the guard positions, senior Tower Menning and junior Justin Wood are leading candidates in training camp, with senior Randy Crystian returning from injuries suffered last season. Fifth year senior Dominic Scarangella figures to have the nod at center with sophomore Izaiah Thompson as his early successor.

Five freshmen enter the season to compete across the line, but most may be a year away from sustained action: 6-2 Neal Azar, , 6-3 Alex Ederson, 6-4 T.J. Thomas, 6-5 Josh Stevens, and 6-6 Mac Hollensteiner. A graduate of the Landon School, Hollensteiner has local interest while Stevens, from Ruskin, FL, was a big pickup in the recruiting wars last fall.

Georgetown has always fielded a small offensive line by comparison to its opponents and 2018 will be no different. Scholarship football has afforded PL schools the opportunity to build up the size and depth of its offensive lines, but Georgetown remains small by comparison. Lehigh, for example,  averaged 298 pounds across its starting lineup at season's end, Georgetown 286. The Hoyas' OL size ranges from 244 pounds (Theron Cooper) to 307 (Daniel Horne) and  has not shown the ability to open holes for its runners as a result. If that's not a priority this year, it must protect the quarterback, where Gunther Johnson and Clay Norris combined to receive 28 sacks in 2017.

Running Backs

The Hoyas have struggled mightily in the Patriot League era on the ground. Last year's squad was no different, averaging 58 yards per game on the ground and ending the season 120th of 123 teams in the subdivision in rushing.

Georgetown's rushing numbers weren't great but its chief contributors in the backfield have all left: Alex Valles and Isaac Ellsworth graduated, while Christian Bermudez will not return for his senior season. Senior Carl Thomas, with 95 yards last season, is the leading returnee.

Without scholarships, the Georgetown running pool is inevitably small and must rely on speed on the corners through the line to provide any ground game. Of the current candidates, none are taller than 6-0 and most are under 200 pounds, and defenses will play the Hoyas tight as a result. Juniors  Jay Tolliver and Christian Safford will compete for a starting role, while GU only signed one back in the 2018 recruiting class: 5-11 Herman Moultrie III, who chose Georgetown over Bucknell and a variety of Pioneer League schools.

While it remains unrealistic to see an impact runner coming to play in Washington, the Hoyas must keep defenses honest, lest opposing secondaries sit back and double-down on receivers while its linebackers key in on bubble screens out of the backfield. Unfortunately, that may be Georgetown's only option in 2018.

Receivers

Georgetown will carry 11 receivers into camp in 2018, though three veterans stand at the top.

Junior Michael Dereus is the leading returner, with 46 receptions for 596 yards and five touchdowns, third best overall in the PL. Senior Brandon Williams, who will wear the Eacobacci Memorial #35 jersey, only played in eight games but offers another option with his speed and downfield moves. Junior Max Edwards (18-257, 1 TD) is another good option.

The Spence offense may bring new names to the stat sheet. Two to watch may be junior Dijon Williams, who brings experience as a 4 x 400 runner into his skill set, and Skyler Springs, whose father (Shawn) and grandfather (Ron) were each NFL veterans.

Three incoming freshmen are WR candidates, including 6-1 Cameron Crayton, who had offers from a pair of Mid-American Conference schools before opting for Georgetown. Crayton was the only Georgetown recruit listed on the Hero Sports top 25 list for PL signees in 2018.

The tight end position is wide open. Two seniors and two sophomores will compete on the depth chart but it is too son to determine what role, if any, the TE position will offer in lieu of playing with an extra WR.

Quarterbacks

After a frustrating junior year which saw him lose the starting job to Gunther Johnson at mid-season, senior Clay Norris did not return for his senior season, leaving the job to Johnson and four backups, none of whom have played a down of college football.

Johnson ended the season with 1,026 yards passing, four touchdowns and six interceptions, sixth among seven PL quarterbacks and last in passing efficiency with a 94.0 rating.  Johnson was winless in his four starts and struggled in the final three games of the season, where GU's passing yards decreased  in each of the three games and bottomed out with just 101 yards versus Colgate, with six first downs on the afternoon.

Johnson threw for 2,400 yards as a senior in high school and should have the opportunity to match that in 2018 if Georgetown goes all-in on the passing game. He has the skills to do so, but is fighting the odds against injuries, which has been a part of life for Georgetown quarterbacks in the Patriot League. Since 2001, just three Georgetown quarterbacks have gone wire to wire during a season at QB, something that eluded Tim Barnes over consecutive seasons.

Georgetown's best, perhaps only chance in 2018 is 11 healthy games from Johnson at QB. Three backups are available, but with question marks.

Senior Jowan Watson threw for 3200 yards as a high school senior and has not seen any action in three seasons, and did not escape the two-deep in 2017. Another Georgetown player with NFL bloodlines, sophomore Joe Brunell, would also be facing his first college competition if called up; but he is out for the season with a spring injury.  Two freshman, Lorenzo Linsey and walk-on Jack Elliott, may see action as a backup, but it is unlikely. All things being equal, any setback for Johnson on or off the field would introduce considerable uncertainty into an offense that has no room for error.

Expectations For the Offense

Outside of Cooper Field, expectations are low for this offense. The arrival of Spence adds an air of possibility for the offense, which can get yards from Dereus and Williams, if they can get the ball. But without more consistency on the offensive line and a sustainable running game, the Hoyas' offense may be little more to how fast Gunther Johnson can release the ball before he is overwhelmed by stunts and interior blitzes by opportunistic defenses.

Spence's reputation was built on his success at Clemson, but that was over a decade ago. In his most recent season at Morgan State, the 2017 Bears averaged just 204 yards per game in the air en route to a 1-10 season. Adding an extra 18 yards a game to GU's 182 yard average from 2017 won't solve the Hoyas' structural problems on offense. It may, however, be the Hoyas' best hope.

In conference call comments at what used to pass for Patriot League Media Day, Sgarlata remarked that the 2018 Hoyas have to learn to play four quarters of football. The aforementioned last place finish in time of possession was magnified by the fact that Georgetown's time of possession gap increased in every quarter over the course of the season.  If the offense cannot muster consistent drives, time of possession isn't going to get better; hence, the high risk, high reward paradox of a pass-dominant offense.

Whether it was Patrick Murphy, Rob Spence, or someone else entirely, the facts were apparent: change is needed for a Georgetown offense, scoring just two touchdowns over its final five games of the 2017 season. Do the 2018 Hoyas have the ability to reverse this trend, or will the losses continue?

 Coming In Part II: The Defense.