Week 7 Thoughts

Some thoughts following Georgetown's 13-3 win over Lafayette Saturday.

1. Survive and Advance. The second half of this game felt like the second half of the Columbia game in 2016. But was this a reflection of a more conservative game plan, or taking what Lafayette's defense allowed Georgetown to do?

Of Georgetown's 51 rushing or passing plays, there isn't a marked change after halftime:

1st quarter: 6 run, 6 pass

2nd quarter: 13 run, 4 pass

3rd quarter: 7 run, 8 pass

4th quarter: 11 run, 3 pass

There seems to be a pattern that Georgetown did not sell out the run but that Lafayette's front line defense was more likely to challenge the run plays after halftime. Having the lead helped avoid a rush to the air, but this was among the more balanced efforts of the season.

Georgetown's running game is weak by most statistics and it speaks to a lack of depth at the positions. Yes, it would be fun to get Khristian Tate into the line for a few series but his need is on defense. With a lead, the running game can hold its own but Georgetown does not have the talent to live by the run if they fall behind, which is too often. Georgetown has really struggled over the years with the kind of larger back that can do damage, much like Lehigh's Dominic Bragalone (5-11, 225). Jackson Saffold might be that back, but we've heard that before over the years. (Anyone remember Charlie Houghton?)

A fair number of PL coaches may have figured Georgetown was simply going to go "Air Spence" and abandon the run. having a run game these last two weeks has been vital.

2. Defensive Statistics. Some great numbers for the Georgetown defense in this week's national statistics review.

Georgetown enters this week 17th nationally in overall defense, 18th in rushing defense, 10th in team passing efficiency, 21st in scoring defense (points allowed). Georgetown is 54th of 125 schools on third down conversion defense but 28th in fourth down conversion defense.

How do these rank in the conference?

Overall defense is second (Colgate is #3  nationally), rushing is second (Colgate #8 nationally), passing efficiency second (Colgate is #1 nationally) , scoring defense second (Colgate #1 nationally) ...see a pattern here?

Colgate is lapping the PL field and that's OK, but Georgetown's defense is right where it needs to be to give the offense a chance to hold its own. That's not east, but again, it gives the Hoyas a fighting chance, which is why Georgetown is 2-0 in the PL for the first time since 2010.

3. Where Were The Fans? Saturday's announced crowd of 4,657 at Fisher Field sure didn't look that way on video, and the Georgetown side numbered less than 50. That's a topic for another discussion, but PL attendance is down across the board. Here are attendance numbers through Oct. 14:

Holy Cross: 7,616

Colgate: 5,390

Fordham: 5,223

Lafayette: 4,759

Lehigh: 4,478

Bucknell: 2,974

Georgetown: 1,851

When was the last time Lehigh was fifth in the conference in attendance? A 1-5 record will do that to you.

No PL team is even in the top 50. Georgetown's meager seating options places it 120th of 125 teams in average attendance.

4. PL Hot Seat? We don't often think of a hot seat among Pl coaches as we may among other conferences. There are even entire web sites devoted to the subject, with daily updates on the likes of David Beaty (3-15 since the 2017 season at Kansas ), Chris Ash (1-6 in 2018 at dear old Rutgers), Gus Malzahn (where 4-3 at Auburn isn't cutting it if you're making $7 million a year), and Randy Edsall (1-5 in his second tour at UConn).

"David Beaty almost found the right solution to the Kansas football program’s main problem. In fact, he only missed by one letter. Beaty hired himself again as offensive coordinator. He should have fired himself as head coach," writes the Lawrence Journal-World. "Good thing Beaty doesn’t have the power to appoint himself athletic director, because if he did, he wouldn’t last as coach past his third timeout of the first half of his next game — one of those timeouts burned to decide whether to punt, go for it or kick a field goal; another used to get the right number of players on the field; and the third to let one of the coaches of a special teams unit know he’ll handle it from here."

This kind of talk is rare in PL circles, but usually there is one coach getting the sideways glances from its fans - Frank Tavani a few years ago, Tom Gilmore last year, and this year, it's Lehigh's Andy Coen.

Never mind that Lehigh has won the last two PL titles, the Engineers' five game losing streak is sitting well with the fan base. The Lehigh message boards are talking about resignation in the way that folks were discussing John Thompson III two years ago on HoyaTalk.

Look, Lehigh can't go 8-3 every year, even if the PL office would like it that way (just kidding, folks). Lehigh isn't 1-5 because it played Marist and Campbell and Columbia, it played some very good teams in Navy, Villanova, and Princeton, and didn't have the defense to stay in the game. We know what the outcome for Georgetown would be if the Hoyas were playing Navy, Villanova, and Princeton...but at least it would be some opponents our fans recognized.

As far as Rob Sgarlata and staff prepare for this week, Lehigh are the defending PL champs and must be treated as such. For his part, Coen and his staff have to shake it out of his team that Lehigh has run roughshod over Georgetown for 17 consecutive years and the 18th is not a foregone conclusion. A win Saturday won't restore Coen to the front of the Lehigh fan parade, but a loss will set off alarm bells up and down the Lehigh Valley.

It's time for Georgetown to make the most of it.