Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Week 10 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts in the wake of Lehigh's 24-9 win over Georgetown this past week and the 2021 season finale upon us:

Sputtering. If one word can encapsulate the 2021 season, this may be it. While no one at Georgetown entered 2021 with plans for the FCS playoffs, an expectation was that the season would show progress. Outside of the football office, it's been difficult to see it.

Georgetown started its first drive of the second half Saturday driving 57 yards in nine plays, the longest drive of the first half. Next four possessions: punt, punt, stopped on 4th down, fumble. Second half: 69 yards in 13 plays, followed by punt, punt, punt, an 4th down. The last four drives consumed 12 plays and eight yards. And the weather was improving in the second half. Saturday's game marked the sixth game this season where Georgetown could not muster 100 yards and the fifth where it could not gain 60.

The offensive line looks beaten up, the rushers look a step slow on every play. Its only returning underclassman  in the backfield has rushed the ball once in the last seven games. The Hoyas eschewed the youth movement this and went all-in on a lineup heavy on seniors, grad students, and fifth years. The results have been underwhelming.

Even head coach Rob Sgarlata dispensed with the usual optimism in last week's letter.

"I was proud of our overall effort and ability to adapt to the challenging conditions," he said. "That being said, our execution was inconsistent."

Execution should not be an issue in week 10. And it is. It's only a tribute to the historic ebb that the Patriot League is in that Georgetown was not swept by the entire league this year. Instead, with five PL teams in the bottom 30 nationally, the Hoyas can do no worse than a tiebreaker over 1-9 Bucknell for last place. Given Bucknell's assignment versus PL titleist Holy Cross this Saturday, that is highly unlikely. But if all Georgetown can do is hang its collective hats on a fifth place finish, it speaks to a season that never led anywhere.

It also speaks to a schedule that was very linear--GU beat two teams even further below them in the ratings (Delaware State, Bucknell) and lost to everyone above them. If the Hoyas play to form, they are slight favorites against a  Morgan State team that has one win all season--Delaware State, by six--the same outcome as Georgetown.

No upsets, no surprises. No momentum.

National Rankings: Georgetown's ranking out of 123 schools entering the final week of play:

Points Scored: 104th

Points Allowed: 88th

Rushing Offense: 122nd

Passing Offense: 27th

Total Offense: 91st

Rushing Defense: 108th

Passing Defense: 31st

Total Defense: 74th

Sacks Made: 110th

Sacks Allowed: 104th

This Week In The Patriot League: Three league games finish the season, with only Holy Cross advancing to the playoffs. If you're old enough to remember when a second place finish was a likely at-large bid for the PL, well, you're getting older.

Lafayette (3-7) at Lehigh (2-8), 12:30 pm. The 157th meeting of this rivalry is certainly at a low point, probably not since 1966 when both teams were this low in the win-loss column. Head coaches John Garrett and Tom Gilmore are a combined 24-48 over the past three seasons and there are probably more than a handful of fans in maroon and/or brown hoping for a "loser leaves town" match, which isn't happening. As to the outcome, it's a coin flip.

Fordham (6-4) at Colgate (4-6), 1:00 pm. The what-if game: what if Fordham hadn't built a ridiculous non-conference schedule with Nebraska and Florida Atlantic?  What if they hadn't allowed a 100 yard kickoff return at home versus Monmouth, a game they lost by three? Is this an eight or nine win team entering the last week of 2021? The Rams aren't Holy Cross this season; otherwise, they were very good and a better team than a 6-4 record. All four of Colgate's wins are inside the PL, but the defense can't stay with Fordham.

 Holy Cross (8-2) at Bucknell (1-9), 1:00 pm: Holy Cross rolls into Lewisburg with five consecutive PL wins by an average margin of 27 points. Bucknell has lost its last three games by a combined 134-26, and Georgetown was the only opponent the Bison were even within three touchdowns in PL play.  With the loss, Bucknell will post its first winless season in PL play since 2005.


Monday, November 15, 2021

A Georgetown Football Milestone



This week's game against Lehigh marked a milestone in Georgetown: the 1000th varsity game.

Football was founded on the Hilltop in 1874 and played its first games against outside competition in 1881 and 1883, but these games are not recognized by the University, as it has set 1887 as the first season of varsity football. So why no recognition from the University for the impending 1000th game? It may be a typo. 

The game notes from Saturday's game with Holy Cross lists the win-loss records of all coaches since 1887, which totals to 521-448-32 (.539), which adds up to 1,001 games. However, the totals (as seen below) count a 2-1 record each for co-coaches John Murray and Bill Nash in 1964 and 1965 when only three games were played between them; thus, the total is overstated by three and the total number of games played entering the Fordham game was 998. 

In recognition of this 1000th game, here are some other milestones along the way:

Game #1: Nov. 2, 1887

Georgetown Field, Washington DC

Georgetown 46, Emerson Institute 6

Game #100: Oct. 24, 1903

League Park, Norfolk, VA

Georgetown 33, North Carolina 0

Game #200: Nov. 20, 1915

Georgetown Field, Washington DC

Georgetown 61, South Carolina 0

Game #300: Nov. 27, 1926

University of Detroit Stadium, Detroit, MI

Georgetown 19, Detroit 0

Game #400: Oct. 8, 1938

Griffith Stadium, Washington DC

Georgetown 33, Roanoke 6

Game #500: Nov. 9, 1968

Brookland Stadium, Washington, DC

Catholic 7, Georgetown 6

Game #600: Oct. 10, 1981

Kehoe Field, Washington, DC

Fordham 24, Georgetown 0

Game #700: Oct. 31, 1992

Cardinal Stadium, Washington, DC

Georgetown 19, Catholic 16

Game #800: Oct. 19, 2002

Fisher Field, Easton, PA

Lafayette 35, Georgetown 17

Game #900: Oct. 22, 2011

Multi-Sport Field, Washington, DC

Georgetown 40, Colgate 17

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Week 9 Thoughts

 Two brief thoughts following Fordham's 41-20 win over Georgetown on Saturday:

 1. Progress? Not This Week. As a writer, I'm probably best known for basketball but when it comes for football, the emotions of watching game are much more visceral. When there's a win, it's a great feeling. When it's not, it hurts more with each passing year because it's yet another opportunity lost to establish this program where it needs to be. And something Georgetown has missed time and again.

 Did I expect Georgetown to win this game. No. Having seen Fordham games online this season, the Rams a superior team for a variety of reasons.  In the end, unless you're Lafayette or Bucknell, 63 scholarships always trumps no scholarships. But Georgetown had a series of plays which would not have changed the final outcome of the game, but would have been the kind of statements that, in week 10, players, coaches and fans should be seeing from a team, and didn't.

 -- With 5:46 to play in the first quarter, down 13-6, the Georgetown defense had one of its best stops of the season, holding the Rams at the one line of a 12 play drive. One play later, Georgetown fumbles the ball. One more play later, it's 20-7. Ballgame.

 -- With 1:04 to halftime, Fordham takes over after a particularly ineffective GU drive which consumed just 23 seconds of the quarter. The defense held as Fordham misses a field goal, but coming out of halftime, it allows a 45 yard pass to set up a score.  After the Hoyas respond with a six yard, 1:24 drive, a pair of defensive penalties sets up a 33 yard run for the score.

 -- Georgetown had two drives that entered the Fordham red zone in the third quarter. Total number of points? Zero.

 The team racked up 100 yards in penalties. This, more than anything, is inexcusable for the most veteran team Georgetown has ever put in a starting lineup in the modern era.  Coach Sgarlata avoided claiming that the team was "improving 1%" every game. Unfortunately, this team needs to improve much more than 1% every week because a 10% change doesn't win games in November.

 There are deep structural reasons why Georgetown doesn't make plans for football in December. But a team that does not win at home isn't going to be successful in any month. A winless home slate in 2021 matches three of the worst seasons in modern Hoya football: 2007 (1-10), 2009 (0-11) and 2017 (1-10). How does this change?

 2. The Future? Not Next Week. Neither the Washington Nationals  nor the Baltimore Orioles were making it to the playoffs this year; in fact, both finished in last place. But September wasn't merely playing out the spring, but making some call-ups and giving young players something that no practice schedule can provide: experience.

 This is the call-up time of the year in football. The season ends in two weeks and a full third of the lineup, including 17 of 22 starters, is gone next year. If you think 2021 was touch, how does 2022 look without Tomas, Saffold, Moultrie, Crayton, Portobanco, four of five starters on the O-line,  two of four starters on the D-line, the entire linebacking corps, Ahmad Wilson, Jonathan Honore, etc.?

 This is the time the staff should give consideration to sitting the seniors and getting as much time as possible for underclassmen to learn game-time experience. Instead, the same 17 seniors are on the starting lineup in this week's game notes. I get it--coaches and players want to win, but this team has some real holes to fill for 2022. Georgetown needs that elusive commodity of experience and since it is not a program that welcomes the junior college or the transfer portal, it's going to be very tough in 2022 for those that remain.

 The last two games are, at best, a coin-flip, and yes, 4-6 always beats 2-8. But the preparation for 2022 cannot start soon enough.

Friday, November 5, 2021

Fordham: When It Was A Rivalry


The 66th meeting Saturday between Georgetown and Fordham harkens back to the days of an old-fashioned football rivalry.

In its heyday in the 1920's, the two teams played before crowds of 30,000 at New York's Polo Grounds. Georgetown's 1965 home game with the Rams remains its on-campus attendance record (9,002 at Kehoe Field) while the 13,568 in attendance for Fordham's 1970 Homecoming game versus the Hoyas remains its modern attendance record as well.

Saturday is the 50th anniversary of one of the more entertaining games between the schools. 

"Georgetown's headhunting defense and booming offensive line exhausted and bowled over Fordham Saturday in a 30-9 homecoming victory before an exuberant crowd of 6,000," wrote the Washington Post following the game on November 6, 1971

A 25 year old Post reporter, Shelby Coffey III (later the editor of the Los Angeles Times and an executive at ABC News) called it as follows: "Like demolition experts  setting dynamite charges under a silo, the Hoyas took a while to crack their objective, but then they brought it all tumbling down."

Georgetown led 10-0 at halftime before second half touchdowns by RB Ralph Edwards and WR Vince Bogdanski turned the tide. Bogdanski's 18 yard reception also saw him collide with spectators who got a little too close to the end zone at Kehoe Field. 

The two teams have played as far back as 1890 and regularly since the mid-1990's. However, Fordham has won 22 of the last 25 in the series, with Georgetown's last home victory coming in 2011. Why?

Fordham spends more on football than any Patriot League school at $7.3 million per year - over $5 million more than GU. That's an advantage on the margin in coaching salaries and player development, but also in recruiting, where Fordham has advantages with admitting recruits Georgetown does not have. There's a plus with scheduling as well, allowing Fordham to play stronger non-conference opponents (including Nebraska to open this season) and use this as a building block for PL play. The Rams have won five straight heading into Saturday's game, averaging 49 points per game in that stretch.

The absence of regular basketball competition has also dampened this rivalry. Fordham and Georgetown played annually in basketball from 1950 through 1979 but since have played just one game since, in the 2007-08 season.

Fordham leads the overall football series 38-23-3. Here are the results between the teams since each school revived football in 1964:

1965: Fordham 34-28 (H)

1966: Georgetown, 27-13 (A)

1967: Fordham, 20-18 (H)

1968: Fordham, 31-6 (A)

1969: Georgetown, 14-7 (H)

1970: Fordham, 39-17 (A)

1971: Georgetown, 30-9 (H)

1972: Fordham, 14-8 (A)

1973: Fordham, 13-0 (H)

1974: Georgetown, 35-7 (A)

1975: Georgetown, 35-0 (H)

1977: Fordham, 40-0 (A)

1981: Fordham, 24-0 (H)

1982: Fordham, 23-9 (A)

1983: Georgetown, 12-6 (H)

1984: Fordham, 28-6 (A)

1985: Fordham, 56-0 (H)

1996: Fordham, 46-6 (A)

1997: Fordham, 42-0 (H)

1998: Fordham, 49-40 (A)

2000: Fordham, 17-10 (H)

2001: Fordham, 48-13 (A)

2002: Fordham, 41-10 (H)

2003: Fordham, 34-10 (A)

2004: Fordham, 36-6 (A)

2005: Georgetown, 24-21 (H)

2006: Fordham, 38-30 (A)

2007: Fordham, 38-31 (H)

2008: Fordham, 17-0 (A)

2009: Fordham, 41-14 (H)

2010: Fordham, 24-19 (A)

2011: Georgetown, 30-13 (H)

2012: Fordham, 38-31 (A)

2013: Fordham, 34-12 (H)

2014: Fordham, 52-7 (A)

2015: Fordham, 38-31 (H)

2016: Fordham, 17-14 (A)

2017: Fordham, 17-9 (H)

2018: Georgetown, 23-11 (A)

2019: Fordham, 30-27 (H)




Sunday, October 31, 2021

Week 8 Thoughts

Photo courtesy Lafayette College

 Some thoughts following Lafayette's 24-23 win over Georgetown Saturday:

 1. Opportunities Lost: If you're new to Georgetown football, the next two analogies may be irrelevant, so apologies in advance.

The first quarter of Saturday's game harkened back to 1997, a game against Duquesne that may have been one of the greatest Georgetown home games of its era. In that game, the Hoyas opened the first quarter with a blocked punt for a touchdown, forced eight turnovers, and won the school's only recognized conference title in a 24-0 shutout of three time MAAC champion Duquesne.   It was one of two seminal games (the other being a convincing 1999 win at Holy Cross) that really got Georgetown thinking it could aspire to be something more than the MAAC, already taking on water by that time.

Fast forward to Saturday, where Georgetown pulled out all the stops--score a touchdown, run an on-sides kick. Force your opponent to a turnover on downs deep in its own territory. Outgain your opponent, at one point, by as much as 138 to 9. Fourteen minutes in Georgetown was up 17-0, the largest margin in a Patriot League game since it clobbered Lafayette 38-7 in the 2015 Cooper Field "re-naming" game.  Ten minutes later, it's 17-14. From then, it was a toss-up, because Lafayette had the kind of talent Georgetown wants to have, but which the PL admissions rules don't agree with.

The fourth quarter of Saturday's game harkened back to 2009, the dimming light of a winless season where Georgetown could simply not get anything right, none more so than in a 14-11 loss to Howard where Georgetown had a first and goal at the two yard line and settled for back to back quarterback sneaks on third and fourth down, netting a grand total of zero yards.

While not as dramatic, the finish to Saturday's game was redolent of a "just don't lose" strategy instead of making a winning decision. The Hoyas had just converted a fourth and six with a 13 yard pass to midfield. Two time outs and 3:15 to play...and yet Georgetown ran a total of six plays in the final 3:08, all to one player (Herman Moultrie). No wonder Lafayette shut it down.

To be fair, if Conor Hunt makes that field goal we'd call it a mastery of clock management. But a career long field goal on the final play of the game is no sure thing, and longer field goal attempts are, by nature, more of a lower elevation kick. Rob Spence's play calling was more favorable to a team that would run out the clock and either take a win or go into overtime.  The problem was that Georgetown wasn't going to overtime.

One more point about Lafayette. John Garrett isn't getting a statue at Fisher Stadium anytime soon and is probably a middle of the pack PL team. But he is embracing a youth movement in 2021 which will pay dividends down the road. The Leopards start a freshman quarterback, return their number 2 and 3 rushers, both its starting wide receivers, and its starting tight end. By contrast, Georgetown loses to graduation two of its top three rushers and its entire starting receiving corps. Which team will be better prepared heading into 2022?

2. When Fordham Was a Rivalry. Since 1984, Georgetown has played Fordham 25 times, winning just three. But Saturday harkens back to a day when there really was a rivalry between the schools.

On Nov. 6, 1971, Georgetown defeated Fordham 30-9 at on a beer-soaked Homecoming at Kehoe Field. "As good as the rest of the team may have looked, it was the defensive line's day as Georgetown's gridders blitzed Fordham's Rams in the Hoyas' first varsity homecoming game in 21 years last Saturday," wrote The HOYA.

 "The Fearsome Fivesome and Friends," Scotty Glacken's various defensive line combinations, did a job on the Rams that will be remembered as a major disaster to the Rose Hill mob for years to come. The Rams netted 30 ground yds. all day, but worse yet, their quarterback tandem of Desmond Lawe and Jim Hurley ended up eating the ball ten times as the overpowered Fordham offensive line couldn't stop the Hoya rush. 

Linemen Bill Brugger (voted the Homecoming Outstanding Defensive Player) and Dave McPhaden also got a rare chance to demonstrate their running ability as they ran back kicks for touchdowns. Even the fact that McPhaden's effort was called back did little to dampen the luster of the day for the Hoya line."

 The game was also known for some hijinks which would neither be anticipated by today's students nor appreciated by the University. 

Early in the fourth quarter, someone unplugged the Kehoe Field scoreboard for laughs. Later in the game, students tried to rush the field before the end of the game. 

Wrote The HOYA: "Some overeager rooters seized this occasion to dismantle the south goalpost, but possibly sparked by the threat of a forfeiture, Georgetown authorities and sundry other restored order; Scotty Glacken and his coaching, staff, stalwart Raymond "Pebbles" Medley and a covey of defensive backs including Leo McGill, Tim Graham and Jim Chesley quickly righted the posts and chased away the imbibers, preserving the day for the Hoyas."

 Expect neither this weekend.

3. D.C. Blues:  If you build it, they still aren't coming. Saturday's game drew an announced crowd of 2,437, with a healthy contingent from Lafayette and the inevitable erosion of student support. Students will stand three deep along the baseline of a soccer  game but they will walk nonchalantly past Cooper Field.

Whatever you think about how soccer is marketed versus the general local deemphasis of football as a distinctly Washington pastime, the calculus on Georgetown students is fairly linear: if you're winning, they support you. If you are not, they don't. It follows a local trend.

Football is 0-3 at home and is 5-13 over the last four full seasons. Gone are the days when students would commandeer a car on the weekend and drive up to see a road game....any road game Their entire experience of Georgetown football is five home games a year, with minimal promotion and scattered results. If GU doesn't do a better job to makes these games an event, the fans vote with their feet.

Football in DC has seen better days. Georgetown is 2-5 entering this weekend, Howard 2-6, Navy 2-6 and the Redskins are 2-6. Only Maryland (5-3) is above. 500, but must play Penn State, Michigan State, and Michigan in the next three weeks.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Week 7 Thoughts

Some delayed thoughts (thanks to a computer crash) following Georgetown's 29-21 win over Bucknell Saturday.

1. Three Numbers, Revisited: Last week, we looked at three statistics which hovered over the Hoyas in midst of a four game losing streak. But against Bucknell, these numbers proved not only favorable, but pivotal for the Hoyas to earn the win.

The first figure was 33.8 is the average number of points allowed to date this season. It was unlikely Georgetown could surrender 33 points and win this game, but they held the Bison to just 21, second lowest this season and the fewest points in a PL game since these teams met in 2019.  It was also just the seventh game since 2012 that Georgetown won after an opponents scored 15 or more points.  For Georgetown to  have won, took a stronger offensive effort and a defensive stop or two, each of which was in evidence on Saturday.

The second number was 1.17, or Georgetown's yards per attempt on the ground to date in 2021, last in Division I. Instead, GU rushed for 225 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.  Even of one removes Herman Moultrie's late game 34 yard run from the total, that's still a healthy number, because it opened up the offense and led GU to a 251 to 162 advantage in the air as well. Bucknell's defense isn't that good and Georgetown's next two opponents are considerably better, but a revitalized run game is good news for the Hoyas' ability to contend.

The third number was 1, as in one interception for the season to date and zero in the previous four games. The Hoyas picked off two interceptions versus the Bison, each coming at a critical time. One ended a Bucknell drive that reached the Georgetown 12 in the third quarter, while the second pick ended the Bison comeback hopes late in the game. For a defense that has had its struggles this season, Saturday was a step in the right direction.

And if you didn't catch this on the game recaps, some deserved recognition for punter Conor Hunt and the special teams: " Bucknell did not a start a single drive past its own 36, and its last four drives had an average starting position of its 18 yard line. Even with its three touchdown passes, BU did not have a single possession in the Georgetown red zone. Georgetown's last four drives had an average starting position of its 41 yard line, two of which netted the determinative scores of the game."

Well done all around.

2. Polar Power: Last week's marquee game in the PL was not at Bucknell nor at Fordham, but a minor-league baseball park in Worcester, where Holy Cross routed the Red Raiders of Colgate, 42-10 before a sellout of 9,508. The site was no accident.

(Photo credit; Worcester Telegram & Gazette)

While Holy Cross could certainly have hosted Colgate and brought in something close to 9,000, the game was a partnership with the City of Worcester and its new baseball stadium, Polar Park, home of the Red Sox' AAA franchise. For a city which once loyally supported the Crusaders in its major college days, the Worcester fan support has ebbed as Holy Cross migrated to the Patriot League. Fitton Field, seating 23,500, hasn't had a sellout since HC left for Division I-AA, when it hosted Boston College in 1986, below. 


The Eagles haven't come back, and at least until the numbers from last week, neither had the community.

The sight lines of a baseball stadium hosting football games are usually poor, whether you're in a minor league park or a Wrigley Field,  where the end zone is a tight fit against a outfield wall. But fans seemed to enjoy it and it's likely this will become an annual event in October, for a game named in honor the late Edward Bennett Williams, a 1941 Holy Cross grad and a 1944 Georgetown law grad. Perhaps  GU will figure into the rotation in future years. 

The game and the turnout also has opportunities for Georgetown as well. The University's effort in scheduling a larger venue for Harvard in 2017 was well meaning but the decrepit nature of RFK Stadium did not draw attendees. As I wrote on this site in 2017, "While traveling on the Metro to the game, a couple interrupted me and asked if I was going to the game. They were tourists from Toronto who had never seen a football game in person and were intrigued. The Blue Line car emptied out after Eastern Market and the couple asked why. Someone added that there are a lot of restaurants there. The couple politely got off at Potomac Avenue for a trip back to Eastern Market, and told me they might stop by the game after lunch. Whether they did, I cannot say, but there were people out there that Georgetown couldn't close the deal on."

The opportunity for Georgetown to take Holy Cross' lead and secure a future game at 20,000 seat Audi Field has been in speculation for years, but without an opponent that could really draw Washingtonians to go to a game.  No offense, but a Patriot League or Ivy League team isn't getting 10,000 or 15,000 people to a Georgetown game. But the amenities are there, at least in 2017, described as "31 luxury suites, 500,000 square feet of mixed use residential and commercial space, and parking for 447 bicycles for the sustainability-sensible crowd." 

"An aging RFK might have been too much for the upscale Washingtonians out there, but [Audi Field] will fit right in."

Neutral site games are not new to the PL (Fordham drew 21,000 at Yankee Stadium versus Holy Cross, for example) but they are new to Georgetown, especially in a city that hasn't supported them since the Griffith Stadium days, and maybe not even then.  Holy Cross' experiment for 2021 proved a success, and offers a healthy conversation at Georgetown for ways to grow the program.

3. Watch the CAA: When last we discussed this, there has been a lot of movement in the western half of Division I-A/FBS: Conference USA teams heading to the American Athletic Conference, others heading to the Sun Belt.  One that seems to be heading in that direction is James Madison, with potential changes to Eastern football.

"Our whole lives changed,” said Mickey Matthews, the former JMU coach who was at Coastal Carolina when that program upgraded to FBS. “And James Madison’s life will change immediately.

Matthews spoke to the Harisonburg News-Record about the secret in full view: James Madison is preparing to leave the Colonial Athletic Association and chase the dreams of big-time football.

"Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern and Georgia State already reside in the conference while Old Dominion and Marshall are expected leave Conference USA to join the Sun Belt at the same time as the Dukes," says the paper.

"So, there’s going to be some transition, there’s no doubt, because believe me, you’re not going to be playing Richmond anymore," Matthews said. "You’re going to be playing some good teams. I watched Coastal Carolina and Appalachian play the other night, and I thought, ‘Man, those programs have better players than James Madison right now.’ But as time goes along, you’re going to get your share of football players."

The most formidable conference in I-AA, the CAA hasn't had to add a team in quite a while. But do they, and if so, whom?

Monmouth is a willing suitor but they really don't fit the CAA blueprint--successful private schools to the south and a collection of state schools up north. Any changes at the seven team Patriot League or six team MEAC put those conferences in serious jeopardy of folding. But if you're Richmond, if you're Villanova, or William & Mary, you're now in the game of musical chairs. Go searching for a replacement team, or start looking yourself? Hunt, or be hunted?

As Big East basketball fans learned a decade ago, there's always collateral damage when teams move, even if it's not your team. The Patriot League may be among the slowest conferences to react, but they need to be paying attention. And so do their fans.


Monday, October 18, 2021

Week 6 Thoughts

 Some thoughts following Holy Cross' 48-14 win over Georgetown Saturday.

1. Three Numbers. If you never saw this game, it wouldn't have taken much to consider Georgetown the underdog, and a considerable one at that. Holy Cross entered as two-time Patriot League champs and are likely favorites for a winner-take-all meeting versus Fordham in early November. Georgetown is none of these and no one will mistake an early win at Delaware State for an early win at Connecticut.

But the numbers aren't just about Holy Cross' dominance but speak to some significant underperformance in the Hoyas this far this year.  It's not about Rob Sgarlata's "the one percent" or even what Sgarlata's predecessor used to call "fanatical effort". Here are three numbers that tell the tale of the 2021 season to date:

  1. 33.8
  2. 1.17
  3. 1

Let's look at each of them.

First, 33.8 is the average number of points allowed this season, 96th among 123 I-AA/FCS teams this season. By itself, that's a daunting number and not a lot of winning programs can  give up as many points and be competitive. But as a comparison to recent Georgetown teams, it's a point of concern.

Here are the average points allowed over the last five seasons:

2019: 16.6

2018: 21.0

2017: 27.2

2016: 23.3

2015: 26.9

In fact, you have to go back to the 2007 season (1-10) for a comparable points per game like 2021. It's compounded by Georgetown's traditionally low scoring offense and, as we noted earlier in this series, the Rule of 15.

If you're giving up 33 a game, you need to be scoring 34, and the last Georgetown team to do that was in 1978.

The defense as a whole has been disappointing. We may see an improvement against Bucknell, if only because the Bison offense is fairly underwhelming on its own (8.5 points per game), but it doesn't address the issue: Georgetown can't be giving up this many points and win games.

1.17 is the number of yards per attempt on the ground this year. That's the fewest of any Division I school, FBS or FCS. Georgetown may not be a run-first offense by any means, but it's not a tenable figure when defenses can sag back in the secondary and let their lines clean up on the ground. 

This is not some indiscretion of youth. While the Holy Cross announce team was charitable in discussing that Georgetown was a very young team, that's not the case in the backfield. Three of Georgetown's four leading rushers are graduating in 2022, and another is a junior. Freshman Naieem Kearney may have a productive future but he certainly can't do it alone in 2022. This may be for a longer term discussion, but while Georgetown is a "young" team, its starting line up is not: ten of 11 offensive starters graduate in 2022, eight of 11 on defense.

Only one Georgetown rusher since 1996 has averaged six or more yards per carry, and not since 2003. The leading rusher in 2021 is at 2.2 yards, which at present is the lowest in the modern era.

Finally, the number 1. One, as in interceptions, as in none since the second quarter of the Delaware State game. Maybe it's not fair to compare this defense to the 2018 defense that combined for a remarkable 20 interceptions in 11 games. Or even 2019, with 12 INT's to its credit.  But one? Georgetown is one of five schools with that statistic, and for a defense which leads by example, it's an abrupt turn of events from the teams which preceded them.

Of these three cautionary numbers, points per game stands at the top. Given Georgetown's offense, the Hoyas aren't going to overwhelm anyone on offense, having scored more than 31 points just three times in the last ten years against PL opponents. Defense gives the Hoyas a chance, but if there 's no defense, there's no chance, run game or not. 

2. Dwindling Coverage. File this away for 2022 off season, but while ESPN+ makes watching the game easier, the lack of coverage overall continues to atrophy across the league.

I noticed that Holy Cross no longer broadcasts the game on radio, and by extension, online. Whether it was the late Bob Fouracre or a student group at WCHC, radio is a victim of streaming. As a student editor told me a few years ago, students don't listen to radio and even he was unaware Georgetown basketball was on it, and didn't know who Rich Chvotkin was.

Bucknell's Doug Birdsong now broadcasts the Bison on ESPN+, with his distinctive voice that could pass for Baylor's frenetic John Morris. The radio still lives in rural Pennsylvania, and there should be a place for it within college football. But the transistor radio of days gone by has become an iPhone. 

And when radio's gone, it's gone. The last Georgetown games on the radio date to the early 2000's. No one has picked up the mantle since, including WGTB, to whom radio is just one extended music set, devoid of news, sports, or comment. I could go on at length about the futility of WGTB as a lost opportunity in engagement within the community, but  here's one: this is WGTB's 75th anniversary, and it will pass without notice in 2021. QED.

3. FCS Conference Realignment: It's dog-eat-dog at the major college ranks this fall, with the SEC biting off two from the Big 12 and the Big 12 biting off three from the American Athletic Conference (AAC). This week, the AAC did its part by announcing it'll take six-six schools from Conference USA to show it means business. The league that once held the football likes of Syracuse, Louisville, and Pittsburgh as fthe pre-2013 Big East football league will now add football names such as Texas-San Antonio, Charlotte, and Florida Atlantic.

The food chain appears to be contained to FBS with one exception: James Madison. The Dukes have made no secret of seeking a status beyond the CAA as did their cross-commonwealth peer in Old Dominion once did.  JMU would prefer the Sun Belt, they of such schools as Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, and Arkansas State, but the Sun Belt may sit this round out. Would the remainder of Conference USA (Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, ODU, Western Kentucky, Southern Miss)  take a chance on James Madison?

Early signs are, as the magic eight-ball says, cloudy. But a future move by James Madison opens a seat in the CAA, and  with it, a question: what Eastern schools would be suitable candidates? Probably not NEC schools, probably not MEAC. A school at full scholarship football and an ability to play at a high-major level, at least as FCS is constructed. 

Georgetown? No. But one or two other PL schools fit that bill. Let's park this for now, but if the Dukes move up, watch to see who pays attention.


Sunday, October 10, 2021

Finishing Touches For Cooper Field


There is a fitting if unfortunate thought that came to mind when learning that Georgetown was delaying the formal dedication of Cooper Field to 2022. We've waited this long, what's another year?

And so, 23 years after first proposed, 17 years its groundbreaking, seven years after the naming gift, and three or four years since everyone figured it would eventually be done,  will come 2022. And there we will be, God willing. 


There will be another time and place to discuss what the lesson of the Multi-Sport Facility saga was. It wasn't what was planned, nor what was promised to recruits, nor donors. The double deck seating and glass-paneled concourse has been relegated to a dusty corner of the archives that collects those grandiose plans of Georgetown that never were.  


Cooper Field arrives as valuable and as needed as ever. In some ways, the project morphed from a grand multi-sport experience to a more utilitarian purpose: much-needed locker room space with seating. And without the naming gift, one wonders where this project (and this field) would be today.

In the interim year, the locker rooms will be busy and the field will be active. But there are some opportunities to add a little extra to what has been committed to, to make the fan experience at Cooper Field an even better one, however distinct from more optimistic eras.  

Here are three thoughts to "completing" what's already completed. 

1. Visitor Seating. What was once a plan for 5,600 seats kept getting whittled down, and as we've seen, the most visible cut in its final product was the removal of permanent visitor seating. But like a lot of things at Georgetown, there's a story behind it. Two, in fact.

Facilities at Georgetown are a Rubik's cube--make one change, and you rearrange a couple more. Cooper Field lies on the axis of one of the last two undeveloped parcels of land on a campus to whom "green space" is a metaphor for overbuilding.  That open trapezoid to the north east of Cooper Field, abutting Regents Hall, is already being eyed for an academic building, while the Harbin patio, just to its south, is a candidate for yet another dormitory project over the next decade.  The academic building and the dorm won't take over field space but the construction equipment required to stage, excavate, and eventually build a multi-story building over 12-18 months (and maintain right of way) could very well have been affected by a permanent seating structure on the east side stands. 



And then the Rubik's cube turns again. For by 2029, which is almost as far away as 2013 is right now, the Yates Field House will be 50 years old, or about 20 years past its usable life. Built entirely out of concrete in 1979, moisture has a way of settling a score with concrete, and leaks have damaged thee facility for years. The University has spent millions to keep it up and running rather than eating the costs of a full rebuild, which could be well over $120 million for a building that cost $7.5 million and took two years to build.  

When this happens, the soccer teams may be temporarily relocated to Cooper Field, which in a football configuration is not wide enough for a regulation soccer field. Not having permanent seats would allow GU to extend the width of Cooper Field from 53 yards to 70 yards--a little on the west, a little on the east. 

(Did I say nothing is easy at Georgetown?)

There is no date for either a new dorm or a new recreation center. A few years, a decade or two. But is there an opportunity to reconstruct what existed on that sliver of land for the last 16 years, that is, temporary seating?

The previous configuration supported somewhere between 600 and 800 seats along the east side, sans concessions or rest rooms. Maybe GU doesn't need that many today, but the ability to have some basic, ADA accessible seating for fans who wants to sit with their team is not only a good idea, but a reasonable one. It's very much a temporary effort which would go away when or if construction takes place, and adds something to the overall feel of the place (and would improve capacity over 4,000 should GU ever schedule a football or lacrosse game where the "lawn seating" would be overwhelmed.)


Temporary seating won't ruin Cooper Field, but might make it a little more like a stadium and less like there's something missing. 

2. Video Board.  When Multi-Sport facility planning was in full force way back when, a video board may have been seen as an extravagance, something for NFL teams., Well, time marches on, and it's not just NFL teams, but most college teams and even many high schools. This is 2021, after all.

And among the Last Amateurs? Every Ivy stadium now has a video board, even the Yale Bowl, that great relic which stands alone as if, as it was once said, to "stand athwart history, yelling "Stop!", at a time when no one is inclined to do so." 

In 2019, Lehigh and Holy Cross became the fifth and sixth PL schools with a video board. The lone PL stadium without one? Cooper Field.

Georgetown's present scoreboard is not as old as the Yale Bowl once used, but it's old. The scoreboard  setup predates football on the lower field, having been installed for soccer circa 1994. 


Now is the time to raise the funds for a video board to debut in 2022. These do not come cheap but there is no better "wow" factor in college sports (or fandom) today than to see a defender or a fan in the stands on a 4K 1080p view at the game.  The planned scoreboard location in the southeast corner of Cooper Field is still there, untouched, and could host a board not unlike that employed by Colgate, below.


And if Georgetown can't or won't find the funds, may I make a modest suggestion? When last RFK was opened for business to feature Georgetown and Harvard, there were two reasonably modern video boards which had been installed there earlier that year for DC United. Sometime in the next two years or so, RFK will be imploded and unless someone takes out those boards, they may go down in the rubble.  Anyone interested in making an offer to Events DC for an early relocation? 


3. Recognition. Outside of a sign on the gate, Cooper Field may be the most generic stadium in college football, with little or nothing on (or around it) that says "Georgetown".  And unlike the cost to being  aforementioned video boards to the field, the ability to bring some visibility to Georgetown football in its own home is relatively low cost effort.

Many high school, college, and minor league stadia use a popular form of vinyl covering known as a windscreen or "privacy fence", which can easily be placed along a wall or fence to promote their teams or, at the very least, its accomplishments. You see this at Shaw Field when Georgetown rightfully salutes the championships of its' men's and women's teams. 


Cooper Field had an ever-generic "We Are Georgetown" wrapping along the sides of the east stands, some of which is still visible but badly faded. Why not wrap that fencing with something specific to Georgetown football? 

These windscreens are not expensive (a 10' x 30 yard roll starts as little as $150 before customization) and easily swapped out--when it's springtime, roll out the lacrosse covering with their recognition.

On first glance, Georgetown football does not appear to have the titles and championship bona fides of its lacrosse or "association football" brethren. What does it have? 

1941 Orange Bowl, check.  

1950 Sun Bowl, check. 

1993 Bermuda Bowl? That might be a stretch.

1997 MAAC Champions.

What the Hoyas lack in NCAA appearances it has in history. Georgetown could take a page from Holy Cross, who recognizes its football greats along the wall at Fitton Field. 


So whom could Georgetown honor? There are 60 football members of the Athletic Hall of Fame, so that might be a big list. There are 26 All Americans (including the five club All-America selections), and that's a number that, when presented over 40 or 50 yards, makes the point to players and opponents alike that some really good players have come through Georgetown, even if most never played at this field.  

Here are the 26, with number and last name:


And that's what this suggests: we recognize those who came before us, we inspire those to join the list. One of the reasons the Athletic Hall of Fame display in the Leavey Center is more impactful than something lost in a corner of McDonough Gymnasium is that it is visible to guests as well as those familiar with the names on those plaques.  Our guests to Cooper Field are, in almost all cases, unaware of those who played here before. Putting their name on a sideline wall at Cooper Field is small but important way of saying thanks, and adds to a story that football at Georgetown has permanency, relevance, and purpose.

So barring war, terrorism, civil insurrection, or another pandemic, next fall we may all be able to gather and salute the conclusion of  this 20 year odyssey. And a little lagniappe wouldn't hurt, either.

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Week 5 Thoughts

 Some thoughts following Colgate's 28-21 win over Georgetown Saturday:

1. Predictable, Part 1: Looking at these two teams entering this game led few, if anyone to suggest that the 18th meeting between the Hoyas and Red Raiders would go the way 16 other matchups did. Colgate has been a rushing team since the days of Mark van Eeghen, and 2021 Georgetown cannot stop the run. But even as Colgate followed modern form with more passes than rushing attempts, the lack of depth on the Georgetown front line took its toll early, and late. 

Colgate scored on each of its first three possessions and that's nearly an insurmountable task for a Georgetown team to overcome. Yes, the Hoyas were never out of it until the end, but you can't spot a team like Colgate 14 points and not be fighting uphill the rest of the way. Georgetown has been outscored 48-9 in its last three games through the first quarter. and the last two games are even more illustrative. GU fell behind Columbia and Colgate 14-0 each, yet combined to outscore them 24-21 and 21-14 thereafter, to no avail.

The Hoyas are traditionally not a comeback team and games like this are evidence of same. Getting to 21-21 at the end of the third quarter was a sign of hope but Colgate's 10- play drive into the fourth quarter, aided by two dumb defensive penalties, put the game away. 

Field position never favored the Hoyas. Georgetown did not start a single drive beyond its 35 yard line, while Colgate had all but two start at the 35 or better and each of its last four.

Whether it was Dick Biddle, Dan Hunt, or now Stan Dakosty, Colgate is a tough out for Georgetown and the matchups never seem to favor Georgetown. It's not likely to change, either.

2. Predictable, Part 2: Through four games, the Georgetown running game is right where it has been for years: near the bottom of the rankings: 121st of 123 in yards per game, and 123rd in yards per carry. 

This is not a statistic specific to Joshua Stakely or Herman Moultrie, it's a team problem: an offensive line that is not opening holes, a lack of recruiting beyond the undersized, overlooked backs that often find their way to the GU backfield, and a lack of play calling when the rush makes sense and when it does not. None of the two RB's have rushed form more than 12 yards in any carry and combine for just 42 yards a game and 1.8 per carry.  Georgetown has averaged more than 5.9 yards per carry in just one game over the past 24 seasons. Opponents scout Georgetown and know this.

Crazy as it might sound, Georgetown is not at the bottom of the PL in rushing, as #122 on the national list is winless Lehigh, with 43.8 yards per game compared to Georgetown's 53.8. But when the Hoyas allow 208 yards to opponents, therein lies the problem. GU;'s next opponent in Holy Cross averages 173 yards a game and 4.8 a carry. Second down and five always beats second and eight.

How does this ever change? It's not easy. Scholarship-caliber running backs do not gravitate to non-scholarship programs, and even those that do aren't looking at the Patriot League. Harvard's Aaron Shamplklin (376 yards) has out-rushed the entire Georgetown stat sheet with one fewer game, and he's not even in the top 20 nationally. In fact, he's the only non-scholarship player in the top 50 in I-AA/FCS among the individual rushing leaders. 

Suffice to say, it's a recruiting target. Lots of good backs come out of the local DC area and Georgetown isn't getting them. The 2022 Hoyas return only two RB's from the 2021 roster: junior Joshua Stakely and freshman Naieem Kearney. The staff has a lot of hope in Kearney, but he can't do it alone.

3. This Week In The Patriot League: Georgetown and Holy Cross are both on bye.  Both Colgate and Fordham figure to reach .500 this week. 

Colgate (2-3) at Brown (0-3), 1:30 pm

Bucknell (1-3) at Lafayette (1-4), 12:30 pm

Lehigh (0-5) at Pennsylvania (1-2), 1:00 pm

Wagner (0-5) at Fordham (2-3), 1:00 pm


Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Week 4 Thoughts

 Some thoughts following Georgetown's 35-24 loss to Columbia on Saturday:

1. Depth. I'll admit I was very disappointed following the Harvard loss for the beat down that the Crimson inflicted, a product of better talent and better coaching. That same fervor was not found in the loss to Columbia. Georgetown's problems entering PL play are much the same as they have always been.

Georgetown remains the singular "one-off" in Division I-AA/FCS because of its inability to recruit the same way 108 other FCS schools do, hampered further by the Patriot League's irrational reliance on SAT scores to reflect "smart" athletes. But even this approach is tested by attrition. The game one injuries of Owen Kessler and Quincy Chinwuko have really hurt the defensive depth of this team. In 2018, the Hoyas' run defense held opponents to 103 yards a game on the ground, but by the first three games of 2021 that figure is now 232.7 yards a game, ranking Georgetown 115th of 123 schools.  

While the experience is there on the starting lineup, the Hoyas cannot control the line. Columbia's ability to get penetration on first down (and an average of 5.5 yards per carry) afforded it a lot more opportunity to control the clock as it did on the consequential fourth down drive. That's a point of concern entering Saturday's game, where Colgate   ranks eighth nationally in average yards per carry at 4.02. The Red Raiders rushed 44 times last weekend versus Lehigh for an average of 6.4 yards a carry and was 5-5 in the red zone. 

Colgate was outscored 102-10 in its first three games (Boston College, Stony Brook, William & Mary) but its 30-3 win over Lehigh may have turned a corner. If they stay on the ground, the Georgetown line has a lot of heat coming their way, much of that a measure of depth and lack of experience. 

Depth is again evident across the line in a Georgetown rushing game that is really not producing. The Hoyas' 1.6 yards per carry is 122nd of 123 schools by average and by yards per game. Colgate's numbers are skewed by BC and William & Mary, but they held Lehigh to 55 yards on 26 carries and that won't be enough Saturday.

Far, far removed from Georgetown, think of this example--why is Alabama so good? Look at the depth. The Crimson Tide can lose Jaylen Waddle, Patrick Surtain, DeVonta Smith, Mac Jones, Alex Leatherwood, Najee Harris (all in the first 20 picks of the 2021 NFL first round) and it's next man up, and the Tide still rolls. 

Coach Sgarlata likes to say "win, or learn". Without depth, there's a lot to learn.

2. A Great Debut. The Patriot League chose not to award QB Pierce Holley its offensive player of the week, and they missed on this one. One would be hard pressed at any level to find an example of a quarterback in his first collegiate start throwing for 368 yards.

Holley was ably assisted by a command performance from senior Cameron Crayton, whose 190 yards receiving has been topped by only four other men in school history. No recency bias here - this was an outstanding effort and probably the most impactful wide receiver output since Luke McArdle's 190 yards receiving and 182 yards punt return yardage against Cornell in 2003. 

For its part, Columbia had no film on Holley and probably didn't even practice with him in mind, as Tyler Knoop finished the Harvard game. Colgate has the game film and I expect them to be more aggressive on Holley, especially as he rolls out, than the Lions were in that game.

How long Holley stays in the lineup is unknown outside McDonough Gym. The extent of Joe Brunell's ankle injury is, like most things Georgetown, undisclosed. As  junior, Holley made a statement with the effort in the Columbia game, and should be a point of emphasis to see if he can maintain an improved passing game Saturday versus Colgate,  especially if the ground game flatlines.

3. Nobody's Coming  Home: What's the saying, "don't do anything that you wouldn't feel comfortable reading about in the newspaper the next day? Such was Georgetown's "abundance of caution" mantra in canceling Homecoming this year, despite a COVID-19 positivity rate of 0.2 percent in last week's testing protocols.

It's one of the few schools to take this approach. One sees the large crowds in college football elsewhere without any widespread infections that have follow, but GU has been erring on the side of canceling visible events outside the student body - (Reunion, graduate school events, Alumni Association weekends, etc.) but still maintaining student centered events like New Student Orientation.

It's not clear how many would have shown up anyway given the East Coast's more COVID-averse gathering than its western and southern neighbors--even Howard is canceling its Yardfest that often outdraws the football game itself. Homecoming at Big Ten and SEC schools continue unabated.

And while this decision was made months ago, an unusual confluence with another health event supports the idea that this may not be  the weekend to be on campus.

"More than one hundred students, faculty and staff on Georgetown University’s campus have reported nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps,  all symptoms that could be consistent with norovirus, officials said Monday, " read the Sept. 27 Washington Post. "University leaders first reported the gastrointestinal illness Sept. 21, after about 12 students on the main campus in Northwest Washington reported severe stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea. Days later, that number grew to 90 and “fewer than 15” people had been transported to emergency rooms, officials said. As of Monday, 130 students and employees had reported some combination of symptoms."

The last outbreak of norovirus (formerly called "food poisoning") took place 13 years ago this week and forced the  cancellation of the Colgate-Georgetown game. No such prognosis this time around, but the presence of thousands of recent grads in close quarters during Homecoming would have been a risk factor to spread norovirus and some nasty symptoms, among them the aforementioned vomiting and diarrhea.

A safer Homecoming in 2022 awaits.

4. This Week In The Patriot League: The league went 3-3 last week an are now 6-18 in non-conference play to date. Games include the following, all of which may be found on ESPN+.

Yale (1-1) at Lehigh (0-4), 12 noon

Colgate (1-3) at Georgetown (1-2), 12:30

Harvard (2-0) at Holy Cross (3-1), 1:30

Cornell (0-2) at Bucknell (0-3), 3:30

Fordham (1-3) at Lafayette (1-3), 3:30


Monday, September 20, 2021

Week 3 Thoughts

Some thoughts following Georgetown's 44-9 loss to Harvard Saturday:

1. Unpopular Opinion, But...Why are we playing Harvard?

Maybe the question is not exactly why, but why still. Yes, I'm familiar with the obvious answers (Ivy League school, prestige, it's in the fight song, etc.), but why still?

In five games, this has not been a fair fight. Harvard has outscored Georgetown 195 to 31, and the game is even more pronounced in halftime when the Crimson go into cruise control: in five first halves, the difference is 136-21.

These mismatches (including the last two by a combined 85-11) are not so much a reflection of Georgetown as it is that Harvard recruits at a much higher level of talent and the results are on the field. In 2021 there are six former Harvard players in the NFL--the other seven Ivy schools combined for just seven. That extra spring in the step of a Aidan Borguet or Aaron Shampklin is part of a Harvard recruiting system that if doesn't put the other Ivies to shame, at least it gives them pause. It's the only Ivy program that can make a credible offer that four years for the Crimson could offer pro opportunities in addition to its education. It's also the Ivy that can offer a recruit practically a free ride to nearly every recruit.

Yes, Harvard traditionally starts off its season strong. The Crimson are an astounding 120-45-2 in season openers. But a slower, less offensively minded Georgetown team is tailor-made for Harvard to get up early and run away. A 13-9 score midway in the first quarter was hopeful, but as soon as Harvard scored on its next two possession, the die was cast.

Yes, playing Harvard in week 3 is more appropriate than, say, a 69-0 win over Catholic. But 2021 Georgetown isn't competitive with the style of play Harvard offers, any more than 2021 Georgetown could stay within range of an Army team that would run the triple option for 45 minutes a game. It's just not a game Georgetown is competitively suited for, and that speaks to the regular disparity in the scores.  The Hoyas are no closer to staying with the Crimson as they were in 2014, when they lost 34-3 at the former Multi Sport Field.

Yes, Georgetown will still return Tim Murphy's phone calls because it's Harvard. For Tim Murphy, it is a nice recruiting trip and a safe win. Emphasis on both.

2. Points Matter: Georgetown's offense was curtailed yet again Saturday, especially on the ground. But despite some stellar defensive ply, nine points doesn't win many football games. And with the possible exception of Bucknell, no other PL team scores as few points as Georgetown.

It leads to what I call the Rule of 15: Since 2012, Georgetown has averaged just 15.4 points per game. In games where it allows fewer than 15 points, Georgetown is 23-4.

In games where it allows more than 15 points, Georgetown is 6-56.

Two touchdowns a game is just not enough in the current era of college football. Through two games, Georgetown is averaging 14.5 points a game, 102nd of 122 schools. A smaller offensive line, smaller running backs, and a lack of time for the quarterback are all contributory factors but it puts a lot of pressure on the defense.  The offensive staff has to find a way to be more aggressive down the field to get points earlier in a game. Interceptions aren't good, but neither is ranking 117th nationally in red zone penetrations, which just five on the season to date.

3. Around the Patriot League: What a mess.

Holy Cross (2-1) and Georgetown (1-1) have combined for three non-conference wins this season. The other five teams are a combined 0-15.

Fordham, with admittedly tough competition in Nebraska and Florida Atlantic, is 0-3, outscored 123-44. But they're the best of a really poor bunch. Lafayette has been outscored outscored 78-30. Colgate, once a regular championship contender, has been outscored 102-10. Bucknell, never an offensive juggernaut, checks in at 106-9. The most surprising is Lehigh, outscored 110-6.

Veteran Patriot League sports columnist Chuck Burton discussed this last week. "It is not so much that what Villanova, Richmond or Princeton are doing is unfair," he wrote.  "They are abiding by NCAA rules and conference rules, which allow them to do these things.  But it demonstrates how Patriot League schools, by sitting pat, have put their student-athletes way behind the eight ball."

"In 2015, the entire FCS landscape was different," he continued.  "The Ivy League was largely adhering to self-imposed rules on recruiting and roster sizes - those changed.  The CAA was adhering to redshirt rules that had the practical effect of limiting the number of extra-year players - that changed.  And while those leagues were expanding their rosters and opportunities, the Patriot League was doing the opposite - they were migrating towards restricting rosters and limiting extra-year players.  And I firmly believe that explains the sudden, precipitous drop in competitiveness in the league across the board in the last five years... This isn't 2015 anymore.  The game has evolved and moved on, and it's high time the Patriot League did the same."

4. Cooper Field Review: I wasn't able to attend the Cooper Field opener but will have some thoughts in two weeks. If you did, drop a note on the HoyaTalk board with your thoughts.


Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Week 2 Thoughts

Some thoughts following Georgetown's 20-14 win over Delaware State this past Saturday.

1. The More Things Change... As games go between a 658 day absence, Saturday's game was fun, if, at a macro level, somewhat predictable (more on that below).  Given the absence of playing Marist probably cost Georgetown some familiarity in the first 20 minutes of this game, once the momentum picked up, the Hoyas were ready to take over.

College basketball coach Al McGuire once noted that the most important eight minutes of basketball are the last four minutes of the first half and the first for of the second, and it applied in this game as well. Getting that touchdown to close the first half may have been the play of the game, because I'm not sure where GU would be down 14-0 to enter the second half.

Years ago I did a study of Georgetown's record in the I-AA era when trailing by 10 or  more points a the half. The numbers were, well, prohibitive. In that sense, getting to 14-7 was just what a young team needed and the first four minutes allowed Georgetown to lock down the Hornets defensively and set up the tying touchdown drive in the next series.

Not every game is that cut and dried in those eight minutes, of course, but giving up a late touchdown is never, ever good for a team carrying a lead into halftime., or even one trying to build from it. Delaware State took in a pick -six to end the first half 26-3, the difference of the game as Bowie State scored 21 in the second half to close to 32-24.

But if blocking a field goal in overtime is a novel way to capture an opening win, the larger view confirms what has been a long standing pattern of Georgetown football, namely:

1. The defense always steps up.

2. The linebackers and secondary are Top 30 in the subdivision.

3. The offensive line cannot dominate the line of scrimmage.

4. The rushing game struggles.

5. If they can get the ball, the receivers can produce.

Some of this is the price of non-scholarship football, of course.  Coordinators come and go and GU has never been a particularly good rushing team in the PL era. In the last 25 years, just two Georgetown backs have rushed for more than 70 yards a game in a season. And with one back sets, it's even more noticeable.

The Hoyas rushed 32 times for 48 yards versus Delaware State,  109th of 114 schools for yardage and 112th in yards per carry.  The defense ranks 22nd overall in total defense allowed. Again, no surprise. But unless the defense can continue to block kicks and pick off two or  three passes a game, a tepid offense is a point of concern as the schedule steps up. Harvard may be shaking off its own rust this coming week but their athletes tend to be bigger, faster, and more agile on offense than Georgetown is comfortable with. The Hoyas have scored just 22 points in four games versus Harvard since 2014, and 17 of those came in one game. For better or worse, the run game is an area of opportunity.

2. Changing Channels. Saturday's game was Georgetown's first under the PL's new contract with ESPN+. So how did it go?

From a production point of view, a solid game. Del State's game are managed through a partnership with Heritage Sports Radio Network, which provides coverage of historically black colleges and universities--viewers heard the HSRN audio with the ESPN+ video, which was fine, even if the DSU analyst had some peculiar phrasing, using the formal name of the school frequently in the broadcast, e.g., "That was a fine tackle by Delaware State University linebacker Kamari Jackson." Overall, a good product, even if I shuddered when the pregame show asked, "So, what's a Hoya anyway? Is it a shrub?"

Really? It's not 1984 anymore.

The previous broadcasts under Stadium featured Jeremy Huber were very well done. But ESPN+ is just video, so announcers are important. Last week's broadcast of Monmouth at Fordham had no announcers and no "time and distance" graphics, leaving viewers to rely on the public address announcer and some slight murmurs from the press box along the line of "Hey, did he catch that?"

Depending on the agreement, ESPN+ can be a net gain to a conference or just a means to offload production on someone else. Either way, it's a net gain to expand visibility of PL games, even if the recent product has been, well, bad.

3. Whither The Patriot League: Some rough times for the PL over the first two weeks.  Georgetown's win was one of only two PL non-conference wins this season in 13 games. Fans of Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Lehigh, and Lafayette are a combined 0-10 so far this season.

Why is this?

There has been a trend of diminishing returns for PL teams since 2016 in the non-conference, some of which is a reflection of better competition. Georgetown notwithstanding, each of the other six PL teams are or will be adding major college (I-A, FBS) opponents. So far this season, PL teams have played the likes of Air Force, Boston College, Connecticut, and Nebraska, with Florida Atlantic and Army in future weeks.  With this in mind, it's not unexpected that PL teams would be taking on losses, but what has been more surprising is that teams have not performed to expectations against  comparable opponents, such as a third year FCS team Merrimack beating Holy Cross or Monmouth defeating Fordham.

The "why's" aren't altogether apparent given the 60-scholarship status of the other six teams, but the next three weeks will see these teams face more Ivy League competition and not Big Ten teams. In recent years, the former expectation that a 60-scholarship PL team would dominate a non-scholarship Ivy team is long since gone. But will they be  competitive?  

I've made this point before. As long as the Patriot League maintains the Academic Index (and what've I've argued as an artificial restraint to recruiting), the overall talent level of the PL is not appreciably different than when it was as a non-scholarship conference. This is why the schools of the Northeast Conference, once not much different that the MAAC Football League, has moved past the Patriot League in nearly every case.

That's why the Merrimack-Holy Cross was striking. Merrimack is a former D-II nonscholarship school which moved to FCS to 2019 and will offer 40 scholarships in the NEC. The Warriors didn't sneak past Holy Cross, they beat them, and the contrast between a HC team that won convincingly at Connecticut in Week 1 and lost at home is apparent.

The Week 3 games are below. Will there be some signs of improvement? There may not be any single Patriot League team favored heading into the games, and that's discouraging.

Princeton (0-0) at Lehigh (0-2), 12 pm

Holy Cross (1-1) at Yale (0-0), 12 pm

Harvard (0-0) at Georgetown (1-0), 12:30 pm

New Hampshire (2-0) at Lafayette (0-2), 12:30 pm

William & Mary (1-1) at Colgate (0-2), 1 pm

Fordham (0-2) at Florida Atlantic (1-1), 6 pm

Pennsylvania (0-0) at Bucknell (0-2), 6 pm

Next week, we'll take a closer look at these games and see what Georgetown can learn from these matchups.

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Week 1 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following week 1 of the 2021 college football season. So let's start with the obvious question.

1. What Happened? Many years ago, I worked at a firm whose director turned to me and remarked, matter of factly, the following about the company. "Communication," he said, "is a one way street."

Georgetown's August 31 press release  cancelling the season opener versus Marist checks a lot of boxes down that street.

The release was sent at 6:00 pm, after the close of business. It lists no media contact for follow-up questions. It has no quote from the head coach. But most frustrating, as a fan, supporter, and someone who has spent too much time on this to analyze, is that it never fully answers the question. Why did you wait to cancel a game three days before the opener?

Like many things at GU, I have no doubt that this decision was made for the right reasons. If players were sufficiently incapable or at risk of playing a game to the detriment of their health, not playing is entirely reasonable and appropriate. They certainly weren't trying to "dodge" an opponent. But why can't the circumstances have been clarified? The words "positive test" are never cited. What is presented is "a COVID-related pause during training camp which affected preseason preparations and conditioning."

 "It did catch me off guard because we’ve had no COVID issues here," Marist coach Jim Parady told the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record. “It was a surprise and not on my radar at all."

 According to public data on the District of Columbia web site, there were four COVID outbreaks within DC universities (which we can define as American, Catholic, George Washington, Georgetown, Gallaudet, Howard or UDC) on the week of August 6. An outbreak is defined by the District as " as two or more cases of COVID-19 reported at a location which have a plausible epidemiological link." During that week, Georgetown reported zero positive tests among residents on the  Main Campus, per its published numbers.

A week later, the DC public data reported one outbreak reported at a "sports facility". Georgetown reported 13 positive cases that week, but was not specific to a sports facility nor who they were. In its most recent release, Georgetown's overall positivity rate is just 0.55% among over 10,000 tests a week. In advertising lore, 99.44% was once considered the gold standard to sell Ivory Soap, but that's not 2021.

COVID data is anonymized so as not to be diffuse. We also heard of no issues in other GU sports practicing on or near Cooper Field during this time, and none have been postponed or cancelled. I'm neither prepared nor presume to know enough about epidemiology to assume anything, but to bring it back to this question: why was this communicated with such opacity?

Maybe that's all they had. Maybe the narrative got sent "up the hill", so to speak, where sensitive press releases land in the deep bureaucracy of Georgetown PR and legal scrutiny. Or, as much as anything, they didn't have to say anything more to get the message out, and didn't.  

As such, it came and went with little fanfare. The Washington Post, The HOYA, and Georgetown Voice did not even report it. The only media to cover it were two newspapers in and around the Poughkeepsie, NY area, where Marist football gets more coverage than does Georgetown in Washington, DC. So, like a lot of things at GU, it's been forgotten. 

Despite a positivity rate of  9.6% nationally among among over 1.4 million tests last week, the Georgetown-Marist game was was one of only two games featuring two NCAA Division I teams to be cancelled nationwide.

2. Your (New) Home Opener: Even before the cancellation, there was next to no promotion of the Marist game as a home opener to the fan base outside friends and family, which remains a sore spot with me given the numerous missed opportunities to build a better rapport between football and a student body that, well, half of whom have never seen a college game because they've just arrived on the campus.

OK, the home opener shifts to Harvard on  Sep. 18. Will there be any effort to promote the game? Will tailgates fall afoul of "an abundance of caution"?  Will Cooper Field, a subject all its own, hold enough people (or too many) given Harvard's healthy turnouts in prior years?

No sporting event at GU thus far has drawn over 655 fans, with low turnouts for games in men's and women's soccer and volleyball. Field hockey and football won't see a home opener until the weekend of Sep. 17-18. Is 3,000 at the Harvard game a goal, or a concern?

3. Around The League: The PL was 1-5 in opening round non-conference games. That's an improvement over a winless 0-7 in Week 1 of 2019, the most recent season with non-conference play. Stronger competition notwithstanding, it does not recast the narrative that these continue to be lean times for the league.

First, the good news for the PL. Holy Cross earned its first win over a major college opponent since 2002, 38-28, at Connecticut. A day later, UConn head coach Randy Edsall (he of a recent two year contract extension) suddenly announced his retirement, effective at the end of the season. Edsall took note to say it was his decision. (In college coaching changes, very, very little is the head coach's decision.) A decade ago, Edsall took the Huskies to the Fiesta Bowl. In his last 26 games at Storrs, he is 3-23.

A loss to Purdue or Central Florida probably wasn't sending Edsall to an early retirement. A loss to a Patriot League team did, however.

"I don’t think there was one person in that locker room that didn’t think we had a really good chance to win this game,” Holy Cross linebacker Liam Anderson told the Worcester Telegram-Gazette, one of the dwindling few newspapers covering PL football.  The Huskies were flat in their opener with Fresno State and it continued Saturday, UConn managed 88 yards on the ground and gave up a four play, 98 yard drive that put away the game for the Crusaders midway through the fourth quarter after neither team led by more than seven for the first 50 minutes of play. Each of UConn's final two drives of the game  ended in interceptions.

HC is the runaway favorite to en route to a third consecutive PL title. The only apparent roadblock, Fordham, exceeded expectations  in a 52-7 loss at Nebraska. For one thing,  the Cornhuskers was a 55 point favorite, but this was a 7-7 game early and the Rams had 221 yards by halftime, trailing 24-7. Nebraska put on the heat in the second half for a Big Red crowd that was not in the mood for anything less.

"I think our kids did a great job," said Fordham coach Joe Conlin. "Everyone was very nice, it's a heck of a venue, so the atmosphere I don't think affected us in any way, shape or form." The Rams and their $500,000 appearance fee landed safely to New York.

Lafayette played better than expected in a 35-14 loss at Air Force. Trailing 28-7 at the half, the Leopards kept it respectable in the second half but had no ground game versus the Falcons, having been outrushed 375 to 43. In the PL's other game versus I-A opponents, Colgate was routed at Boston College, 52-0. The Red Raiders were outgained 525 to 189 in total offense and a 30-0 score after three quarters was padded by three late touchdowns by the Eagles, picked for third in the ACC Atlantic Division.

The PL's two games versus I-AA competition might be more troubling, however. Lehigh was stomped on by Villanova in the Engineers' home opener, 47-3. Lehigh gave up six turnovers and were outgained 506 to 139. Villanova transfer Dez Boykin, late of Lehigh, scored two touchdowns on the afternoon.

Bucknell was lifeless in a 21-0  loss to Sacred Heart. Two Bucknell quarterbacks combined for 55 yards on eight completions in 22 attempts. As the Sacred Heart announcers put it, there was a time when a win over Bucknell was a major upset for their program. Not anymore. The Bison have lost 11 consecutive non-conference games dating to the 2017 season. Next up, Villanova.

Scholarships have opened the door to guarantee games for six Patriot League schools . A 45 point loss before 85,938 fans in Lincoln, Nebraska may not fit the ethos and culture of Georgetown, but every other PL school is loading up on them in years to come. For now, they're losses. By season's end, they may be something more valuable: experience.

Saturday, August 14, 2021

2021 Georgetown Football Preview

The operative word for Georgetown football 2021? Patience.

By the fourth of September, the Hoyas will not have played a game in 651 days, or 21 months and 12 days since a 24-0 loss at Holy Cross on November 23, 2019. Nearly half the roster (48 players) weren't even at Georgetown in 2019, much less playing on the team.

This is as much as building year as a rebuilding one. The return of 14 grad students has been invaluable to the cause, but they will join 22 seniors that won't be here in 2022, so with competing in 2021 there will be a close look at bringing up the next generation to the forefront.

 Each side of the ball has their own challenges in this regard, but the strength of the last two recruiting classes provides not only hope, but promise. With this in mind, the 2021 positional previews:

Quarterback

Georgetown enters 2021 with a record seven QB's on the depth chart, though it's likely no more than two may see significant time this season.

The return by fifth year senior Joseph Brunell makes him the favorite for the September 4 opener versus Marist. Brunell played in portions of eight games in 2019 behind Gunther Johnson, throwing for 607 yards, with a 146 yard effort at Columbia being a season high. He has the experience as it relates to Rob Spence's offense, but the tradeoff is that an established senior quarterback all season does not move up GU's  next generation of quarterbacks. Senior Lorenzo Linsey has passed for just 4 yards in two seasons and fellow senior Jack Elliott has not seen any action. Juniors Pierce Holley and Tyler Knoop have not seen significant action under center, while sophomore Connor Katz and freshman Dorian Nowell are new to college football entirely.

Nowell may well be the future at quarterback, as he is arguably the highest ranked prospect in the position for the Hoyas since Nick Cangelosi in 2004. But Georgetown has been hesitant to rush freshman QB's into battle, so Brunell seems the solid pick to start the season.  One thing to watch will be if Brunell can extend the field with more medium and long range passes, something that Georgetown's offensive line has not always been able to support. The Hoyas' passing game was fourth in the PL in 2019 but last in scoring, in part due to a -8 in turnover margin.

Ball control and ball protection should be two of the skills Brunell can bring to the Hoyas' offense this fall.

Running Back

The Rob Spence offense has long been based on passing, but in 2021 some of its better options may be in the backfield.

Georgetown has only four running backs on the 2021 roster but each is capable of getting things done. Junior Joshua Stakely and senior Herman Moultrie combined for 783 yards over nine games last season, though both fell victim to injuries towards the end of the season. Stakely is dangerous in the open field while Moultrie was more of a short-distance runner in 2019, with seven rushing touchdowns and no more than 15 yards on a  carry all season. Both can add to the offense from game one.

Fifth year senior Jackson Saffold, with seven starts over the prior two seasons, should provide depth as well. Freshman Naieem Kearney is the only newcomer on the depth chart, and his 15.8 yard per carry in high school is a tempting number, but that is tempered by how much a of a beating Georgetown's runners can take at the college level.

Georgetown may be using single back sets for much of the 2021 season but the versatility at quarterback may open options for a pistol formation, or even to have a second quarterback (Linsey) in the backfield. Traditionally, Georgetown's lack of depth on the offensive line has limited its running game, so the ability of the O-line to manage the line of scrimmage will determine how much Georgetown can rely on its backfield.

Offensive Line

So who's back across the line?

Well, some good news. Four of the starting five lineman from 2019 return in 2021 (T.J. Thomas, Neil Azar, Daniel Horne, and Theron Cooper) , with seniors Mac Hollensteiner and Josh Stevens as candidate to move up to the starting role at tackle. It also figures to be among the larger lines in recent years for the Hoyas, with four of the returning five at over 300 pounds.

Of the 17 candidates in the OL, four are juniors and eight are newcomers, so there are some interesting candidates in each. Juniors Sam Telesa and Talati Polamalu have the opportunity to step right into action, while the entire freshman and sophomore classes will be looking to establish themselves in the depth chart.

The Hoyas figure to stay with experience, given the defensive sets among other PL teams that had the spring season to see action. Had the 2021 seniors not returned, it would have been a far different outlook to get the line ready for the season. This is a good group and a deep one.

Tight End

Like the fullback before him, the changes in football formations are slowly but inexorably marginalizing the tight end. With the loss of Isaac Schley to a fifth year at Sam Houston State, GU brings five candidates to camp, led by grad student Zach Jewell, with two catches for nine yards in 2019.  Freshman Harrison Greenslade and sophomore Graham Hill may see more time on special teams in 2021 but figure to be competing with upperclassmen Chris Autino and Liam McHale for what has become a limited role as passing yards go. Autino, at 6-7, could be an option in short yardage passing situations.

Wide Receiver

The 2021 Hoyas will go as far as their receivers take them, with 12 candidates in camp vying for starting roles. One stands at the top: Joshua Tomas.

Tomas had an outstanding 2019 season, leading the team in receptions (53-709), punt returns (14-259) and kickoff returns (14-184). An option at back, Tomas has 246 yards and two touchdowns as a rusher but has been most impactful as a drop-off receiver that can gain yards after the catch. He was especially effective early in the season, but has the experience to help Georgetown in third and fourth yard conversions, where the Hoyas were just 36 percent effective on either down.

There are a lot of newcomers to consider at receiver but GU may be as comfortable staying with the veterans, at least early in the season: senior Cameron Crayton (32-331) and grad student Skyler Springs (9-87) are two good options. If these three stay healthy, they should see the majority of time unless one of the freshman absolutely takes over the minicamp.  More likely, its a preparatory year for them.

Defensive Line

Were this 2020, Georgetown's defensive depth would have been as formidable as any GU team in the last two decades. But in 2021, graduations have taken its toll and there is a lot of rebuilding ahead on the defensive line.

From a team which combined for 872 tackles last season, its four returning linemen combined for just 96 of them, with eight of the team's 28 overall sacks from 2019. Ibrahim Kamara ( 30 tackles, 4 sacks) is the only returning starter on the line, but finished just 12th in overall tackles at defensive end, seeing action in all 11 games last season. Veterans Quincy Chinwuko (37 tackles, 5 TFL), Kingsley Umemba (18 tackles, 2 sacks) and Isaiah Byrd (11 tackles) figure to move into starting roles early in the season, while juniors Tony Gyimah and Tyler Jones combined for just four tackles in limited play last season. With nine newcomers arriving without college experience, GU has to go with its veterans to anchor the line until the younger players step up.

Linebacker

A similar story is found at linebacker, with grad student Owen Kessler (41 tackles, 8 TFL) the only returning starter. Senior Justin Fonteneaux, who saw time behind Wes Bowers but finished third on the team in tackles (55), is a likely candidate to anchor the linebackers, along with seniors Palmer Nix and David Owens and junior Jonathan Saddler. This does figure to be a role where more underclassmen may be called into action later this season, with freshmen Jed Henry and Myles Jones as candidates to make the two-deep by season's end. The lack of experience may hurt GU with run-heavy teams, however.

Secondary

Twenty three different players arrived at Georgetown this August with the "DB" tag, nearly one in four players. With three returning starters, those positions appear solid, but there are still opportunities for competition.

Grad student Ahmad Wilson is the team's returning leader in the secondary, with 62 tackles, three TFL's, and one interception as a junior in 2019, second best among all players that season. Fellow safety Roemello Walton was fourth in 2019 with 49 tackles. The secondary will also be supported by grad student Jonathan Honore, whose 25 solo tackles in 2019 is second only to Walton among returnees.

The cornerback position formerly held by Cameron Deen will have some competition. Seniors Zaire Webb and Micah McNeil will be contributors this season as Georgetown may need to rely on veterans more than usual this season.

Special Teams

P/K Brad Hurst ended his Georgetown career third all-time in punts and punting yardage, leaving one senior and three newcomers to battle for the available role. Senior Davis Walker, who appeared in there games, is the best returning option. A combination of freshman Patrick Ryan, sophomore Conor Hunt, and sophomore Richard Abood may see time on kickoffs if Walker can lock down the place kicking option.

Joshua Tomas and Cameron Crayton are likely to be the team's go-to options for returns.

 The Schedule

 As the only Patriot League team not to have practiced or competed in 2020-21, Georgetown enters the 2021 season at a disadvantage. However, three of its first four games involved opponents who were similarly affected last season, so any issues of rust will be, at best, a non-factor.

That Georgetown is able to successfully compete against full scholarship PL schools is one part a credit to Georgetown and one part that the PL as a whole has been in comparative decline for the last six or seven years. The exception has been Holy Cross, which aims in 2021 to become the first PL team to win three consecutive titles outright in 30 years (1989 through 1991) when the Crusaders still had scholarship players on the rosters and the others didn't. The Hoyas' game at Worcester on Oct. 16 will be its toughest of the season, but GU should be sufficiently competitive with any of the other PL schools at this point.

Two games outside the PL/Ivy/Pioneer bubble should be of interest this season: one game early in the season (Delaware State) an one to end the season (Morgan State). Both are good opportunities  to see where the Hoyas are against intersectional competition, and where they are at the conclusion of 2021. There may be some bumps along the way but the Hoyas may be setting the foundation for a stronger program over the next two to four years as a result.