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)
