2022 Football Preview: The Patriot League

For a league whose publicity team has ground to a halt, little is heard about the Patriot League amidst other FCS conferences in 2022. The continued decline of the league obscures one of its best stories in a generation as the season awaits. With that, here is a 2022 preview of the league:

1. Holy Cross (10-3, 6-0 in 2021)

The Crusaders stand on the precipice of an unprecedented fourth consecutive PL title, calling to mind the halcyon days of Holy Cross football under Mark Duffner from 1986 to 1991, when HC was 60-5-1 with five Top 10 finishes and the #1 ranking in the subdivision at the end of the 1987. 

Bob Chesney's fourth full recruiting class gives HC a level of depth unmatched in other PL teams, and returning 17 players from last year's team gives the Crusaders a clear path to a fourth title.

The Crusaders dominated the ground game in 2021 and will continue to do so. Junior QB Matthew Sluka rushed for more touchdowns (14) than the entire Georgetown team (13) in 2021, and is ably aided by senior RB Peter Oliver, who led the league in rushing. Four returnees on the offensive line will clear the way, and seven of the first team pre-season all-PL selections hail from the Crusaders.

Holy Cross will be charged to step up defensively, despite having finished 2021 ranked #1 in the nation in total defense. Five of its seven all-PL selections from 2021 return, led by all-American Jacob Dobbs, but need to get its defensive line in order before PL play. Holy Cross returns its entire secondary and that's a huge advantage in shutting down pass games late in the game.

Two games stand in the way of HC running the table: a September 10 game at Buffalo and a September 24 game at Colgate. Barring a stumble thereafter, a fourth title appears on its way.

2. Fordham  (6-5, 4-2 in 2021)

An opening loss at Nebraska and an 0-3 start was merely a warm-up for the Rams last season, whose offense was the better of anyone not named Holy Cross. A similar verdict is expected in 2022.

Senior QB Tim DeMorat is within range of most of the school's career passing records and should be capable of breaking each of them. Averaging 300 yards per game in 2021 with a league's best 147.1 efficiency rating, DeMorat has weapons across the field, including seniors  Fotis Kokosioulis, Dequece Carter, and M.J. Wright, with  Kokosioulis and Carter finishing 1-2 in receiving yards in the PL last fall. 

The defense is promising, returning nine starters, with LB Ryan Greenhagen as an All-American candidate. The Rams suffered mightily in pass defense in 2021, giving up 264 yards a game through the air, and it's a point of emphasis this season. Rare is the champion that is ranked first on offense and last on defense, so Fordham needs to show improvement with a veteran ensemble.

The Rams 2022 non-conference schedule is more forgiving, with its toughest game a September 24 game at Ohio. In the end, however, its most important games stands on October 29 at Holy Cross, which could well determine the champion.

3. Colgate (5-6, 5-1 in 2021)

After the undiscussed firing of  Dan Hunt after the 2020 season, the Red Raiders reloaded with Stan Dakosty, who fought back from a 2-6  start to sweep his last three and carry a second place finish in his first season. 

Colgate returns seven starters form 2021, including PL Rookie of the year Michael Brescia, with 1,182 all-purpose yards and an expected start at quarterback this season. The Red Raiders, usually a run-heavy team, were fifth in the PL in rushing with just 162 yards per game, but its end of season finish gives more confidence that they can reassert themselves in 2022.

There are holes on the defense, where Colgate was second to Holy Cross last season. The defensive line looks to be solid, but the Red Raiders may take their collective lumps in the secondary before league play.

As to its schedule, well, there's no Marist of Columbia on this schedule. The Red Raiders open with three straight on the road beginning at Stanford, and could easily be 1-5 before meeting Georgetown on October 24. The schedule is front-loaded, however, and a four game stretch with Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh, and Fordham could be Colgate's chance to move up the standings.

4. Lafayette (3-8, 2-4 in 2021)

The bottom half of the Patriot League is a steep drop-off from the top three, giving new Lafayette head coach John Troxell a chance to move into relative contention, at least as league records go.

The Leopards return just four starters on offense from 2021. Wide receivers Julius Young  and Joe Gillette are good options if the offensive line, featuring three sophomores and a senior transfer, can gain traction. The rest of the offense was a middle of the pack effort in 2021 and could well be the same this season.

Defensively, the Leopards are poised for progress. Lafayette returns its entire front line, led by four time All-PL lineman Malik Hamm, the PL pre-season defensive player of the year. LB Billy Shaeffer, who was lost to injury last season, could be an all-PL selection by season's end, but the Leopards must rebuild a secondary that allowed just six passing touchdowns last fall.  Three sophomores and two freshman are already on the depth chart, with Troxell seeing a promising future down the road.

Back to back games with Temple and William &  Mary are stern tests for the Leopards in 2022, as are consecutive games in November at Colgate and at Fordham, neither of which the Leopards will be favored. A home game with Lehigh to end the season may tip the scales for  Lafayette in the rivalry game as well as the 2022 standings, where a .500 season would be a sign of progress, in that LC has not finished a full season over .500 since 2009.

5. Lehigh (3-8, 3-3 in 2021)

If there is such thing as a hot seat in Patriot League football, it resides at Lehigh, where the proud Engineers program has been in a five year rut that began with the sad news of the diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's disease for coach Andy Coen, who left the team in 2018 and died this past April. Lehigh went to a veteran hand in former Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore, but the results have not been good. Lehigh has posted three straight losing seasons and is currently in its poorest four season run since the 1960's. At any PL school but Georgetown, that's a sign for trouble.

Were it not for a three game run at the end of 2021, last season may have been rock bottom. The Engineers started 0-8, and did not score a touchdown until the seventh week of the season, finishing next to the bottom of FCS in scoring, ahead of only Bucknell. 

The 2022 season could be another long year offensively. Not a single Lehigh returnee was named to the pre-season all-PL team on offense, likely a first in the history of the league. QB Dante Perri will seek to build off his late-season play in 2022, but must rely on a rebuilt offensive line, with there projected starters that did not play their respective positions in 2021. It's faint praise that the Lehigh media notes tell us that Eric Johnson led the team with just 28 pass receptions last season, but the Engineers need help across the board on offense alongside a defense that did show improvement through a rough 2021 campaign.

Lehigh's early concerns will be along its defensive line, so its opening week game at Villanova may provide Georgetown some early clues about its week two opponent. 

The schedule is not favorable to Gilmore, with Georgetown being the only game Lehigh may be favored in among its first five games, and facing an end of season run at Colgate. home versus Holy Cross, and at Lafayette. Its October schedule, with three home games and a road game at Cornell, may be Gilmore's best chance at making a case for a fifth season.

6. Georgetown  (2-8, 1-5 in 2021)

Despite the softest non-conference schedule in the PL for 2022, Georgetown's prospects for winning football remain distant. The talent gap with the rest of the Patriot League is as wide as it has ever been in the PL scholarship era, with the non-scholarship Hoyas relying heavily on seniors and fifth years to stay close in games. To date, however, the next group is even further behind.

The Hoyas strength is in its receivers, particularly Cameron Crayton and Joshua Tomas, but Georgetown needs better production from its traditionally weak running game to keep defenses honest. Without it, Georgetown will fall back to relying on short passes to stay close, but 84 yards per game last season on the ground isn't winning any games on the margin in 2022.

The Hoyas defense sagged to fifth in the PL last season and with holes to fill in the secondary may well do so again. Its front line needs to maintain parity along the line of scrimmage against passers who will test a yet-unproven secondary. Any early problems with the line in the opener with Marist will be an especially bad sign against four very good quarterbacks awaiting on the opposing schedule this season.

Georgetown lost three leads in the fourth quarter last season and its two wins were late as well: an overtime squeaker versus Delaware State and a win in the final minutes at Bucknell. Anything more than one PL win may be a reach for this team if the defense does not step up.

7. Bucknell  (1-10, 0-6 in 2021)

The 2021 season was futile for Bucknell, whose 24-10 mid-season win over Cornell was the only sign of life for the nation's lowest rated FCS offense.  The Bison opened the season being outscored 106-9 in its first three games and 146-22 in its last three. 

Bucknell returns eight starters on both offense and defense, so they should be improved. Five sophomores will see starts on the offense in its opener versus Towson, including QB Ethan Grady, who started the final five games of the 2021 season and passed for a season's best 162 yards against Georgetown on October 23. Like Georgetown, the Bison rely on receivers, with its top two wideouts, sophomore Marques Owens and junior Damian Harris returning this fall.

Four seniors anchor a Bison secondary that finished ahead of Lehigh and Fordham on pass defense, but the team struggled on the line, giving up  an average of 242 yards per game on the ground. Linebackers Brent Jackson and Ben Allen combined for 149 tackles between them, so they need help up front.

The early schedule does coach Dave Cecchini no favors, with Towson, VMI, and Central Michigan to open September and consecutive road games with Holy Cross, Yale, and Lehigh  in mid-October. An end of season exacta at Georgetown and home versus Marist may be the best hope for Bucknell to get into the win column this season.

2022 Football Preview: Defense

When times were lean in Georgetown football over the last two decades, which is just about every season, you could always count on the defense to keep things close. Will this be the case in 2022?

Defense has been a priority for three decades--each of its last thee head coaches came with a defensive coordinator's mind set. The defense neared a peak in 2018 and 2019 behind the likes of  Khristian Tate, Wes Bowers, Ahmad Wilson, and Justin Fonteneaux, with Fonteneaux the last of the four still at Georgetown.  The Georgetown defense of 2022 figures to take a step back in experience from its 2021 output, which sagged as the season went on.

Defensive Line

The Hoyas return six starters from 2021 and all three along the front line of what was a 3-3-5 set in 2021. Three veteran players figure to carry much of the load.

Graduate student Ibrahim Kamara anchors the line, seeing action in every games over the past three seasons. His productivity has improved each season, with 33 tackles, 5.5 TFL and  two sacks in 2021, sixth on the team and leading all linemen. Tony Gyimah Jr and Isaiah Byrd combined for 44 tackles between them in nine games, but with only one sack between them on a Georgetown team that was last in the PL with 11 sacks, or just over one per game. By contrast, Holy Cross had 45 sacks last season.

Rushing defense is a priority for the line this season. The Hoyas gave up 197 yards on the ground per game in 2021 compared to just 140.5 in 2019, and allowed an average of 5.0 yards per carry, an unacceptable number if GU hopes to be competitive in 2022.  With that in mind, a healthy year for DL Quincy Chinwuko is a must. A promising underclassman in 2019, Chinwuko was held to one game in 2021 before injury, with a  fourth quarter fumble recovery that allowed GU to advance into overtime for the win over Delaware State. 

Beyond these four, there's a lot of inexperience for the defensive line reserves. Sophomore Veron Garrison (six tackles in 2021) and junior Noah Gick (seven tackles) will challenge in third down sets, but with five freshmen on the roster competing for line positions, 2023 may be more realistic for them, increasing the need for the Hoyas' experience to step up in areas where it trailed in 2021.

Linebackers

The returning defensive line is experienced. The linebackers are not. 

Fifth year LB Justin Fonteneaux is the only returning starter for Georgetown, and he will need help as the season progresses. Fonteneaux was second on the team in 2021 in tackles despite injuries which limited him to seven games, and he figures to be among the leaders at the conclusion of the season.  Senior Jonathan Saddler (27 tackles) figures to compete for a starting role along with sophomore Stephen Sergio (14 tackles), but college level experience trails off after that. 

One to watch may be sophomore Myles Jones. He played in only five games but contributed eight tackles and a TFL over those five games, and has the speed to play on the outside. Any injuries to the starters will escalate Jones and sophomore Jed Henry into the discussion.

Secondary

The defensive backfield was hard hit by graduation in 2021, with just two of the five starters returning in 2022. With Georgetown near the bottom of FCS in defensive pass efficiency in 2021, this figures to be a problem spot for GU entering the 2022 season.

Junior David Ealey III  and senior Jovone Campbell and are returning starters from 2021.  Ealey was third on the team in tackles in 2021 with 48, while Campbell contributed 27.

They will need immediate help from a trio expected to move into contention for starting roles: senior Khalil Saunders (nine games in 2021, 22 tackles), junior Rashon Adams Jr  (seven games, 23 tackles) and 5th year grad student Resell Walton (four games, 13 tackles).

After that, a lot of questions. Georgetown is carrying 19 DB's, more than any in recent years. Three newcomers arrive via the transfer portal (Jamal Marshall from Abilene Christian, Kolubah Pewee Jr from Maine, and Cameron Nash from Army), but none have any experience at the college level. Three freshmen come from northeastern prep schools, not normally a source for freshman impact players at the Division I level. Georgetown was last in the PL in interceptions (four) in 2021 allowed opposing QB's an average of 62.4 percent passing in 2021. This secondary will be tested all season, especially from stronger PL teams such as Holy Cross, Fordham, and Colgate, and not for the better,.

Special Teams

Sophomore Conor Hunt's 2021 season was a notable one, finishing first in the PL in punting with a 41.7 yard average, fourth best in Georgetown history. It was ultimately transitory, as he transferred to Rice.

What's  left is a collection of four players with limited punting skills largely seen except by the coaching staff. The Hoyas did pick up Nebraska junior Ryan Novosel from the portal, so he may be worth watching to see if he can contribute early. Though he saw no time with Cornhuskers as a preferred walk-on, his high school records was good enough to get a second look, and according to his bio was a top 100 kicker nationally in the 2020 recruiting class. 

It's possible Georgetown will see different players at punter, place kicker, and on kickoffs. The Hoyas were last in the PL in kickoff yards and field goal accuracy in 2021 (7-12, 58.3%), and lost the Lafayette game outright on a blocked kick. Georgetown allowed a PL-worst 17.7 yards returns on kicks last fall for a net kickoff of just 32.5 yards. While kickoffs won't cost the Hoyas games, they can set up shorter fields for opponents, and that is a concern.

As returners go, Joshua Tomas is as good as any in recent years, and returns for his final season in 2022. Tomas averages 21.3 yards per kick and 8.6 per game per punt, but only has one return for a touchdown over three years. This seems the year to add to those numbers, despite hang times that have limited the ability to make much headway on punt returns.   

Others expected to see time on returns are running backs Dorrian Moultrie and Naieem Kearney, who combined for six returns last season.

Coming Thursday: a Patriot League preview.

2022 Football Preview: Offense

 Over the last 21 years of Georgetown football, trends seem difficult when reviewing year after year of setbacks and shortfalls. But a seven year cycle of performance seems in order.

After some rough years adjusting to the Patriot League, Georgetown looked to be turning the corner in 2005, and featured a 4-4  record heading into the last month of the season. Georgetown dropped all three, the door was shown for Bob Benson, and the succeeding teams lost 22 of its next 25.

Seven years later, 2012 looked promising for a Georgetown team that surprised everyone with an 8-3 season the year before. From a 3-1 start in 20-12, the Hoyas lost 20 of its next 26.

Fast forward to 2019, Georgetown's deepest team in as many years. The Hoyas opened 4-1, with back to back wins over Ivy League teams for the first time ever. On October 11, 2019, Georgetown gave up a  touchdown with 16 seconds to lose to Fordham, 30-27, and it's been downhill since--the Hoyas dropped four of five, then a year to COVID when other PL teams were in limited action, and a shaky 2-8 season in 2021 where its wins were against two of the weakest teams in the nation.

If there's a year for a big turnaround, 2022 is probably not it, given the vice grip that recruiting plays in the inability to sign transformative talent to GU. Georgetown finished a stone's throw ahead of a really bad Bucknell team last year, and is largely predicted to follow the same pattern in 2022.  To change course, the offense has to step up.

Quarterback 

Georgetown's problems on offense generally start with the quarterback--not the man per se, but the position. The inability of the program to recruit significant talent to the position over the years leads to a reliance on experience over execution, and substandard results with a short-term option.

Such is the prognosis for 2022, where two seniors with limited game experience are on the two-deep. Pierce Holley sat for most of his first three seasons just as Joe Brunell did, and his 368 yard passing effort against Columbia was certainly unexpected. As teams studied film on him, however, Holley's numbers dimmed, throwing for just 892 yards for the remainder of the season, with three touchdowns and five interceptions. Holley gets the edge in this year's quarterback race in that he is a pocket passer, one Georgetown has favored over the years--though GU is not a particularly dangerous team in the passing game.

With sophomore Dorian Nowell no longer on the roster, Georgetown is thin at quarterback and vulnerable if beset with injuries. Senior Tyler Knoop, who rushed for 122 of his season's 128 yards in the season finale at Morgan State, has thrown the ball just twice in his college career. Junior Connor Katz and freshman Danny Lauter have no experience at this level and would be learning on the job if called into game action. Katz had one other FCS offer (Stetson) along with Division II and Division III schools, while Lauter's only offer was Georgetown, according to reports.

This is one of those positions where an FBS addition from the portal would have been huge, but Georgetown and the Patriot League make this a very difficult process and those that are looking never look to Washington.

Offensive Line

The fortunes of the offensive line took a decided turn upward this summer when senior Mac Hollensteiner changed course on a  fifth year at Virginia to return to the Hilltop, anchoring a line returning three starters and its entire second string.

Georgetown must replace the entire left side of its line, as seniors Josh Stevens and TJ Thomas took fifth year options to the University of Delaware. Juniors Luke Popma and Richie Ponomi, who saw action in four and six games, respectively, in 2021, are expected additions to the starting lineup. 

The right side of the line appears to be well stocked. Center Neal Azar, who has started the past 21 games at center, returns for a fifth year and was a team captain last year. Hollensteiner started every game last season and will be the largest man on the line for Georgetown at 310 lbs.  Seniors Talati Polomalu and Sam Telesa will compete at right tackle, and give Georgetown something it has often lacked on the line: solid experience at every position.

Among the backups, GU's largest player by weight is 370 lb. Stanford Maison, who did not see game action last season. He'll be joined by fellow senior Spencer Harris, who action in four games, as reserve options.

Running Back

For the Hoyas to make any movement up the league standings, the line must support a running game that has been overmatched for years. Georgetown was 119th of 123 FCS teams last season in the run, and return its top two rushers in Joshua Stakely and Herman Moultrie III. 

Stakely led the Hoyas with just 276 yards last season, the fewest rushing yards by a team leader at RB since 2001.  He finished 14th among active PL rushers last season, where Georgetown was held to 83.8 yards per game in 2021. Stakely's 76 yard effort versus Bucknell was a season high, while Moultrie also excelled against Bucknell, with 84 of his 200 yards on the season versus  the Bison. More often than not, however, Georgetown was punished in the trenches, rushing for six yards each against Harvard and Holy Cross, 33 versus Lehigh, and 48 against Delaware State. The Hoyas led in net rushing in just one game last season.

Sophomores Naieem Kearney (12-21-0) and Shane Stewart (DNP in 2021) could see action, while Georgetown's only freshman RB, 5-9 Mason Gudger, is a longshot to see significant time as a freshman despite 4,134 yards and 64 touchdowns in a high school career at Greeneville (TN).

Receivers

If Georgetown remains grounded in the rushing game, it has as deep a receiving corps as it has enjoyed in many years, if only they get the opportunity.

A pair of fifth year seniors figure to make case for Georgetown this season.  Cameron Crayton and Joshua Thomas combined for 1,488 yards in 2021, accounting for eight of GU's 11 combined passing touchdowns last season. Crayton is the best downfield target, while Tomas' speed gives him options in run-pass-option schemes. 

With Georgetown employing a three receiver set for much of last season, Crayton and Tomas  were the best options then ,and look to be so n 2022, but there is a room for a third regular contributor. Junior WR Asante Das (36-431-1) is an early favorite, while  sophomore Brock Biestek and freshman Kenyan Richardson-Cook may see action as well.

The tight end position appears to focus on fifth year senior Liam McHale (6-73-0) but two freshman (Max McCormick, Conor O'Neil) and a junior newcomer (Graham Murphey) may see time in the depth chart behind senior Jack Tishman, who moves to tight end from linebacker. Overall, though, Georgetown is not deep in the position and it will take a decided back seat to production from the receivers.

Georgetown stood a creditable 26th nationally in FCS passing, averaging 250.2 yards per game. Its red zone conversions were lacking: just 17 of 27 attempts in 2021 resulted in touchdowns and four possessions stalled on fourth down, no small numbers when GU lost  three games by seven points or less.

For 2022, Georgetown's 19 points a game would have been at the bottom of most conferences, given that it was 102nd nationally. It caught a break, if once could call it that, from an exceptionally weak PL in 2012, with four teams even worse than the Hoyas, including the two worst offenses in FCS in Lehigh and Bucknell. But by comparison to Fordham (50 TD in 2021) or Holy Cross (56), Georgetown's offensive firepower is severely limited. 

As teams like Lehigh and Colgate begin to turn the corner, Georgetown needs a more aggressive offensive game plan. Absent a running game, the passing game will take it as far as it can, which returns the point of emphasis to a thin margin at quarterback. 

For last season, Georgetown was 1-5 in games where it scored 21 or more points, so it's not all on the offense. Coming Wednesday, a look at the defense and its ability to return to the defensive intensity Georgetown enjoyed pre-COVID.