Week 2 Thoughts

 

Nebraska. Texas A&M. Notre Dame.

Saturday's college football results were replete with mind-numbing, misplaced efforts by nationally prominent teams and coaches which frankly should do better. And while no one else was adding Georgetown to that list, maybe they should have.

Saturday's home opener with Lehigh should have been a celebration of better times ahead for the Hoyas, with a half-stadium that had been presumed, predicted, promised,  and otherwise prayed for across three generations of Georgetown coaches. "Give us a facility and we can turn this around," they told us.

Since 2021, Georgetown has played five games in The House That Peter Cooper Built, and it has lost all five. Saturday, with the Cooper family and dozens of football alumni in the stands, it had three significant opportunities in this game and failed on all three.  And  that's on the coaching staff for a series of plays in a game that Georgetown gave away as much as Lehigh won.

 1. Missed Opportunities. Early returns were discouraging. On Georgetown's second drive of the game, the Hoyas moved 60 yards in six plays, setting up at the Lehigh two. What got them there? Passing. Pierce Holley was 3-3 in that drive, with 55 yards in the air.

 First and goal at the two, shotgun draw, no gain.

Second and goal at the two, shotgun draw, no gain.  

Third down, a one yard pass with two to go. Fourth and one, fall start, and Georgetown settles for three.

Fast forward to the opening Georgetown drive of the third quarter after the Engineers score on three consecutive possessions. Holley leads the Hoyas on eight plays to the Lehigh 14. First down, with Lehigh on its heels? Shotgun draw.

Offensive coordinator Rob Spence continues to dial up the short pass instead of the end zone. With some of the best receivers  GU has had in a decade, Holley gets two short passes to the eight yard line, but passed on points. Georgetown hasn't met a fourth down  it didn't like, and decided that yet another short pass was the answer. It wasn't then, and it isn't now.

So why not do it again? Late in the third, start at the 20, drive 60 yards to the Lehigh 20. Three straight shotgun draws and Georgetown turns it over on downs. 

If the Hoyas pick up a field goal on either series, the late game drive is the winning drive. Instead, it merely sets Georgetown up for yet another crushing defeat when Holley, arguably the slowest rushing quarterback in the conference, and having connected on seven of eight passes to score, tries to run for the tying conversion.

"Georgetown is not a well-coached team," wrote a Lehigh fan on a message board following the game. "The Sgarlata does so much with so little narrative has thankfully finally fallen by the wayside. His teams do not play smart, fundamental football and his in-game decision making is awful. Georgetown outplayed Lehigh last night but made far more mistakes."

2. Words Matter. Some post game quotes:

"We did not execute and play at the level we needed to, and that's my fault. As the head football coach, that's your job to have your guys read the play and put them in position to make plays and let them do it. At the end of the day, that's on us. I thought our players, there was--nobody tried to make a mistake today. Nobody was trying to do it on purpose. We have to do a better job of coaching them and getting the fundamentals right. That's coaching on our part, and that's what we have to do as a staff and all the things we have to do... Had opportunities, but got to coach it better. That's on me."

"I don’t know if that’s a reason why or a lack of execution.  But it starts with me.  It starts with me as a head coach and looking at myself and saying, what do I have to do to help this football team and really look at everything we’re doing, because the performance isn’t where we need it to be."

Except neither of those were quotes from Rob Sgarlata, but two of the coaches at the top of the page; namely, Jimbo Fisher and Marcus Freeman, after their own discouraging late game losses. For the record, here's Sgarlata's quote:

"We did a nice job of staying in the game and creating some explosive plays tonight. I'm really proud of our guys for the way they trusted and relied on each other to make some plays and to get that last drive. Any time you get the chance to tie the game up late, it's super exciting. We're an extremely talented team that plays hard, that made some mental errors and Lehigh took advantage."

Enthusiasm aside, Coach, this was not the quote for a game like this. This is a program which is not that good, is going to get knocked around a lot this season, and yet this was a game for the taking... against arguably the weakest Lehigh team since the 1960s's. Poor play calling, poor late game decisions and poor execution are all clues to yet another loss for the Patriot's least distinguished team.

"Tonight was a very characteristic, one-score Patriot League game," Sgarlata  added.

 In Patriot League games of seven points of less since 2014, Georgetown is 3-15.

 2. Attendance? Blue. At opening of what is now Cooper Field in 2005, the Hoyas drew 3,500 against Brown. At its reopening Saturday night, just 2,107, or less than 500 more than showed up at the soccer game that afternoon. On a night where Georgetown officials discouraged the Lehigh marching band from coming to Washington, there were plenty of seats to be had. Yet again.

For those of us who bemoaned the loss of visitor seating and a still-undersized stadium compared to our peers, however you define them If Georgetown even can't fill what it has, how will it ever need more?

Three questions:

1. With nearly 6,000 students on campus or within there blocks of same, how many were  invited to attend by social media or e-mail, and how many attended?

2. With nearly 50,000 alumni within one hour of the campus, how many were  invited to attend by social media or e-mail, and how many attended?

3. How many tickets were sold in advance?

Ten years ago, the season opener drew just 2,147 and Georgetown has done little to promote football in the interim. Should we be surprised?

3. Around the  Patriot League: A solid week for PL teams in week two.

 Holy Cross 37, Buffalo 31: Yes, the last play of the game made the ESPN highlight package, but the Crusaders were strong throughout. QB Matthew Sluka picked up 396 yards in total offense and threw for three touchdowns. A Homecoming crowd Saturday at Fitton Field versus Yale will draw better than 2,107. Next game: vs. Yale (0-0)

Fordham 52, Monmouth 49: QB Tim DeMorat throws for 452 yards and six touchdowns, and even that wasn't enough to be comfortable until the end. The Rams must improve its defense or else, no matter what DeMorat can do. As for Monmouth, Saturday's home game with the Hoyas looks promising. This week: at Albany (0-2)

Colgate 21, Maine 18: Following an expected loss at Stanford, the Red Raiders stood tall on defense, holding Maine to 6 for 18 on third down conversion and earning its first win over the Black Bears in 23 years. This week: at Penn (0-0)

Temple 30, Lafayette 14:  A solid effort from the Leopards, despite just 110 yards of total offense. Three Temple fumbles kept it close. An announced crowd of 18,430 saw this one, but looked about 3,000 on TV. This week: vs. William & Mary (2-0)

VMI 24, Bucknell 14: More of the same for the Bison, whose offense continues to struggle to gain yardage: 61 yards at the half, 183 overall. Three VMI turnovers kept it close, but not that close. This week: at Central Michigan (0-2)