Some questions on defense heading into the 2025 season:
1. How Does Georgetown Rebuild The Secondary? It's the leading story leading into the 2025 season for Georgetown, as the Hoyas lost three of four starters in a secondary that led the PL in interceptions and was second overall in pass defense.
The losses are most apparent at safety, where juniors Bijay Boldin (seven games as a reserve, 14 tackles) and Rayden Waweru (six games, five tackles) has the most returning experience among a group of three sophomores and four juniors--no freshmen, no seniors. Six of the seven saw limited action last season but this inexperience figures to be tested early--if not with Davidson, then with Lafayette, where QB Dean DeNobile returns following 2,417 passing yards last season.
Expect some bumps in the road all season, but if this group can be ready for the grueling November part of the schedule, the Hoyas could hold its own in the passing game.
2.. Is This Cooper Blomstrom's Year? The junior lineman isn't the biggest or the fastest in the league, but he is continuing to grow into one of the PL's top defensive players.
Blomstrom returned to the Hilltop this spring after a brief sojourn in the transfer portal, receiving offers from Temple, Toledo, UTEP, and Western Michigan among others. A 2024 season which saw him gain 56 tackles (32 solo), 12.5 TFLs and 7.5 sacks is bound to raise interest, and the pieces are in place for him to exceed those numbers in 2025. This was a major jump up for him from 2023, and the changes in the defensive line give Blomstrom an opportunity to step forward once again, making a case to be the best Georgetown lineman since Khristian Tate.
To do so, he'll need to support a line that suffered against run offenses, giving up 13 TD's in league play and an average of 5.3 yards per carry, also a league high. Georgetown's ability to limit yards per carry has been a struggle for years but it figures to be more of a factor as run-heavy teams like Richmond (24 rushing TD's in 2024) await.
3. Is Rufo Ready? The growth in LB Giancarlo Rufo over the past two season has been steady and impressive, and with the graduation of David Ealey, it's Rufo that steps to the forefront of the defense.
Rufo led the team with 91 tackles last season, with a high of 16 against Lehigh. with a pair of late game plays to earn Georgetown wins over Columbia and Bucknell. Georgetown's 4-2-5 defensive set put pressure on the linebackers last season and they responded, and Rufo's leadership among a returning group that includes junior Cody Pham (11 games, 11 tackles), senior Patrick Turner (nine games, 15 tackles), and senior Naiteitei Mose (four games, three tackles) will be vital.
4. Can Georgetown Control Third Down? Georgetown fared well last season in holding opponents on third down, and was second to Holy Cross at 33 percent in league play. Are the pieces in place to continue this in 2025?
At the start, it may be a learning curve. The early season games should provide good experience in third down situations but a truer test follows in back to back games at Brown and Columbia, where the aforementioned teams were a combined 15 of 33 on third down last season but 4 of 4 in the red zone.
5. Can The Defense Endure The Grind? The 2025 schedule steps up nearly every week and November will be among Georgetown's toughest four game stretch in two decades. The Hoyas visibly ran out of gas to end the 2024 season and its depth must be ready to avoid a similar fate in 2025, particularly on defense, where the Hoyas led the PL in time of possession (32:15) but the offense struggled to make use of the opportunity. In 2025, the offense will carry the experience factor, but the defense still makes it work.
