In the first of our three part preview on the 2025 season, we examine the questions surrounding Georgetown's offense.
The Hoyas return as many as nine offensive starters from last season, most in the Patriot League and third most across Division I FCS, but were still selected sixth of eight in the pre-season PL poll. Why? The offense was last in the PL in points per game in 2024 conference play, and 6th of seven in total offense. With experience comes opportunity, and expectations have also risen.
1. Does The Offensive Line Excel? The most underrated positions in football are along the offensive line, because without them the offense becomes target practice. Over the years, the lack of recruiting versus scholarship teams has made the Hoyas a few inches shorter, a few pounds lighter, and a step slower on the offensive line than their defensive counterparts. The results have been evident.
In 25 years of PL play, Georgetown has never landed an offensive lineman on the PL first team at season's end, and just six players have merited second team consideration. Some, but not all of this is a reflection of patchwork lines and ones where inexperience is a factor. The prospect of the returnees from 2024 make this offensive line (subject to where they land on the depth chart, of course), perhaps the most experienced group in Rob Sgarlata's coaching tenure, and perhaps across Georgetown's PL era. That won't make the Hoyas taller or faster off the ball, but experience matters, and these players have worked together
If this group can avoid injuries and use its experience against younger and still emerging defenses, it's a big advantage to a Georgetown offensive line which hasn't had many such advantages over the past quarter century.
2. Can the Running Game Show Consistency? Another position where recruiting has suffered is in the backfield, where the skill positions gravitate to scholarship programs. Georgetown was 5th in the PL in rushing last season with just four touchdowns from the ground. The Hoyas have two backs returning for 2025 that are capable of an impact, if only the offense would run two backs in more offensive sets.
Junior RB Bryce Cox led the Hoyas with 565 yards (51.4 yards per game) and four touchdowns. While a modest number in total (GU has not had a rusher of more than 700 yards in a season since 2014, his per carry average (5.4 yards) is the best for a starter since Peter Clays in 1987. Backup RB Savion Hart was even more proficient in per carry averages (6.2), with 278 yards over four games of action. The Rob Spence offenses have never been built in the backfield and Georgetown does not have the depth to eat up time of possession on the ground, but Cox and Hart are a combo that need time and a strong offensive line to get Georgetown yards it often settles for short passes to reach instead.
Georgetown doesn't have enough to earn a winning season through the air. That said...
3. Can The Passing Game Take The Next Step? Georgetown returns two seniors who have enjoyed solid seasons of late: Jimmy Kibble, a 2024 second-team selection, and Nicholas Dunneman, a 2023 second-team selection. Kibble was third in the PL last season in receiving yards (720), despite being seventh in catches (46). Dunneman had fewer yards (447), but a higher average per catch (8.7).
Neither are tall enough or quick enough to overwhelm secondaries, relying instead on exploiting pass patterns and working for yards after the catch. Too often, the offensive sets (particularly later in the season) seem to focus on one or the other, but not both, and defenses adjusted accordingly. A veteran offensive line may be able to help give them collectively more opportunities in the secondary, but for an offense that averaged just 176 yards per game during PL play in receiving yards, both need to be getting touches to move those yards, and the proverbial chains to follow.
4. Quarterback: The Rob Sgarlata era has steered clear of quarterback controversies and tends to name a QB and ride him to the end of the season, successful or not. With the exception of Clay Norris giving way to Gunther Johnson midway in the 2017 season, the depth chart at QB rarely changes.
Danny Lauter enters camp this month as the favorite to return to the starting lineup as a senior. His numbers were a mixed bag: sixth of seven in the PL in passing, with 10 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions, the latter being the most since Clay Norris in 2016. Outside of his record setting 428 yard debut, Lauter's passing games have been inconsistent, with only three 200+ yard passing games last season despite the aforementioned Kibble and Dunneman, and without the running ability of his two immediate predecessor in Tyler Knoop.
A more challenging schedule, particularly in November, puts the responsibility on Lauter to be more efficient, particularly in third and fourth downs, where GU is at or near the bottom in conversions. Reserve Jacob Holtschlag saw limited duty late, but he did not show a clear path to the top of the depth chart. For Georgetown to move up the standings in 2025, Lauter must lead.
5. Can Georgetown Address Point Production? November 2024 was a sobering finish for the Hoyas, a 5-3 team who dropped its last three games by a combined score of 108-9. The calendar is no less forgiving in 2025, with consecutive appearances versus Lehigh, Richmond, Fordham, and Holy Cross to end the season.
Simply put, Georgetown can't win games averaging 12.5 points per game in PL play. Trading in an expected 30+ point output versus Marist to accommodate Richmond on the schedule (a 10-win team last fall averaging 27.1 points per game), the Georgetown offense must be more efficient and effective as PL competition ramps up over the next three years. Despite leading the league in time of possession during 2024 PL play, the Hoyas managed just seven red zone touchdowns in 13 attempts last season in the PL-- both numbers were the conference low in those categories.
For many years, Georgetown was expected to do more with less. This season's offense can offer the opportunity to do more with more.
