Some thoughts following Brown's 46-0 win over Georgetown Saturday:
1. The U-Word:
"We did not do the things you need to do to earn the result we set out to accomplish. I give Coach Perry and his staff credit. They outplayed us in all three phases. We have a great opportunity to review this game and learn from the experience as we take the next step in the 2025 journey. I love this group of players and coaches and I am looking forward to this upcoming week." - Rob Sgarlata
The words you didn't hear? "We were unprepared."
Put aside Georgetown's generally poor record in long bus rides beyond New York (a combined 1-12-0 all time in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, with its last win in Massachusetts in 2013), or Brown's well promoted 100th Anniversary of Brown Stadium fete, despite drawing just 3,949, or even its traditional woes versus any Ivy opponents: the Hoyas looked unprepared right from the start and it continued for the next 60 minutes on the field.
Brown opened up last year's game with an 87- yard touchdown pass, a clear slap at Georgetown's secondary preparation. This year? A 36 yard pass. What, did GU think they wouldn't do it again?
When I was a kid, there was an armed robbery at a Safeway up the street, which cleaned the place out and was the talk of the neighborhood. The police investigated it carefully and went back to work. The next morning, the same robbers returned at the same time and cleaned it out again! Aside from the fact that the next day, half of the Richardson, TX police force was waiting in the parking lot, the thieves were never caught, but that's a testimony to utter confidence to pull the same job 24 hours later.
Brown was a confident team. Georgetown was not. The two kickoff fumbles, eight sacks from an good but not great Brown d-line, the unnecessary penalties which extended two Brown drives into the end zone, missed tackles, even five players standing and failing to stop a runner before he took off for the end zone, all communicated to the viewer that the Hoyas were not ready for this game. This was not a game played in stormy conditions or a hostile crowd. This team was flat and the coaches didn't prepare them.
The unexplained absence of Danny Lauter probably didn't help things, but when a team has 32 yards passing at the half, having not made a single attempt to its all-PL wide receiver, that raises questions, especially versus a team ranked last in the Ivy League in defense. From its opening drive, the Hoyas had no first downs in the first half until the second to last play of the frost half.
Maybe Dez Thomas was thrown in to the lineup under short notice. Maybe the offensive line was banged up. Maybe the play calling went out the window down 14-0, it doesn't matter. It was a poor effort throughout and did little to assuage those that, once again, thought that Georgetown carried some momentum out of its generous scheduling of Davidson and Wagner. Instead, against a 3-7 Brown team from 2024 in its first game of the 2025 season, perhaps headed to another three or four win season, it was more of the same.
The next two weeks continue to offer opportunity, but once PL play begins, there are no easy opportunities.
2. Some Other Rankings: Late last night, the US News college rankings debuted for 2025-26. Ten schools with an FCS football team were ranked in the top 40 universities nationally, but only two outside the Ivy League: Georgetown and UC-Davis.
That's still a very good place to be, and should be more of a plus in recruiting, though it hasn't been a driving force that it might be at, say, UC-Davis, coming off an 11-3 season last fall and ranked #9 nationally this week.
How did the other Patriot League schools (now and in 2026) fare?
National Universities:
#46: Lehigh
#51: William & Mary
#57: Villanova
#97: Fordham
Liberal Arts Colleges:
#22: Colgate, Richmond
#22: Richmond
#27: Holy Cross
#30: Bucknell, Lafayette
3. Around The PL:
Lafayette 38, Columbia 14: After three weeks on the road, Lafayette returned to Fisher Stadium with a convincing 38-14 win before a crowd of 4,206 or a rare Friday night game in Easton. As was the case with many PL games this week, the first half score was reasonably close (Lafayette 17-14) before the Leopards pulled away in the second half. The Lions were held to just 91 yards on the ground and allowed 51 carries for 232 yards.
Yale 28, Holy Cross 10: After three games where the Crusaders fell maddingly short at game's end, such was not the case in New Haven, where Yale opened its season with a decisive win before 4,469 at the Yale Bowl. From a 7-0 score at the half, Yale scored 21 unanswered points behind 127 yards and there touchdowns from RB Josh Pitzenberger.
Holy Cross is off to its first 0-4 start since 2012.
Colgate 44, Fordham 21: Another 0-4 team, Fordham, meets the Crusaders this week. Its 44-21 loss in Hamilton before 2,581 saw the Rams stay close through two quarters at 23-21, but the Red Raiders owned the second half en route to 547 yards total offense and holding Fordham to just 101 yards after halftime.
Lehigh 41, Bucknell 24: The Engineers continued their winning ways thanks to 21 unanswered points after halftime before 3,143 in Lewisburg. Despite 291 yards in the air from Bucknell QB Ralph Rucker, Lehigh owned the ground game with 323 yards, an average of 7.9 yards per carry.
Richmond 38, VMI 14: A crowd of 7,244 at Robins Stadium saw the Spiders hold the Keydets to just 34 yards on the ground, while UR's 541 total yards nearly doubled that of its in-state opponent. Jamaal Brown led all rushers with 153 yards on 14 carries while Andrew King rushed for three touchdowns in seven carries for 100 yards.
This week's games are all on ESPN+:
Penn at Lehigh, 12 noon
Georgetown at Columbia, 12 noon
Holy Cross at Fordham , 1:00
Howard at Richmond, 2:00
Princeton at Lafayette, 3:30
St. Francis at Bucknell, 6:00
