Five Questions, Defense

In the second part of some pre-season questions to consider for the 2012 Hoyas, this column focuses on defense and special teams.

Ten returning starters on offense gives the 2012 Hoyas a lot of options entering the season. While the defense sustained some significant graduation losses, there is still a lot of returning talent to look forward to.

With that in mind, five questions to consider with the season approaching:

1. Is Jordan Richardson Georgetown's Next Defensive Star? Ononibaku, Buzbee, Etukeren, Schaetzke. The front lines of the Hoyas have featured some outstanding skill position players in recent years. With the graduation of Andrew Schaetzke, the emergence of DT Jordan Richardson is worth watching.

Richardson started nine games at tackle last season. He is big (6-2, 300) and quick for his size. The Georgetown media notes called him a "disruptive force" as a freshman, and his 24 tackles were a promising start considering he was just a freshman. With John Porter and Peter Daibes fighting for a role on the DE position vacated by Schaetzke's graduation, an effective presence in the middle is essential. Much as Micharel Ononibaku turned the corner as a sophomore, a big year by Richardson could be invaluable to a defensive line that will be tested in the second half of the season.

2. Rushing Defense. For those looking for a secret to the Hoyas' eight game turnaround from from 2009 through 2011, look no further than rushing defense. A defensive unit  that stops the rush limits third down conversions, limits time of possession, and limits teams from taking over games. In 2009, Georgetown was not very good at any of these, allowing 208.2 yards per game on the ground. In 2010, that number fell to 144.6. In 2011, the numbers were outstanding, holding opponents to 98.6 yards a game on the ground, among the top ten nationally. Dustin Wharton and Robert McCabe can provide tackling support off the line, but it's up to the men up front to limit that opening burst and force those second down and nine plays rather than second and three.

The progression of the schedule is ideally suited to building that number, opening with Davidson and Wagner, then on to Yale and Princeton, picking up the pace with Brown and Fordham, than diving into the PL schedule, where the top three PL teams will all be looking to the run to get things done.

3. Turnovers. Another statistic that has showed marked improvements over the past three seasons, the defense will again be counted upon to force turnovers. This was the case in three key games last season where the defense set the tone for the win: a three INT game that turned the tide against Colgate, forcing five turnovers to stall Holy Cross' efforts to come back in that game, and four turnover versus Fordham. Those three games, all against strong PL offenses, was the difference between 8-3 and perhaps a 5-6 finish. Driving the defense to get the ball will be a key performance indicator for 2012.

4. The New Secondary. Georgetown's biggest defensive challenge in 2012 is replacing three starters on the  back line of the secondary. Together, Wayne Heimuli, David Quintero, and Jayah Kaisamba accounted for 142 tackles last season and six of Georgetown's 17 interceptions. The pass defense bent, but did not break last season, and the depth chart has the level of talent where the new starters can work their way into the job. Stephen Atwater and Malcolm Caldwell-Meeks figure to be keys to rebuilding the lines, with sophomore Javan Robinson not far behind. Junior transfer Rohan Williamson is worth a closer look as well.

5. Wanted: Kicker. By now, you've read that the lack of depth in placekicker has led Georgetown to host an open tryout to find a backup for junior PK Devon Papendrew. It's not an insignificant need--graduated kicker Brett Weiss accounted for 79 points last season and the Hoyas need a consistent option on PAT's and mid-range field goals. If that's Papendrew and the newcomer gets plenty of halftime practice kicks, great, but if Papendrew gets hurt or is ineffective, a game or two could come down to effective kicking, both on scoring plays as well as kickoffs.

With Papendrew's lack of any in-game experience, even the pre-season media notes were hedging. It noted that Papendrew was the "likely" option at PK--not a ringing endorsement when you're the only kicker entering camp.  

Yes, there are some open questions for the defense, but there is experience waiting to make the difference. And notice there's no talk in this article about the immediate need for freshmen to fill the gaps. That's a pleasant (and welcome) byproduct of depth that will serve the Georgetown defense well as it grows and matures this season.

A Foot In The Door

They don't make kickers like they used to.

This week, The HOYA noted that a tryout will be held at month's end because, with one kicker on the roster with no in-game experience, the Hoyas enter 2012 mighty thin at kicker. Never mind that they'll have two kickers on the roster with no in-game experience, they need depth, now more than ever.

The notice:

The Georgetown University football team will be holding open tryouts for placekickers on Thursday, August 30 beginning at 4 p.m. Tryouts will be held at Multi-Sport Field, as the Hoyas coaching staff is looking to add depth at the position.

Those interested in participating in the open tryout should contact Georgetown Director of Football Operations Justin Brown by calling 202-687-6700

Such was not always the case.

Kickers were not as disposable back in the day, pro or college.

From 1968 through 1986, the Dallas Cowboys had only four placekickers in 19 seasons--Mike Clark, Toni Fritsch, Efren Herrera, Rafael Septien. In the next 25 seasons, they've gone through 21 more. During that same era, the Washington Redskins had just two kickers--Curt Knight and Mark Moseley. Since  then, a parade of names from Max Zendejas to Graham Gano...22 in all.

So it is with the Hoyas. The 1980's and 1990's had their run of veteran kickers: Jim Corcoran, Erich Beringer, Tom Timperman, Anthony DeGuzman.

But in the last 15 years, just two kickers have finished their careers as four year players, and only one played in all four seasons. It's become a position where recruits don't last very long and the Hoyas are often looking to walk-ons and transfers to fill the gap.

Let's go back to 1997, where the Hoyas added arguably one of its best kicking prospects ever, St. Francis Prep's Peter Carbonara. As a freshman, Carbornara was named all-conference after just one season, but left Georgetown and ended up enrolling at New Hampshire, kicking for the Wildcats before he was dismissed by UNH in the off-season. Carbonara was replaced by Paul Wiorowski, who kicked for two seasons before graduating. In the Patriot League era, however, kickers have come (and mostly) gone:

• 2000: The Hoyas turned to a second year law student, Marc Samuel, who kicked for two seasons. Samuel was no rookie, having kicked for two seasons at Kentucky, but classes still took precedent over football.
• 2001: Bryan Bobo, a regional All-County selection from Palm Beach, joins the roster. Unable to move up the depth chart, he plays only two seasons.
• 2002: Michael Gillman, recruited by (but did not play for) Florida, joins the team. Though his stats were up and down (18-35 field goals over a three year career), he was the Hoyas' best option at the position. A walk-on, Anthony Soric, joined the team but does not see action.
• 2004: Eric Bjonerud's four seasons (2004,05,06,07) finally provided stability in the position. 41 of 44 in PAT's, 13 of 20 field goals (though only one longer than 34 yards), he also punted for parts of two seasons. Reserve kicker David Corak made it one season with limited play. 
• 2007: The PK kicker position was a point of emphasis in Kevin Kelly's first recruiting cycle Georgetown brings in two of the best local kickers to succeed Bjonerud, but neither made the grade. Kilgo Livingston, an all-WCAC kicker at DeMatha, played in one game as a special teams player and left the team. Casey Dobyns, a two year all-MIAA kicker at Georgetown Prep (also known for his summer internship as a European fashion model), played sparingly and transferred to Richmond in 2009. In their place, the Hoyas reached out to the soccer team in Jose-Pablo Buerba, who had not played American football before joining the team. 
• 2009: Georgetown adds two kickers in Kris Zabioleff and David Conway. Zabioleff lasts one year, does not start. Conway was on the bench for three seasons.
• 2010: With Buerba graduating, Georgetown finds a replacement in Brett Weiss, a  lacrosse player who transferred from Maryland. Weiss turns in some of the best  numbers since Marc Samuel over the past two seasons, earning second team all-Patriot League.
• 2012: Junior Devon Papendrew is the lone kicker on the roster after Weiss and Conway graduated.

Is there a Marc Samuel or a Brett Weiss out there among the student body? Is there someone from another team interested in a two-sport commitment (e.g., can Jabril Trawick kick a consistent 40 yard field goal)? Or is there someone from the team itself that can step up? Two of the greatest Georgetown kickers of all time held other positions on the team--Augie Lio (1938-40), an offensive lineman, blocked (and kicked) his way into the College Football Hall of Fame, while Jim Corcoran (1978-81) was a safety who who could punt and kick with the best of them. 

The best case scenario is that Papendrew can take over and give the Hoyas two strong years in the position. Recruiting for the four year kicker, however, remains as elusive as ever.

Five Questions, Offense

Over the four years of this blog companion to HoyaSaxa.com, we've posted some thoughts as to the pending questions for the offense each season. This year, depth has answered many of the more pressing questions.

The Hoyas enter the 2012 season with arguably the most depth since the club which rolled through the 1999 season en route to a 9-2 record. Strength at quarterback, depth on the line, and players ready to step up in the defensive backfield were all strengths of one of the best teams of the modern era at Georgetown, one that set the table for the move from the MAAC to the Patriot League.

Is 2012 ready to join this company, and complete a four year turnaround not seen on the Hilltop in generations?

To start, here are five questions.

1. Quarterback: Who's Number 2? Three years ago, Isaiah Kempf replaced James Brady late in a 28-3 loss to Lafayette--it was Brady's last game on the field in a Georgetown uniform and the first of three seasons of Kempf platooning at alongside Scott Darby. With Darby graduated, the starting role is all Kempf's, but a one quarterback setup is increasingly uncommon for Georgetown. Excepting Matt Bassuener in 2007, one would go back to J.J. Mont in 2000 for the last season with a dominant quarterback all season.

Kempf figures to be the starter this season, but his backup (and possible successor) bears watching. Underclassmen Aaron Aiken and Stephen Skon had no pass plays in 2011, with Aiken managing six yards on two wildcat formations. That Aiken wasn't moved to another position as a junior a la Keerome Larwrence or Tucker Stafford is a sign he's still in the mix, while Skon needs to step up in practice to be a legitimate #2 prospect. While three freshmen figure to spend 2012 studying game film, Aiken and Skon need to be ready if the call comes in or if Kempf is hurt. It's worth watching if either gets some fourth quarter time in the opening games against Davidson and Wagner to burnish their in-game credentials.

2. Can The Rush Game Step Up? 2011 was a productive year for a Hoya ground game which has struggled mightily in recent years, yet its leading rusher failed to reach 500 yards on the season in a running-back-by-committee model under former coordinator Dave Patenaude. With Vinny Marino at the helm, he's going to have to work among some similarly-sized RB candidates (Wilburn Logan, Dalen Claytor, Brandon Durham, Joel Kimpela ,etc.) and settle on a starter to the position, while relying on Nick Campanella and freshman Troye Bullock to drive the fullback position to its advantage--a skill lost in some colelge sets these days. With just under 150 yards a game last season, this is a group poised for even more on the ground.

3. Can The Offensive Line....Stop right there. This year, no question: the OL will be fine.

4. Who Leads The Receiver Corps? A lot of coaches would like to have eight returning receivers, but Georgetown needs one or two go-to receivers in 2012. It ought to come from any of the four seniors, including Max Waizenegger, who led the team in receptions last year, or senior Jeff Burke. I'm also holding out hope that a pair of talented players whose college careers were interrupted can make their senior years special: Brandon Floyd and Kenneth Furlough. Each has the talent to have a big year and have to work to get it.

5. What Is The Marino System? With new offensive coordinator Vinny Marino, this will be an early point of emphasis this season. Marino's 2011 team at Columbia finished last in the Ivy League and 108th nationally in total offense, but this was Columbia, after all, and the Lions have long struggled in that category. Marino inherits a veteran team capable of considerable firepower on the field, so it will bear watching how Marino adjusts the sets frequented by Patenaude and how the Georgetown offense adapts to his game plan. Control the game plan, control the turnovers, and control the red zone, and memories of a 7th place finish at Morningside Heights will be ancient history.

Next week, five questions for the defense.

A Front Row Seat

As Patriot League coaches and team captains join the handful of media which have made their 20 minute drive to the Green Pond Country Club, the 2012 Media Day isn't like the 20-odd events which have preceded it. Things are a little different around the "Pennsylvania League" these days.

The first change is that reporter questions about scholarships won't be met by muffled voices and awkward "no comment" replies from coaches. Like Holy Cross basketball before them, Fordham football stared down the league, and the league blinked. One of the founding principles behind "The Last Amateurs" is no more. John Feinstein hasn't written an elegy for PL non-scholarship football, in part because PL football has never interested him the way basketball did, bu perhaps the elegy would fall on deaf ears in this assemblage. For once, Frank Tavani and Dick Biddle and Andy Coen can raise their voices and tell the assembled media, however few, that they're ready to go and next year's class will be the best ever. (As it always is.)

There's a change down the aisle at Fordham too, which is no longer on double secret probation for offering 30 more scholarships than everyone else, but will still be on the outside looking in for two more years... whereupon they will still have 30 more than everyone else, but by then it's presumably OK. Even as a 30-scholarship team in 2011, it was low tide for the Rams,  with a blistering 1-10 record, the loss of its coach, and the retirement of its long-time athletic director. With a football budget now north of 5.5 million (or mre than what GU spends over there years), former Fordham QB and Georgetown assistant Joe Moorhead is looking to be quick, but not hurry, the Rams' rise to back the top of the PL standings.

Scheduling talk figures to be a little different, too. Whether the coaches like it or not, the days where the Ivy League would schedule 80 percent of tis games versus five PL schools by rote, appears to be gone with the wind. Slowly and surely (the only ways the Ivy moves), scholarship PL schools are being weaned off future Ivy schedules. If Princeton wanted a scholarship opponent, they could lose to Rutgers, in that they don't need to lose by 35 to Lafayette.

And following the move of Fordham, who lost convincingly to Army and UConn and will travel to a convincing loss at Cincinnati this October, expect to hear the drumbeat for PL teams to dip their toes in the waters of I-A guarantee games. Holy Cross fans would relish a return match with BC, no matter the outcome. Colgate would take on Syracuse any day of the week. The over/under at Media Day on the first question that asks: "Would [your school] consider playing at Penn State?" is 30 minutes. Public answer? "We would have to discuss this further." Private answer? "Where do we sign?"

And then, there are some unfamiliar colors at the front table. Blue and gray. The same coach that won one league game in four seasons now stands alongside the top of the coaches' list in the league. Barring a homer vote (and as I write this a day early, it's eminently possible), Georgetown figures to be close to second in the PL coaches and media voting.

Third place, and there's some ballot stuffing going on. Fourth place, and Kevin Kelly should get up and leave.

The freshmen that arrived at unfinished Multi-Sport Field in 2009, watched their starting quarterback quit the team after sitting the last two minutes of the home opener, and struggled through the school's first ever 0-11 season, now enter 2012 with heads held high and a well deserved round of confidence. The Hoyas haven't returned 17 starters since the mid-90's when it ran roughshod over the MAAC schools, and experience in August is a great addition to any training camp.

Georgetown didn't get here by accident, and don't have to end the season by accident, either. And while much in the PL media between Easton and Bethlehem consider the 2011 season some sort of Verizon FiOS editing job, the Hoyas did win those eight games and proved they belonged on a field with the more popular kids in the PL playground. It's like seeing DePaul finish runners-up in the Big East. Sure, they could, but how?

Coming off the 2011 season, and entering 2012, there are three constants that have driven Georgetown forward, and each figure to be important going forward this season:

1. Offensive Philosophy. The playcalling of Elliot Uzelac (2004-05) was awful. It was matched by Jim Miceli (2006-09), no less frustrating. Both were veteran coaches who had seen plenty of football in their day, but it just didn't click with the players and the results were eminently predictable. From numerous penalties and time outs to avoid getting the plays in late, to the simplicity of plays that opponents could actually call out from across the defensive line of scrimmage, the Hoyas of the mid-2000's were not respected among other PL teams, and it showed. When Dave Patenaude arrived from Hofstra in 2010, he opened the playbook and cut down on the simple mistakes that plagued the Georgetown offenses of that decade. It was so unusual, at least for Georgetown, that it threw opponents off guard, especially in a pair of close wins over Lafayette. Patenaude has left for Coastal Carolina and PL observers will be watching to see if former Columbia OC Vinny Marino is the next Patenaude or the next Miceli. Probably, it's neither.Yes, Columbia's offensive output was poor in 2011, but the play calls were less of the issue and more to Columbia's general inexperience. Marino inherits the most experienced Georgetown offense in years, and if the calls remain stable, this offense can get to work.
2. Depth and injuries. Over the lean years spanning the Bob Benson and Kevin Kelly tenures, the amount of injuries to linemen from week to week couldn't be ignored. It did Georgetown no good when its second or third string tackles were starters by week 5--they were often undersized and unprepared for the task, and it showed. Sacks and TFL's declined over the last two years, and with it, Georgetown's quarterback rotation had more time to find targets, and less time needed in full "run away" mode from incoming linemen. For the most part, Georgetown escaped serious injuries in 2011, and while depth is much improved, a full season with its lines would be the best medicine for this team.
3. Confidence. There was a time not long ago when the Hoyas would fall behind 10-0 or 14-0 and your could hear a collective sigh rise up from the bench area. This was not a team that believed in itself of a comeback, and the numbers bore this out. From a note I posted to the Any Given Saturday message board: "From 2004-09, teams scoring 14 or more points vs. Georgetown were a combined 51-4 (.927); two of  the four GU wins when allowing 14 or more were to Marist, the other two were to Bucknell. In 44 games from 2004-09 where the Hoyas allowed more than 21 points, opponents were 44-0." Offensive woes notwithstanding, today's Hoyas are more confident that all is not lost if they give up the opening score, or if it's 17-10 at the half. Just as important, if Georgetown can hold a lead in the last two years, they have been up to the task. The 2012 schedule gives Georgetown an ample opportunity to open up with just that level of confidence--from Davidson and Wagner, through three Ivy games, into the meat of the PL schedule. In a three week run of Fordham, Lehigh, and Colgate, a confident Georgetown team could remind the PL brahmin that 2011 wasn't some sort of video edit.

Of course, that's not to say there aren't more questions ahead. Coach Kelly was shopping around New Haven last January, and there's been turnover in the staff. The MSF remains a hot potato topic in development circles and is so prickly it even got its own question in the capital campaign literature.

Ninety scholarships will be on the line every year going forward in the PL, and not one will be offered from the Hilltop. In 2013, maybe not that big a deal. In 2015, a bigger deal. In 2017, a very big deal.Those are questions for another day, even if at least one Lehigh Valley  reporter figures to ask Kevin Kelly, "Scholarships...so, what are you going to do about it?"

But for now, Georgetown sits in the front row. The correct answer is "Just win."

Friday Night Lights

There's an old television commercial which cautions its viewers, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." True, perhaps, but a second impression might be for the better.

For the last 48 years, the visibility of football at Georgetown University has all but been obscured by the penumbra that is men's basketball--fans unconnected with GU often assume there is no football team, while those who walked the Hilltop as students recall a disorganized, small-time effort. The next Greg Monroe would play at Verizon Center, but the next Greg Paulus would never play at the mess that is Multi-Sport Field.

So it is with some enthusiasm and hope that I read this past week about Princeton moving its Sep. 22 game with the Hoyas (its first between the schools since the early months of the Coolidge administration) from a Saturday afternoon start to a Friday night event with national coverage on ESPNU. This becomes the first national broadcast of any Georgetown football event, and a prime-time game with, as of this writing, only one other football game in its time slot--Baylor (post-Robert Griffin III) vs. Louisiana-Monroe. OK, not exactly Alabama-Auburn, but it'll get some viewers. Who knows, maybe a few more will check out the U and see two schools that haven't been discussed in the same sentence since the 1989 NCAA basketball tournament.

Yes, this is a big deal. For Princeton, a team which has struggled in football over recent years, it's a chance to show off its first-rate 27,000 seat stadium, its idyllic campus, and drop a few friendly interviews over the course of the game with administrators and coaches. While Princeton Stadium has been largely unfilled in the years since it replaced Palmer Stadium in 1997, a national appearance can bring even the most jaded Ivy Leaguers to don the orange and black for one night. (A few years ago, the dispassionate student fan base at Harvard turned out en masse for a Friday night game with Holy Cross, with nearly 22,000 on hand, and a night game at Princeton almost screams for a big turnout by the student body.)

It is also a big deal for Georgetown, if we only realize it in time.

In football parlance, Georgetown "does not travel well". Yes, there is a core of parents that dutifully travel every week to see their sons play, some from extreme distances. Over the years, I've met parents from as far as Illinois ans Ohio traveling to games weekly. Outside that group, not so much. At the low point of the Kevin Kelly era (a 31-10 loss at Old Dominion during the 0-11 season), there may not have been 30 Hoyas fans amidst the 19,782 at Foreman Field...and almost all of them were parents. Our fans do not travel to road games, whether it is across the District or across the country.

Georgetown does not travel well because there is no culture of travel. Student road trips to a big game in the fall are nonexistent due as much to the lack of tradition as the lack of automobiles. In either case, its opponents during the Division III years were nondescript, its MAAC era opponents forgettable, and many of the Patriot teams are simply out of sight and out of mind from the Nation's Capital. Few if any Washingtonians wake up one Saturday and say: "we're off to Hamilton."

ESPN could have chosen dozens of games that weekend, most with stadia much larger and more crowded, but they've decided on Princeton, and thus, an opportunity is upon us. So let's take this confluence of factors--a winning team, a string returning base, a name opponent, a beautiful setting for football, a location convenient to thousands of its alumni, and a first-time ever national TV audience-- and make something of it. Georgetown can't fill Princeton Stadium, but the ESPNU audience needs to know they're there.

How does GU do this? In large part, it will have to be a grass roots effort. The athletic department has largely deemphasized the event component of Hoyas Unlimited in favor of abject fundraising, and good people can agree to disagree on the results of this. Too many alumni complain that all GU wants is their money, and if it's not an "ask", they're not calling. As far as I'm concerned, you can't start to fund-raise until you "friend-raise", and events are a great tool for both. The collective Georgetown "we" needs an event to get people to Princeton in September and to raise the tide of moral and financial support. Well, they've got one.

Let's look at five groups who need to be on board when the track is cleared to Old Nassau:

1. Regional Alumni. There are over 4,000 undergraduate alumni in the Garden State, and unless they live at Atlantic City, Cape May or somewhere along the Delaware Bridge, Princeton is a centrally located site with access by road and rail. Granted, many if not most of these alumni have never seen a Hoya football game since their last Homecoming, if then. These same alumni would never drive to Georgetown to see a game, much less to watch a game before a few hundred at St. Peter's, at Seton Hall, or even 3,000 at Monmouth -- these are sites of 18 of the 23 Georgetown road games ever played in New Jersey since 1887. However, Princeton is not Jersey City, and they might make a trip to see this one. Georgetown Clubs of Northern and Southern New Jersey, I'm talking to you.

A concerted effort to provide awareness of, interest in, and response to attend a Georgetown alumni event at  the game won't rouse all 4,000 of these folks out of their Friday afternoon haze, but it's certainly worth the effort. On the fringe of each club are the larger clubs of New York and Philadelphia, and give them the heads-up, too. From Penn Station, a NJT train at 5:01 gets them to the campus in one hour and one minute, and back home by midnight. From 30th Street Center City, a transfer in Trenton adds five minutes to the trip, or an express on Amtrak stops at Princeton Junction in just 37 minutes. Make it memorable--bring the family and enjoy a fall evening under the lights and on national T: a "once in a lifetime" experience.

2. Band & Cheerleaders. During the 1920's, a concerted effort by The HOYA urged its readers to "Bring The Band To Boston" as the Hilltoppers traveled to meet Boston College at Braves Field. And while the Pep Band hasn't traveled to a road basketball game in years and a football game in three score and two, the chance to show off Georgetown on national TV might be the ticket to get 25 or 30 of these folks on a bus outside McDonough at 2:00 Friday afternoon, along with cheerleaders and the costumed Jack The Bulldog to show the colors for TV and rally the fans making the trip. Instead of a three hour commercial for Princeton, there's nothing like cheerleaders and a band to get some air time if the Hoyas are on the march.

Transportation to and from the game costs money. Transportation to and from the game requires planning. The Gridiron Club should open up the discussion this summer with these groups and get some commitments and, where needed, a few donations, to get this moving.

3. Students. While we're at it with the bad and cheerleaders, is Hoya Blue ready for its curtain call? It's been five years since a student group made it to a road football game outside the District, as a small group found their way to Franklin Field on Oct. 6, 2007, only to see the Hoyas fall behind 28-0 after the first quarter and subsequent trips were quickly folded. But with only a three hour road trip, what better way to get students (particularly freshmen) interested in Georgetown sports than a bus trip such as this? Why wait another month for Midnight Madness when a pre-Homecoming road trip is there for the taking?

Also, with two home games prior to the Princeton game, why not sell tickets for the trip throughout those games? With a good early start to the season (at Davidson, home games with Wagner and Yale), Georgetown might be surprised at the response.

4. National Alumni. Granted, a Friday night start doesn't fit everyone's schedule, particularly those outside the region. But for national and regional clubs that like to build events around televised Georgetown games (99% of which involve men's basketball), this is a great opportunity. We need awareness by every Georgetown regional club in the US that they should host a game watching party for this one--no self-respecting sports bar or grill in the Republic doesn't have access to ESPNU. Seeing their school on national TV, even on the somewhat unfamiliar gridiron, is a guaranteed draw for regional clubs, many of whom would like to have more events in the fall before basketball season takes over. Let the word go forth--the Hoyas are coming to a alumni club event near you.

5. Basketball fans. Georgetown's largest fan base is in men's basketball, and as a general rule basketball doesn't promote other GU sports. Many of these fans are not alumni, and not students, and do not associate with alumni clubs. But let's invite them to follow the game as well.

TV notwithstanding, there are a lot of reasons to be motivated to promote this game, and one worth noting at the conclusion: the future. The PL ship is sailing forward with scholarships, and Georgetown is not on board. As it moves into an uncertain period, the ability to establish closer ties with those institutions which do share Georgetown's academic and athletic philosophy on football is vital. In the Northeast, there are only nine, and eight belong to the Ivy League.

If the Ivies see Georgetown as largely unmotivated and uninspired with its football program (a fair assumption given the facilities at its disposal), there is little need for Princeton or Penn or Harvard to schedule them consistently, if at all. In the years since Georgetown acquired games from Towson when it left the league, only Yale has been a consistent opponent, leaving GU a variety of other non-conference opponents with little or no interest among alumni or in the community. Anyone talking about Monmouth or Sacred Heart lately?

But this opponent, this game, this stage, this kind of attention is a unique opportunity to reintroduce Georgetown football to its people and the public at large, and send a message that it not only wants to compete against the Ivy League, but alongside them. If Georgetown can show it wants to make the most of this, it can not only set a course for increased visibility as a program, it can only help Georgetown be a stronger program no matter where the Patriot League goes.

Now's the time to build a new tradition and show the nation just what Georgetown football is all about. And whether it's a first or second impression, let's make it a great one.

2,400 And Counting

"For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.--John Whittier


Two hundred days ago, we retold the story of the Multi-Sport Facility. Little has changed since that September morning in 2005 where workmen were attaching seats to the temporary stands in time for the home opener with Brown, with the public understanding that there was a break during the season until the next phase of construction. This fall, Brown returns to the Hilltop to find that the same temporary bleachers. Today marks 2,400 days since the break in construction.


For nearly 400 student-athletes, as well as a growing number of students who see it as the only safe intramural and recreational space left on this overbuilt campus, it is a promise unkept. The last online reference to the project dates back to September 2009, when then-interim athletic director Dan Porterfield wrote:

"First, it is crucial that we complete the Multi-Sport Field, which hosts not only our football and lacrosse games, but also intramurals, club sports, and events such as the annual all-night Relay for Life, a major fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The original design, which includes precast cement stands and a rebuilt foundation, has been an expensive proposition. Though improvements have been made to the field in the last few years, the project remains unfinished and still requires significant investment to complete. For that reason, I have asked colleagues in Athletics and the University to see if we can develop a cost-effective approach to completing the field. Our goals will stay the same: To improve our teams' game-day experience, to make the venue more fan-friendly, and to construct an aesthetically pleasing facility. As we develop new options for this important project in the coming months, we look forward to sharing its details with our friends and donors."

Please take a look back at the column written September 26, 2011, at day 2200, for further discussion. 

The Breakup

If it weren’t for sports columnist and Lehigh blogger Chuck Burton’s midday update, a lot of fans might have missed the arrival of the biggest news to hit the Patriot League in a generation, deciding ten months earlier than expected as to how to handle the issue of football scholarships.

Many had postulated of a measured approach for scholarships, some sort of Solomonic decision that would appease those for scholarships while not scaring away those with more tentative budgets. Instead, it’s full steam ahead, and six PL schools will have free rein to offer the same grants as found at Maine, James Madison, Georgia State, or any CAA school.

I said six, not seven.

The cloud hanging upon the celebratory mood at the PL headquarters was blue as well as gray. The PL leadership could not announce a unanimous vote, only vaguely referring to a “collectively” and “collegially” made decision. Presidents love unanimous votes, and are loathe to say otherwise. Except in this case they didn’t get it, because this isn’t a marriage of convenience, it’s the first step towards a divorce with Georgetown University.

The papers will be drawn up, they’ll be filed when both parties are agreeable with it, and a press release will dutifully wish GU all the best in their future endeavors.

Georgetown joined the Patriot League in 2000 specifically because it was a non-scholarship conference of academic renown. Now it’s one out of two.

“We are pleased with the addition of Georgetown University to our football league, said PL executive director Carolyn Femovich in 2000. “Georgetown’s outstanding tradition of excellence in academics and athletics reflects the core values of the Patriot League.”

They still do, except they’re not the PL core values anymore.

The decision to forgo need based aid began with Fordham, a school who hopes that they can recapture the glory of days gone by, when the Seven Blocks Of Granite and its Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl appearances made Fordham a household name, and arguably the most famous Jesuit college in the nation. The school which, along with Georgetown, helped spark the national nonscholarship football movement in 1964, wants no part of it today.

Fordham added scholarships unilaterally in 2010, facing a de facto ban from the PL in the progress. The Rams proudly added Army and Connecticut to its 2011 schedule, lost by a combined score of 90-3, won one game for the year, and fired its coach. By 2013, when the five other schools will have as many as 15 on scholarship, Fordham will already have 60.

The decision took root at Colgate, which also sees the big time through the smaller mirror of the Patriot League. Some Colgate fans have a particular antipathy for Georgetown and its perceived small-time ways, and others have still not got over the fact that a norovirus outbreak on Georgetown’s campus cost Colgate a win in 2008. They’ll be at 60 scholarships as fast as they can, and will see their football budget pass $5 million in the process.

The decision also took hold at Lehigh, who seem to have caught the same malady that Pitt, Syracuse, and a dozen other I-A schools found themselves with this past year: the fear of being left behind. Lehigh didn’t leave, but it may have come down to: "well, if Fordham and Colgate have 60 scholarships, we need them too." Never mind that Lehigh is a consistent PL champion and regular NCAA playoff entrant, it’s not good enough anymore.

As these schools sneezed, smaller PL schools caught the cold. Holy Cross has as deep a scholarship past as any of these schools, but approached it with a mix of pause and potential. They too won’t be left behind. Lafayette, which helped throw the wrench into delaying this decision two years ago, seems resigned rather than reinvigorated by the decision. “The league has made a decision to do this, and we are members of the league,” said Lafayette president Daniel Weiss. “So we are complying with the league. I'm not talking about my personal opinion.”

At Bucknell, the school went so far as to post a letter to alumni with their view of the situation. The smallest football budget in the league outside Georgetown, its president minced few words:

"Since December 2010, and notably late last year, the Presidents’ Council has had intensifying discussions about this question. We have looked at such issues as the following:
• The academic goals of the Patriot League and its member institutions.
• The student-athlete experience, including in such areas as admissions, retention, diversity and graduation.
• The long history of football at Patriot League member institutions and the support for these programs on each campus and among alumni.
• The expressed intent of Fordham to end league affiliation if it is not permitted the right to award merit aid scholarships in football. Any departure of a league affiliate or member in football would bring numerous risks for the future of Patriot League football competition and league continuance.
• The possibility of increasing the stability of the league, via growth in membership, should permissive merit aid be adopted.
• The financial impact on each institution of moving from football student-athletes receiving need-based financial aid to receiving athletic merit aid, including Title IX implications.
• The impact on each institution of a permissive system for merit aid for football student-athletes in the Patriot League that does not require athletic merit scholarships but that allows them.
• The problems currently affecting several college football programs at large public universities.
These conversations among the presidents have been thorough and candid.

I write now about these matters because, based on the recent pace of the presidents’ discussions, I believe (1) that the Patriot League Presidents’ Council will vote in February on whether the league will permit member institutions to award merit scholarships in football and, (2) that there will be a decisive majority vote to permit football scholarships. Should the Presidents’ Council reach this conclusion, it likely will become unavoidable for Bucknell to add merit-aid scholarships in football, not least to protect the health and well-being of student-athletes competing in that sport.”

(In short, we can’t lose Fordham.)

But they can lose Georgetown, and the warm breeze of collegiality was met with a colder response Jack DeGioia, who chose his words carefully but forcefully:

Since 2001, Georgetown has been committed to competing in the sport of football as an affiliate member of the Patriot League. This has allowed the University to compete with institutions that shared the same academic values and need-based financial aid philosophy.

"The Patriot League recently passed permissive legislation that will allow member institutions to award merit-based aid in the sport of football beginning in 2013-14. Georgetown will continue its membership in the Patriot League in the sport of football and explore all of its options, including our ability to compete as a need-based aid program. We remain committed to our goal of providing our student athletes with an unparalleled academic experience and an athletically competitive football program."

Points of interest:

1. Georgetown will continue its three year term as an associate member of the PL. There’s really nowhere for it to go for 2012, but that may change going forward.

2. Georgetown will explore its options, which is presidential-speak these days for taking a serious look at somewhere else.

3. The goal of an athletically competitive football program is not tied to finishing last in a 60-schoalrship Patriot League.

Left unsaid, some additional thoughts:

1. The fact that the PL is intent on a fast track scholarship approach, presumably to lure other scholarship schools (read: New Hampshire, Maine) to join its ranks is a tacit admission that a need based school like Georgetown is really no longer welcome. With a program that is considerably behind the other six not to even be mentioned to the media connotes an attitude that Georgetown is expendable for the greater good, however it is defined.

2. Nothing from the PL suggests a “no, we really, really want you” approach to maintaining league unity. Lehigh’s Alice Gast commented that the PL “is like a family”, but that doesn’t count the guests in the basement apartment. The lack of public response to Georgetown’s specific situation makes it sound as if the league has come to peace that it is sacrificing the values of one institution for the promise of expansion and the perception it is bigger-time than its Ivy-like demeanor once suggested.

3. The PL is putting its eggs in an expensive basket. Some of these schools will tell you that there’s no real cost to 60 men’s scholarships, but don’t be fooled. Between Title IX and the billable costs to the respective athletic departments, the athletic budgets at these schools will top $4-5 million a year on football alone, or about 20-25% of its entire budget.

Earlier last year, this blog discussed the organizational issues inherent in the decision.

"The Big East is the best basketball conference of its kind in the nation--teams are fully funded, nationally competitive, and there's a waiting list of interested schools who would join. The PL has none of these, and with its declining out of conference performance (the PL has won one I-AA playoff game since 2003, and a sub-.500 record versus the Northeast Conference this season), scholarships are seen by some as the means to turn around the league before it slides into the ditch of irrelevance.

Turnarounds cost money, though. And commitment. Does the Patriot League have this commitment, or is it becoming more of a scheduling arrangement across schools who want to spend $5 million a year to be the next Appalachian State, and those who don't? Will the seven schools fall in line and spend the money, or will the league devolve into three that do, three would like to, and one that doesn't seem motivated to follow?

Does the Patriot League want to be more closely associated with the style of competition at Dartmouth, or Delaware? Cornell, or Old Dominion? Georgetown, or Georgia State?

The Patriot League can reject Fordham's motion Monday and lose a school in the process. They can accept the motion, and risk whatever purpose the 1985 agreement provided it. That's the price of progress sometimes. But if they are not united moving forward, this league is adrift and, ultimately, divided."

In its show of near-unanimity Monday, the PL decided it is better to march behind the Rams than keep the Hoyas in tow. Everyone in that room knew the situation Georgetown faces that the other schools don’t, the gap in funding, in facilities, and in academics that makes a 60 scholarship decision not only unpopular at Georgetown, but untenable. They could have pursued an accommodation, an acknowledgement that without some sort of graduated approach, they were pricing the Hoyas right out of the PL. They knew it, and chose to let it pass.

The message was sent to DeGioia, his university, and the Hoya program: this isn’t the place for your team anymore.

If so, Georgetown needs to review those options and set a timetable for an amicable parting. Two years, four years, hard to say, but DeGioia said it himself before the season: “I am not supportive of moving to a scholarship program. I don’t believe that fits the ethos and the culture of Georgetown, and I believe the way that the Patriot League is conducted is exactly the right place for us to be, and I’m hopeful that it will continue to be the best place for us to be, but I’m not supportive of moving to a scholarship program and I’m not supportive that Georgetown would follow the move that Fordham did and go to 63 scholarships. It’s just very expensive and I don’t think it’s commensurate in who we are and in our aspirations for our athletic program."

Well, that’s exactly what the Patriot League is going with.

Or as they’re called in court, irreconcilable differences.