Monday, September 11, 2023

Week 2 Thoughts

 


Some thoughts following Georgetown's 27-10 win over Sacred Heart Saturday.

1. The Longest Game: Maybe Dave Goracy or Rob Sgarlata may remember otherwise, but I am hard pressed to recall a longer game from beginning to end that Saturday's five and a half hour slog. 

Georgetown wasn't alone in weather delays, which predominated in a band from northern Virginia through the Route 128 corridor outside Boston. What it did have, at least for this Saturday, was a commanding lead that did not give its opponent a window to climb back into contention, a role that few Georgetown teams have enjoyed in recent years. 

That role, however, is supported ably by a running game that has been lacking in prior seasons but which holds some hope for the future.

Two able and contributive running backs opens up opportunities for a Georgetown offense which traditionally gets boxed in the backfield and must resort to passing to stay competitive. More often than not, it comes back to bite them. While two games is not a representative sample, and Marist and Sacred Heart are certainly not Maryland and Syracuse, the pair of Joshua Stakely and Naieem Kearney have combined to average over 200 yards a game rushing between them. This allowed Georgetown a whopping 40 minutes of time of possession Saturday, and Kearney's 54 yards in the third quarter were an exemplary use of  the backfield to control time and distance. 

A third game against a manageable opponent offers the opportunity for more of the same, and that's good not only for the backs, but the entire Georgetown offense.

But perhaps numbers tell the story even better: In 2022, Georgetown managed just 901 yards as a team. Through two games, Georgetown as a team already has 566.

2. "A" For The "D" : Again, take the strength of schedule off the able, but a veteran Georgetown defense has been very efficient at limiting opponent drives and  has tipped the field back to the offense. In two games, the defense has met the opponent in 24 possessions, and allowed points in just three of those possessions. It has forced a turnover in six of those 24 possessions, and while we're at it, has kept opponents out of the red zone, with just two red zone possessions in the past two games and a shutout in Saturday's game. Rain notwithstanding, when was the  last time a Georgetown opponent failed to get into the red zone? 

Also a decided plus after two weeks: penalties. After two games, penalties are down 20 yards per game from 2022, and those are numbers that, if maintained, can be the difference in close games.

3. Perception Is Reality. Another small crowd, pre-rain, greeted  the teams Saturday. Call it a lack of promotion, call it a lack  of interest in Sacred Heart, or call it a student body that has been acculturated to expect the worse.

“I heard we were like really bad, but I guess we’re better than Marist,” said  Laura Taylor, a freshman from McLean, VA in a quote to The HOYA the week before. "I was very surprised when I came in and we were winning already."

Was she and her friends at the game Saturday? Will they be back?

I have spoken at length about the soft bigotry of low expectations around Georgetown football, and how students are not engaged with this team the way, they are with, say, men's soccer. Winning helps, of course, but so does the ability to enjoy the game. While Cooper Field is a step above the ramshackle MSF, which itself was a step above the roof side seating at Kehoe Field, it means absolutely nothing to 18 and 19 year olds who have no memory of these former environments.

Saturday's home game is the third of the season and the halfway point as far as home games go and students aren't going to overfill those seats organically. This is a generation that is connected virtually but disconnected socially, and school spirit is in short supply if it was never offered by the school in the first place.  

Keynote speaker Jack Mackey defines a positive customer experience as "a partnership between architects and heroes" to win loyalty, and there are any number of theoretical and academic exercises to engender student interest in an extracurricular activity. There are few architects on the Hilltop committed to this, and heroes are always a week away.  

But  in four words, the salient point was made by William F. Buckley: "First, you must win."

Georgetown hasn't won there consecutive home games in 12 years. Let's start with that on Saturday.

4. Hoiah, Holy Cross: If you haven't read about the finish of Holy Cross' 31-28 loss to Boston College this past week, you should. It was an epic game and a heartbreaking defeat against a generations-old rival, one which Georgetown utterly lacks. If you can imagine a Georgetown football team being down three to Maryland with under two minutes left at Byrd Stadium, that may be as good an analogy as any.

Even in defeat, HC fans could hold their heads high. These three images posted in social media  tell the story of a school less than half the size of Georgetown come together in ways that a mere Patriot League game could never do. The wounds may still be raw, but this was the stuff of memories that these students will be talking about for decades to come.









5. Elsewhere In the PL: Unexpected progress for the league in week 2:

Bucknell 21, VMI 13: A 7-0 game through three quarters, the Bison held the Keydets to just 30 in their final two drives of the game and took the win at Lewisburg before 1,465. A home test with Penn in two weeks will say a lot about where the Bison can go offensively versus a FCS top-five defense; for now, it's a bye week.

Lehigh 14, Merrimack 12:  This game was not only rain delayed, it was rain-relocated, as poor conditions in Andover led Merrimack officials to move the game to Harvard Stadium where the game could be played (and finished) under the lights. Two hours delayed, it took two drives to end the first half to serve as the margin of victory before 1,652 in Cambridge. A drier and more familiar venue await the Engineers in a home game versus Cornell.

Duke 42, Lafayette 7: No let-up for the Blue Devils following their Labor Day walloping of Clemson. The Leopards were even after the first quarter but Duke pulled away thereafter and put up 515 yards total offense before as smaller than expected crowd of 17,481 in Durham. Lafayette held its own and this should prove beneficial when arranging future games against major college opponents. This week, a home game with Columbia.

Villanova 42, Colgate 19: Another tough test for the Red Raiders with predictable results. The Wildcats scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the game, with Villanova QB Conor Watkins throwing for 130 yards on 8 for 11 passing before 5,101 on the Main Line. The only winless team in the PL, Colgate hosts Penn this weekend.

Fordham 40, Buffalo 37: C.J. Montes isn't Tim DeMorat but he's making a name for himself all the same. In his last two games the New Mexico transfer has thrown for 628 yards, and a sterling 23 for 36, 309 yard effort versus the Bulls resulted in five touchdown passes Saturday, including the game winner with 2:32 to play before 15,854 at UB Stadium. The Fordham defense still has its issues, but an off week gives them time to prepare for games with Stonehill and Georgetown in consecutive weeks.













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