Week 3 Thoughts

 

 

Some thoughts from Sacred Heart's 40-14 win over Georgetown this past Saturday... while wondering if Georgetown is the only Division I school without a video board in 2024: 

1. What We Learned. This was a surprise in all phases of the game: an offense that ground to a halt after two productive weeks, a defense that could not contain the run against an opponent that was held to 10 points by a winless Division II school, the most turnovers in any game in eight years. It had all the trappings of week three of the 2023 season, where the Hoyas stumbled against Division I newcomer Stonehill, 23-20.

Except this game wasn't as close.

Saturday's game was less a "trap" game than a "window" game, because it opened a window to the three issues that Georgetown must address, and soon, for it to make a serious run at that elusive winning season. 

First, the run defense remains a concern. Sacred Heart had just 146 yards against Division II St. Anselm the week before, and went for 264 yards, 125 yards more than Georgetown. Yes, it was warm. Yes, it was on the road. Yes, the early injury to VeRon Garrison hurt, but this was a team effort regardless. The next two Ivy opponents finished near the bottom of the Ivy League in rushing last season (Brown, 96.0 yards per game, Columbia 128.7), so any repeat of Saturday's ground game would be alarming heading into Patriot League play.  

Second, the Georgetown run game has a natural ceiling, and it arrived Saturday. Marist and Davidson are not I-AA quality rush defenses, and  Sacred Heart shone a light as to what other teams will due to what is a limited GU backfield. Again, Mason Gudger's injury didn't help, but the Hoyas need more out of its backfield to give the passing game time to develop. And while we're at it:

Third, this was a concerning game for QB Danny Lauter. He started 10 for 10, but  struggled down the stretch, with one of the Sacred Heart announcers openly wondering if he was playing through an injury. Brief appearances by Dez Thomas and Jacob Holtschlag in the fourth quarter did not give the early appearance that there is a Gunther Johnson ready to succeed Clay Norris out there (pardon the 2017-era reference), but Lauter needs to be ready for Brown on Saturday.

2. What They Learned: From two so-so games to open the season, Sacred Heart played their best football at the right time--before a season high crowd at a Homecoming game that looked more like Georgetown of the 18-drinking age 1980s. Sacred Heart will never be confused with Syracuse, but the beer garden, a busy marching band, and a general school spirit not always seen in Northwest Washington helped carry the Pioneers to the win.

These are uncertain times for the Pioneers in football. Moving to the MAAC consigned its football team to, for now, a nomadic existence as an independent--in fact, along with fellow NEC outcast Merrimack, they're the only two independents in the subdivision, making future scheduling, especially later in the season, a nightmare. The 2025 schedule, at least publicly, has only four schools on the Pioneers' platter: at Norfolk State, at Montana, a home game with Lafayette, and a likely game with Merrimack. The game this past week with Georgetown was the return game from last season and is not likely to return soon with the addition of Richmond to PL schedules next fall. 

3. Why Sacred Heart? It's probably a good time to remind readers why Georgetown was playing Sacred Heart in the first place. Simply put, supply and demand.

Let's start at the top. There are 262 Division I teams, of which roughly half (130) are FBS, the "B" standing for "bowl". A win over Georgetown does not count for bowl eligibility, so the big schools won't be calling. Of the 132 schools remaining,  as many as 115 of them are playing guarantee games in the first three weeks of the season against those FBS schools for a guarantee fee, so Georgetown isn't a choice when these schools can take a check from TCU (as LIU did) or Central Florida (as New Hampshire did) or even Rutgers (as Howard took advantage of.)  

Add to this that the Ivy League doesn't play in the first two weeks of the season, Georgetown doesn't travel beyond a 6-8 hour bus trip to schedule opponents, and wants a home and away series in lieu of a one-way road trip to Chesterton IL or Beaumont, TX. 

So who's left out of those constraints?  You guessed it: Marist, Davidson, the occasional NEC or MEAC schools without a guarantee opponent that week, or the independents. As much as some of us would like to see a Villanova, a Howard, a Towson, or even some distant opponent which could raise the collective eyebrow of the local sports community, it won't come unless and until Georgetown is an opponent worth scheduling, which they are not and in some ways chooses not to be.

4. New England Is Not Hoya Country: Saturday's game was the eighth game (and only the eighth) Georgetown has played in Connecticut: GU's record is 1-7. It's not much better in New Hampshire (0-1) or Rhode Island (0-3). Massachusetts has more wins (12-25-1) but many of those wins predate the modern era. Why is this? The short answer is distance. A 5-8 hour bus trip takes its toll. While there are FCS teams Georgetown have not played (Bryant, Central Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Merrimack), these seem like long shots in what will be a four game non-conference slate going forward. Remember, those first three weeks figure to be the majority of open dates and teams will be looking elsewhere. 

5. Around the Patriot League: A competitive week for the Soon-To-Be-Eight, with one exception. Let's start there.

Stony Brook 27, Fordham 21:  A half-empty Homecoming crowd of 3,112 at the former Jack Coffey Field saw the Rams drop its third straight, losing a fourth quarter lead with a pair of interceptions that led to the winning margin.  Starting quarterback C.J. Montes was lost to injury in the game and his status remains uncertain heading into what is likely a must win scenario at Dartmouth, where the Big Green were tri-champions in the Ivy last season.

Holy Cross 43, Bryant 22: A strong second half piloted the Crusaders (1-2) past Bryant (1-2) for its first win of the season.  Quarterback Joe Pesansky was an efficient 11 for 14 for 100 yards but the HC defense stepped up, holding the Bulldogs to 94 yards on the ground. Holy Cross hosts Yale in the Elis' season opener but without leading running back Jordan Fuller, who is out for the season following an injury in the Bryant game.

Lehigh 20, LIU 17: Another PL team that needed a win, the Engineers (1-2) held off the homestanding Sharks (0-3) before just 1,643 at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium. A key third quarter interception by Lehigh resulted in a 27 yard touchdown pass and the winning points in a game that could provide some momentum for Lehigh as they host Princeton.

Merrimack 31, Bucknell 21: Much like Georgetown, the Bison (1-2) were tripped up by an FCS independent, as the Warriors (1-2) scored 17 unanswered points in the second and third quarters for the win in Lewisburg,  Quarterback Ralph Rucker was held to just 141 yards for Bucknell and gave up two interceptions. A more reasonable opponent awaits as the Bison host Marist (0-2), who have been outscored 87-24 in two games versus PL opponents.

Lafayette 56, Marist 18: Smooth sailing for the Leopards in week three, putting up 528 yards in total offense and holding the Red Foxes to 43 yards on the ground. Lafayette travels to Columbia this Saturday.

Akron 31, Colgate 20:  A closer score than the final might indicate, the Red Raiders (0-3)  held a 17-0 first quarter lead before the Zips (1-2)( took control before 8,932 at  InfoCision Stadium. The teams traded turnovers late in the fourth quarter but Colgate could not pull closer at game's end. Winless after three weeks, this is usually the time the Raiders start to come together, and it might come this weekend hosting Cornell in its season opener.

Week 2 Thoughts

  Some thoughts following Georgetown's 31-10 win at Marist:

1. Expectations Met: A post at a FCS (I-AA) message board I visit asked this question: "When will we know if [the Hoyas] are really any good? It wasn't going to be answered Saturday at Marist, but we did pick up come clues.

Offensively, the line is doing great work in opening up holes for the backs and closing them on the rush. Through two games, Georgetown is averaging a healthy six yards per carry while QB Danny Lauter has not surrendered a sack. Entering Week Three, Georgetown is 26th nationally in rushing offense, an unusual place for the Hoyas to be when compared with prior years. By contrast, its 160 yards per game in passing is down from where it was at the end of the 2023 season, but that's a reflection of needs and opportunities. The defenses against the run among Ivy and Patriot teams will be a significant step up from what Pioneer teams offer, so Georgetown will be transitioning to more in the air as the season progresses.

Defensively, Georgetown settled down after the first Marist possession and held the Red Foxes to nine punts and a field goal thereafter, and four for 15 on third down possession. The rushing defense will be tested over the next three weeks, but they grade out well this far.

The return game have been very strong. The Hoyas started its first three drives of the second half at midfield, and that set the tone for a game which was still close at the half. In face, the last drive of the game, with the outcome certain, is the first drive all season where Georgetown started within its 20 yard line.

Yes, Georgetown was favored to win, and did, BUT let's give some well deserved credit to Marist. The Red Foxes opened its season Saturday with a new head coach, a new staff, and a largely new team, including 53 freshmen. Coach Mike Willis has the ingredients for a significantly improved Marist team in the Pioneer, and there were some encouraging signs in that first half. For forty minutes, the Red Foxes played the Hoyas close-- and with experience, will be a more formidable opponent going forward.

No rest for the weary, however-- Marist's next two games are at Lafayette and at Bucknell.  The Red Foxes won't be favored in either but its defensive line pressure against  LC's Dean DeNobile and BU's Ralph Rucker could makes these games reasonably competitive.

Georgetown met its expectations for Week Two, and take another step upward Saturday at Sacred Heart.

2. Getting It Right: When Georgetown next returns its game at Davidson, likely next year, it will do so at Davidson's new $54 million football facility, the 5,500 seat Davidson College Stadium on the northwest corner of that college's grounds. It's a world removed from the 100 year old Richardson Field, which was showing its age and wasn't going to last much longer.

 Davidson College Stadium is more than a football field, however, but the kind of true multi-sport facility that Georgetown once sought, but ultimately did not deliver on. Cooper Field is a monument of sorts to misplaced priorities and lost opportunities. At a glance, this facility puts Davidson right where it wants to be, and where it wants to be moving forward.

As its athletic director told the Charlotte Post, "We orient everything we do with facilities around the scholar athlete. This really was the culmination of looking at our previous facilities and create more enhancement and capacity around their wellness. This transforms everything we do; this transforms everything our scholar athletes are looking for and puts us on par with other bigger institutions in terms of the facilities they’re able to provide... There’s a lot of great things this space can do and accommodate. The concessions are fantastic, the food service we can provide. Beyond athletics, provides a really cool space for events and different opportunities. We wanted to create a space where we could bring people [together].”

If this harkens back to some of the hopes for the Multi-Sport Facility and its ill-fated partner, the McDonough Convocation Center, it does. But to its credit, Davidson got it right.

3. Around The Patriot League: After a rough open week for the other six schools, three schools picked up its first win of the season, while three others will seek that win this weekend.

Bucknell 35, VMI 28: Quarterback Ralph Rucker threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns as the Bison won on the road in Lexington. The Bison are making some real progress with Rucker at the helm and if the defense can hold its own, Bucknell will make a move up the standings. At 1-1 following the win, Bucknell hosts 0-2 Merrimack  following the Warriors' 63-14 loss at UConn.

Lehigh 49, Wagner 13: Good times returned to South Mountain, as the Engineers (1-1) routed the Seahawks 42-0 at the half en route to the five touchdown win. The halftime score was its most since 2001 (49-0 versus Georgetown) and the final score is largest since 2007. Wagner was held to just 22 yards at the break. Lehigh travels to LIU (0-2) following the Sharks' 45-0 loss at TCU,

Lafayette 40, Monmouth 35: The pre-season favorite for the Patriot League title continues to impress, as the Leopards (1-1) pulled off an improbable win at Kessler Stadium. As written at Monmouth's web site, "Monmouth took the lead with under two minutes remaining... to make it 35-28. Lafayette quickly answered by taking the ball 89 yards on four plays to pull within one. The Leopards opted to go for two and the lead, but Dean DeNobile's pass was knocked away by Deuce Lee at the goal line to keep Monmouth in front. With 53 seconds remaining, Lafayette needed an onside kick to keep its hopes alive and the Leopards were able to recover. A 42-yard connection from DeNobile to Elijah Steward with 36 seconds on the clock put the visitors ahead for good and capped a high-scoring fourth quarter." It's the kind of game that will pay dividends for the Leopards as they move forward. First up: 0-2 Marist.

New Hampshire 21, Holy Cross 20: No such luck for the Crusaders (0-2), who gave up a sack and an interception in the final minute to lose the upset bid versus the 2-1 Wildcats. Of particular pain: HC was 1 of 13 on third down. Next up for Holy Cross, a road game at Bryant (1-1).

Central Connecticut State 33, Fordham 3: This was a surprise: CCSU dominated this game, taking advantage of a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a safety en roure to a  19-0 halftime lead and the Blue Devils never looked back. The Rams (0-2) fumbled on three of its first five possessions and five turnovers overall in a rain-soaked game. Fordham hosts Stony Brook (1-1) in its Homecoming and home opener Saturday in the Bronx.

Villanova 28, Colgate 3: The Wildcats were too big and too fast, end of story. The usually strong rushing game of the Red Raiders (0-2) managed just 86 yards. Another tough assignment awaits Saturday as Colgate meets Akron (0-2), with the Zips coming off losses at Ohio State and at Rutgers.

Week 1 Thoughts

Some thoughts following Georgetown's 46-24 win over Davidson Saturday:

1. Controlling Davidson. To paraphrase its head coach, controllables were controlled in the Hoyas' opening week win.

The Wildcats are a unique team in FCS, and sufficiently difficult to prepare for in a meeting, that to the players, was its first ever, though Sgarlata and his staff had seen them in 2019. Much like Army, the ground game of Davidson is the best in its subdivision; but, also, like Army, it's not always enough to win, and Georgetown took advantage of this.  Yes, Davidson which led the nation in 2023 at over 300 yards a game and was ranked fifth in total offense. Yes, they were 5-4 versus Division I opponents last year because the ground game isn't always enough.

In the game, Davidson carried the ball 57 times for 245 yards, but it was not enough. Georgetown was able to control four of five key statistical trends in the game:

1. Total Yards: Georgetown. 369 to 345

2. Yards Per Play: Georgetown, 8.4 to 4.6

3. Red Zone Efficiency:  Georgetown  200% to Davidson's 75%

4. Net Turnovers Gained: Georgetown +2

5. Net Time of Possession: Davidson,  +17:52

That last statistic is an anomaly given Davidson's ruin game, and it's fair to say in all the Georgetown games I've followed over the years I'm hard pressed to remember any of them where the Hoyas gave up nearly 39 minutes of time of possession and won handily: it's not a common occurrence with any other common opponent.

Georgetown also took advantage of any number of potential turning points in this game and swung it to its collective advantage: the interception to end the second half with Davidson marching to a halftime lead, the first drive of the third quarter,  even the muffed punt that the defense was able to hold the Wildcats without a first down at midfield. Throughout the game, the Georgetown staff took note of a trend seen in Davidson's game all last season: its secondary is porous, and can give up big plays, and the Hoyas took full advantage.

Yes, it's Davidson and no one is confusing this opener with the opponents met by other Patriot League schools, which we'll discuss below. The Wildcats have a ceiling in the Pioneer and while this is the weakest of Georgetown's opponents at Cooper Field, it's a win a team needs to build its record. For a Georgetown teams which now needs to go .500 the rest of 2024 for that elusive winning season, it's one game at a time and this challenge can now be put on the shelf as Marist awaits.

2. Danny Lauter: The debut of junior quarterback Danny Lauter seemed a mixed one, given his record setting performance in his only game to date, namely, his 427 yards against Lafayette last season.

Lauter finished the afternoon 9 of 16 for 107 yards, with passes to six receivers. Seven of the nine receptions were eight yards or more, but none more than 20. No sacks, no interceptions, but no touchdowns either.

Call this a conservative game plan to open the season. Lauter was not given many long ball opportunities and given the success of the ground game, it wasn't needed. Fans could see much the same in the upcoming game at Marist, but the run game will grind down as the opponent level increases and Lauter needs the confidence upstairs in the coaching booth as well as on the field of apply to exert a more active passing attack. The need is obvious: Georgetown does not have a running game that can take over games.

It's one of the unfortunate byproducts of Georgetown's nonscholarship status: its backfield wears down as the season progresses. The stat sheets of the last two decades are filled with names which dominated its the early games of the season and struggled by November: Charlie Houghton, Nick Campanella, Joel Kimpela. It's not a knock on the current crew, but that the Hoyas tend to struggle as injuries mount and teams know that Georgetown is not deep in the backfield. This is where veteran quarterbacks step up and while Lauter is not there yet, his ability to get there is a story to watch in this first month of the season.

Georgetown has the talent to compete in the air game. We may not see it this week, but we'll need to see it soon.

3. Special Teams:  The goal of any opener for the special teams start with "do no harm" and the Hoyas met that standard Saturday. However, the issue with kickoffs still has some work ahead of it.

Two kickers were brought in to challenge for a role where punter Patrick Ryan has been less than effective: kickoffs. 

The Hoyas had nine kickoffs Saturday that resulted in no touchbacks, a trend seen last season as well.  Georgetown averaged 18.6 yards allowed on kickoff returns and an average starting field position at the opponent's 30 yard line. Much the same could be expected at Marist, where the Red Foxes aren't much better on kickoffs (the difference in last year's game was an average of one yard between them) but it's a point off concern as the season progresses. 

4. Around the Patriot League: Not a great week for the league, but to be fair, no one else was playing Davidson.

The PL was 1-6 overall in its opening week games, with Georgetown being the only win of the weekend. Much of this was expected with four schools (Bucknell, Fordham, Lafayette, Lehigh) playing FBS opponents. Overall, FCS was a combined  2-47 versus its major college opponents in week one, with wins form only Montana State and Villanova.

Perhaps the most interesting game came in Saturday's finale, where Holy Cross came back from 10 down in the fourth to take the lead at Rhode Island with 1:47 to play, only to see the Rams march 75 yards in 12 plays for the winning score. URI quarterback completed his final there passes of the evening for 61 yards for the win. There are going to be growing pains for a Holy Cross team which lost so many leaders following the 2023 season, but they sent a message that the Crusaders aren't going away. 

Other games for this week include the following:

Wagner (1-0) at Lehigh (0-1), 12:00 pm, ESPN+

Lafayette (0-1) at Monmouth (0-1), 1:00 pm, FloSports

Bucknell (0-1) at VMI (0-1), 1:30, ESPN+

New Hampshire (0-1) at Holy Cross (0-1), 2:00 pm, ESPN+

Villanova (1-0) at Colgate (0-1), 6:00 pm. ESPN+

Fordham (0-1) at Central Connecticut St. (0-1), 6:00 pm, NEC Front Row 

2024 Schedule

 

Here's a brief look at Georgetown's 2024 opponents.

Davidson (7-4 in 2023)

Aug. 31, Cooper Field

While fellow Patriot League schools travel to the likes of West Point, Annapolis, Buffalo, and Bowling Green, Georgetown does not get such opportunities for reasons long since discussed, and instead opens its 119th season versus Davidson, its first meeting with the Wildcats in five years and its first home game with Davidson since 2016.

There's little surprise as to what the Wildcats will do in week one: they will run. A lot. Davidson leads the FCS in rushing offense with 308 yards a game and ran the ball 75 times for 355 yards in their 27-20 win versus the Hoyas in 2019.  Junior RB Mari Adams rushed for 1,019 yards and was fifth nationally in rushing touchdowns with 15, while junior QB Coulter Cleland was fourth nationally in passing efficiency.

What Davidson takes in offense they give on defense, allowing 33.6 points per game in Pioneer play, 335 yards per game in yards allowed, and finished 114th or 122 FCS schools in pass efficiency defense. If a team can figure out the Davidson run schemes, they can control the game, but head coach Scott Abell's sets are sufficiently unique that it's no sure thing a week one opponents can shut them down.

Despite a combined record of 41-23 under Abell, Davidson has defeated only one Division I opponent out of conference: Georgetown, in 2019. 

Marist (4-7)

September 7, Tenney Stadium

The last time a Marist team met the Georgetown Hoyas without Jim Parady on the sidelines, Rob Sgarlata was a Georgetown freshman. 

After over three decades at the helm, Parady retired after the 2023 season, with former Princeton assistant Mike Willis arriving to  put some new life into a Marist program which is 40-58 since 2014.  Rob Sgarlata's 100th game as head coach comes across a team which has provided seven of his 30 career wins to date, but this is not necessarily the Marist teams of the past.

The Red Foxes open with three PL teams en route to the Pioneer schedule to follow: Georgetown, Bucknell, and Lafayette, with Georgetown its only home game of the three. Following the transfer of QB Brock Bagozzi to Missouri State, expect some major changes to an Red Fox offense that was ninth in the Pioneer in rushing. Matt O'Dowd, a transfer who walked on at LSU, may see time in the opener.

Georgetown has won four straight and seven of the last eight in the series, which dates to Marist's arrival in the MAAC in 1994. The series was built in large part on the friendship built over the years with Parady and the Georgetown staffs, so it remains to be seen if Willis wants to go in a different direction when the series comes up for renewal, likely after the 2025 season.

Sacred Heart (2-9)

September 14, Campus Field

This is the second of a two game series begun last season, when Georgetown prevailed 27-10 in a rain-shortened game at Cooper Field.

Having left the Northeast Conference for the MAAC in basketball, Sacred Heart plays as a football independent in 2024, with a variety of opponents including Delaware, Howard, and Lafayette. Graduate student Jalen Madison (139-645-4) leads a SHU team that slumped to 109th nationally in total offense in 2023 and was winless in non-conference play last season. 

The Pioneers will open with three consecutive home games and hope for a large Homecoming crowd versus the Hoyas at Campus Field, where it last defeated Georgetown 33-20 in its only prior meeting in Fairfield County in 2010.

Brown  (5-5)

September 21, Cooper Field

82nd Homecoming Game

The beginning of a four game series with Brown University marks the only Ivy League team to publicly continue on Georgetown's schedule past 2024, with its first meeting with the Hoyas since 2018, and its first visit to Cooper Field since 2014.

The Bears are picked sixth in the 2024 Ivy league race and despite strength on its offensive line and backfield, must improve on its rushing defense, which was last in the Ivy League and 101st of 122 schools overall. Defensive back Isaiah Reed is a pre-season All-America candidate, with 50 tackles and five interceptions in 2023.

Georgetown teams have traditionally fared poorly versus Ivy teams over the years, and are winless in the past three seasons versus Ivy schools. Brown is 5-1 all time versus the Hoyas, with a 35-7 win in its last meeting in Providence. Georgetown's last win over Brown came in its last Homecoming win over an Ivy school, on Sep. 20, 2014.

Columbia (3-7)

September 28, Cooper Field

The last meeting in the 10-year Lou Little Cup series has seen the Lions take command, winning five of the last six including a 30-0 shutout of the Hoyas atop Baker Field last season.

"The Lions have a lot of key returning players this season, including almost the entire secondary and linebacking starters from last year, four very talented and experienced wide receivers, their best pass rusher, and a lot of other 2023 starters back," writes veteran Columbia football blogger Jake Novak.  "The Lions will have to break in a new starting QB this year... The play of Northwestern transfer Cole Freeman and the development of very talented freshman Caleb Sanchez present a lot more upside to the equation compared to the generally disappointing play from the QB position last year. " 

Whoever gets the nod for the game will have a veteran WR crew to choose from, including senior Bryce Canty, who lost much of 2023 to injury but caught 53 passes for 733 yards as a sophomore.

Defensively, the Light Blue held Georgetown to 32 yards on the ground in last season's win, holding GU to 3 for 16 on third down conversions. Despite being picked last in the Ivy pre-season poll, Columbia has enough returning strength defensively to give the Hoyas another rough afternoon.

Lafayette (6-5)

October 12, Fisher Stadium

With its first PL title since 2003, Lafayette enters the 2024 season at #20 nationally and the target of six other schools seeking to wrest the title. Though there have relatively less  of a chance to do so, Georgetown included, games like this can be determinative in how Lafayette defends the crown. 

Fans of the Leopards take this game wearily. Despite Georgetown's traditional struggles with other PL teams, it has been fairly competitive with Lafayette, winning three of the last five and two straight at Fisher Stadium. Georgetown's 8-14 record in PL play versus Lafayette ties it with Bucknell as the most GU wins against any PL opponent.

Nine returning starters dominate the pre-season All-League team from College Hill, among them RB and pre-season offensive player of the year Jamar Curtis (235-1460-15 TD), sophomore QB Dean DeNobile (170-255, 20 TD, 5 INT), and WR Elijah Steward (52-738, 5TD).  A total of 27 seniors provide depth for the Leopards, who led the PL in rushing defense and were third in pass defense. Losses on defense, primarily in its linebacker corps, will test the Leopards early.

Following an Oct. 5 PL opener at Fordham, this game opens a three game homestand for Lafayette and one where it will need to run the table for it to have momentum heading into November.

Colgate (6-5)

October 19, Andy Kerr Stadium

With some consistency on offense, the Red Raiders are a dark horse to win it all in 2024. Consistency was not its calling card last season, however. Colgate lost its first four to open the season and won six of its final seven, but stumbled in a strange home loss to Bucknell that effectively ended their championship hopes.

Colgate operated the quarterback role by committee, sharing responsibilities across Michael Brescia (90-166-8, 837 yards), Jake Stearney (68-100-2, 743 yards) and Zach Osborne (56-85-3, 566 yards).  All three return this fall and it will be interesting to see which one is leading the charge when the Hoyas arrive on October 19.  Sophomore RB Chris Gee (73-427) leads a veteran backfield, but the Red Raiders figure to have the offensive line to support a more robust ground game.

Defensively, Colgate figures to give Georgetown trouble, as they always seem to do. 

Bucknell (4-7)

October 26, Cooper Field

No one will confuse this series with Lehigh-Lafayette but Georgetown-Bucknell has one oddity worth considering: six of the last eight games have been won by the road team, including Georgetown's overtime win in Lewisburg last season. For the Hoyas to earn only its second home win over Bucknell since 2012, they will look to limit transfer quarterback Ralph Rucker.

" Rucker put together arguably the top season by a Bucknell quarterback in program history, setting school records in single-season passing yards (2,537), single-season completions (211), single-season total yards (2,667), and tying the program’s single-season passing touchdowns mark (21)," writes a Bucknell pre-season profile. "He also set the single-game standard for passing yards with 387 in a win over Colgate, adding four touchdowns on 33 completions in the performance. Rucker ranked second in the Patriot League in both passing yards and passing touchdowns, and he added another 130 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown." 

Rucker passed for three touchdowns in the final 9:22 of the 4th quarter to rally the Bison from 22 down into overtime in Georgetown's 50-47 win.

Defensively, Bucknell may see a number of new faces to support 2023 all-PL linebacker Brad Jamison, but its pass defense must improve, allowing 255 yards a game last season. 

An opening week loss at Navy awaits, but the non-conference schedule for the Bison is not overwhelming, with games against VMI, Merrimack and Marist before a pair of Ivy League opponents in Penn and Cornell, and Bucknell could be 3-3 entering PL play.  The last four weeks of the slate are its toughest (Lafayette, Fordham, Holy Cross, Colgate) but its game with the Hoyas may be its most competitive. Three of the last four games have been decided by a field goal.

Lehigh (2-9)

November 2, Cooper Field

These have been lean years for the proud Lehigh program, coming off its worst two year run (4-18) since 1966-67 and 10 consecutive home losses since its win over Lafayette at the conclusion of the  2021 season.  The Engineers were last in the PL in offense and sixth in defense in 2023, numbers that must improve this season.

Lehigh did not garner a single all-PL pre-season selection on offense, and if that is to change, fifth year senior QB Dante Perri must take the lead. Perri was a backup in 2023 to Brayten Silbor, who transferred to New Mexico. Perri has thrown for 3,894 yards over four seasons but under 140 yards a game over that span. Sophomore Luke Yoder rushed for a modest 485 yards last fall but Lehigh needs a more consistent ground game given Perri's limited passing game to date.

The defense could be a youth movement with a number of talented players competing in August for starting opportunities. The lineups will be tested in a season opener against Army where the Cadets are early favorites. Lehigh must pick up wins against the likes of Merrimack and LIU before a pair of Ivy League tests with Princeton and Yale, with a backloaded schedule that will see the Engineers facing just one PL team before Oct. 26. Following the Georgetown game, Lehigh plays Holy Cross, Colgate, and Lafayette, and figures to be considerable underdogs in all three.

Lehigh is 10-1 versus the Hoyas at Georgetown, but this will be only the second game in DC between the teams dating to 2018 as the 2020 game was cancelled by COVID-19.

Fordham (6-5)

November 16, Joe Moglia Stadium at Jack Coffey Field

With a football budget of $8 million, the only thing eluded the Rams in 2023 was offense, and Georgetown's 28-24 upset at the 2023 Homecoming game was a low point on the Fordham season where the Rams were averaging 43 points a game entering PL play and scored just half that versus PL teams.

The return of New Mexico transfer QB C.J. Montes offers the Rams another opportunity to contend for the playoffs. Montes threw for 3,000 yards in 2023, with 26 passing and three rushing touchdowns. Expect another big year from Montes in the air, but if the Rams can get line help for senior RB Julius Loughbridge (207-1146-10) it will keep defenses guessing.  With thee returnees on its line, the Rams could be solid by November.

Fordham returns all four starters on the defensive line and eight overall on defense, with pre-season all-PL selections in defensive lineman and pre-season defensive player of the year Matt Jaworski, linebacker James Conley, and defensive back Nahil Perkins. Keeping the points down on defense will give Montes the ability to outscore nearly anyone.

The Rams open with four of its first five on the road, beginning at Bowling Green St. on August 29. Key games with fellow PL challengers Lafayette and Colgate are in the Bronx, a significant advantage for the home team. So too in its PL finale versus the Hoyas, where the Rams have won 10 of 11 versus Georgetown in the PL era.

Holy Cross (7-4)

November 23, Cooper Field

Holy Cross' greatest football run in 30 years ended as Bob Chesney headed to James Madison and Matthew Sluka moved on to UNLV. After five consecutive PL titles, former Merrimack coach Dan Curran begins anew, and we'll know a lot more about the Crusaders by the season finale in Washington.

Offensively, there are a lot of new pieces. Just one starter returns on an offensive line that dominated the line of scrimmage for Sluka and WR Jalen Coker, a Sterling, VA native who passed by Georgetown and is now battling for a final roster spot with the Carolina Panthers. HC will move a number of its 300+ pound reserve linemen into the rotation. That rotation will need to protect senior QB Joe Pesansky, who threw for 499 yards last season in late game situations and rushed once for four yards versus GU last season. 

The Crusaders return all-PL running back Jordan Fuller, with 40 rushing touchdowns in his career, and WR Justin Shorter (34-443-3) is a legitimate threat downfield. But from an era where Holy Cross dominated the All-PL offensive team, these are the only two pre-season league selections.

The HC defense will be tested, coming off a season where it ranked fifth in the PL against the run and second against the pass. Despite its significant advantage on offense in 2023, Holy Cross allowed 25.7 points per game on defense, a mere one point better than  Georgetown, who finished 5-6 but did not the likes of Sluka or Coker to take over games.

Home games with New Hampshire and Yale and a road game at Syracuse highlight HC's non-conference schedule, but the Crusaders must travel to Lafayette and Colgate this season. A couple of upsets may have them in contention in Week 12, but it's more likely they are playing for a 6-5 or 7-4 record at Cooper Field to end the season.

Five Questions, Defense

 

Some questions on defense heading into the 2024 season:

1. How Good Is The Defensive Line?  For a school which normally has some good defensive talent, the 2025 could be one of Georgetown's best in years, and that's saying something.

The Hoyas finished as the best defensive team in the Patriot League in 2023, which may be a first, if ever. Georgetown led the league in total defense (324.1 yards allowed), passing (171.7) and passing efficiency (110.9), the latter of which was fourth nationally, a stat that got little or no attention in local or league media. To put this into perspective, Georgetown's passing defense finished just behind national champion South Dakota State and just ahead of perennial Top 20 entrant Montana.

The good... no, the great news, is that eight of 11 starters and 15 of its top 20 tacklers in 2023 return in 2024. The one area where the Hoyas were not as productive was run defense, finishing third in the Patriot League and 57th nationally. Two of the three non-returnees from 2023 were on the defensive line, including Ibri Harrell (40 tackles in 2023, 7.5 TFL), and Mateen Ibrigoba (29 tackles, 5.5 TFL), the latter of whom will play at Wake Forest via the transfer portal.  Adding in graduating senior Noah Gick (9 tackles, 0.5 TFL), there are some gaps to fill. 

There are some interesting names to watch for in these battles, and it is likely the same on the two-deep in Week 1 may not be the same at season's end. Juniors Matthew Plunkett (14 tackles) and John Caramanico (11.0 tackles)  have some experience up front in reserve capacity, while sophomore Mouhammed Sow was moved into the two deep at season's end despite just one tackle in five games. at 300 pounds, an uncommon size  for an FCS lineman, Sow could surprise up front as he gains experience, and could see action as early as the Davidson game against a team ranked first nationally in offense, averaging 308.7 yards on the ground per game.

Six freshman enter the discussion on the line, with Hilton Hebert as one to watch. The 6-3, 240 pound lineman from Morgan City, LA, led the Louisiana 4A rankings in sacks and tackles.

2.  How Do The Hoyas Address Defensive Pressure?  While Georgetown held its opponents in check for much of the season, it struggled in pass pressure. The Hoyas were last in the PL in sacks with 15, with just 10 of these in league play, five of which came against Bucknell.

This doesn't figure to be a concern as much early in the season as schools like Davidson and Marist will stay to the run. Mid-season games at Lafayette and at Colgate could test the Hoyas' ability to control  the line and exert pressure on now veteran passers to hurry up their throws. 

3. Can the Linebackers Dominate? Yes, they can. Georgetown's 4-2-5 lineup last summer placed  a premium on its linebackers, and they delivered. Fifth year graduate David Ealey led the team with 68 tackles and 7.5 TFL's while sophomore GianCarlo Rufo (38 tackles, 5.5 TFL) was not far behind. 

4. What Is One Area of Improvement for the Defense?  The red zone. Georgetown gave up 24 touchdowns in 2023 from 29 opponent red zone possessions, 19 of the 24 coming on the ground. By contrast, PL champion Lafayette gave up only 13 rushing touchdowns in the red zone. 

For a Georgetown team that was six points removed from a potential 7-4 record, trading a field goal instead of a touchdown can be crucial.

5. What Is One Area of Improvement for the Special Teams?  The kickoff. Georgetown was last in the league in net kickoff returns, allowing 30.9 yards per return and just one touchback all season.

Freshman Thomas Anderson, an Australian kicker by way of St. Ignatius HS in Chicago, figures to compete for kickoff duties with senior Patrick Ryan, whose leg strength was not as strong later in the season. At his signing, head coach Rob Sgarlata said that Anderson "will impact our special teams in all three phases of our place kicking, punting and especially our kick off coverage," and should have ample opportunity to do so.

Five Questions, Offense

 

Some questions on offense heading into the 2024 season:

1. Who Is 2024's MVP?  The largest open question of the 2023 season was answered emphatically by senior Tyler Knoop, who was the most valuable player of Georgetown's 5-6 season. Knoop, who had seen only a handful of plays behind Pierce Holley before starting 10 games last season en route to 2,310 passing yards, will follow in Holley's footsteps via the transfer portal, challenging for the starting job at Stony Brook this fall. 

What follows is the most important story entering the season. The nominative favorite, junior Danny Lauter, enters the season with one of the most improbably stat lines of a Georgetown quarterback. Lauter's 428 yard effort in GU's near-upset of PL champion Lafayette not only set a single game school record, but it was his only gamed all season. It was also his only game of his entire career. For as impressive as Lauter's effort was, he didn't see the field thereafter.

As an assistant coach Rob Sgarlata saw the effects of a quarterback by committee that was poorly executed in the Kevin Kelly years, so as  head coach he tends to pick one starter and ride them  all year. If Lauter is the choice, we'll see what he is capable of doing; if not, there are some major questions ahead. None of the other three quarterbacks on the roster have experience at Georgetown--QB Dez Thomas played a season at Division III Trinity (TX) but has not seen the two-deep in two seasons in Washington. Sophomore Jacob Holtschlag and freshman Jack Johnson have never seen college competition, and former QB Jordan Holmes was moved to receiver. 

Knoop was the man that got Georgetown to five wins last season, but without some real leadership at quarterback this season it is unlikely Georgetown can return to this. 

2. Running Backs: More of the Same? If \you want to track one statistic to follow why a winning season is so fitful for Georgetown, start in the backfield, where the Hoyas haven't had a truly impact runner in nearly two decades, of that. Last season opened with Georgetown rushing for a combined 590 yards in its first two games and ending the season with 288 over its final four. Some of it is competition, some of it is the scholarship issue, and some of it is simply that the Hoyas are never deep enough to maintain a running game and the coaches simply fall back on passing to carry the day, which is almost never does in November. 

The Hoyas lose two of its top three rushers from 2023, with senior Naieem Kearney to carry the load. Kearney can be productive but at only 179 pounds, a battered offensive line can't protect him as the season progresses.  Kearney had 218 yards over this first two games of the 2023 season and 47 in his final two, where better defensive lines were no match.

The remainder of the backfield is either freshman or those that only saw spot duty. Georgetown got productivity from WR Nicholas Dunneman on sweeps, but he won't be as much a surprise in 2024. With no RB weighing more than 200, the field tilts upward for the backs. 

3. How Good Will The Passing Game Be?  Returning its top five receivers from 2023 places Georgetown in a position of depth at receiver it has rarely enjoyed, if ever.

The top three options offer the Hoyas a lot of opportunity. Sophomore Jimmy Kibble led the Hoyas with 753 yards in receiving in 2023, with big games down the stretch against Lafayette and Bucknell,  and his season total was matched only by Joshua Tomas in Georgetown's PL era. Kibble isn't the fastest or the tallest player in the PL receiving ranks but he is adept at getting open and getting yards off the catch, as is the case with junior Nicholas Dunneman. The 205 yards versus Colgate by Dunneman was the most of any receiver in a game for Georgetown since 1999. Junior Brock Biestek is a solid option on third downs, where he averages 10 yards a reception and averaged 18 yards per catch versus Lehigh. 

Two players to watch come from a  position largely forgotten by some fans: tight end. Sophomore Isaiah Grimes caught just 30 passes this past season but at 6-3 and 215, he has the bulk to fight for more receptions in short yardage situations where GU was less productive. Another sophomore, Burke Carroll, had some good games in limited experience last year but could be a contender in short passing offensive sets.

If the offensive line gives its quarterback time to find receivers, the Hoyas were well positioned.

4. Are There Newcomers To Watch?  In an era without redshirting (a subject that will get more attention over the next year in Patriot League circles), many freshmen at Georgetown tend to see little if any time, particularly on offense.  Two freshmen I'd like to see more of are the following:

Savion Hart (RB) : A legitimate three star candidate out of St. Paul Minnesota, Hart selected Georgetown over local options at St. Thomas and walk-on opportunities at North Dakota in Minnesota. 

"Hart delivered an immaculate senior season in which he ran for 2,642 yards and 39 touchdowns while leading the Cadets to the Class 5A state title game, where they lost to Chanhassen in overtime," wrote Yahoo Sports. "In that [game], Hart ran for 226 yards and two scores."

" I knew it was globally known, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s crazy.’ I looked into it, and the academics were wild. Yeah, it could benefit me after school, too,” he said. “But I just knew it’s Division I and I could go there and try to help their program to be the best it could. Yeah, I fell in love with the school, the coaches, everything. The vibe and energy was there. I loved all the energy that they gave me.”

The last major recruit to come to Georgetown from Minnesota was Kim Sarin (2002-04), whose 1,051 yards as a junior was, and is, the only 1,000+ yard season in school history.

Jack Johnson (QB):  An early signee, Johnson could be down the depth chart for 2024 but his incoming numbers are impressive: 7,915 yards in two seasons, with 84 touchdowns and 32 interceptions at Brighton (UT), and he once threw for 536 yards in a single game. While high school numbers aren't everything needed to crack the lineup (Martin Butcher and Barney O'Donnell come to mind in past seasons),  Johnson has a body of work at a major Utah high school (13th statewide in 2023) that can serve him well in making the step into college play.

5. What's the One Stat Georgetown Must Improve Upon On Offense? Fourth down conversion. The Hoyas were last in the PL in fourth down efficiency turning the ball back over nine of 15 times. 

Changing Times

In a football conference where seemingly nothing changes, Tuesday's announcement of the arrival of the University of Richmond to the Patriot League in 2025 is surprising as it is revelatory. It is surprising, because it plays against character of the PL as the place where no one wanted to be a member there, and revelatory because it exposes many of the issues under the cover within FCS schools today. 

Unlike the major conference schools that move for money, FCS schools are now facing a different calling: the company you keep. In that sense, we really should have seen this coming, and spy a couple more down the road.

Georgetown University, preternaturally trained to look north in all things, may not know much about the Richmond football program. It's a very successful program and one which, had the University peeked on the other side of the river over the years, might have done well to emulate.

Its football team took the field the same as Georgetown did, 1881, but with access to a few more programs in an around the state, such as Randolph-Macon, Hampden-Sydney, VMI, VPI, Washington & Lee, and its eventual rival, the College of  William & Mary. Following the split of the Southern Conference that sent 13 schools to form the Southeastern Conference, Richmond joined that conference in 1936, along with Davidson, William & Mary, and Wake Forest. The Southern split again in 1953 to form the Atlantic Coast Conference, but continued on with the likes of West Virginia, Virginia Tech, George Washington (through 1966), Davidson, The Citadel, Furman, VMI, Richmond, and  William & Mary.

By the 1970's, Richmond saw the upcoming split of the I-A and I-AA schools and wanted to stay with the former, as the Southern was increasingly a collection of the latter. Richmond had been in discussions for a new conference which looked much like the ill-fated Metro Conference in football, to include Virginia Tech, Florida State, West Virginia,  South Carolina, and East Carolina, among others, but without TV support (the NCAA owned all college football TV contracts until 1984), it went nowhere.

Richmond began a run as a Division I-A independent before accepting a relegation to I-AA in 1983. In 1986, it joined Delaware as the first schools south of New England to join the Yankee Conference. Two years later, Villanova followed, with William & Mary and James Madison in 1993, Over four decades and three name changes, what is now the Coastal Athletic Conference because the best FCS conference east of the Mississippi. Over those years, Richmond won eight conference titles, earned 12 NCAA playoff appearances and won the 2008 national championship. It has suffered only two losing seasons since 2004, and built its first ever on-campus stadium, the 8,271 seat E. Claiborne Robins Stadium, in 2010. Times were good.

So what changed? The clues were in plain sight.

The CAA of 2023 was not the CAA of old. The conference had survived change when three teams dropped football (Hofstra, Northeastern, Boston U) and two Yankee entrants upgraded to FBS (Connecticut, Massachusetts) . By 2021, the CAA was expanding for expansion's sake, bringing in schools far less compatible with the model Richmond had joined for: Campbell, Hampton, Monmouth, , North Carolina A&T and most recently, Bryant. The loss of longtime rivals James Madison and, most recently, Delaware, led Richmond officials to ask, much as they may have done in the 1970's, if this was the home for them, especially as a football-only member. 

By reports, Richmond kicked the proverbial tires on a return to the Southern Conference. Just three of the 10 members were around when the Spiders last played there, and the conference had moved west to outposts in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. The Southern does not have any associate members in football, and Richmond was not trading in its A-10 membership for that. The Patriot League, once toxic to expansion candidates over its no-scholarship policy, could offer associate membership, a return to the A-10 footprint seen in other UR sports, and a more visible TV deal with ESPN+ than the onerous FloSports deal that the CAA had subscribed to. It also did not hurt that Richmond was one of three schools long given special consideration by PL authorities when it came to future expansion, if only they were interested.

Now, they were.

“Why leave?”, writes the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Perhaps the more pertinent question was “Why stay?”

"Energy and interest among UR fans diminished in 2023, and that was noticed in the Robins Center offices of athletics decision-makers," writes columnist John O'Connor.  "Richmond had longstanding invites – the Patriot League and Southern Conference – and chose the Patriot League because UR’s student and alumni base is in the northeast and those schools align with UR. It’s a step down in FCS competition level, though that clearly didn’t weigh as much to Richmond as other factors." 

And the predicate of the story: "There seems to be hope at UR that Patriot League expansion is not done."

Remember those two other programs with most-favored-nation status at the PL offices? Both are UR rivals, both are in the CAA, and both see the same changes in the conference ahead of them. By 2025, they will be among just five of 15 schools that were in the conference at its debut as the CAA, along with Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine. They are also among the two of the most visible FCS programs in the region William & Mary and Villanova.

This is the home-run scenario, mixed sports metaphors notwithstanding, long wished in the narrow corridors of the PL offices. William & Mary, a strong football program that is nonetheless one of four original Division I schools to have never qualified for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, could see the PL as a new beginning. Villanova, of course, could park its football program as Georgetown does and reduce its costs, with four league opponents within two hours of its campus. The days of a one-bid PL could vanish if  10 PL teams were performing at a high level and the CAA continued to atrophy.

A period of discovery awaits in Williamsburg and the Main Line. 

Once the second strongest program among the Virginia state schools, W&M has been passed by in the public perception by Virginia Tech, Old Dominion, and now James Madison. Does it consider a move upward to FBS as a means to address this, revisit the Southern, or take a move to the PL against schools that, for the most part, it is not an institutional fit with?

And whither Villanova? Its major CAA rival, Delaware, is gone, and Richmond is out the door. Unlike Georgetown, Villanova football still carries institutional credibility as a  potential FBS entrant-- it was a week removed from an trustee vote whether to join the Big East in football before the FBS schools announced their exits.  If the ACC comes apart, would Villanova be on a short list among those who remain? A more pertinent question may be whether a perceived deemphasis in the Patriot League affects any of this, or whether football been tacitly realigned within that university as a secondary program, much as it has at Georgetown? The Wildcats won 10 games last fall and averaged just 4,334 a game. Would the fans care if home games with Elon, Rhode Island, and Stony Brook were traded for Bucknell, Lafayette, and Fordham?

And perhaps the unasked question in PL scenario planning returns us to Washington. 

When it accepted an invite to join the Patriot League in 2000, the last such school to do before yesterday,  the league said that Georgetown has "an outstanding tradition of athletic and academic excellence, which reflects the core values of the Patriot League," said then-commissioner Carolyn Schlie Femovich. "Their desire to compete at the level of our programs makes them a very attractive member for our football league." 

The Washington Post also added, " The move, which will be announced today, represents a step up in competitive level from Georgetown's present football affiliation, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, but keeps the team in a conference that does not allow athletic scholarships for football players."

Times have changed.

In a practical sense, Georgetown was invited because Towson was leaving and the PL didn't want to be at risk of further departures, including Fordham. To some cynical fans, Georgetown was as an insurance policy of sorts to prevent the PL from going below six schools and forfeiting its at-large bid to the playoffs. Holy Cross fans may not have liked Georgetown, but they needed the Hoyas for scheduling purposes. If three nationally prominent teams join the club, the future value of its least successful program, and the only one which never added scholarships, becomes an uncomfortable question.

In a 2000 Post article titled " Georgetown's Move to Patriot League Comes at a Price," athletic director Joe Lang responded to question about budgets that "We'll do this in a very measured way . . . by growing ourselves to fund the program the way we need to fund it to be competitive."

A quarter-century later, the arrival of at least one new entrant will raise that question once again.