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.
