Week 6 Thoughts

 Some thoughts following Georgetown's 17-0 win over Lafayette:

1. The Power of Turnovers: Georgetown's first shutout ever against a PL opponent and its first shutout on the road since 2004 was fueled by defensive intensity and four key turnovers. 

It's been said that a turnover is a net 4 points in possible scoring and Lafayette gave up four of them with two offering serious scoring potential of its own:

1. First quarter: a pass picked off by Zeraun Daniel at the Georgetown 20;

2. Third quarter: A midfield INT from Cooper Blomstrom (with the assist from Kolubah Pewee) that set up a Georgetown touchdown;

3. Fourth quarter: an alert play from Zeraun Daniel picked off the pass in the Georgetown end zone;

4. Fourth quarter: a midfield pick that ended Lafayette's hopes to get this closer.

If Lafayette gets those two scores instead, a 17-14 score in the fourth quarter is a completely different ball game. 

While the Lafayette TV announcers were a little down on QB Dean Dinobile for the throws, only the last one was particularly errant--the Georgetown run defense sufficiently closed the door on RB Jamar Curtis (14-53) and held a quarterback  averaging 70 percent completions after five games a mere 10 for 38: outstanding.

Keeping the Leopards on zero also had a cumulative effect.  When the scores are to and fro, such as they are in the SEC of late, no lead seems too large and nearly anyone can mount a comeback in the final five minutes. This never seemed to be the case with the Leopards, who seemed to wane early in the fourth quarter, having never entered the Georgetown red zone..

We are unlikely to see a repeat as such (Colgate's last shutout at home was to Villanova in 2001) but  if the Hoyas can control the Red Raiders on the ground (where they are second in the PL to date), the secondary can go to work while the GU offense can test a Colgate secondary currently ranked last in the PL.

The prospects are encouraging.

2. Learning To Win: One of the meaningful by-products from a game such as this is the ability for a young team (and yes, it's young) to learn the time-tested adage in sports: one has to learn how to win before they can be a winner. For too long at 37th and O , that hasn't been possible.

The upperclassmen on this team didn't get that. The Hoyas lost more than a season when the University  passed on the 2020 season, it lost continuity with the  2018 and 2019 teams that were making headway with the standings. Yes, many players returned in 2021, but it wasn't the same.

The 2024 Hoyas are learning the lessons: protecting the quarterback, third down conversions, defensive agility. It's allowed the team to play looser and not go into a box when behind, as was successful with Columbia, and to play with confidence with a lead, as was successful with Lafayette. It takes a certain confidence to have just one first down in the last 21 minutes of the game not go into a panic, because they know what they needed to do, and just as importantly, what not to.

Georgetown's not running the table, but the ability to put itself in a position to win late in the season where it traditionally does not (we spoke of this before) can be transformative.

3. The Reverse Curse Of Fisher Stadium: There's no good answer for why Georgetown plays as well as it does at Lafayette's Fisher Stadium, and I'm sure there are a few Leopard fans who ask themselves the same question. 

Of the six Patriot League road locations, Lafayette is the only one where Georgetown has a winning record: 6-5, three consecutive, and five of the last seven. There's no magic there, inasmuch as the games are usually played in mid-October (where the Hoyas are stronger than at end of year), the games are almost always in good weather, and for the most part, the teams have been more competitive than, say, Georgetown and Holy Cross.

Still, it's a noticeable difference between a  game in Easton (or Lewisburg, where GU is  5-7 versus Bucknell) versus Colgate, where colder weather and the long bus rode north tend to take their toll, as Georgetown is 0-9 versus the Red Raiders at Andy Kerr Stadium. Much as Georgetown finally broke through at Lehigh's Goodman Stadium, a win Saturday in Hamilton would be another significant step forward for this program.

4. Around The PL:

Holy Cross 19, Fordham 15: One of only three games in the Patriot League last week, Holy Cross' eighth consecutive win in the Ram-Crusader Cup series said a lot about both teams.

A Homecoming crowd of 10,223 at Fitton Field saw a much better game than those eyeing Fordham's winless record might suspect. The Rams (0-7, 0-2) had three first half possessions ending in Holy Cross territory but managed only a pair of field goals, controlling the first half with a 6-3 lead. The Rams led 13-6 midway in the third when Holy Cross quarterback Joe Pesansky led the Crusaders (3-4, 2-0) on drives of 65 and 75 yards to gain the lead with 6:14 to play, and close the Rams down in the final 1:03 for the win. The win elevates HC to the team with the momentum for the top of the league standings, while Fordham, off to its worst start since 2005, is seeking answers with an otherwise talented lineup. While Holy Cross travels to Harvard, Fordham enters the bye week.

Pennsylvania 31, Bucknell 21: Ralph Rucker continues to make his case as the top quarterback in the PL, going 13-13 to open the game and 26-34 overall, but the Quakers (2-2) put this game away after halftime with 21 unanswered on the Bison (3-3, 1-0) . Penn got  146 yards from RB Malachi Hosley while holding the Bison to just 115 yard on the ground. A crowd of just 2,054 ranks among the smallest in memory at stately Franklin Field for this one. Bucknell returns home to host Cornell this weekend,

Unrealized Promise

 

An article in the September 28 issue of the Georgetown Voice confirmed what many of us at a distance probably knew all along: Cooper Field is not a very good place to watch a college football game.

Oh, it is far better than its predecessor: the wayward Kehoe Field reconstruction was a 1970s workaround that was  never going to last. And for those of us who followed the two decades of University over-promises and chronic under-deliveries of all that was the Multi-Sport Facility, today's Cooper Field will never meet those initial expectations, and is a monument of sorts to the administrative Tweed ring that didn't want the project on its permanent record. All that aside, it is what is, and serves its purpose, though as it was once suggested, it is more valuable to Georgetown for what is underneath the stands (locker rooms) than what is above it (seating).

The article pointed out three issues that will lead to some more commentary on this moving forward.

1. You can't get students to attend a game if they are unaware of it. Promotion of home football games is largely nonexistent. There is no signage, no banners in the Leavey Center, nothing. It's like going to a concert: you're unlikely to go on your own and even less likely to go if you don't know when it is. Add in the general malaise of Georgetown sports teams (read=men's basketball) over the collegiate life span of today's students, and absent awareness of the product, they will not wander over to see it.

A root cause for promotion also leads to a Tweed ring of sorts. In earlier times you could count on, at least, an article in the Voice or The HOYA, but the former prints an issue only monthly and the latter's issue seems to come out when they get around to it. You could look to Hoya Blue, but their last Twitter post as April 4 and its Instagram feed this fall is largely reposts from the soccer team. 

The staff? Well, this would presume as to which staff you're talking about. The athletic department has no promotions staff per se, at least not one without men's basketball or a paid promotion. The Alumni Association staff works for the Office of Advancement, which isn't promoting athletic events beyond Homecoming. The Student Association? Forget it.

2. Once students get there, what is there to do? In many cases, very little. The band and cheerleaders, which formerly assumed seating as fans walked inside the stands (temporary or otherwise) have now been sent north to the far reaches of the stands adjacent to the Hariri Building-- inaudible under the needless PA system blasting out "Crazy Train" on second down and out of sight to students walking up and wondering where everyone is. 

Are there promotions for student attendance: a free t-shirt, a field goal try for free books, that sort of stuff? No.  Is GUGS there? No. How about a tailgate for students? No.

And then there's the fact that Cooper Field is visually unfriendly to Generation Z, being the only stadium in the Patriot League without so much as a basic video board, one which was promoted in Multi-Sport Facility plans as early as 2003. Millions for basketball, but no money for a video board, and thus fans are left to rely on that soccer scoreboard  built in 1992 to follow the game.

Concessions are, well, underwhelming. At the Columbia game, I stood in line to order a hot dog which, I kid you not, looked like a two inch sausage link you would see at breakfast.  Pre-game promotions, food trucks, songs that were written after, say, 1985, and basic Fan Interaction 101 all seem lost at these games, and that won't attract a generation to which group activities are still a little foreign having spent their formative years sitting alone in their room and staying away from people.

3. The most visible lack of interaction is community. Cooper Field was built with "sections" but no assigned seating, and that goes for students. Once they go there, where will their friends be?

Way back when, our freshman dorm floor had four or five players on the team, and we made it a point to sit as a group and cheer them on if any of them got into the game. I noted this in the Columbia game when nine or ten students filled up the row where I was sitting and seemed interested in getting up some spirit, or maybe they had some spirits of their own beforehand.

One of them started a cheer for Giancarlo Rufo. "Rufo!" he said. "Ruuuufo! "RUUUFFFO!" and the nearby fans seem to enjoy it.  Spontaneous? Sure. Silly? Perhaps. But fun.  

Georgetown University clams to be a lot of things, but fun generally isn't high on that list. There aren't going to be many memories for the Class of 2025 staring at Instagram or in the Pierce Reading Room.  Three hours on a Saturday afternoon couldn't hurt. Getting outside and having a little fun at a game like this might be a welcome Saturday diversion from saving the environment and exploring the impact of health equity on indigenous populations in Oklahoma.

Tiara Haggins, the author of the Voice piece, ended her story as follows:

"Although football isn’t our main sport, these changes would be a good start to building a real student section—even if we aren’t good. You can have school spirit and never win—just think of our men’s basketball team, they only won nine of the 32 games they played last year, yet my seniors say the stands are always radiating with energy. 

I believe Hoya Blue and Athletics have a responsibility to make games more enjoyable so more students will come. But more than that, I hope that students make an effort to show up and show out at our games. Football is only as much fun as you get out of it. We can revitalize the student section of our football games. It will be difficult, but think of how much fun they could be! Almost as fun, I imagine, as our basketball games. 

We may not be good at football, but we’ll never know if our team could’ve been better with just a little bit of crowd support."

That journey begins with a first step. Let's start.

Week 5 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following Georgetown's 20-17 win over Columbia:

1. Mr. Little Has Returned To The Building: We'll talk about the key points of the game below, but it's no small accomplishment that Georgetown was able to get a win against an opponent, and a conference, where it has been noncompetitive in recent years. Sometimes fans hear that if Georgetown is non-scholarship and the Ivy League is non-scholarship, there must be some sort of competitive parity at play. Such is not the case.

For any number of reasons, from admissions to financial aid to program support, Georgetown trails every Ivy League school and the results are on the field. At 8-34, that's not competitive, and it's a future discussion to what end Georgetown seeks in playing these teams versus others. What was a solid takeaway from Saturday's game is that while Columbia isn't Harvard, it was an opponent that Georgetown could play at a competitive level and prevail in. 

The series itself, well, that's to be determined. Nether side said as much, but the Lou Little Trophy appears to be suspended for a while. Georgetown's schedule gets tighter with the addition of Richmond to the Patriot League and with new leadership at Columbia, they may seek other opponents as well. When these teams return to the gridiron, this can be a series worth considering, but it needs to be one which Georgetown can compete in.

As for Georgetown's Ivy League opponent going forward, Brown, the Hoyas are 1-6. There's more work to be done.

2. Three Keys: In the Pre-Game Report for this game, we identified three areas where the Hoyas needed to excel to maker this game, and they did all three:

Turnovers: Columbia beat Lafayette on the strength of a  +2 margin on turnovers. Georgetown won this game on the turnover line: two interceptions in the Columbia red zone, a fumble driving for a score late in the first half,  and the key interception late in the fourth. Any +4 mark on turnovers is a big, big deal in close games like this, and it's both a credit to the Georgetown defensive effort in this game as well as the ball control exhibited by an offense that had given up four interceptions in the last two games an none Saturday versus Columbia. Well done.

Defensive Penetration: One of the underrated stories of 2024 has been the ability of Georgetown's offensive line to protect its quarterback. It did not allow a sack on Danny Lauter in Saturday's game. Georgetown is ranked 13th in the nation in this statistic. To its credit, Columbia is right alongside Georgetown.  With a less productive rushing game, the Hoyas go as far as its passing game will take them, and this protection is essential for Georgetown moving forward.

Field Position: Georgetown's average field position was at its 32, and no possession inside its 20. Columbia started, on average from its 20, but with five possessions inside its 20 and two inside its 10.  The field position gave Georgetown a chance to compete, and it delivered.

And can we salute the Georgetown secondary? Columbia's All-Ivy receiver Bryson Canty had 39 yards in the air on the Lions' opening possession, and 21 in the opening possession of the second half. The rest of the game? None.

3. Goals For The Bye Week: There are three: 1) rest. 2) revisit the run game, and 3) drill down on special teams. More on each in next week's column.

4. Around The PL: 

Bucknell 38, Lehigh 35 (OT). Did anyone have this upset on their calendar? In a game that had a little of everything, including a 100 yard kickoff reception and a  79 yard interception returned for a touchdown, the Bison (3-2, 1-0) gave up 500 total yards on the road and nearly 37 minutes of time of possession but battled back to force overtime on the Engineers (3-2, 0-1) and picked up the game winning fumble in the second. It's arguably one of the biggest Bucknell wins over the last decade and even though this is not the Lehigh team of old, it's done something that relatively few Bucknell teams have had entering October: they're in the conversation. Both schools have the week ahead off.

Syracuse 42, Holy Cross 14: No surprise here as the Orangemen at home were too much for HC to overcome.  However, Holy Cross (1-4) is improving every week and, despite so much loss from last season's team,  is going to contend. Its game at Colgate next week is a must-win for both teams.

Pennsylvania  27, Colgate 14: lat week, I said that Colgate might be one of the best 1-3 teams in the nation, and now that they're 1-4, it still applies. Penn was strong throughout but Colgate was never pout of action, thanks to a PL record-tying 16 catches from WR Treyvhon Saunders. The Red Raiders ' game tying drive fell short by one yard with 2:43 to play, and the Quakers ran out the clock. Saturday's game with Holy Cross will be telling for both teams.

Monmouth 63, Fordham 21: If the wheels aren't off the bus on the  2024 Rams (0-5), they're wobbling. Injuries have decimated its offense, but the Hawks (3-2) hung 49 points on the Kessler Stadium scoreboard by halftime and never looked back.  Fordham was outgained 571-278 and allowed 407 yards on the ground and 14.5 yards per completion. A home matchup with Lafayette, coming off its bye week at 2-2,  is make or break for the Rams.