Week 8 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following Georgetown's 28027 win over William & Mary:

 1. Resilience: This was the word which led off the game recap, and it says a lot about where this team was to begin the season and where it is today.

Georgetown saw a 13-6 opener cancelled at halftime, it lost two games on walk-off field goals, and were routed in its two other games, rotating through three quarterbacks. A slow start is a hole that some teams never recover from, and recent Georgetown teams knew it all to well: 2017 (1-10) , 2021 (2-8),  2022 (2-9).  That the Hoyas picked themselves up at the halfway point of the season and ride into the bye week winners of three straight says a lot about the grit and toughness of this team. You might even call it Sisu.

Georgetown enters November seventh of 10 PL schools in total offense and seventh in defense. its 159.8 yards of rushing per game ranks third and is a pleasant surprise after years of struggles along the line, while its passing game, with a freshman QB and inexperience among a number of its receivers, is more expected. Five interceptions and five fumbles recovered by the defense have been timely, though personal foul penalties continue to be unwanted and unnecessary.

There may have been some concern, given a road schedule which saw Georgetown facing Richmond, Colgate, and William & Mary, with Fordham and Villanova to follow, that a young team like GU was going to get mauled against these veteran full-scholarship teams, and that has not happened. Not so long ago, the idea of Georgetown stepping out on a football field with CAA powers like UR or W&M might have been seen as farcical, and yet, there they were, celebrating a win on Homecoming at Zable Stadium. The growth in this team in October is one worth acknowledging, and November awaits.

2. Time Was Tight: W&M fans online were not pleased about Mike London's use of time outs in the game and I can't blame them. One time out that was not in his control proved critical--the W&M injury time out with 1:40 to play which superseded Sgarlata's time out request and allowed GU to stop the clock once more thereafter.  Had 40 seconds run off the clock after third down, Georgetown conceivably starts its final drive with no time outs and 47 seconds instead of 1:27. The eventual touchdown pass was snapped at 0:43, which may not have even been available had the clock run down from 1:40.

London called the Tribe's first time out on the fourth down play to set up the defense, but the second, ostensibly to ice PK Thomas Anderson at the 0:38 mark, never works and left W&M with one time out for its final drive. The former Indians should have stood a much more plausible chance with two timeouts and 35 yards needed to set up for a game winning field goal (remember the scenario at Richmond a month earlier), but they were up against the clock and Watkins' pass was sniffed out by Damon Narcisse from the start.  Given its run game, the Trine could have picked up yardage that would have benefited form a second time out, but all they had at that point was the pass.

Coming off the big win at Colgate, this has to rank as the best back-to-back finishes in the Rob Sgarlata era and perhaps the modern era as a whole. Consecutive PL wins have come to GU just twice since 2013, and none were strictly road games. The idea that Georgetown could win these two on the road and do some from falling behind early is as remarkable as the outcomes themselves. Congratulations to the coaches, the players, and staff on a pair of games that will be long remembered and offer them a chance to enjoy the bye week and focus on the task at hand with Holy Cross next week.

3. Participation Charts: It's been a team effort heading into the home stretch of the second bye week, with 77 of 99 players having seen game action this season. Of the 22 remaining, 12 are freshmen, which can be expected early in a career, and three seniors with injury issues.

As of week 8, 44 players have played in every game, and another six have played in all but one game. Key contributions by freshmen include seven games each from OL Julien Fishburne, OL Costa Kampas, WR Samir Crosby, six games from LB Bear Cortes , and five games from DB Ryan McDonough.

There are 20 seniors and two grad students on the roster, but the two-deep roster is unusually deep in the underclassmen ranks. The offense for the W&M game started five seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and freshman QB Gavin Beard, while the defense has one fifth year (Wedner Cadet), two seniors, two juniors and six sophomores. The depth is building for the stretch run, and potentially for next season as well.

4. Around The PL:  Georgetown-William & Mary was one of three PL games which turned in the final minutes:

Villanova 24, Lehigh 18: The road to the PL championship for Lehigh took an unexpected swerve, as the Wildcats picked up a 24-18 upset before 5,451 at Villanova Stadium. The Wildcats shocked the Engineers with a first half in which it outgained the visitors 257-102 and led 21-0 at the half. Lehigh closed to 24-18 and looked to take the win on the final play of the game when Garrett Rogan sacked backup QB Derek Morgan for an eight yard loss on a third and goal at the two yard line to end the game. Villanova travels to Lafayette on Saturday while Lehigh hosts Bucknell having lost two straight.

Richmond 13, Colgate 6: Blake Houser's interception with 1:09 preserved the Spiders' win before 5,519 at Robins Stadium and gives UR the inside track to the PL title if they win out. The Spiders' defense shut down Colgate's running game to a season low four yards on 29 attempts, but struggled on its own, going 2 for 13 on third down conversion. Richmond travels to Holy Cross this week, with Colgate hosting William & Mary.

Holy Cross 34, Bucknell 3. The Bison drive 65 yards to the Holy Cross 10 to open the game... and that was about it, crossing midfield just twice thereafter and managing just 181 yards for the remainder of the game. Joseph Williams ran for 144 yards as the Crusaders have won their third in its last four games after starting the season 0-4.

Lafayette 31, Fordham 17: The Leopards shut out the Rams after halftime to earn the win before 4,107 at Moglia Stadium. Trailing 21-17 at the break, the Leopards scored on each of its three second half possessions before running out the final 1:09, forcing turnovers on downs in three of Fordham's four second half possessions. The Leopards host the aforementioned Villanova Wildcats on Saturday, while Fordham joins Georgetown on a bye week.

 

 

Week 7 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts from Georgetown's 27-17 win over Colgate:

1. Where It Stands: If following Hoya Football is a form of sports purgatory, Saturday's game was another step forward on a hopeful road. Georgetown's historic record against ranked opponents was (and is) a monument to insufficiency, in that in most instances it was facing a team with superior talent and resources, and the results showed it. 

I am stumped to recall any game where Georgetown spotted an opponent a 17-0 lead and came back to win it. It sure wasn't a ranked one on the road.

Entering the game, Georgetown was 1-31 against ranked opponents dating back to the 1940 season and 0-16 outside Washington; yet this game was no fluke. Too many times, ranked opponent or not, a Georgetown team that gets knocked down 17-0 can't get off the canvas, and the scores become self-evident. 

This Georgetown team got up, and not only gained a lead, but held it. 

This Georgetown team, a traditional laggard on the run, not only met the #7-ranked rushing defense face to face, but outgained the Red Raiders 169 to 132 and became the first FCS team to rush for more than 100 yards on Colgate this season. 

This Georgetown team, 2-20 all time versus Colgate and winless in 10 games at Andy Kerr Stadium... all by double digits, won this game...by double digits. 

No one envisioned that kind of response. A nationally ranked Colgate offense, at home, is held to 34 yards in the third quarter and earned just one first down (aided by a Georgetown off-sides)  in the first five drives of the second half. After having scored on three consecutive possessions in the first, here was the outcome of Colgate's remaining drives:

Seven plays, punt

Three and out, punt

Three and out, punt

Three and out, punt

Five plays, punt

Three and out, punt

Ten plays, stopped on 4th down at the 16 yard line

Five plays, turnover at midfield

In all three phases of the game, this was a master-class over 60 minutes. Special teams kept Colgate to an average starting field position of its 28 yard line, and just one, Gavin Beard's midfield interception, opened in Georgetown territory. Colgate's second half field position started at its 21. 

As noted in the game recap, " Gavin Beard turned in a masterful game in his second start, going 24 for 33 for 175 yards and three touchdowns; he successfully brushed off the interception early in the second quarter and completed a run of completing 14 of 16 passes and 19 of his final 24 attempts.." He was not alone, however. The Hoyas out-gained the #2 offense in the Patriot League on the ground, out-gained them in the air, and were even in sacks. While certainly not perfect (Georgetown's proclivity for some stupid unsportsmanlike conduct and personal fouls continued unabated), the penalties were not a factor late. This was a team effort in every sense of the word, in the least likely place in the Northeast where one would expect it. Yes, Colgate was missing Jake Stearney at quarterback and Danny Shaban at running back; however, the way Georgetown played, it's no sure thing that Colgate was going to win even with them.

So...where does this rank among all-time Georgetown wins?

I'll fully admit that, in closely following this team since 1995 or so, I have not seen the depth and breadth of games of a Bruce Simmons or Rory Quirk, much less Rob Sgarlata, who has played or coached in 365 of Georgetown's 1,051 games all-time. I wasn't alive in the glory days nor would be too young (and too distant) to have ever seen a club football or Division II game. But among those wins I have seen in person or followed online (Holy Cross in 1998, Butler in 2000, Bucknell in 2002, Cornell in 2003, Princeton in 2012, Lehigh in 2018, Morgan State in 2025), Saturday's game may well rank above all of them, if for one overarching factor: each of these games were against teams that were not the equal of Colgate.  

The Holy Cross team upset by Georgetown in 1998 finished 2-9. The Butler Bulldogs of 2000 finished 2-8 and one of its win was versus a Division II school that finished 1-9. 

The Hoyas' first PL win came against a Bucknell team that finished winless in the 2002 PL and ended the season 2-9. The Hoyas' first modern era win over an Ivy League team was against a Cornell team winless in the Ivy League and headed towards 1-9 and a coaching change. The epic 2012 game at Princeton was no less exciting, but was admittedly against a Tiger team that had lost 19 of its previous 21 games. Even Jimmy Kibble's catch to win versus a Morgan State team that finished 4-8.

Colgate is not finishing 2-9. Its two previous losses were to an FBS team by a field goal and to a nationally ranked Harvard team on a freak play to end the game. It's a legitimate contender for the PL title and if it trips up Lehigh in two weeks, it could be more than a legitimate at-large selection. For Georgetown to have played as well as it did against  one of the 10 best teams in 2026 eastern FCS football is worth the plaudits, even from this small corner of the world.

2. Wish I Was There: When the schedule was finalized, two games were circled on the calendar, but I will be unable to attend either, beginning with Saturday's game at William & Mary.

The game is not only Georgetown's first meeting with the Tribe in 92 years and its first visit ever to the stately Cary Field (aka Walter Zable Stadium), but the Hoyas and their fans can expect a sold out crowd approaching 13,000 as W&M celebrates the centennial of Homecoming at the College. On October 23, 1926, the Indians defeated George Washington 14-0 to begin that tradition, one where the Richmond Times-Dispatch called "the largest crowd to witness a football game in Williamsburg in many years."

Per its media notes for this week: "Traditionally, the squad has thrived on this  special weekend, as the program sports a 57-39 all time record in homecoming games. 

W&M has greeted its alumni with dominating  performances in a number of its recent homecoming  games, as the program has won 18 of its last 26 tilts,  including 10 by double-digit margins."

Yes, William & Mary is favored Saturday. Then again, so was Colgate last week.

It seems unusual that for two of the oldest universities in the nation south of the Mason-Dixon Line, Georgetown and William & Mary have not played regularly in any sport. Its last football meeting was in 1934, and the teams have played once in basketball since 1972. Washington and Williamsburg are about the same distance as D.C. and Philadelphia, and that doesn't seem that far away. As both schools' teams took different football paths beginning in the 1930s, with W&M joining the Southern Conference in 1936 and Georgetown  going down a different path, a potential rivalry was lost, but perhaps this is the beginning of a new opportunity. 

In Georgetown's last game with W&M, the starting right end of the Indians was getting one of his first starts as a sophomore. His name was Walter Zable, the benefactor whose $10 million gift helped rebuild Cary Field in the 1990s and is the namesake for the College's 13,000 seat stadium, arguably the best in the PL. I'm hopeful to see the Hoyas there in person in 2028.

3. Around The PL:

Cornell 48, Lehigh 38: This was a shocker, where the Big Red dominated the undefeated Engineers from the start, going up 21-7 early in the second and never trailing before a season high 9,198 at Schoellkopf Field. Cornell rang up 600 yards of total offense versus a Lehigh team which had not allowed more than 342 in a game all season After rolling up the likes of 302 rushing yards against Georgetown and 366 versus William & Mary, Lehigh was held to just 183 yards on a season low 30 attempts. Still the team to beat in the PL, the Engineers (6-1, 4-0 PL) travel to Villanova (3-4, 2-2) in a must-win as the league race tightens.

Harvard 30, Holy Cross 7: From a 10-7 score early in the second quarter, the #17-ranked Crimson pulled away in a comfortable win before 6,581 at Harvard Stadium. Harvard quarterback Charlie Smith passed for 297 yards in the win, Harvard's fourth straight over HC. The Crusaders (2-5, 2-2) finish the non-conference winless at 0-3 and host Bucknell this weekend.

Lafayette 20, Bucknell 7: The Leopards (2-4, 1-2) picked up its first PL win of the season, defeating Bucknell (0-4, 1-6) before 1,580 at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium in Lewisburg. Lafayette RB Jakyre  Henley rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns, while the Bison fell victim to delivering two interceptions in the fourth quarter that they could not overcome. As the Bison travel to Holy Cross, Lafayette travels to Fordham.

Villanova 38, Fordham 17: After a rocky start to the 2026 season, the Wildcats put together its best effort of the PL season to date in a convincing 38-17 win before 2,369 at Moglia Stadium. Pat McQuaide threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns for Villanova which scored touchdowns on five of its six series, all from 55 yards or more. 

Fordham (2-3, 2-6) was held to just 60 yards passing and was outgained 481 to 282. The Rams must sweep its remaining four games (Lafayette, at Bucknell, Georgetown, at Holy Cross) to avoid a third consecutive losing season, last seen from 2017 through 2019.

Week 6 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following Georgetown's 21-14 win over Bucknell:

1. Congratulations: The Patriot League named RB Clay Ash and DB Wedner Cadet as its offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively.  I cannot recall if two Georgetown players have ever been so honored in a single week, not even in 2011. Granted, the number of games was comparatively small this past week, but it's otherwise a notable and deserved honor.

2. Hoyas At The Half:  Assuming the Lafayette game cannot be rescheduled, and it seems ever more unlikely to do so, Georgetown stands at the halfway point of a ten game season. A ceiling for this team after five games probably would have taken it to 2-3 given its youth and inexperience (catching a break versus either Richmond or Columbia, though they missed on both), but Saturday's game got the Hoyas out of the 0-fer discussion. 

Bucknell has real problems on offense and Georgetown stopped them in the second half, holding the Bison to 67 yards after the break, despite more dumb penalties that cost the Hoyas a touchdown in the third.

The combination of a new offensive strategy and some real inexperience at receivers demands patience, but entering the gauntlet of the season to follow the Hoyas really need a few breaks in the passing game on both sides of the ball.  Georgetown is ninth in the league in passing yards and ninth in passing yards allowed. This figures to be especially relevant in a game like Colgate where the Red Raiders will go to work on the rush defense against Clay Ash and Georgetown needs downfield options.

Defensively, Georgetown is improving. Bucknell gave it an opportunity to excel and Fordham is likely to be a favorable matchup, but the next two weeks will be really, really  difficult to match up with Colgate and W&M. Four sophomores and a junior comprise five of the top six defensive tacklers so far this season, and that's a promising future.

Here's a look at Georgetown's ranking within the PL and nationally:

Scoring Offense: 8th in PL, 107th in FCS

Scoring Defense: 5th in PL, 59th in FCS

Rushing Yards: 5th in PL, 71st in FCS

Passing Yards: 9th in PL, 104th in FCS

Total Offense: 7th in PL, 99th in FCS

Rushing Yards Allowed: 7th in PL, 77th in FCS

Passing Yards Allowed: 9th in PL, 100th in FCS

Total Defense: 8th in PL, 100th in FCS

Red Zone Offense: 10th in PL, 114th in FCS

Red Zone Defense: 3rd in PL, 43rd in FCS

Third Down Conversion: 9th in PL, 118th in FCS

Fourth Down Conversion:  5th in PL, 60th in FCS

3. A Need To Address: Saturday's turnout, even with a "Military Appreciation Day" promotion, was the lowest turnout of the season and among the lowest in the PL era at Georgetown.  On a message board, I tried to explain why this is, and will repeat it here for effect:

"Georgetown does not promote football, has no staff in charge of promotions, offers no parking for tailgates, and projects a poor fan experience,: one concession stand, an inaudible band in the corner of the seats, no student section, no visitors section, no video board, and I could go on. The larger problem is that the fan base overall has been burned out by a decade of underachieving basketball that has led to a culture of non-interest across all sports. When you've got the #3 soccer team in the nation and are averaging less than 700 a game,  it's a problem."

The 2026 season is a lame duck--there is only one more home game and that's not enough time nor  priority to change was has been a decades-long lack of awareness and priority in attendance. A serious conversation needs to take place for 2027, when Richmond, William & Mary, and Villanova all come to town and Georgetown will not be ready for it. 

Institutionally, we need a plan to reintroduce football to its constituent groups-undergraduate students, professional students, faculty, staff, alumni, and local residents-- and to position football as an exercise worth the financial and time investment. This will take time, and it will take money; however, it is long past due that Georgetown cannot promote football like it's 1992 on Kehoe Field.

4. Whatever Happened To: A former Georgetown head coach has moved to the high school coaching ranks.

Bob Benson, who coached Georgetown from 1993 to 2005 and has spent the last ten seasons as the defensive coordinator at Penn, lost his job when the Quakers changed out head coaches after Ray Priore's departure last season. He resurfaced as the new head coach at the Episcopal School of Dallas (ESD), a high school of about 400 students amidst a K-12 population of nearly 1,200 in North Dallas.

"Coaching the student-athlete is important to me,” Benson told the high school paper. “Both my mother and father were Ivy League student-athletes, so I’ve always been drawn to places that have an impact, like Johns Hopkins, Georgetown and Penn.”

"Benson was familiar with ESD through [headmaster] David Baad, whom he met during his time at Georgetown," said the paper. "After being approached by several people about the position, Benson began seriously considering the opportunity. His wife’s career also played a role in the decision; Julie Benson is an Olympian who now trains Olympic athletes, and Dallas was an accessible location for their family."

This is Benson's first experience as a high school coach and his first head coaching assignment since Georgetown, but he's already turned around the ESD program in a big way, from a 2-6 finish in 2025 to a 7-0 record in mid-October and a #6 ranking in the state private school poll per TexasFootball.com. (With the exceptions of two Jesuit high schools who play in the UIL public school league, all private schools in Texas play in one of two leagues of their own, with ESD playing in the Southwest Preparatory Conference, a league of nonsectarian schools in Texas and Oklahoma.) Benson has long been a defensive-minded coach and the turnaround in ESD has been apparent, all the while in an area of the country where Benson has never coached before.

At the age of 62, it remains to be seen if Benson will pursue future opportunities in college coaching or will choose to settle down and build the ESD program for the years to come, but the 2026 season has been a great success story to date.

4. Around The PL: With bye weeks for five of ten PL schools, Georgetown-Bucknell was one of just three games last week. 

Fordham 20, Richmond 14: The Rams upset the #15 ranked Spiders with a late touchdown and a 20-14 win before 1,825 at Moglia Stadium. Richmond was held to 82 yards on the ground and 208 yards overall. With the score tied at 14-14, the Rams marched 62 yards in a drive that consumed six minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring with 2:22 to play. An interception by the Rams at midfield ended Richmond's last minute hopes, and may have been a mortal blow to its at-large playoff hopes. The Spiders are on a bye week this Saturday, while Fordham remains home and hosts Villanova..

William & Mary 17, North Carolina Central 14: The Tribe escaped an upset bid by the homestanding Eagles, where 11,735 packed O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, NC. W&M was outgained 439 to 221 and was a meager 3 of 14 on third down, but a field goal early in the fourth gave W&M the lead and held on after NCCU missed a 32 yard field goal with 5:56 to play. At 3-4 to date this season, the Tribe enters a bye week in preparation for its Homecoming game Oct. 24 versus Georgetown.

Week 5 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following Cornell's 35-14 win over Georgetown Saturday:

1. A Slow Start: Expectations were certainly guarded entering this season with so many underclassmen in the starting lineup, but few had Georgetown staring at 0-4 heading into the Bucknell game Saturday. One number jumps out of the stat sheet, however.

35-0.

That's the combined score at the end of the first quarters of the previous four games. The Hoyas have spotted its opponents five touchdowns in four games without a single point in the first quarter. For a program which isn't well suited for comebacks, this is digging a hole to which it can't easily recover. By halftime, that number is 69-28.

Saturday's game was an early knockout of sort from a less likely suspect: the defense. Georgetown gave up consecutive touchdowns to open the first and the third quarter and never really recovered nor threatened. Subbing Gavin Beard for Jack Johnson at quarterback offered some variety but didn't move the needle as far as the offense goes, while the defense gave up 5.5 yards per rushing carry and nearly 15 yards on a pass completion. Following two games that could have swung to the win column, the Cornell game was a mixture of a letdown versus a team that wasn't quite ready for its opponent.

Cornell isn't Lehigh. The Big Red haven't posted a winning record since 2005 and even a 2-1 start in Ithaca could swing quickly: Cornell 's next four games are versus #20 Harvard (3-0), the aforementioned #5 Lehigh (5-0), and road games at Brown and Dartmouth. Entering the game, this looked like an opportunity for Georgetown to get a win or, at the very least, be competitive as it was with Columbia. It was not.

It may be presumptuous to say that Saturday's game with Bucknell is a must-win, but for a program facing only more home game for the remainder of the season, Georgetown has to step up.

2. National Rankings: How are the Hoyas favoring across FCS? With a slow start, perhaps, the numbers below (out of 124 schools) aren't surprising.

• Scoring: 109th
• Points Allowed: 72nd
• Rushing Offense: 100th
• Passing Offense: 95th
• Total Offense: 107th
• Rushing Defense: 97th
• Passing Defense:  117th
• Total Defense: 119th
• Time Of Possession: 122nd

3. Playing The Ivies: For two decades, it's been a mantra of sorts within Georgetown football that the Hoyas should be playing schools from the Ivy League. Should they?

The roots to this story date to the late 1990s. Head coach Bob Benson sold the University on the concept of playing peer institutions as the path forward; even if the MAAC-level Hoyas were a few steps below the Ivies, there was no such thing as peer institutions among the likes of Canisius, Iona, Fairfield, or St. Peter's. 

Georgetown's 42-20 win at Cornell in 2003 was the high water-mark for the Benson era and seemed to validate his confidence in the prospect, but GU caught the Big Red at a low point, finishing 1-9 for its worst record since 1977.  Since then, the matchups with the Ancient Eight have been largely one-sided:

• 1-7 versus Brown
• 4-8 versus Columbia
• 2-3 versus Cornell
• 0-2 versus Dartmouth
• 0-5 versus Harvard
• 0-4 versus Penn
• 1-3 versus Princeton
• 0-6 versus Yale

There are structural as well as competitive reasons for this imbalance. While Ivy League schools share the same philosophy with Georgetown over need-based non-scholarship football, the Ivies reach a larger pool of prospect with financial aid that is much more favorable than what Georgetown provides. A family with a household income of up to  $175,000 pays $0 to attend Dartmouth--Georgetown cannot match this, whether they play football or not. Competitively speaking, the upper tier Ivy schools have deeper institutional commitment in supporting football and their name value attracts a caliber of student-athlete who will, more often than not, choose a Harvard or a Yale over Georgetown (or any PL school) if given the choice.  It's no surprise, therefore, that Georgetown is a combined 0-11 versus Harvard and Yale and six of its eight total wins versus the Ancient Eight since 2003 have come against just two schools, the two schools it scheduled in 2026: Columbia and Cornell. 

Assuming Columbia and Cornell return to the schedule in 2027, but going forward, does Georgetown have options for that remaining game in the non-conference? Theoretically, yes, but practically, not so much. 

Coach Sgarlata doesn't seek guarantee games, GU doesn't play one-off road games that involve travel outside the East, HBCU's aren't that interested in a series, and the number of non-conference opponents in the Northeast outside the Ivy League and without scholarships numbers just one: Marist, who signed a seven year deal with NEC newcomer New Haven for its traditional season openers and would more likely prefer playing local opponents than traveling to Washington DC. A pending series with VMI was bumped out to 2035-36, so that's one fewer candidate in the mix as well.

Unless and until Georgetown takes a more adventurous approach with scheduling that takes into account opponents where it does not get a return game back to Washington, its options are going to be limited. That type of scheduling often leads to losses, and that's not an attractive option when a team is staring at, say, 0-4. Amidst the strength of the PL schedule, GU needs wins in September, not body bag outcomes.

4. Around The PL:

Harvard 20, Colgate 17: In a game whose finish made it to ESPM and more than a few highlight shows over the weekend Harvard's 20-17 win before 9,100 at Harvard Stadium was a touch one for Colgate fans. Trailing 14-10 in a closely contested game,  Jake Stearney led the Red Raiders on a 13 play, 75 yard drive to take the lead with 27 seconds to play. On the final play of the game, Harvard QB let loose a 44 yard pass to the end zone that was about six yards short. Teigan Pelletier caught the pass at the six, but with no avenue to the goal line, lateraled it to a trailing Nathan Bailey for the score. The Crimson won despite just 93 yards rushing for the game. 

Richmond 40, Lafayette 31: Two teams heading in different directions saw the Spiders rally from a  24-7 deficit in the second quarter to stun the home standing Leopards before 4,123 at Fisher Stadium. Ashten Snelsire was 24 for 38 for 218 yards and three touchdowns as the Spiders improved to 5-1 while Lafayette dropped to 1-4.

Holy Cross 41, William & Mary 24: Another example of teams rising and falling, as Holy Cross won its second straight game with a flourish,  dominating the Tribe before 8.476 at Zable Stadium. HC led 24-7 at halftime and was never challenged, outrushing W&M 203 to 31 and forcing three Tribe turnovers.

Lehigh 34, Fordham 0: No upset plans in this one, as the #7 Engineers controlled the Rams throughout before 5,033 at Goodman Stadium. Luke Yoder rushed 20 times for 171 yards as Lehigh held Fordham to just 42 rushing yards and forced five turnovers.

Morgan State 38, Villanova 35: A back and forth game before 3,463 at Villanova Stadium saw Morgan QB Cameron Edge complete five of five passes in the final two minutes to  go ahead with 36 seconds to play. Villanova drove 37 yards in seven plays but a field goal try at game end veered right. At 2-4, Villanova is a surprising early out for playoff consideration.

A number of PL teams are on bye weeks this week.  Outside of GU-Bucknell, just two games are on the October 10 schedule, with William & Mary at North Carolina Central  and  Richmond at Fordham.