Week 9 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following Holy Cross' 27-24 win over Georgetown:

1. Deflation: When a team has lost 10 consecutive games to an opponent, particularly one that ran up the score the year before, a lot of emotions come to mind, and you could see it in head coach Rob Sgarlata's responses in the post-game interviews: this team ran out of gas.

Everything about the previous there weeks had been a team that never quits, saves its best run for the fourth quarter, and left it all on the field. Little of that was in evidence Saturday, at least not as far as the second half was. Georgetown's 24-14 halftime lead was  the most points Georgetown has scored in the first half of a PL game since 2018--a game against Holy Cross that ranks as the single worst collapse of the last 25 years. In that game, GU led 24-5 at the half and 31-5 early in the third. The final: Holy Cross 32, Georgetown 31.

But back to 2026: following halftime the offense showed no spark, settled for stalled drives, earned only three first downs in the fourth quarter, and just gave out entering the final three minutes... and with one more first down could well have run out the clock and earned the win. The defense did all it could but it too gave way, with two exceedingly dumb penalties extending the Crusaders' final drive, even more so than Cody Pham dropping an interception at the HC 40. Getting burned on a halfback pass to lose the game was a measure of how out of sync the Hoyas were down the stretch.

The team that beat Colgate and William & Mary would have made a stand Saturday. Which team shows up Saturday at Fordham, a place notorious for bad losses over the years?

2. Tales From November: Readers of this column know that I've tracked the historical progression (or regression) of Georgetown teams in November--this team isn't very good down the stretch.

Some of it is talent, some of it is attrition, and some of it has been an unfortunate side effect of playing teams who traditionally have late season momentum. Whatever the cause, Georgetown's annual late season slides do it no favors.  Over at the Holy Cross "Crossports" message board, I  posted the following numbers as to Georgetown's record in Novembers past:

 Since the last win by the Hoyas in this series (2014):

Georgetown's record in September: 18-24

Georgetown's record in October: 18-25

Georgetown's record in November: 3-26

(Games with Bucknell and Fordham account for the three wins.)

 Since 2010:

Georgetown's record in September: 30-32

Georgetown's record in October: 23-40

Georgetown's record in November: 8-33

(Games with Bucknell and Fordham account for five of the eight wins.)

 Some readers suggested that the numbers in September and October were overstated due to what they called " full of weak Pioneer and NEC teams". I then posted these numbers in league games only:

 Since the last win by the Hoyas in this series (2014):

Georgetown's record vs. PL teams in September: 1-4

Georgetown's record vs. PL teams in October: 16-19

Georgetown's record vs. PL teams in November: 3-25

(Games with Bucknell and Fordham account for the three wins.)

 Since 2010:

 Georgetown's record vs. PL teams in September: 4-4

Georgetown's record vs. PL teams in October: 19-31

Georgetown's record vs. PL teams in November: 7-32

(Games with Bucknell and Fordham account for five of the seven wins.)

 

Put another way... a lack of depth (and an absence of scholarships) matters. But past is not prologue, and Georgetown needs to build a team where November is not a fait accompli.

3. A Name From The Past: Six years ago, in the peak of 2020 COVID, the name of Dijon Williams was all over the local news, if only for a day or two. Last week, we learned a little more about him and what awaits him going forward.

Dijon Williams was, until the spring of 2020, a junior at Georgetown University and a reserve wide receiver on the football team, with four catches in two seasons of play. When COVID closed the campus, Williams withdrew from the University, according to reports.

On July 21, 2020, Dijon, his brother Daivion, and a third man, Steven Washington, drove from Atlanta to Washington and planned to rob a drug dealer named Nurudeen Thomas. The Washington Post reported that "early on July 21, authorities said, Williams arranged a meeting with Thomas in Petworth. Police said cellphone records show that Williams called Thomas five times between 4:45 a.m. and 4:51 a.m." Thomas was shot at about 5:00, according to court documents" and died that morning. The three men fled to Georgia and were arrested shortly thereafter.

Now, the rest of the story: it took six years to bring this case to the jury. Per the US Attorney's office: 

"Defendant Dijon Williams was arrested pursuant to an arrest warrant in Lawrenceville, Georgia on September 28, 2020. Following a detention hearing in the Northern District of Georgia on October 2, 2020, and a subsequent appeal to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, he was released to home confinement with GPS monitoring in Georgia in October 2020. On June 27, 2022, he was rearrested for fleeing from a law enforcement officer and  resisting arrest. He was convicted of felony fleeing and served approximately two years at the Georgia Correctional Facility. On April 3, 2026, he was again arrested in Georgia and charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and willful obstruction of law enforcement officers for allegedly strangling his romantic partner, jumping from a window, and fleeing on foot. He was subsequently indicted and remains held pending trial in that case. He was brought to Washington, D.C. on a writ for trial on August 27, 2026."

Daivion faired little better, eventually being re-arrested for what the Attorney's Office  called "multiple violations of his pretrial release conditions including the re-arrest, curfew violations, location monitoring violations, failure to report for drug testing, and failure to report for weekly check-ins." Steven Washington, the third defendant, allegedly broke out of his monitoring device and has "since absconded".

After multiple continuances, Dijon and Daivion Williams were tried and convicted on November 7 on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and attempted robbery.

"Although they fled back to Georgia after the killing, they could not evade justice," said United States Attorney Jeanine Pirro. 

 Aside from the human tragedy, how did things spiral out of control so quickly for this young man?  In the spring of 2020 he was a junior in the College with a major in music and culture with no public disciplinary issues. By the summer he was a fugitive, and now at 27, awaits a life sentence without parole. It's absolutely senseless.

Around The PL:

Lehigh 33, Colgate 7: After a couple of shaky weeks, the Engineers reasserted its place at the top of the standings, with a dominating effort versus a rising Colgate team before 4,881 at Goodman Stadium. Luke Yoder rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns, as Lehigh holds a one game lead over Villanova, which hold the tiebreaker should the two tams end the season tied. Lehigh travels to Richmond this week, Colgate hosts Lafayette.

Lafayette 19, William & Mary 14: The late game troubles continue in Williamsburg, where the Tribe gave up 19 unanswered points to the Leopards before 10,006 at Zable Stadium. Jason Penza rushed for 140 yards as Lafayette won its third in its last four games after starting the season 1-4. William & Mary, now 3-7 and 1-6 in the debut PL season, hopes for a bounce-back hosting Bucknell.

Fordham 38, Bucknell 13: The Rams return to the Bronx to meet Georgetown after a convincing win before just 853 at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium, rushing for 339 yards, with 157 yards from running back Jamell James and 122 from quarterback Gunnar Smith/

Villanova 30, Richmond 0: The Wildcats are on a roll, and dominated the Spiders before 3,547 at Villanova Stadium,. Pat McQuaide threw for three touchdowns as Villanova won its fourth straight and its first shutout of the season, holding Richmond to just 140 total yards.