Week 8 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following Georgetown's 21-20 win over Bucknell last week:

1. Five Plays: Yes, Georgetown-Bucknell games tend to be close outcomes (four of the last five by three points each) but this was an extremely tight game that legitimately could have gone either way, and nearly did.

The teams combined for 135 plays but five bear a second look:

Second Quarter: With 4:45 remaining and a 14-0 lead, Bucknell was on the verge of taking the game over. Following a Bucknell Punt and a 27 yard first down run by Savion Hart, the Hoyas ran Hart two carries for a combined two yards. On a third and eight at the Bucknell 40, the safe play was to have Danny Lauter scramble around for a short pass to Jimmy Kibble or Nick Dunneman, and certainly not to give it to Hart a fourth consecutive time. Surprisingly, this is what Georgetown did, and hart tore through the Bucknell line for 40 yards and the score. It awakened the Hoyas offensively and four minutes later they tied the score.

Third Quarter: With 1:16 remaining, the Bison had awoke from its third quarter slumber and drove into Georgetown territory. One a third and five from the Georgetown 46, Cooper Blomstrom broke up a pass at the Georgetown 35, and the Bison were forced to punt.  This was a drive that had points written all over it, and keeping them off the board bought the Hoyas some time.

Fourth Quarter: With 9:25 to play, Bucknell had drove to Georgetown five and a touchdown from QB Ralph Rucker had just been overturned by an offensive holding penalty. Still, the Bison had momentum, and Rucker's pass to WR Josh Gary in the end zone would have given Bucknell the lead. Gary dropped it, and the Bison had to settle for a field goal.

Fourth Quarter: 3:38 remaining: yes, the missed  Bucknell field goal was big, but perhaps an even more consequential play happened for the Hoyas on a third and two at the Georgetown 28. Fall short here, and the Bison get the ball back somewhere near midfield with three minutes (and two time outs) to get that winning score. Savion Hart rushes for two yards, and instead of kicking with 3:35 to play, the Hoyas get a first down and squeeze nearly two minutes off the clock for the Bison's last hope.

Fourth Quarter: With 24 seconds remaining, the Georgetown defense had withstood a pair of long incomplete passes, each of which could have conceivably won the game. On a  fourth and 10 inside the Georgetown 45, the defense simply did not allow Rucker to dial up a third pass play, and so saved the win.

Any of those four, any of them, go the other way, and it's a different game, and likely a loss. It's why coaches preach the need to focus on every play as the most important play of the game, because sometimes it's just that.

2. Good News On Attendance: With no fanfare, and even less promotion, home attendance through four games at Cooper Field bears some support. 

Through those four games, average home attendance is  3,262 per game. At many schools, this would be cause for widespread panic, but given the state of affairs at Georgetown, where parking is scarce, seating few, amenities lacking, and a student body that, post-COVID, doesn't experience a culture of athletic support, it's a good number; in fact, it's trending for the largest attendance since 1978, when games were held on the baseball field as Kehoe Field awaited the air rights under Yates Field House.

Two games remain, and there' s always room for more.

More on this Thursday.

3. Around The PL:

Holy Cross 34, Lafayette 28: The Crusaders have staked its claim to the driver's seat for the league's one (and likely, only) playoff berth, jumping to a  21-0 lead and fighting off two fourth quarter drives from the Leopards, the last one ending 16 yards short of the goal line. Crusader QB Joe Pesansky continues to be the most efficient signal caller in the conference: just 183 yards in the air, but eight of 12 on third down and no sacks surrendered. It's a tough loss for the defending PL champions, who are down two games to Holy Cross with three to play, traveling to Bucknell this weekend.

Merrimack 51, Colgate 17: No one saw this coming--the Warriors ran up 535  yards total offense on a Colgate team coming off its win over Georgetown. Colgate QB Jake Stearney was held to 155 passing yards and two interceptions as the Red Raiders were outscored  34-7 after halftime. The loss clinches a fifth losing season for the Red Raiders over the past six seasons.

Lehigh  33, Fordham 19: The Engineers are trending upward as they meet the Hoyas Saturday, taking a 31-3 halftime lead en route to the win. Fordham, winless at 0-8, was held to 98 yards rushing and allowed 246 while Lehigh scored on five consecutive possessions to end the first half. More on the Engineers Friday, but its rushing game was clicking Saturday. As for Fordham, they will host Colgate.

Week 7 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following Colgate's 38-28 win over Georgetown Saturday:

1. Follow The Trend: It was disappointing, but not altogether surprising in perhaps the most one-sided rivalry in FCS.. It's not about trickery or even the Colgate "hoodoo" (that's a reference to its old rivalry with Syracuse), but a consistent theme Georgetown has faced over the years. Excepting Davidson, the Hoyas' defense can struggle with teams that run the football.

In 2024, Georgetown is 3-0 when opponents rush under 40 times a game and 0-3 when they go over 40. In the prior three seasons, it's 1-12 when teams loads up on the run like this.  For a Colgate team with mixed results in the passing game is this season, it was a smart move and one which set the course for the second half. Colgate got a lead and Georgetown had to play from behind. More often than not, that's a winning formula for the Red Raiders, and not for the Hoyas.

Apologies to those who saw the Pre-Game Report page and asked "where's Michael Brescia, the scheduled starting QB?" Brescia was apparently injured but that didn't stop the media notes from selling this start, much as Georgetown's media notes keep listing Naieem Kearney starting at running back when he hasn't played in the last two games. If he maintains the starting role, Jake Stearney will have his hands full to maintain a ground game, given that Colgate finishes the season with four road games in its next five against some solid rushing defense teams. 

Offensively, the Hoyas did not play poorly: 415 total yards, 5-11 on third down, 3-4 in the red zone. Danny Lauter's two interceptions could have been impactful had they succeeded, but neither were the cause for the loss. Simply put, very few teams can give up 24 points in a half and that's what Georgetown did. It's a cautionary note as they Bucknell, as the Bison got behind 24-0 in the first half of its game with Cornell and never contended thereafter.

First half or second half, Georgetown has traditionally allowed Colgate a lot of points. Over the past 20 seasons the Red Raiders average  32.0 points per game against the Hoyas, most of any PL opponent. This marks the fourth consecutive season GU has lost by 10 points to Colgate, but four losses nonetheless.

2. The Road Ahead: All that said, if someone told you in August (it wasn't me) that Georgetown would hit the home stretch of its schedule at 4-3 without major injuries, many fans would look upon that with no small amount of hope. And heading down the stretch, that's where the Hoyas are.

Four games remain over five weeks, there at home and one at Fordham where the Rams are enduring a winless season, though they can't be taken for granted. Five scenarios are on the table:

Win four, and Georgetown wins its first Patriot League title. Barring a crazy run by Colgate on the road, the Hoyas would own the tiebreaker on every other teams and earn a NCAA playoff invitation. Historic.

Win three, and Georgetown is in the mix for a PL co-championship. The league is unlikely to see an at-large invitation to the playoffs, but 7-4 would be an extraordinary accomplishment.

Win two, and Georgetown is out of the PL race but earns a long-awaited winning season, something it has done once in the last quarter century.

Win one, and it's another frustrating 5-6 finish.

Win none, and  that's even more frustrating.

Three opportunities at home are a rare one this late in the season. No one confuses Cooper Field with Sanford Stadium, but these are three games where the team won't be on a bus to Lewisburg, to Bethlehem, or to Worcester. 

It is, again, an opportunity. Let's start that journey on Saturday

3. Around The PL:

Lafayette 35, Sacred Heart 17: The Leopards returned to form in this non-conference game, rushing 56 times for 297 yards (after just 69 yards against Georgetown the week before) and thoroughly dominating the Pioneers. A key PL game with Holy Cross Saturday is likely to determine the front runner for the PL crown thereafter.

Harvard 35, Holy Cross 34: This one could fill up a couple of pages--with three touchdowns in the final 1:44, the Crusaders battled back from 27-14 down to tie the score with no time remaining, only to fall short on a two point conversion. Writes the Harvard Crimson of the late game heroics:

"Holy Cross refused to give up, quickly making its way down the field. As Holy Cross receiver Byron Shipman jumped up in the air and collected a throw from Pesansky in the end zone, shock initially filled the air in Harvard Stadium. However, a massive offensive pass interference call reversed the touchdown and left little opportunity for Holy Cross to tie the game. 

One play later, Pesansky threw up the ball for another Hail Mary attempt and watched as both teams juggled it. The pass was initially ruled incomplete but officials sought a replay review.

Harvard fans looked on anxiously as the decision came. The ruling on the field stood, but one second was put back on the game clock — just enough for one more Hail Mary attempt.  On his third try, Pesansky finally struck gold as the Crusaders found the end zone as the clock expired. But [Harvard] ensured that Holy Cross’ crusade ended one point short."

A mere 3-5, Holy Cross is still the team to beat in the PL, and its game Saturday will be memorable.

Yale 38, Lehigh 23: It's been a productive year for Ivy League teams versus the Patriot League, and was the case in this one, as the Bulldogs picked up two touchdowns in the final 3:07 of the first half and never looked back. Lehigh actually outgained Yale in this one but four turnovers proved monumental. At 3-3, the Engineers host Fordham this Saturday.

Cornell 34, Bucknell 21: An upset of sorts in this one, where the Bison went to backup quarterback Michael Hardyway following an injury to Ralph Rucker the week prior. Three fumbles proved Bucknell's undoing, as the Big Red led 27-7 in the second quarter and never looked back.

H. Daniel Droze Jr. (1936-2024)

(Archived from the front page, Oct. 22, 2024.)

From the Georgetown Gridiron Club account on Facebook, news of the passing of former Georgetown assistant football coach Dan Droze at the age of 88.

To Georgetown players and alumni, Droze was the defensive coach for 25 seasons from 1968 through 1992, a tenure on the Georgetown football sidelines matched by only one other man in school history, current head coach Rob Sgarlata. Droze's place in Washington sports predates Georgetown by over a decade, however.

Following the Supreme Court decision in Bolling v. Sharpe, 1954 was the last season of segregated schools in the District, which featured a "Division I" of seven all-white schools (Anacostia, Coolidge, Eastern, McKinley, Roosevelt, Western, and Wilson) and a "Division II" of the city's five black schools (Armstrong, Cardozo, Dunbar, Phelps, Spingarn). Despite the administration of all 12 schools under the Interhigh banner, games were not scheduled between the divisions until the following season.

Droze grew up in Southeast Washington and was an all-Met halfback at Anacostia HS. Anacostia won the 1954 Division I Interhigh championship, but it was what happened after the season that earned Droze a place in local sports history.

Droze was invited to a first-ever exhibition game featuring an all-Interhigh team to face St. John's, the all-white private school champion, at Griffith Stadium. With a team of 22 white players and 11 black players chosen across eight of the 12 high schools, it was the first integrated football game in DC history. Before a crowd of 8,800 at Griffith Stadium, it was Droze who threw a halfback pass late in the game to Cardozo's Dave Harris (a future football star at Kansas) for a 12-7 win. In stark contrast to the 1962 race riot at DC Stadium that ended public-private championship football games in Washington, the outcome of this game and Harris' game-winning catch did not lead to any violence at the outcome.

Following high school, Droze earned a scholarship to the University of North Carolina, playing three seasons for the Tar Heels. Following military service, he became an investment advisor in the Washington area and played semi-pro football with the Virginia Sailors, which introduced him to Georgetown coach Mike Agee and later, a fellow DC high school star who had also played in the ACC: Scott Glacken.

Droze and Glacken joined the Georgetown staff in 1968 as assistant coaches under Maurice Dubofsky, who succeded Agee when his job took him out of the area. Glacken became head coach two years later following Dubofsky's death at the age of 60. Droze's 25 years as an assistant coach was largely selfless, given that Glacken couldn't pay his assistants enough for the hours they devoted to the team. He retired after Glacken's dismissal as head coach in early 1993.

"Guys who played for Droze said he was tough, instilling them with integrity, discipline and strength," writes the Gridiron Club notice. "As a member of former head coach Scotty Glacken's staff, coach Droze worked with the defensive backfield, including all-America selections of Jim Chesley, Alex Poulos, and Jim Corcoran...Twice in those years, the Hoyas finished in the top ten of the best small college teams in the East. The 1978 team finished 7-1, the best showing by a Georgetown team since 1939-1940, and came within a single point of finishing the season undefeated and qualifying for the Div. III playoffs.

"If not for the selfless contributions of Dan Droze, Georgetown football would not have survived and prospered as it did. Rest in Peace, Coach. Hoya Saxa."

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.

Week 4 Thoughts

 

Some thoughts following Brown's 26-14 win over Georgetown Saturday:

1. The Cook vs. The Baker: We can discuss specific plays and what-ifs, but Saturday's game was an example of the contrast of a head coach in basketball and a had coach in football. A basketball coach (think Ed Cooley) is a little like a short order cook: he can substitute ingredients on the fly and turn up the heat when it's required to get the meal just right. As last year made clear, a good cook can't make chicken salad out of.. less than that, but he can make changes in rapid fashion.

By contrast, a college football coach (think Rob Sgarlata) is more of a baker. The off-season and pre-season collected the ingredients and the season cooks it. He knows how far the ingredients will take him and whether the dough will rise or fall. He can't easily change ingredients on the fly: Savion Hart will not come off the bench and rush for 150 yards a game, for example, and Chris Martin is not going to lead the team in tackles. Sgarlata knows what he has, and what he does not.

Losses like Brown are discouraging not solely because of the opponent but that history suggests this is a course that Georgetown cannot easily self-correct. Since  2005, Georgetown went 1-4 after five games seven times and finished with just one additional  victory for the rest of the season in five of these.  A 2-3 mark after five games has been seen a net +1.67 wins thereafter, but a 3-+2 start builds an average of  +2.5 additional wins the remainder of the season. With two exceptions, most recently in 2018, Georgetown does not catch momentum in the second half of the season. What's in the oven comes out as expected.

Since 2014, Georgetown's cumulative record through September 30 is 19-23 .452). In the month of October, 10-26 (.277). In November, 3-21 (.125). We can't do much about November right now but Saturday's game is a window into how far this team can reach  past its track record of declining returns as the schedule picks up and the injuries mount.

2. The Ivy Experiment: I hope to speak more about this next week, but a provocative question: does Georgetown need to rethink scheduling Ivy League schools in the future?

With the exception of a 0-0 tie at Penn in 1937,  Georgetown had seen comparatively little of the Ivies after the 1920s. It had never scheduled Brown, Cornell, Harvard or Yale, met Dartmouth once, and was a combined 0-9-1 versus Columbia, Penn and Princeton.

In the 21 years since Georgetown upset Cornell on a windy October afternoon at Schoellkopf Field, the dreams of the Ninth Ivy have been fleeting.

In games versus Cornell and Columbia, the two lesser lights of the Ancient Eight over the last few decades, Georgetown is a combined 5-7. Against everyone else, 2-26, including a woeful 0-15 versus Harvard, Penn, and Yale. Yes, the argument has persisted since the Bob Benson days that these are the peer schools with which we compete, scholarship-free, the love of the game, the last amateurs, etc. 

What are they doing that Georgetown is not? 

Some of this may already have been answered. Saturday marks the end of the 10-year Lou Little Cup. Brown is the only publicly identified Ivy opponent going forward. Harvard signed deals with Pioneer teams like Stetson and St. Thomas for wins (Stetson obliged last week, 35-0).  So where does Georgetown go from here?

3. Around the PL:

Lehigh 35, Princeton 20: Some good signs on South Mountain, as the Engineers (3-1) won its first game over an Ivy League opponent in eight years.  Lehigh led  21-7 at the half and put the game away in the fourth quarter with a 34 yard TD run before 6,217 at Murray Goodman Stadium. This week,  Lehigh hosts Bucknell (2-2).

Bucknell 34, Marist 18:  The three week non-conference sojourn by the new look Red Foxes was another loss, this time in Lewisburg.  Ralph Rucker completed 21 of 27 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns as Bucknell led 27-7 at halftime and was not seriously challenged in a home game before 2,474. Saturday's game with Lehigh could be an early test to see if the Bison can escape the second tier of PL play on Rucker's shoulders.

Columbia 31, Lafayette 20: A warning for Georgetown in this one, where the Lions, in their first game of the season, rung up 447 yards on the #19 ranked Leopards, for its first win over a ranked team since 2005 before 3,592 at Wien Stadium. Columbia quarterback Chase Goodwin was 16 of 19 for  180 yards, while the Lions averaged  5.5 yards per carry on the ground. For Lafayette, they will have a bye week and regroup.

Colgate  41, Cornell 24: As predicted, the Red Raiders have ended their regular September slumber and are making moves. Colgate scored on its first five possessions of the game and stopped the Big Red on two latte drives to seal the win before 2,984 at Andy Kerr Stadium. The Red Raiders (1-3) travel to Penn (0-1) this weekend.

Yale 38, Holy Cross 31: the Crusaders may be among the best 1-3 teams in the nation, losing another late battle, this time via a nine play drive in the final 3:30 that ended on a three yard touchdown run with 12 seconds remaining before a season high 15,113 at Fitton Field.  HC outgained the Elis 426-394 but Yale was 9-18 on third downs and owned a 3:30 advantage on time pf possession, which was just about the time of that last drive. The Crusaders' hope for a return to form must wait another week, however, as they travel to meet the Orangemen of Syracuse for a payday game on Saturday. The Crusaders have dropped 10 straight in what was once a more regular series, with its last win coming at Fitton Field  in 1958. In its last game in 2019, Syracuse won going away, 41-3.

Dartmouth 45, Fordham 13: Another rough week for the Rams, as they were  down 24-7 to the Indians by halftime and gave up 6.5 yards per carry en route to Dartmouth's game high 233 rushing yards and three touchdowns before 3,573 at Memorial Field in Hanover. Reserve Jack Capaldi was 23-43 for just 187 yards for Fordham, now 0-4 and traveling to Monmouth (2-2) in what should be a must-win opportunity.