It seems so long ago. Maybe because it was.
If you opened the Washington Post on January 19, 2000 , you would have read about the start of President Clinton’s last year in office, the first Republican caucus of the campaign year between the two leading GOP candidates, businessman Steve Forbes and Texas governor George W. Bush, and rising public concerns about spiking gasoline prices—a gallon of unleaded gas was now $1.25, up from just $0.89 a year ago.
And there on the Post's sports page, the front of the sports page no less, was the announcement that Georgetown University was joining the Patriot League.
I note the front page because it was the first time Georgetown football had made it to C1 of the Post since Scotty Glacken was let go in 1993, and the Hoyas haven’t made the front page since. But it was a turning point for Georgetown’s football history and despite the losses which followed, it was a big change.
Difficult as it may be to some football fans today to conceive, Georgetown was a team on the rise in 1999. Coming off consecutive nine-win seasons, with its head coach pursued by Princeton for its vacant head coaching job, talk of a new stadium coming by, oh, 2003, and a team winning many of its conference games with relative ease (its final two games of the season were won by a combined score of 101-13), times were good for the Hoyas. But Bob Benson knew better, and he led the change for the Hoyas to apply to the Patriot League and leave the MAAC.
“The move to the Patriot League is an expensive one,” said Benson. “For Georgetown University to make this decision, the change must not only be a positive move for the football program, but for the entire university. There must be a vision! Our president, Father Leo O'Donovan , a great man and a true friend, had such a vision. It is really quite simple. Utilize the game of football to create an environment and atmosphere among our students, faculty, and community on an autumn Saturday afternoon and bring to our campus a school spirit on a fall day that is desperately needed.”
Because for all its MAAC success, Iona and Siena weren’t rivals for Georgetown, the Ivies were. But Ivy schools didn’t deign to play MAAC schools, and to get Georgetown on the Ivy radar screen, it needed a step up.
Georgetown wasn’t the first school grabbing a rowboat to leave the sinking MAAC but the most prominent. The league maintained a stand-pat policy in the intervening years, as six MAAC schools dropped the sport and left it with two remaining; Duquesne and Marist. (Of the original six schools in 1993, Georgetown is the only survivor.) However much of a beat-down the PL has become for Georgetown’s win-loss record, and it has, it prevented a much more ominous situation in the fracturing of its former conference.
No one, certainly not the perpetually optimistic Benson, could have quite foreseen what followed. Or maybe he did. After the Hoyas 2001 season opener, a 41-14 loss to Lehigh, a lot of us fans were not altogether disappointed—give Benson a couple of years worth of recruiting classes and Georgetown is going to start beating these teams, or so we thought. The look on Benson’s face that day suggested otherwise.
Absent a larger financial aid budget, Georgetown wasn’t going to out-recruit anyone and that dynamic hasn’t changed much in the last ten years. Georgetown, a welterweight champion in the MAAC, was fighting above its weight class and getting pounded every week for it. The budget didn’t grow significantly past 2004, the Multi-Sport Facility got no institutional traction, and in Benson’s last meeting at Hoyas Unlimited, he handed out copies of a newspaper article detailing how Lafayette was now recruiting alongside Richmond, and had plans to update the decaying Fisher Field. “This is what we’re up against,” he said.
“I covered their first game in the league back on Labor Day weekend of 2001,” said Allentown sports writer Keith Groller. “Lehigh beat them 41-14 that day in Washington and Georgetown talked about how far away they were from competing in the Patriot League. Eight seasons later and they're still far away.”
Ten years taught Georgetown a hard lesson about the cost of change. What will the next ten years bring?
For whatever fans say about it, the Patriot League has been a safe harbor for Georgetown’s football aspirations. It opened the door to Ivy league schools (in its first game in 2003, a 42-20 win over Cornell, albeit 10 straight losses since) and raised the talent level from what it could realistically reach as a MAAC school. But the upcoming questions facing the league over scholarships cast a shadow over its future; one, I would argue, has parallels to the choices made by the MAAC two decades earlier. Georgetown survived the 2000’s because it was a relatively strong program; by contrast, St. John’s and the MAAC brethren had no foundation from which to weather the storm. What do the 2010’s bring?
At a I-AA message board I frequent, I refer to it as the “lady or the tiger” scenario for the league in addressing Fordham’s "request" to convert its program from a PL-style non-scholarship arrangement to a full fledged 60 scholarship program beginning this season, with I-A opponents like Army and Connecticut on the Rams’ schedule within three years. Put aside the competitive question (e.g., if GU can’t beat Fordham now, how does it beat them with 60 scholarships?) and consider these four choices awaiting the PL presidents:
1. Reject Fordham’s scholarship demand and Fordham is gone, with no realistic replacements on the horizon and followed by rising fears that the league will become non-competitive.
2. Go full steam ahead on 60 scholarships and watch Georgetown and Bucknell instantly become non-competitive. The PL runs the risk that other teams will face potential Title IX impacts to scholarship funding and thus imperil the conference as a whole.
3. Let Fordham have its scholarships but no one else, a recipe for trouble down the road when Colgate and Lehigh want what Fordham has...and can’t get it.
4. Leave it to each school on its own to add as many scholarships as they choose, and invite an arms race among the schools. Four schools will have 50 or more scholarships, Bucknell will be two steps behind, and Georgetown will be at the back of the line, not unlike option 2 and not unlike where it stands today. But how do you grow a program (or build a stadium) going 1-10 every year and having your students and alumni grow accustomed to losing 52-7 every week?
Answer: you don’t. And that's a huge problem.
It’s much too simplistic to say that it’s a case of “reject scholarships and lose Fordham, add them and lose Georgetown.” Institutionally speaking, GU has no philosophical prohibition against scholarship athletics and I’m sure it could have some small number of grants available if it came to pass (emphasis on the phrase “small number”). It may be a more telling issue at places like Bucknell or Lafayette, or at a Holy Cross program whose abandonment of scholarships in the 1980’s opened a huge tear in that college’s athletic fabric. Is it still “Ivy lite” if the PL doesn’t play by the Ivy’s rules?
Whatever the outcome, something is coming. And history teaches that while you can’t always change an outcome, you can adapt to it, and in doing so Georgetown can be successful in these uncharted waters if it is prepared to make commitments to do so. It’s been said that it is not the strongest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those most responsive to change.
Ten years from now, maybe Georgetown is the king of the Patriot League; maybe it’s sitting at 1-10 and wondering why the MSF never got built. But it has the opportunity to chart its own course: following the PL's lead, or finding other solutions which better meet its needs. Maybe that course keeps Georgetown in the PL in ten years, maybe it's a new conference option down the road with more like-minded programs.
The future of the Patriot League is changing, one way or another. And the year 2020 is now as close to Georgetown as the day it joined the league.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A Rough Decade Remembered
How things change.
Ten years ago, Georgetown sat comfortably at the top of the still-fledgling metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, having defeted the final two opponents of the 1999 season by a combined 101-13. A 2000 schedule of eight MAAC opponents, Holy Cross, Davidson, anf Fordham followed.
Georgetown had other plans, however.
Three weeks into the new year of 2000, Georgetown announced an invitation to the Patriot League, beginning a new era on football at the Hilltop. Let's not kid anyone--the results weren't what we expected, but the alternative may have been even worse. Think about this: of the Hoyas' nine wins in 1999, seven were against teams which no longer exist. The collapse of the MAAC was imminent, and Georgetown had a lifeboat, even if it was way in the back.
As number go, the 2000s will go down as the poorest decade in Georgetown football: ten losing seasons, a combined 29-80 (.263), and a just awful 6-49 (.109) in league play. Kevin kelly ended his fourth season with a combined mark of 5-38, lowest of any fourth year coach in Division I.
Looking back on the decade, there are plenty of lowlights (yes, I actually got up at 1:00 am that Sunday to watch the tape delay of Lehigh's 49-0 halftime score to open the 2002 season, it finished 69-0), but there's one game this decade that stands out as a strange turning point for the decade.
On October 18, 2003, Georgetown faced an Ivy League opponent for the first time in 1937 at Cornell. Led with a great performance by senior WR Luke McArdle and a promising efort by freshman QB/RB Alondzo Turner, the Hoyas didn't just upset the Big Red, they beat them, 42-20. At that point, Georgetown was 11-17 over its two and one half years in the league. With a three game winning streak, it appeared to anyone who saw it that Georgetown had turned the corner. We were wrong.
One stat absolutely stuns me from that game. Following the Cornell game, Georgetown reentered PL play with a 3-8 league mark over the prior two seasons. In the intervening six years, the Hoyas are 3-36. Think about that.
However many the heartaches and plain old indigestion of the last ten seasons, there is an opportunity to review and recognize some of the best players of the past decade. For those students or young alumni who only know the last two years and haven't thought much of the talent on the field, know that there have been very good players that gave their all over the past ten years:
Glenn Castergine (TE, 2002,03,04,05): A two year starter at tight end, Castergine was efficient and effective in a position Georgetown has not always focused on.
Frank Terrazino (OL, 2001,02,03,04): A four year starter in a tough position. Got things donwe.
Liam Grubb (OL, 2003,04,05, 06): Maybe one of the best Georgetown linemen I've ever seen--hampered by injuries, Liam was an outstanding performer.
Dan Matheny (OL, 2006,07,08,09): A four year warrior.
Ryan Goethals (OL, 2001,02,03,04): A valuable four year starter that helped elevate the Georgetown running game when it needed it.
Ed Kuczma (OL, 1999,00,01,02): Along with Adam Rini, a consistent leader on the line in the years between the MAAC and PL.
Dave Paulus (QB/P, 2000,01,02,03); A nod ahead of Matt Bassuener (2004-07), Paulus was the best quarterback in a rough era for Georgetown QB's--he probably deserved more time from the coaches but when he was in the games, he made the most of it. Punting wise, he's probably the best punter of the modern era.
Gharun Hester (WR, 1997,98,99,00): An outstanding receiver who ended his career at the beginning of the decade, Hester is the school's all time leader in yards (3,089) and touchdowns (39).
Luke McArdle (WR, 2000,01,02,03): Maybe the best offensive performer of the decade, and the school's all-team leader in punt returns. Georgetown's first all-PL first team selection.
Kim Sarin (RB, 2002,03,04): Georgetown's first 1,000 yard rusher in a season since (maybe) John Gilroy in 1917, Sarin averaged 4.9 yards a carry over a three year career cut short by injury.
Charlie Houghton (RB, 2006,07,08,09): Largely a result of his rookie of the year season as a freshman, Houghton was a solid running back who injuries eventually overtook. Overall, though, the 2000's were not good years for a Georgetown rushing game that sank to the bottom of the subdivision.
Kyle Van Fleet (All-Purpose, 2004,05,06,07): Tight end, fullback, linebacker, whatever, Kyle would play anywhere the coaches asked and did all he could. His five touchdowns in 2007 led all teammates, and Van Fleet received the Duffey-Scholar Athlete Award for the season.
Kenny Mitchell (All-Purpose, 2005,06,07,08): My pick for the most underutilized talent of the decade--Mitchell could have been even better than Gharun Hester with his speed and agility, and was never a focal point of the Jim Miceli offense. His kick return numbers are in the record books but it could have been so much more.
To no surprise, the defensive picks are stronger across the board.
Michael Ononibaku (DL, 2002,03,04,05), Pound for pound, the best defender of the last 30 years. Georgetown's only All-America selection in the decade, this scholar-athlete and Duffey Award winner was a remarkable player in the Benson-era defensive sets.
Alex Buzbee (DL, 2003,04,05,06): Three inches taller and twenty pounds heavcier than Ononibaku, Buzbee leveraged a solid four career into a NFL roster spot in 2007, the first Hoya to do so since Jim Ricca in 1955. An All-PL selection as a senior, Buzbee finished third all time in sacks, one-half sack behind Ononibaku.
Ataefiok Etukeren (DL, 2005,06,07,08): A solid force on the defensive line with quickness and power, Etukeren made it to the last cut of the Buffalo Bills as a free agent signing in 2009.
Scott Pogorelec (DL, 1998,99,00,01): A four year mainstay on the early 2000's line, played nose guard with distinction despite being only 245 lbs.
Andrew Clarke (LB, 2000,01,02,03): Fourth all time in tackles, Clarke was a high school RB who became a defensive standout. His 119 tackles in 2002 is a single season record, with 23 tackles in a single game, also a record.
Jason Carter (LB, 2002,03,04,05); Despite weighing only 215, Carter was a strong tacker and defensive presence as a "rover" in the defensive sets. When there was a tackle to be made, he was there. Sixth all time in career tackles.
Matt Fronczke (DB, 2000,01,02,03): Third all time in tackles, one of GU's best secondary corps in a generation, a second team all-PL selection.
Maurice Banks (DB, 2002,03,04,05): A second team all-PL selection in 2004 and 2005, Banks was a solid secondary performer.
Travis Mack (DB, 2006,07,08,09): A strong three year leader on defense, placing third on the team in tackles with 66 in 2009 and 232 overall, fifth most in the modern era.
Derek Franks (DB, 2003,04,05,06): A three year starter, he finished with 75 tackles in his senior season.
Marc Samuel (PK, 2000,01): Kicking was very much a hit or miss (no pun intended) affair for the Hoyas in the decade, but the University of Kentucky transfer and GU Law student managed to finish in the top three for field goal and extra point accuracy over his two seasons.
As for the next decade, well, the losing must end. Either the coaches have to correct it, find someone who will, or Georgetown is going to be forced into reevaluating the commitment it puts into the Patriot League. This school's tradition and its program deserves a more competitive effort than what was seen in the 2000's, and that's not a knock on the players or the coaches who battled through it, but a call to action in the years to come.
Georgetown can do better, everyone knows that. It's time to start making it happen.
Ten years ago, Georgetown sat comfortably at the top of the still-fledgling metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, having defeted the final two opponents of the 1999 season by a combined 101-13. A 2000 schedule of eight MAAC opponents, Holy Cross, Davidson, anf Fordham followed.
Georgetown had other plans, however.
Three weeks into the new year of 2000, Georgetown announced an invitation to the Patriot League, beginning a new era on football at the Hilltop. Let's not kid anyone--the results weren't what we expected, but the alternative may have been even worse. Think about this: of the Hoyas' nine wins in 1999, seven were against teams which no longer exist. The collapse of the MAAC was imminent, and Georgetown had a lifeboat, even if it was way in the back.
As number go, the 2000s will go down as the poorest decade in Georgetown football: ten losing seasons, a combined 29-80 (.263), and a just awful 6-49 (.109) in league play. Kevin kelly ended his fourth season with a combined mark of 5-38, lowest of any fourth year coach in Division I.
Looking back on the decade, there are plenty of lowlights (yes, I actually got up at 1:00 am that Sunday to watch the tape delay of Lehigh's 49-0 halftime score to open the 2002 season, it finished 69-0), but there's one game this decade that stands out as a strange turning point for the decade.
On October 18, 2003, Georgetown faced an Ivy League opponent for the first time in 1937 at Cornell. Led with a great performance by senior WR Luke McArdle and a promising efort by freshman QB/RB Alondzo Turner, the Hoyas didn't just upset the Big Red, they beat them, 42-20. At that point, Georgetown was 11-17 over its two and one half years in the league. With a three game winning streak, it appeared to anyone who saw it that Georgetown had turned the corner. We were wrong.
One stat absolutely stuns me from that game. Following the Cornell game, Georgetown reentered PL play with a 3-8 league mark over the prior two seasons. In the intervening six years, the Hoyas are 3-36. Think about that.
However many the heartaches and plain old indigestion of the last ten seasons, there is an opportunity to review and recognize some of the best players of the past decade. For those students or young alumni who only know the last two years and haven't thought much of the talent on the field, know that there have been very good players that gave their all over the past ten years:
Glenn Castergine (TE, 2002,03,04,05): A two year starter at tight end, Castergine was efficient and effective in a position Georgetown has not always focused on.
Frank Terrazino (OL, 2001,02,03,04): A four year starter in a tough position. Got things donwe.
Liam Grubb (OL, 2003,04,05, 06): Maybe one of the best Georgetown linemen I've ever seen--hampered by injuries, Liam was an outstanding performer.
Dan Matheny (OL, 2006,07,08,09): A four year warrior.
Ryan Goethals (OL, 2001,02,03,04): A valuable four year starter that helped elevate the Georgetown running game when it needed it.
Ed Kuczma (OL, 1999,00,01,02): Along with Adam Rini, a consistent leader on the line in the years between the MAAC and PL.
Dave Paulus (QB/P, 2000,01,02,03); A nod ahead of Matt Bassuener (2004-07), Paulus was the best quarterback in a rough era for Georgetown QB's--he probably deserved more time from the coaches but when he was in the games, he made the most of it. Punting wise, he's probably the best punter of the modern era.
Gharun Hester (WR, 1997,98,99,00): An outstanding receiver who ended his career at the beginning of the decade, Hester is the school's all time leader in yards (3,089) and touchdowns (39).
Luke McArdle (WR, 2000,01,02,03): Maybe the best offensive performer of the decade, and the school's all-team leader in punt returns. Georgetown's first all-PL first team selection.
Kim Sarin (RB, 2002,03,04): Georgetown's first 1,000 yard rusher in a season since (maybe) John Gilroy in 1917, Sarin averaged 4.9 yards a carry over a three year career cut short by injury.
Charlie Houghton (RB, 2006,07,08,09): Largely a result of his rookie of the year season as a freshman, Houghton was a solid running back who injuries eventually overtook. Overall, though, the 2000's were not good years for a Georgetown rushing game that sank to the bottom of the subdivision.
Kyle Van Fleet (All-Purpose, 2004,05,06,07): Tight end, fullback, linebacker, whatever, Kyle would play anywhere the coaches asked and did all he could. His five touchdowns in 2007 led all teammates, and Van Fleet received the Duffey-Scholar Athlete Award for the season.
Kenny Mitchell (All-Purpose, 2005,06,07,08): My pick for the most underutilized talent of the decade--Mitchell could have been even better than Gharun Hester with his speed and agility, and was never a focal point of the Jim Miceli offense. His kick return numbers are in the record books but it could have been so much more.
To no surprise, the defensive picks are stronger across the board.
Michael Ononibaku (DL, 2002,03,04,05), Pound for pound, the best defender of the last 30 years. Georgetown's only All-America selection in the decade, this scholar-athlete and Duffey Award winner was a remarkable player in the Benson-era defensive sets.
Alex Buzbee (DL, 2003,04,05,06): Three inches taller and twenty pounds heavcier than Ononibaku, Buzbee leveraged a solid four career into a NFL roster spot in 2007, the first Hoya to do so since Jim Ricca in 1955. An All-PL selection as a senior, Buzbee finished third all time in sacks, one-half sack behind Ononibaku.
Ataefiok Etukeren (DL, 2005,06,07,08): A solid force on the defensive line with quickness and power, Etukeren made it to the last cut of the Buffalo Bills as a free agent signing in 2009.
Scott Pogorelec (DL, 1998,99,00,01): A four year mainstay on the early 2000's line, played nose guard with distinction despite being only 245 lbs.
Andrew Clarke (LB, 2000,01,02,03): Fourth all time in tackles, Clarke was a high school RB who became a defensive standout. His 119 tackles in 2002 is a single season record, with 23 tackles in a single game, also a record.
Jason Carter (LB, 2002,03,04,05); Despite weighing only 215, Carter was a strong tacker and defensive presence as a "rover" in the defensive sets. When there was a tackle to be made, he was there. Sixth all time in career tackles.
Matt Fronczke (DB, 2000,01,02,03): Third all time in tackles, one of GU's best secondary corps in a generation, a second team all-PL selection.
Maurice Banks (DB, 2002,03,04,05): A second team all-PL selection in 2004 and 2005, Banks was a solid secondary performer.
Travis Mack (DB, 2006,07,08,09): A strong three year leader on defense, placing third on the team in tackles with 66 in 2009 and 232 overall, fifth most in the modern era.
Derek Franks (DB, 2003,04,05,06): A three year starter, he finished with 75 tackles in his senior season.
Marc Samuel (PK, 2000,01): Kicking was very much a hit or miss (no pun intended) affair for the Hoyas in the decade, but the University of Kentucky transfer and GU Law student managed to finish in the top three for field goal and extra point accuracy over his two seasons.
As for the next decade, well, the losing must end. Either the coaches have to correct it, find someone who will, or Georgetown is going to be forced into reevaluating the commitment it puts into the Patriot League. This school's tradition and its program deserves a more competitive effort than what was seen in the 2000's, and that's not a knock on the players or the coaches who battled through it, but a call to action in the years to come.
Georgetown can do better, everyone knows that. It's time to start making it happen.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Acres of Diamonds
What's the worst thing about being an 0-11 team in November? Being one in December.
Back at the HoyaTalk message board, a familiar writer to the site suggests this: "I think Georgetown has 5-10 years left to prove to the community that there is still a place for football on the Hilltop. Otherwise, the program will keep falling down the slippery slope of doom, gloom, apathy, irrelevance, and embarrassment that this campus-wide joke has become."
The distinction between these two lines of thought is the difference between the word "won't" and "can't". The first writer thinks Georgetown won't remedy its situaiton, the second suggests it can't, which is a more serious contention; yet, I don't believe either.
But if you're under the age of 30, if you've never seen Georgetown written in an article that didn't involve a sports writer's tongue firmly in cheek, or if the only optimism you've seen on the program is that erstwhile New York Times feature on Bernard Muir and the future greatness of Hoya Football, one can be excused for being melancholy about the whole thing. Excused, but not absolved. Time to look forward.
So in this off-season, as the S.S. Georgetown is stuck on the shoals of college football, now is not the time to drop anchor, but get back out in the water.
Growing up in Texas, I got to follow some great college football...and some really awful football, too. Chief offenders of the latter were the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University, who endured five winning seasons from 1966 to 1997 and were the source of many a joke in the rugged Southwest Conference.
Esteemed writer Dan Jenkins observed that "Fans in the stadium learned to cheer for first downs, to holler at the offense "Hold 'Em Frogs", and once, a large hand-made sign appeared in the student section proclaiming: "We're #115."
They played in a battered old stadium and their best days were behind them. Attendance was nominal, and recruits took notice. From 1974-78, the Frogs were 8-49, 2-36 in league play.
No one was trying to drum them out of the league or to drop football. But when the SWC met its demise and the big schools went elsewhere, TCU was left behind in a big way, and people got serious about what to do. The school reached out to local businessmen, the so-called "Committee of 100", to help reinvest local interest (and local dollars) into the program. Facility upgrades followed. Recruiting, still a second of third choice to Big 12 programs, began to pick up gems the big schools missed.
One of them was a running back from San Diego, and today his photo proudly stands at the entrance to its stadium, along with legends from days gone by:
And it was more than just players. TCU started hiring coaches that were good enough to be capable of being hired away elsewhere, and soon were (Pat Sullivan was nearly hired by LSU, Dennis Franchione by Alabama). Following Franchione's exit, the school promoted its defensive coordinator, Gary Patterson, and hasn't looked back. Over the past ten years, only Southern Cal has a better winning percentage among all Division I-A private schools than TCU. (Not even Notre Dame.) Patterson, thought to be in the running for the vacant ND job, just signed a contract extension. And why not? He's built something special.
Two weeks ago, TCU finished 12-0 with a thorough pounding of New Mexico, 51-10 and stands waiting for a BCS bowl. A generation ago, no, a decade ago, this would have been unthinkable. TCU was the Temple of Southwestern football (and look at Temple these days!)
What changed? What got these stands filled time and time again in a region full of Longhorn and Aggie fans?
What got a student body not much larger than Georgetown to fill these stands?
In 1890, a Baptist educator named Russell Conwell toured the countryside telling a story, considered one of the most memorable speeches of the 19th century. Royalties from the speech made him enough money to fund a struggling Baptist school in Philadelphia he called Temple University, and to this day it remains a hallmark among motivational speakers. Known as the "Acres of Diamonds" speech, it carried a simple message--before one goes searching the world for success, take stock of what one has right now, and start using those resources to build wealth.
Wrote Rev. Conwell: "Greatness consists not in holding some office; greatness really consists in doing some great deed with little means, in the accomplishment of vast purposes from the private ranks of life, that is true greatness."
It was true in Conwell's time, as he built Temple into a major research university.
It was true for TCU, as they have built a major college program from the wreckage of years of futility.
Most importantly (for this column), it is true for Georgetown. But first it's got to work at it.
We bemoan (and I am sometimes guilty of same) that Georgetown doesn't have the tools it takes to compete. Not to compete in the Big East, of course, but even among smaller private schools. And yet, look around and see the diamonds on the fringe of that forsaken field called the MSF:
And look around! Look at the diamonds in its midst! This is a University that can certainly compete and win at the Division I-AA level and bring honor and distinction to its legacy. One doesn't have to go to a BCS bowl to do it, either. Georgetown has resources at its disposal Northeastern never had, and Hofstra never will! But first it's got to work at it.
The basketball folks like to say we are Georgetown, and so "we" are. But if Georgetown can excel with honor in basketball, in track, in lacrosse, rowing, sailing, et al., it can do the same in football, I'm convinced of it. That its own students (much less alumni and Internet message boards) haven't heard that message is a problem in need of solving.
It won't be easy, but that's not the issue.
"Difficulty," wrote Edward R. Murrow, "is the excuse history never accepts."
The last week or so has seen an outpouring of Internet grumbling over the winless Hoyas, who commanded little or no media attention in their weekly losses but seems to have become a point of discussion following the euthanasia of programs at Northeastern and Hofstra. Bad teams are supposed to clean house the weekend after the season finale, right?
"The alarming thing about Georgetown is they're doing nothing to fix their situation," writes one posted on a I-AA message board. "They haven't fired their coach and they've made no progress in updating their facilities. The fact that the coach has remained is the most curious of all imo. The program has hit rock bottom, shows no signs of life yet the course looks to continue. What's the point?"Back at the HoyaTalk message board, a familiar writer to the site suggests this: "I think Georgetown has 5-10 years left to prove to the community that there is still a place for football on the Hilltop. Otherwise, the program will keep falling down the slippery slope of doom, gloom, apathy, irrelevance, and embarrassment that this campus-wide joke has become."
The distinction between these two lines of thought is the difference between the word "won't" and "can't". The first writer thinks Georgetown won't remedy its situaiton, the second suggests it can't, which is a more serious contention; yet, I don't believe either.
But if you're under the age of 30, if you've never seen Georgetown written in an article that didn't involve a sports writer's tongue firmly in cheek, or if the only optimism you've seen on the program is that erstwhile New York Times feature on Bernard Muir and the future greatness of Hoya Football, one can be excused for being melancholy about the whole thing. Excused, but not absolved. Time to look forward.
So in this off-season, as the S.S. Georgetown is stuck on the shoals of college football, now is not the time to drop anchor, but get back out in the water.
Growing up in Texas, I got to follow some great college football...and some really awful football, too. Chief offenders of the latter were the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University, who endured five winning seasons from 1966 to 1997 and were the source of many a joke in the rugged Southwest Conference.
Esteemed writer Dan Jenkins observed that "Fans in the stadium learned to cheer for first downs, to holler at the offense "Hold 'Em Frogs", and once, a large hand-made sign appeared in the student section proclaiming: "We're #115."
They played in a battered old stadium and their best days were behind them. Attendance was nominal, and recruits took notice. From 1974-78, the Frogs were 8-49, 2-36 in league play.
No one was trying to drum them out of the league or to drop football. But when the SWC met its demise and the big schools went elsewhere, TCU was left behind in a big way, and people got serious about what to do. The school reached out to local businessmen, the so-called "Committee of 100", to help reinvest local interest (and local dollars) into the program. Facility upgrades followed. Recruiting, still a second of third choice to Big 12 programs, began to pick up gems the big schools missed.
One of them was a running back from San Diego, and today his photo proudly stands at the entrance to its stadium, along with legends from days gone by:
And it was more than just players. TCU started hiring coaches that were good enough to be capable of being hired away elsewhere, and soon were (Pat Sullivan was nearly hired by LSU, Dennis Franchione by Alabama). Following Franchione's exit, the school promoted its defensive coordinator, Gary Patterson, and hasn't looked back. Over the past ten years, only Southern Cal has a better winning percentage among all Division I-A private schools than TCU. (Not even Notre Dame.) Patterson, thought to be in the running for the vacant ND job, just signed a contract extension. And why not? He's built something special.
Two weeks ago, TCU finished 12-0 with a thorough pounding of New Mexico, 51-10 and stands waiting for a BCS bowl. A generation ago, no, a decade ago, this would have been unthinkable. TCU was the Temple of Southwestern football (and look at Temple these days!)
What changed? What got these stands filled time and time again in a region full of Longhorn and Aggie fans?
What got hundreds of children to line up before the game to "run" with their home town team?
Because TCU has discovered a truism that Georgetown hasn't: you don't need to look far to build a base of support. But first you've got to work at it.
In 1890, a Baptist educator named Russell Conwell toured the countryside telling a story, considered one of the most memorable speeches of the 19th century. Royalties from the speech made him enough money to fund a struggling Baptist school in Philadelphia he called Temple University, and to this day it remains a hallmark among motivational speakers. Known as the "Acres of Diamonds" speech, it carried a simple message--before one goes searching the world for success, take stock of what one has right now, and start using those resources to build wealth.
Wrote Rev. Conwell: "Greatness consists not in holding some office; greatness really consists in doing some great deed with little means, in the accomplishment of vast purposes from the private ranks of life, that is true greatness."
It was true in Conwell's time, as he built Temple into a major research university.
It was true for TCU, as they have built a major college program from the wreckage of years of futility.
Most importantly (for this column), it is true for Georgetown. But first it's got to work at it.
We bemoan (and I am sometimes guilty of same) that Georgetown doesn't have the tools it takes to compete. Not to compete in the Big East, of course, but even among smaller private schools. And yet, look around and see the diamonds on the fringe of that forsaken field called the MSF:
- This is a University that provides educational opportunities unmatched by any Catholic school in the nation, a peer with the major research universities of the nation.
- This is a University that can recruit, educate, and graduate a cross section of conscientious leaders from its football program for generations to come, whether they be CEO's, field generals, or college presidents.
- This is a school whose contacts provide its football student-athletes significant internship and networking opportunities for careers that will exceed their expectations and open doors that will change their lives and the lives of others.
- This is a University with a vast network of alumni that have played football for the school, willing and able to devote resources towards student support, facility improvement, and coaching development.
- This is a University whose representatives can walk in to a recruit's home anywhere in the nation and tell its story.
- This is a University fully capable of attracting outstanding student-athletes, near as well as far, who can compete at a designated level and provide its students and alumni success on and off the field of play, with or without the comforts that other schools may enjoy.
- This is a University with a proud football tradition dating back to the very origins of the sport, with a long-term record of competitive success that ought to be cherished and embraced rather than ignored and minimized.
And look around! Look at the diamonds in its midst! This is a University that can certainly compete and win at the Division I-AA level and bring honor and distinction to its legacy. One doesn't have to go to a BCS bowl to do it, either. Georgetown has resources at its disposal Northeastern never had, and Hofstra never will! But first it's got to work at it.
The basketball folks like to say we are Georgetown, and so "we" are. But if Georgetown can excel with honor in basketball, in track, in lacrosse, rowing, sailing, et al., it can do the same in football, I'm convinced of it. That its own students (much less alumni and Internet message boards) haven't heard that message is a problem in need of solving.
It won't be easy, but that's not the issue.
"Difficulty," wrote Edward R. Murrow, "is the excuse history never accepts."
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
What Changes Next Year?
In the last fleeting moments of Saturday's Note Dame game against Connecticut, with a dark cloud hanging over the head of Charlie Weis and his sweatshirt, a producer at NBC drew a proverbial knife and slipped it right in.
NBC switched from the game to a scene at Weis' first press confernce, where a younger, thinner and somewhat cockier New England Patriots assistant confidently told his alma mater, "You are what you are, folks, and right now you’re a 6-5 football team. And guess what? That’s just not good enough. That’s not good enough for you, and it’s certainly not going to be good enough for me."
Weis' record after the game? 6-5.
Kevin Kelly was smarter than to make that claim upon taking over Bob Benson's 4-7 Georgetown Hoyas in January 2006, but he has lots of other questions ahead this off-season. An 0-11 season never goes down very well with fans, but there are some years where a coach can get away with it: a quarterback injury, probation, a mostly-freshman lineup. A one time occurrence.
Except Georgetown had none of these. Georgetown was 0-11 because it wasn't very good, isn't very good week after week, and hasn't been very good for a long while.
Good men can agree to disagree about what it will take to get better sooner, but it raises the key question for the staff during the off-season, the question the staff will hear from parents and recruits and parents of recruits:
What changes next year?
What will be different in 2010 to make this team competitive? A look at the off-season needs makes this a very, very difficult answer.
What changes at quarterback next season? In the last 10 years, only one incumbent has held the starting role the following season (Matt Bassuener), with a revolving door in the post.
At the end of 2007, Robert Lane was the returning QB, but he was passed over for Keerome Lawrence, John O'Leary and James Brady. At the end of 2008, Lawrence and O'Leary were passed over for Brady, who was passed over by Isaiah Kempf by week two, who was passed over eight weeks later by Scott Darby. For all we know, Darby could be starting with O'Leary at WR in 2010, or Tucker Stafford will finally get a chance to start, or that there's yet another high school senior out there prepared to take a pounding to call plays for the Blue and Gray.
The inconsistency at QB has mirrored the inconsistency of the team, and there's no telling if any changes among the positional coaches throws this position into question at spring practice once again. It's no secret that a veteran QB paced Holy Cross to the PL title this season. And it's also no secret that the last time Georgetown had consistency at QB, with there starting QB's from 1993-1999, it was a winning program.
Since 2001? 14 different starters.
What changes at running back next season? Maybe Charlie Houghton and Robert Lane come back for a fifth year next season, maybe not. But the position is still in need of an upgrade, especially with a power back blocking for Houghton or Philip Oladeji or whoever gets a look at tailback. There hasn't been a power back in the lineup in probably ten years, when Rob Belli (1997-99) ran for 826 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Think about those last two numbers: 826 yards, 17 touchdowns. In 2009, the entire Georgetown offense combined for 555 yards and two touchdowns. Outside of Oladeji and Houghton, the Hoyas combined for 124 carries and 52 net yards, So how does it get better next year, because it absolutely has to.
What changes at offensive line next season? A lot of people point to the O-line as the source of Georgetown's frustrations--too small, too slow, and overwhelmed on the line. It's an exaggeration in some cases, but not always. When healthy, the offensive line can hold their own, but it's resembled a MASH unit over the last few years. Three seniors graduate off the line this spring, and none of their replacements are much bigger than 280 lbs. Georgetown is hard pressed recruiting any 300 pounders and relies, if by default, on smaller players. But at what cost? Isaiah Kempf doesn't get sacked nine times in a game for being slow. He's sacked nine times because the line gets beat up all season and was shot by week 11.
Who among the returning players steps up, or is it more of the same?
What changes on defense next season? The front seven will reload, as usual, although the Hoyas cannot seem to establish a consistent run defense. One reason: less pressure on the quarterback. In the Fordham game, the front line combined for 0.5 sacks against Fordham, and the Hoyas ranked 100th in the nation in average sacks per game (1.3). In the season finale, the defensive line gave up 38 pounds, on average, against Fordham's line.So what happens when a 260 lb. lineman meets a 310 lb. one? Don't plan on a sack.
The secondary loses three mainstays in Rau, Jackson, and Mack, with Bodrick a close fourth. Kyle Miller and Jeff Gazaway have to get up to speed this spring or Georgetown will be vulnerable again in the air.
What changes on special teams next season? A lot. One of the recrurring misfires in recruiting in the last 5-7 years has been special teams, and Georgetown has relied on a wing and prayer to find consistency. Its last punter with more than two years experience was David Paulus in 2002, its last three year kicker dates back to the MAAC era.
GU was fortunate that walk-on and football newcomer Jose Pablo-Buerba and WR-turned-punter Brian Josephs succeeded under short notice (having seen Kilgo Livingston, Casey Dobyns and Rafael Notario leave the team over the last two years) but both Buerba and Josephs will have graduated this spring. The Hoyas need real help on special teams next year.
What changes on the schedule next year? Richmond is out, Davidson is in, but that doesn't buy you much, given that Georgetown hasn't won a road game outside the District in over two years. OK, so Georgetown beats Davidson and Marist--is 2-9 in 2010 a sign of improvement? I hope not.
There's not much that can be done, of course, as it's not good practice to tear up contracts, but the 2009 schedule was a no-win situation (literally) for the Hoyas.
So what changes next year? It's hard to say in November, but it's time to get to work to do so, even if it is the off-season. Or, as Weis might have said, "You are what you are, folks. And guess what? That’s just not good enough."
NBC switched from the game to a scene at Weis' first press confernce, where a younger, thinner and somewhat cockier New England Patriots assistant confidently told his alma mater, "You are what you are, folks, and right now you’re a 6-5 football team. And guess what? That’s just not good enough. That’s not good enough for you, and it’s certainly not going to be good enough for me."
Weis' record after the game? 6-5.
Kevin Kelly was smarter than to make that claim upon taking over Bob Benson's 4-7 Georgetown Hoyas in January 2006, but he has lots of other questions ahead this off-season. An 0-11 season never goes down very well with fans, but there are some years where a coach can get away with it: a quarterback injury, probation, a mostly-freshman lineup. A one time occurrence.
Except Georgetown had none of these. Georgetown was 0-11 because it wasn't very good, isn't very good week after week, and hasn't been very good for a long while.
Good men can agree to disagree about what it will take to get better sooner, but it raises the key question for the staff during the off-season, the question the staff will hear from parents and recruits and parents of recruits:
What changes next year?
What will be different in 2010 to make this team competitive? A look at the off-season needs makes this a very, very difficult answer.
What changes at quarterback next season? In the last 10 years, only one incumbent has held the starting role the following season (Matt Bassuener), with a revolving door in the post.
At the end of 2007, Robert Lane was the returning QB, but he was passed over for Keerome Lawrence, John O'Leary and James Brady. At the end of 2008, Lawrence and O'Leary were passed over for Brady, who was passed over by Isaiah Kempf by week two, who was passed over eight weeks later by Scott Darby. For all we know, Darby could be starting with O'Leary at WR in 2010, or Tucker Stafford will finally get a chance to start, or that there's yet another high school senior out there prepared to take a pounding to call plays for the Blue and Gray.
The inconsistency at QB has mirrored the inconsistency of the team, and there's no telling if any changes among the positional coaches throws this position into question at spring practice once again. It's no secret that a veteran QB paced Holy Cross to the PL title this season. And it's also no secret that the last time Georgetown had consistency at QB, with there starting QB's from 1993-1999, it was a winning program.
Since 2001? 14 different starters.
What changes at running back next season? Maybe Charlie Houghton and Robert Lane come back for a fifth year next season, maybe not. But the position is still in need of an upgrade, especially with a power back blocking for Houghton or Philip Oladeji or whoever gets a look at tailback. There hasn't been a power back in the lineup in probably ten years, when Rob Belli (1997-99) ran for 826 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Think about those last two numbers: 826 yards, 17 touchdowns. In 2009, the entire Georgetown offense combined for 555 yards and two touchdowns. Outside of Oladeji and Houghton, the Hoyas combined for 124 carries and 52 net yards, So how does it get better next year, because it absolutely has to.
What changes at offensive line next season? A lot of people point to the O-line as the source of Georgetown's frustrations--too small, too slow, and overwhelmed on the line. It's an exaggeration in some cases, but not always. When healthy, the offensive line can hold their own, but it's resembled a MASH unit over the last few years. Three seniors graduate off the line this spring, and none of their replacements are much bigger than 280 lbs. Georgetown is hard pressed recruiting any 300 pounders and relies, if by default, on smaller players. But at what cost? Isaiah Kempf doesn't get sacked nine times in a game for being slow. He's sacked nine times because the line gets beat up all season and was shot by week 11.
Who among the returning players steps up, or is it more of the same?
What changes on defense next season? The front seven will reload, as usual, although the Hoyas cannot seem to establish a consistent run defense. One reason: less pressure on the quarterback. In the Fordham game, the front line combined for 0.5 sacks against Fordham, and the Hoyas ranked 100th in the nation in average sacks per game (1.3). In the season finale, the defensive line gave up 38 pounds, on average, against Fordham's line.So what happens when a 260 lb. lineman meets a 310 lb. one? Don't plan on a sack.
The secondary loses three mainstays in Rau, Jackson, and Mack, with Bodrick a close fourth. Kyle Miller and Jeff Gazaway have to get up to speed this spring or Georgetown will be vulnerable again in the air.
What changes on special teams next season? A lot. One of the recrurring misfires in recruiting in the last 5-7 years has been special teams, and Georgetown has relied on a wing and prayer to find consistency. Its last punter with more than two years experience was David Paulus in 2002, its last three year kicker dates back to the MAAC era.
GU was fortunate that walk-on and football newcomer Jose Pablo-Buerba and WR-turned-punter Brian Josephs succeeded under short notice (having seen Kilgo Livingston, Casey Dobyns and Rafael Notario leave the team over the last two years) but both Buerba and Josephs will have graduated this spring. The Hoyas need real help on special teams next year.
What changes on the schedule next year? Richmond is out, Davidson is in, but that doesn't buy you much, given that Georgetown hasn't won a road game outside the District in over two years. OK, so Georgetown beats Davidson and Marist--is 2-9 in 2010 a sign of improvement? I hope not.
There's not much that can be done, of course, as it's not good practice to tear up contracts, but the 2009 schedule was a no-win situation (literally) for the Hoyas.
So what changes next year? It's hard to say in November, but it's time to get to work to do so, even if it is the off-season. Or, as Weis might have said, "You are what you are, folks. And guess what? That’s just not good enough."
Monday, November 23, 2009
Week 11 Recap
Some thoughts following Fordham's 41-14 win to end the 2009 season:
No Quit: Congratulations to the team for not giving up on what has been, by any objective view, an awful season. The ability of the team to keep working hard amidst injuries and talent gaps between Georgetown and its opponents is no less easy when you're winning, but doubly difficult as the losses mount. One can be discouraged in the record and at the same time proud of those that fought the fight.
Thanks Fans: Georgetown's average attendance of 2,527 doesn't sound impressive, but it was the best average in over 10 years and reinforces that well-worn phrase: if you build it, they will come. (And if you actually finish it, even more will.) Give Georgetown fans a winning program and the MSF will be a great place to be in coming years.
Late Season Blues: Georgetown has won one season finale this decade and there's one reason which goes a little unnoticed: familarity. As teams go, Georgetown does not change its tactics much from game to game--primarily the result of a lack of healthy talent, partly a result of some limited offensive play calling, but most often the lack of options to adapt to players. It is why you see the Hoyas do reaonably well the first game of each year and to start to struggle from there on out--teams are digesting game film and are picking up GU's predicatable game plans as they go along. You saw it in Isaiah kempf's declining numbers since the Yale game--teams figured his style of play out and keyed on it. To build momentum in October, a team must be better than its opponetns or more innovative, and Georgetown didn't have much of either this season.
4th and 22: Did anyone see the play on ESPN where Yale, leading late in the fourth quarter, ran a fake punt on a 4th and 22, but failed and gave Harvard the field position to win the game? Yes, people can criticize it but it shows the kind of faith in a team that Tom Williams has in his young Bulldogs, and that faith is going to pay dividends down the road. had it worked, they'd be calling Williams a genius; this time, he's a goat. But he's a really good coach and better days await Yale.
Georgetown wasn't into much trickery this year; again, the depth of talent wasn't there. I think this is one of the three big issues hading into next season: depth--how can Georgetown get wins when it cannot build depth?
Stat Of The Season, #1: Georgetown was outscored 99-27 in the first quarter of games. Last season it was 72-27, over four seasons, 376-78. The Georgetown offensive sets are not designed for comebacks, so something needs fixing here.
Stat of The Season, #2: Georgetown's offensive line was 25th in the nation during 2008 in fewest sacks allowed. In 2009? 112th.
Some Unofficial Awards: The team awards will be announced in January...or February, or even April, depending on when the awards banquet is held. Here are some very unofficial candidates for such awards:
And so to the entire 2009 Hoyas, this quote from U.S. Supreme Court associate justice Benjamin Cardozo: "In the end the great truth will have been learned, that the quest is greater than what is sought, the effort finer than the prize, or rather that the effort is the prize, the victory cheap and hollow were it not for the rigor of the game."
Your work on the field is done, but for the seniors, we'll need you back as alumni. There's more work to be done. A lot more.
No Quit: Congratulations to the team for not giving up on what has been, by any objective view, an awful season. The ability of the team to keep working hard amidst injuries and talent gaps between Georgetown and its opponents is no less easy when you're winning, but doubly difficult as the losses mount. One can be discouraged in the record and at the same time proud of those that fought the fight.
Thanks Fans: Georgetown's average attendance of 2,527 doesn't sound impressive, but it was the best average in over 10 years and reinforces that well-worn phrase: if you build it, they will come. (And if you actually finish it, even more will.) Give Georgetown fans a winning program and the MSF will be a great place to be in coming years.
Late Season Blues: Georgetown has won one season finale this decade and there's one reason which goes a little unnoticed: familarity. As teams go, Georgetown does not change its tactics much from game to game--primarily the result of a lack of healthy talent, partly a result of some limited offensive play calling, but most often the lack of options to adapt to players. It is why you see the Hoyas do reaonably well the first game of each year and to start to struggle from there on out--teams are digesting game film and are picking up GU's predicatable game plans as they go along. You saw it in Isaiah kempf's declining numbers since the Yale game--teams figured his style of play out and keyed on it. To build momentum in October, a team must be better than its opponetns or more innovative, and Georgetown didn't have much of either this season.
4th and 22: Did anyone see the play on ESPN where Yale, leading late in the fourth quarter, ran a fake punt on a 4th and 22, but failed and gave Harvard the field position to win the game? Yes, people can criticize it but it shows the kind of faith in a team that Tom Williams has in his young Bulldogs, and that faith is going to pay dividends down the road. had it worked, they'd be calling Williams a genius; this time, he's a goat. But he's a really good coach and better days await Yale.
Georgetown wasn't into much trickery this year; again, the depth of talent wasn't there. I think this is one of the three big issues hading into next season: depth--how can Georgetown get wins when it cannot build depth?
Stat Of The Season, #1: Georgetown was outscored 99-27 in the first quarter of games. Last season it was 72-27, over four seasons, 376-78. The Georgetown offensive sets are not designed for comebacks, so something needs fixing here.
Stat of The Season, #2: Georgetown's offensive line was 25th in the nation during 2008 in fewest sacks allowed. In 2009? 112th.
Some Unofficial Awards: The team awards will be announced in January...or February, or even April, depending on when the awards banquet is held. Here are some very unofficial candidates for such awards:
- Al Blozis Award (MVP): Hard to focus on an offensive MVP in a winless season, but since it's gone to the defense three straight years, here are three from the D worth a chance to be honored: LB Nick Parrish, DB Travis Mack, and DT Andrew Schaetzke.
- Jack Hagerty Award (backs): Only one running back has won this in the last decade, as linebackers and secondary have taken over. Parrish, Mack, and sophomore DB David Quintero are all worthy candidates.
- George Murtagh Award (linemen): If there's a way to honor the efforts of center Dan Matheny, this might be it. DE Chudi Obianwu and OL Rich Hussey deserve a look as well.
- Jermiah Minihan Award (coaches award): A hard one to judge, but maybe there is a place to honor the senior special teams. Jose Pablo-Buerba and Brian Josephs weren't even on the radar screen for special teams two years ago and both acquitted themselves well this season.
- John Burke Award (courage and spirit): Jon Cassidy.
- "Lou Little Award" (top freshman): One had to be impressed by how QB Isaiah Kempf stepped up when James Brady walked away.
- "Scott Glacken Award" (outstanding senior contribution): Robert Lane did everything that was asked of him throughout four years. He will be missed.
And so to the entire 2009 Hoyas, this quote from U.S. Supreme Court associate justice Benjamin Cardozo: "In the end the great truth will have been learned, that the quest is greater than what is sought, the effort finer than the prize, or rather that the effort is the prize, the victory cheap and hollow were it not for the rigor of the game."
Your work on the field is done, but for the seniors, we'll need you back as alumni. There's more work to be done. A lot more.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Week 10 Thoughts
Some thoughts following Richmond's 49-10 win Saturday:
Zero Hour: One can say it's "for" the seniors, and that's true, but Georgetown is playing "against" the idea of being the first team in Georgetown's long and often storied history not to win a game in a season. Outside of two bad teams in Howard and Marist, they haven't even been close.
The margin of defeat in those two games combined? Four points. And since these were only the two teams Georgetown actually beat in 2008, how close was that team to a zero win season in 2008? One pass play and two missed PAT's. When you think of it that way, this isn't a one year phenomenon, is it?
A winless season happened once before, sort of. The 1984 team was beaten soundly in all seven games that season, but claimed a forfeit win following a 56-6 stomping by Catholic University over charges CUA had an ineligible player; hence, Georgetown history records a 1-6 season. (Like any good rivalry, Catholic still lists it as a win.)
But barring any such technicalities, a loss to Fordham is a mark which cannot soon be erased from this staff nor this team's image among students and alumni. It's also likely to raise heat from a Georgetown alumni community that will grudgingly tolerate a two or three win season, but not 0-11. Never mind selling that to recruits, but try selling that to alumni.
Poor Preparation: A fumble on the first play of the game. An itnterception after three passes. Three series, three turnovers soncerted to touchdowns. What a dismal way to start a game, not only against a nationally respected team, but at home. Even worse--this is week 10, not week one, and when your senior RB coughts up the ball on the first carry, that does not speak well for this team's mental toughness and preparation.
As for Coach Kelly being called on a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty? Wow. You can watch a lot of football over the years and not see such a call, but a head coach needs to know better not to even get into that kind of situation. It didn't cost Georgetown the game, but it was the wrong place to make that argument.
Seeing Red: The Richmond Times-Dispatch raised an interesting angle not heretofore discussed in dissecting the Hoyas' 0-10 season--redshirts.
"The Hoyas (0-10), of the Patriot League, do not offer athletic scholarships, nor do they redshirt..." wrote the T-D's John O'Connor. "Richmond works with 63 football scholarships, the maximum in the Football Championship Subdivision, and this season usually starts 15 seniors who redshirted as true freshmen." OK, so the 63 scholarships doesn't hurt, but 15 fifth-year players is a big, big deal.
The Patriot League only allows medical redshirts--it was reported over the weekend that Georgeown could receive a fifth year for both Charlie Houghton and Robert Lane should they choose to stay. But should Georgetown be more proactive with de facto redshirting; that is, not playing freshman players at all? A coach wants the best players out there, but the freshman issue is a crutch of sorts--yes, some recruits get the chance to play, but at the expense of developing upperclassmen. A lineup dominant with freshmen players never gains traction when they are replaced by more underclassmen the following year.
Left unsaid is the financial angle. Richmond can afford to float a kid's education for four or five years, Georgetown can't afford a fraction of that.
Rushing Title: Depending on the severity of an injury suffered against Richmond, senior Charlie Houghton enters week 11 with 61 carries for 276 yards this season. If he ends the season there, it will mark the fewest attempts for a leading rusher since 1983, when Georgetown played only eight games that season, but would still mark Houghton's third rushing title in four years, last matched by Steve Iorio (1994,96,97). Sophomore Philip Oladeji trails Houghton by 49 yards entering Saturday's game.
The Mendoza Line: 14 points is the "Mendoza Line" for Georgetown's offense over the last two seasons, having passed it just twice in the last 21 games. The Hoyas need 14 points in this game to match its points average from last season, 9.6, which was the lowest average for a GU team since 1984. A shutout would leave Georgetown at a lowly 8.7 per game, lowest since 1935.
Running On Empty: With its first and only touchdown Saturday, Georgetown scored its second, repeat, second touchdown on the ground in ten games.
It's inexcusable. It's dead last in Division I--only three schools have fewer than five and one of them is downgrading back to Division II. the subdivision average (average, mind you) is 14. Among 2009 opponents, Colgate has 28, Old Dominion has 24, Richmond 20. This offense has many faults, but look no further than this one: Georgetown has a 30% conversion rate in the red zone for touchdowns, with six in 20 attempts. Opponents have a 63% conversion, 27 for 43.
In the interests of full disclosure, Howard has three touchdowns, one of which came against Georgetown. What is it about local schools and poor football?
Maryland (I-A): 2-8
Virginia (I-A): 2-8
Howard (I-AA): 2-8
Georgetown (I-AA):0-10
Catholic (III): 1-9
George Mason (club): 1-7, one game cancelled for lack of healthy players
So it's on to face Fordham and barring a momentous upset, the die will be cast on Georgetown's worst season ever, 1984 notwithstanding. Georgetown's last home win to end a season was November 20, 1999, a 52-7 runaway against LaSalle. Could anyone have fast-forwarded ten years to see this?
The fact that 0-11 is even a possibility (much less a probability) at Georgetown says a lot about how far this this program has gone off track over the last ten years and the work which lies ahead.
Zero Hour: One can say it's "for" the seniors, and that's true, but Georgetown is playing "against" the idea of being the first team in Georgetown's long and often storied history not to win a game in a season. Outside of two bad teams in Howard and Marist, they haven't even been close.
The margin of defeat in those two games combined? Four points. And since these were only the two teams Georgetown actually beat in 2008, how close was that team to a zero win season in 2008? One pass play and two missed PAT's. When you think of it that way, this isn't a one year phenomenon, is it?
A winless season happened once before, sort of. The 1984 team was beaten soundly in all seven games that season, but claimed a forfeit win following a 56-6 stomping by Catholic University over charges CUA had an ineligible player; hence, Georgetown history records a 1-6 season. (Like any good rivalry, Catholic still lists it as a win.)
But barring any such technicalities, a loss to Fordham is a mark which cannot soon be erased from this staff nor this team's image among students and alumni. It's also likely to raise heat from a Georgetown alumni community that will grudgingly tolerate a two or three win season, but not 0-11. Never mind selling that to recruits, but try selling that to alumni.
Poor Preparation: A fumble on the first play of the game. An itnterception after three passes. Three series, three turnovers soncerted to touchdowns. What a dismal way to start a game, not only against a nationally respected team, but at home. Even worse--this is week 10, not week one, and when your senior RB coughts up the ball on the first carry, that does not speak well for this team's mental toughness and preparation.
As for Coach Kelly being called on a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty? Wow. You can watch a lot of football over the years and not see such a call, but a head coach needs to know better not to even get into that kind of situation. It didn't cost Georgetown the game, but it was the wrong place to make that argument.
Seeing Red: The Richmond Times-Dispatch raised an interesting angle not heretofore discussed in dissecting the Hoyas' 0-10 season--redshirts.
"The Hoyas (0-10), of the Patriot League, do not offer athletic scholarships, nor do they redshirt..." wrote the T-D's John O'Connor. "Richmond works with 63 football scholarships, the maximum in the Football Championship Subdivision, and this season usually starts 15 seniors who redshirted as true freshmen." OK, so the 63 scholarships doesn't hurt, but 15 fifth-year players is a big, big deal.
The Patriot League only allows medical redshirts--it was reported over the weekend that Georgeown could receive a fifth year for both Charlie Houghton and Robert Lane should they choose to stay. But should Georgetown be more proactive with de facto redshirting; that is, not playing freshman players at all? A coach wants the best players out there, but the freshman issue is a crutch of sorts--yes, some recruits get the chance to play, but at the expense of developing upperclassmen. A lineup dominant with freshmen players never gains traction when they are replaced by more underclassmen the following year.
Left unsaid is the financial angle. Richmond can afford to float a kid's education for four or five years, Georgetown can't afford a fraction of that.
Rushing Title: Depending on the severity of an injury suffered against Richmond, senior Charlie Houghton enters week 11 with 61 carries for 276 yards this season. If he ends the season there, it will mark the fewest attempts for a leading rusher since 1983, when Georgetown played only eight games that season, but would still mark Houghton's third rushing title in four years, last matched by Steve Iorio (1994,96,97). Sophomore Philip Oladeji trails Houghton by 49 yards entering Saturday's game.
The Mendoza Line: 14 points is the "Mendoza Line" for Georgetown's offense over the last two seasons, having passed it just twice in the last 21 games. The Hoyas need 14 points in this game to match its points average from last season, 9.6, which was the lowest average for a GU team since 1984. A shutout would leave Georgetown at a lowly 8.7 per game, lowest since 1935.
Running On Empty: With its first and only touchdown Saturday, Georgetown scored its second, repeat, second touchdown on the ground in ten games.
It's inexcusable. It's dead last in Division I--only three schools have fewer than five and one of them is downgrading back to Division II. the subdivision average (average, mind you) is 14. Among 2009 opponents, Colgate has 28, Old Dominion has 24, Richmond 20. This offense has many faults, but look no further than this one: Georgetown has a 30% conversion rate in the red zone for touchdowns, with six in 20 attempts. Opponents have a 63% conversion, 27 for 43.
In the interests of full disclosure, Howard has three touchdowns, one of which came against Georgetown. What is it about local schools and poor football?
Maryland (I-A): 2-8
Virginia (I-A): 2-8
Howard (I-AA): 2-8
Georgetown (I-AA):0-10
Catholic (III): 1-9
George Mason (club): 1-7, one game cancelled for lack of healthy players
So it's on to face Fordham and barring a momentous upset, the die will be cast on Georgetown's worst season ever, 1984 notwithstanding. Georgetown's last home win to end a season was November 20, 1999, a 52-7 runaway against LaSalle. Could anyone have fast-forwarded ten years to see this?
The fact that 0-11 is even a possibility (much less a probability) at Georgetown says a lot about how far this this program has gone off track over the last ten years and the work which lies ahead.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Week 9 Thoughts
Some post-game thoughts following Marist's 23-21 victory on Sunday:
The End of the Line. There's not any good way to get around it: barring a historic upset of Richmond Saturday (and I'm not calling it), this team either finishes with the second 1-10 record in school history or finishes with its worst, 0-11. Over and above the finger pointing which is sure to follow, these next two weeks marks the end the football careers for 21 seniors who worked harder and expected better.
Sadly, the mistakes that you can stomach in week one were in anything but digestible in week 10: two turnovers inside the Georgetown 30 which led to 14 Marist points, four failed fourth down conversions, another early shutdown of the running game. The hardest lesson from this game is how little progress as a team Georgetown has made over the season, and how such progress is vital to a competitive game Saturday with #1-ranked Richmond.
Houghton's Mark: When Charlie Houghton won PL Rookie of the Year honors in 2006 with a 403 yard season, it seemed only the beginning. Houghton needs 136 yards over his next two games just to match that number, and has not scored a rushing touchdown since the 2007 season.
Some Better Numbers. Scott Darby posted some strong numbers passing in the Marist game for his first start of the season: 31-57 for 289 yards. Outside of the 68 yard pass to Brandon Floyd, he averaged seven yards a pass, which should be a point of emphasis for Georgetown in the off-season. Now that GU has receivers like Floyd and Kenneth Furlough with size and speed, the ofense must provide the ability to leverage their skills downfield.
A Great Return: Lost amidst the 0-9 record is the return from injury from senior LB Chris Rau. Hampered by injury much of the season, Rau returned to action in the Old Dominion game and for Marist led the team in tackles with 11.
Injuries have taken their toll on the senior class, but it has not stopped the heart and desire to do better. As written by Mex Carey over at the Hoya Insider blog: "Before [ODU], Chris hadn't played in a game all season. During the spring game in April, Chris tore a ligament in his leg and he spent the summer, all of preseason and the first seven games this year rehabilitating himself so he could get a chance to be back on the field with his teammates. Chris, who finished eighth in the Patriot League in tackles as a sophomore and junior, is one of our captains and his absence on the field of play was evident. It says a lot about him that in his first two games this year, he led the team in tackles, registering a combined 18 tackles against Old Dominion and Marist."
The biggest enemy on the schedule isn't Richmond or Fordham, it's time. There may be a lot to complain about in two weeks time, but the seniors deserve some support in these next two weeks. They've only won five games in four years, but a sixth would not be soon forgotten.
.
The End of the Line. There's not any good way to get around it: barring a historic upset of Richmond Saturday (and I'm not calling it), this team either finishes with the second 1-10 record in school history or finishes with its worst, 0-11. Over and above the finger pointing which is sure to follow, these next two weeks marks the end the football careers for 21 seniors who worked harder and expected better.
Sadly, the mistakes that you can stomach in week one were in anything but digestible in week 10: two turnovers inside the Georgetown 30 which led to 14 Marist points, four failed fourth down conversions, another early shutdown of the running game. The hardest lesson from this game is how little progress as a team Georgetown has made over the season, and how such progress is vital to a competitive game Saturday with #1-ranked Richmond.
Houghton's Mark: When Charlie Houghton won PL Rookie of the Year honors in 2006 with a 403 yard season, it seemed only the beginning. Houghton needs 136 yards over his next two games just to match that number, and has not scored a rushing touchdown since the 2007 season.
Some Better Numbers. Scott Darby posted some strong numbers passing in the Marist game for his first start of the season: 31-57 for 289 yards. Outside of the 68 yard pass to Brandon Floyd, he averaged seven yards a pass, which should be a point of emphasis for Georgetown in the off-season. Now that GU has receivers like Floyd and Kenneth Furlough with size and speed, the ofense must provide the ability to leverage their skills downfield.
A Great Return: Lost amidst the 0-9 record is the return from injury from senior LB Chris Rau. Hampered by injury much of the season, Rau returned to action in the Old Dominion game and for Marist led the team in tackles with 11.
Injuries have taken their toll on the senior class, but it has not stopped the heart and desire to do better. As written by Mex Carey over at the Hoya Insider blog: "Before [ODU], Chris hadn't played in a game all season. During the spring game in April, Chris tore a ligament in his leg and he spent the summer, all of preseason and the first seven games this year rehabilitating himself so he could get a chance to be back on the field with his teammates. Chris, who finished eighth in the Patriot League in tackles as a sophomore and junior, is one of our captains and his absence on the field of play was evident. It says a lot about him that in his first two games this year, he led the team in tackles, registering a combined 18 tackles against Old Dominion and Marist."
The biggest enemy on the schedule isn't Richmond or Fordham, it's time. There may be a lot to complain about in two weeks time, but the seniors deserve some support in these next two weeks. They've only won five games in four years, but a sixth would not be soon forgotten.
.
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