To put it kindly, this has been a season of highs and lows for the Georgetown football team.
Despite a remarkable 3-1 start to the year following their winless 2009 campaign, with Saturday’s 24-11 loss to Fordham—the team’s fifth straight defeat—the Hoyas (3-6, 2-2 Patriot League) have guaranteed that 2010 will be their 11th-straight losing season.
After defeating Holy Cross on Homecoming, the Hoyas’ problems began when they took on Colgate on Oct. 2, and were trampled by the Patriot League favorite Crusaders, 34-3.
“There’s no excuse, we just got our ass beat that day, plain and simple,” head coach Kevin Kelly said.
Since that trouncing in Hamilton, N.Y., Georgetown has failed to regain its early momentum, descending into mediocrity. Many fans feel that the unfortunate turnaround has been due to a change in the offensive scheme, and a misuse of junior quarterback Scott Darby.
“Part of it is that we’re not running the ball as much with [Darby] and I don’t know why that is,” WGTB Sports Radio host John Kenchelian (Col’ 12) said. “He’s a really good runner and he doesn’t shy away from contact, which makes him a lot different than some other quarterbacks. If you run the ball with Darby, people will play him to run and that opens up the passing game.”
Despite the team’s poor results, the Hoyas have remained competitive. In fact, three of their last four games were decided by five points or fewer. Wagner needed a 54-yard field goal to extend the game into overtime, while Bucknell needed a fourth quarter interception return for a touchdown to secure their victory against the Hoyas.
But the Hoyas have blown fourth quarter leads three times on heartbreaking plays this season. In the close games, they have been victims of costly and untimely errors which allowed the coaching staff to blame their losses on simple lapses in execution.
“We haven’t won. We’ve been close but we haven’t finished,” Kelly said. “We started out strong, but still we’re three games ahead of where we were last year and so it’s all about how you look at it. Is the glass half full or half empty? Right now it’s half full.”
This might be cold comfort for the players, though. They truly believed they had a shot at the school’s first Patriot League title.
“Our expectation is to win every game, so we’re going to take one at time,” Kelly said earlier this year.
Now, the team’s seniors have two more games to finish their careers on a high note. The young players have a chance to gain more valuable experience before putting this season behind them and begin preparing for 2011.
“We’ve got a lot of talented players, a lot of young players,” Kelly said. “We really only have 15 seniors, so a lot of the guys are back next year. And that’s what you’ve got to look forward to.”
