Throughout the season, the Georgetown football team has dug itself into more holes than a confused Labrador searching for a bone in its backyard. Saturday was no different for the Hoyas, as an early fumble and two quick punts led to three unanswered Lehigh touchdowns, and a 45-24 loss at the hands of the Mountain Hawks.
The stunning 21-point deficit was not a new experience for Georgetown this season. The team has trailed early in many of its contests.
“[When down 21-0] I just said, ‘Hey, we’re real good at digging ourselves out of holes,” Head Coach Bob Benson said. “We really weren’t worried about a repeat of last year [a 69-0 defeat]. This is a completely different team than the first week of last year … a tough team.”
Nonetheless, the early hole led to drastic measures for the Hoyas, who benched struggling junior quarterback Drew Crawford in favor of first-year Alondzo Turner. Turner’s appearance led to Georgetown’s first points of the afternoon, as he orchestrated a seven-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard touchdown reception by senior wideout Luke McArdle with 1:39 left in the first quarter. The touchdown cut the Mountain Hawks’ lead to 21-7 and gave Georgetown a new sense of life.
Turner continued to cause problems for Lehigh’s defense throughout the game, gaining 98 yards on the ground and passing for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, Turner also had three interceptions on the game, one of which led to another Mountain Hawks touchdown.
Regardless, Benson expressed confidence and pleasure with his young quarterback’s performance.
“We’re really pleased with how he plays,” Benson said. “He’s a wonderful kid. He can be a different level of player than the other players in this league; he just has a completely different speed. He made a couple bad decisions today, but he’s a really smart guy and he’s learning that carrying a team is a lot different than coming in for a change of pace.”
After a 21-yard field goal from kicker Michael Gillman, junior defensive back Jason Carter picked off a pass from Lehigh sophomore quarterback Kyle Keating and returned it 37-yards for a touchdown, cutting the Mountain Hawks lead to 31-17 at halftime.
“I think the pick gave us a lot of momentum,” Carter said. “It gave the defense and the offense some energy after our slow start.”
Georgetown continued to cut into the deficit in the second half by grabbing turnovers and converting them into points. After a fumble on the Lehigh 47-yard line, Turner led a three-play drive that culminated in another touchdown reception for McArdle, this time on a 33-yard strike.
Unfortunately, Turner’s strong performance was outdone by Lehigh’s own young backup, Kyle Keating. The Mountain Hawks quarterback tied a school record with six touchdown passes.
“We knew we had to take the momentum back,” Keating said. “We felt [tight end Adam] Bergen could occupy holes in the defense, and we ran a lot of out-routes, and there was just no-one there.”
Bergen was a nightmare for the Hoyas’ secondary all afternoon, gathering 14 receptions for 156 yards and three touchdowns. Throughout the game, the defense was unable to match up against Bergen’s size, quickness, and soft hands, and Keating’s pinpoint passing to his favorite target played a large part in the Lehigh victory.
“Kyle was very poised in pressure situations,” Lehigh Head Coach Pete Lembo said. “This is a good win for our team. We knew Georgetown would play us tough for 60 minutes, but we were able to run a game plan that incorporated a lot of spread passes and we got the ball to nine different receivers, which kept them from focusing on Adam [Bergen].”
Despite their woes in the passing game, Georgetown’s rushing defense did a much better job on Lehigh’s sprightly running back Jermaine Pugh, who gained only 50 yards on 16 rushes. The Hoyas gave up 137 yards of total rushing in the game, but were mostly able to avoid the big plays that Lehigh is known for. Senior inside linebacker Calvin Lyons led the defense with five solo and six assisting tackles, and senior defensive back and co-captain Matt Fronczke chipped in with nine total tackles.
Like the defense, Benson was able to take some positives away from the game as well. With Lehigh ranked in Division I-AA’s top 10, the close game provided a measure of confidence for a team that has been under fire throughout much of the season.
“The gap in team speed has really been reduced,” Benson said. “Nobody’s going to look by us or take us for granted anymore.”
The Hoyas will look to gain another conference victory and move closer to a .500 record next Saturday at Fordham. The game against the Rams is scheduled for a 12 p.m. at Coffey Field in Bronx, N.Y.
