It’s the last week in August, which, on the Georgetown campus means it’s a new year. Swarms of students descend upon their dorms unloading luggage and sweating through the heat and humidity D.C. offers every year around this time. At the center of all the chaos that defines the Hilltop during student arrivals is a group that is already well-settled into their new homes, but is by no means sweating any less.
Like an eager first-year, this year’s football team is looking forward to the season that lies ahead, excited about the great things to come. Although the team struggled in the Patriot League last year, they know they get to start off with a clean slate and they feel their chances of being successful have grown exponentially since the end of last year. Improving upon their 3-8 record is definitely within their sights.
With the addition of Georgetown’s new Multi-Sport Field, the Hoyas have a brand new field to battle on. Leading the charge is senior defensive end, All Patriot First Team member, Division 1-AA First Team Defense All America Team, two-time Eacobacci Jersey selection, and captain Michael Ononibaku. “We definitely have a winning attitude. Especially with the new stadium now, things are looking up for Georgetown football,” he said.
According to Ono, as he’s known on the team, the Hoyas will show noticeable improvement on both sides of the ball. “This year should be the year for us,” Ononibaku said. “We have a lot of good new players coming in and everyone’s improving.”
Bob Benson, who’s in his 13th year as head coach, commented on how the building of the new field and the drive to improve from last year are affecting the sentiments in camp. “It all adds to a good feeling,” he said. “We know we’re close. We just have to take care of ourselves. Even though last year we ended up with no wins in the league we were still in those games. The players know it.” The force that kept the Hoyas in most of those games was their stonewall defense. Anchored by senior captains Ononibaku and All-Patriot League senior safety Marcus Banks, this group will return nine starters and look to come back as one of the top defenses in the league.
Junior Alex Buzbee, who earned All-Patriot League Second Team honors last year, will man the other defensive end spot. Both he and Ononibaku each averaged almost one sack per game last year and combined for 31 tackles for a loss, giving Georgetown one of the fiercest defensive end duos in the country.
While the defense looks to maintain its dominance, the offense will try to create a more explosive attack as they move into their second year under offensive coordinator Elliot Uzelac’s system. As the team gets more comfortable with the option-oriented offense, it should translate into bigger plays on the offensive side of the ball and take some pressure off of the defense. Although the team took a huge blow this off-season when speedy tailback, and Georgetown’s first thousand-yard rusher, senior captain Kim Sarin found out he would have to miss the season with a back injury, optimism still reigns supreme.
“We’re much better off than we’ve been in the past,” Coach Benson said. “We’re more experienced, and we know what we have to do. We’re much further along with the offense than we’ve ever been. It’s on the right track.”
However, the decision on who will lead this offense as the quarterback is still up in the air. The choice has come down to the strong-armed North Carolina transfer Nick Cangelosi, or the more experienced returning junior, Keith Allen.
The team hopes that their hard work and glass-half-full mentality will help them ace their first test of the year when they travel to Patriot League rival Bucknell on Sept. 3.
