Last Saturday when Georgetown’s football team squared off against Columbia for their second straight Ivy League bout, they were greeted with a decidedly snobby 20-0 run that proved to be too much for the fighting Hoyas to overcome. Georgetown mounted a furious second-half comeback behind their junior back-up quarterback Matt Bassuener, but the damage inflicted by the Lions in the earlier rounds was the difference on the scorecard and the Hoyas fell 23-21.
The first half saw the Hoyas come out with their hands down, unready for the blows they were about to take from the Columbian D-lords. On the Hoyas’ first play from scrimmage, sophomore quarterback Ben Hostetler was intercepted by senior linebacker Justin Nunez, making it seem as though it would be a long day for Hostetler and the Hoyas. The young quarterback went on to throw two more picks within the next 17 minutes, keeping the G-Men from gaining any momentum while they faced a deficit. Hostetler has been able to overcome his youth at certain times during the year and while inexperience hurts, the Hoyas found out that turnovers kill.
“Every game we’ve played we’ve had a chance to win. Right now we’re minus-five in the turnover ratio, we have to correct that,” a perturbed Coach Kelly said. “You should never have to get to that point where you have to come back.”
The Hoyas also took it on the chin on the defensive side of the ball, allowing 17 unanswered points in the first 25 minutes of play and giving the Hoyas a gaping hole to dig themselves out of. Georgetown continued to pin themselves up against the ropes even further by committing 10 penalties to Columbia’s five. Coach Kelly challenged his players, saying that some of the miscues could be due to the focus during week day practices.
“The first half was not an impressive effort,” Kelly said. “We’re not mentally focused where we’re supposed to be. When you practice and walk around, that’s how you’re going to play.”
After the Hoyas’ humbling first-half performance, they rallied like any good fighter would. They picked themselves off the mat and hopped on the shoulders of another Matt, their back-up quarterback Matt Bassuener, who was inserted in the game for Hostetler to try and light a fire under the flailing offense. After seeing his first significant time as a quarterback the week before against Brown, Bassuener did all that was asked of him and more, shredding the Lions’ defense for 177 yards, three touchdown passes and 52 yards running. The soft-spoken leader moved in to guide the offense as if he had been there for years.
“I had good butterflies,” Bassuener said. “Yeah, I’m nervous. But its like, fight or flight, and I’m going in there to fight.”
And fight they did. With nerves of steel they started to jab away at Columbia, landing a couple big scores along the way. Bassuener started the scoring in the third quarter when he completed a 12 play, 66 yard drive for a touchdown to junior receiver, and Bassuener’s roommate, Brent Craft.
After a pivotal stop by the Georgetown defense, Bassuener engineered another 66-yard drive, this time capping it off with a ten-yard touchdown pass to junior tight-end Charlie Curtis.
“He’s definitely more vocal on the field than off,” Curtis said of Bassuener. “He’s hyped up, but he’s always on that level. He’s always pretty consistent with that energy.”
Georgetown rode that energy to another scoring try in the fourth quarter after senior cornerback Brian Tandy punched the pigskin loose and forced Columbia’s first turnover. The Hoyas drove all the way to the two-yard line but ended the drive empty handed as the snap on the attempted field goal was botched. The Hoyas scored on a Hail-Mary type pass that landed in the paws of Craft once again. But when Georgetown couldn’t recover the ensuing on-sides kick, the fight was effectively in the books.
The Hoyas will lean on Bassuener once again this Saturday when he makes his first-ever start at Colgate. Coach Kelly was insistent when talking about his confidence in the recent Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week. “Matt is a heck of a worker. He’s what I call an overachiever,” Kelly said. “He reminds me of Chad Pennington when I was over at Marshall. He’s a guy that did all the things off the field above and beyond.”
“I’ve gotten a lot of compliments so far. But the thing is we didn’t win yet,” Bassuener said. “I’m not going to take any moral victories out of accolades right now. The accolades we’re looking forward to are victories.”
