This Saturday, the two teams entering the Multi-Sport Field will be working to shake off their hangover from last week’s play. Both Cornell (1-1) and Georgetown (0-4) gave up more than 50 points in their lopsided losses to Yale and Holy Cross, respectively.
It’s homecoming at the Hilltop, though, so at least the players won’t be the only ones with hangovers to dismiss.
“We’re embarrassed,” Hoyas’ head coach Kevin Kelly said about his team’s 55-0 loss in Worcester, Mass. last weekend. “But we’re anxious to play again on Saturday. We’re not worried about past games or future games. We’re just worried about ourselves as a team fundamentally and just starting from scratch, so to speak.”
With the team wanting to start with a blank slate—or a blank screen—they made a logical decision. Coach Kelly tossed aside all game film from the Holy Cross match-up and moved from the video room to where the work needed to be done: the practice field.
Botched blocking assignments and wrong first-steps by the offensive line were remedied this week during early morning practices while the rest of campus slept.
The Hoyas know that it will take more than going through the corrected motions in practice to effect any kind of change on the scoreboard for Sundays. The negative morale of a 0-4 (0-2 PL) team can overwhelm an entire season if not kept in check.
“We know we have to be more aggressive and show a lot more emotion in practice,” senior captain and fullback Kyle Van Fleet said. “As seniors, we’re not going to get many more chances here. There’s not going to be fans at the games if we don’t start winning, period. This is kind of our last chance to show our home crowd that we are capable of doing great things.”
The Cornell Big Red has just as many wounds to lick after last week, spotting Yale 51 points en route to a 39-point loss.
“You can’t let these kinds of losses linger,” Cornell head coach Jim Knowles said. “I’m sure it’s going to be real competitive as a fight between two teams trying to regain some confidence.”
The Ivy Leaguers from upstate New York have a seven-hour bus ride to the District and will keep things on the ground for game day: senior running back Rick Siwula is just the sixth player in Cornell history to rush for over two thousand yards. The Hoyas know that the Big Red will hop from their bus right onto his back and ride him as far as he will take them.
Cornell will look to stop Georgetown’s triple-option offense with junior Tim Bax. The savage safety won’t scare you in an alley, standing six feet two inches and weighing just 180 pounds, but on the field he’s something else. In two games this year he already has 24 tackles and a forced fumble.
“We’ve been talking about him,” senior quarterback and captain Matt Bassuener said. “He plays with a reckless abandon, he’s a wildman out there. Their whole defense flies to the ball.”
For the Hoyas, homecoming may be the best antidote for their losing streak. They’ve won their last four homecoming games—several on dramatic, last-minute drives.
“We know we can’t do anything about last week,” senior defensive tackle and captain Nnamdi Obiko said. “It’s in the past, we’re just trying to get better. Obviously we’d like to have a win earlier in the season, but for now we’re just trying to keep that homecoming winning streak alive.”
