Despite winning only three games in the past two years, the Georgetown football team is looking to the 2008 season with unabashed optimism. They open their season this Saturday in an historic match-up called the D.C. Cup against Howard University, the first ever meeting of the two teams.
Having adopted a mantra of “win the day, win the game, win the Patriot League,” the team seems to have moved past the woes of previous seasons and is confident that they can contend with all of their opponents.
“We want people to understand we play a good brand of football,” Georgetown head coach Kevin Kelly said.
This brand of football, according to Kelly, relies not so much on the specifics of the team’s offense or defense, but on the team’s intensity and execution.
“We’ve got to come out and we’ve got to be the best team,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to execute our assignments, we can’t give up the football, we’ve got to have takeaways, we’ve got to win the turnover margin and our practice tempo has been real high the last three and a half weeks, and hopefully that will help us in the fourth quarter.”
The team will rely on experience to keep up the intensity for four quarters. That experience is strongest on the defensive line, which boasts four senior starters, including Anthony DiTommaso.
“We’ve got to stop the run, first and foremost, and make the team pass,” he said. “Once we do that, we’ll take it from there.”
The Bison were 4-7 last season, losing two games in overtime, but without any mutual opponents it is difficult to compare their game to the cross-town Hoyas. Howard lost eight starters from last season’s team and will rely on a slew of talented newcomers to keep them competitive this season.
Beyond winning the game, both teams hope to draw more fans and garner more support from the community.
“Fan support is okay right now,” DiTommaso said. “It’s not great, its not terrible. But that’s on us. You got to win games to get the support. People don’t want to come out and see their team lose every week.”
“It’s up to us to take care of this game so the fans will keep on coming out,” senior defensive end Ataefiok Etukeren said. “I remember the Brown game from my freshman year—a lot of fans came out to that game and it was a close game. We want that kind of support again.”
The inaugural D.C. Cup may very well be the biggest game for the Hoyas in the last four years. With the added interest that comes with the new crosstown rivalry, the team stands to gain much needed support from students and alumni alike. For the first time in a while, people are excited about Georgetown football.
