After letting a winnable conference game against Lehigh turn ugly, the Georgetown Hoyas football team will attempt to rebound against the 3-6 Marist Red Foxes on Saturday.
The last time the two teams met, the Hoyas came up on the short end of a triple-overtime thriller 37-34. Georgetown head coach Kevin Kelly said that he expects another tightly contested game even though these are not the same two teams who battled against each other last season.
This year’s Hoyas have been hit by a plague of injuries, especially on the offensive side. Junior running back Charlie Houghton, who had 239 all-purpose yards and four rushing touchdowns in last year’s matchup against Marist, has been out all season.
In his place, freshman tailback Keion Wade and sophomore quarterback Keerome Lawrence have carried the team’s running game. Wade had 85 all-purpose yards and a touchdown against Lehigh last week.
“Keion’s been a blessing because Charlie has been out all year,” Kelly said. “He’s terrific. He’s a real tough, hard-nosed runner. We’ve been lucky to have him.”
Wade’s early success is due to his aggressive running style. Kelly explained that unlike most runners, Wade accelerates upon contact, making it harder for a defender to bring him down and his slashing style allows him to make plays in the open field.
Still, Wade’s help has not totally resurrected Georgetown’s running game. The Hoyas have rushed for a modest 93.7 yards a game this year with only three rushing touchdowns. Those small numbers will not replace the 266 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns the Hoyas had against Marist last season.
Marist, to steal a line from the Boss, was born to run. This season, they have averaged 182.9 rushing yards a game, and over its last two contests, the team has rushed for a combined 618 yards.
Leading Marist’s ground game is senior running back Obozbua Ehikioya. Ehikioya, Marist’s all-time Division I rushing leader, has rushed for a total of 832 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Last year, Ehikioya burned Georgetown for 177 yards and three scores, including the game-winner in the third overtime.
The Hoyas will also have to stop Marist’s run-pass quarterback, junior Chris Debowski. Debowski averages about 41 yards on the ground a game, but has the potential to break a big run at any time.
“Their quarterback has done a real nice job throwing the ball,” Kelly said. “But something that we really haven’t seen a lot from him yet this year is he’s a guy who can put the ball down and run with it.”
Georgetown allowed 127 rushing yards against Lehigh. While Lehigh’s 3.5 yards-per-carry suggests a successful day for the Hoya defense, the team knows it still has work to do to have any chance of containing Marist’s impressive ground game.
Kickoff is at 12:30 on Harbin field.
